{"id":2473,"date":"2017-11-14T23:14:46","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T23:14:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/?p=2473"},"modified":"2025-11-11T16:47:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T16:47:49","slug":"hindrances-to-understanding-the-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/?p=2473","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Views: 0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;\">[<strong>Note: <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our <strong>Brief Articles 3<\/strong> page.]<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Nothing is more obvious than that men who profess belief in the Bible do not understand it alike. Some believe this is inevitable or even good. If so, why does the Bible command that we \u201call speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you\u201d (1 Cor. 1: 10)? We are to \u201cwalk by the same rule\u201d (Phi. 3:16), so it must be possible for us to understand its demands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The greater question may be, \u201c<strong>Why<\/strong> do men not understand the Bible alike?\u201d The Bible provides several answers.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Ignorance\u2014<\/strong>Because of ignorance the Jews crucified Jesus, and Saul persecuted Him (Luke 23:34; 1 Tim. 1:13). Earnest Bible study is the cure for ignorance. One can hardly understand what he does not know.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Deception\u2014<\/strong>Many are victims of false teachers (Mat. 7:15). Jesus warned: Blind teachers and their students will be lost (15:14). \u201cTake heed that no man lead you astray\u201d (Mat. 24:44).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Human traditions\u2014<\/strong>To the Jews of Jesus\u2019 time, religious traditions were more important than the Bible (Mat. 15:6). Human traditions are many and varied; they prevent men from understanding and following the Bible. Such things as infant \u201cbaptism,\u201d instrumental music in worship, \u201cEaster,\u201d et al., are the result of human traditions, rather than Biblical practices.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Prejudice\u2014<\/strong>Jeremiah wrote of those in Jerusalem \u201cthat have eyes, and see not; that have ears, and hear not\u201d (5:21). The Jews of Jesus\u2019 time had their minds \u201cmade up\u201d that the Messiah would establish an earthly kingdom like David\u2019s, so they rejected His teaching concerning the imminent coming of His spiritual kingdom, the church (Mat. 16:18\u201319; Mark 9:1). Multiplied millions make the same mistake today in their biased and false millennial hopes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Convenience\u2014<\/strong>Jeroboam enticed his nation to stay at home and worship his idols, saying, \u201cIt is too much to go up to Jerusalem\u201d (1 Kin. 12:28). Roman Catholicism popularized effusion (pouring of water) in place of immersion for baptism beginning in the twelfth century because it was more \u201cconvenient\u201d than immersion. Many Protestant churches find it \u201cinconvenient\u201d to serve the Lord\u2019s Supper each Lord\u2019s Day. Biblical Truth is often set aside for sake of convenience.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Sincerity\u2014<\/strong>We must be sincere in our devotion to God, but sincerity alone was insufficient for Cornelius; he still had to hear and obey the Gospel to be saved (Acts 10:33; 11:14). If sincerity is all that matters, why do we even need the Bible?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All of the foregoing factors are obstructions to understanding the Bible. Those who pervert the Scriptures do so to their own destruction (2 Pet. 3:16).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 10pt;\">[<strong>Note:<\/strong> This article was written for and published in the <em>Denton Record-Chronicle, <\/em>Denton, TX, October 24, 2014.]<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>Attribution:<\/strong> From <em>www.thescripturecache.com<\/em>; Dub McClish, proprietor, curator, and administrator.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Views: 0[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 3 page.] Nothing is more obvious than that men who profess belief in the Bible do not understand it alike. Some believe this is inevitable or even good. If so, why does&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"easywp-readmore\"><a class=\"read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/?p=2473\">Continue Reading&#8230;<span class=\"easywp-sr-only\">  Understanding the Bible<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,93,549,107,473,79,34,18,227,75,149,507,11,88,144,154,164],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baptism","category-bible","category-convenience","category-creeds-of-men","category-deceit","category-denominational-doctrines","category-emotions","category-false-teachersdoctrine","category-ignorance","category-instrumental-music-in-worship","category-lords-supper","category-prejudice","category-premillennialism","category-roman-catholicism","category-selfishness","category-sincerity","category-traditions-of-men","wpcat-37-id","wpcat-93-id","wpcat-549-id","wpcat-107-id","wpcat-473-id","wpcat-79-id","wpcat-34-id","wpcat-18-id","wpcat-227-id","wpcat-75-id","wpcat-149-id","wpcat-507-id","wpcat-11-id","wpcat-88-id","wpcat-144-id","wpcat-154-id","wpcat-164-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2473"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24108,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2473\/revisions\/24108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}