The Bible is such an interesting text to people all over the world, and it is the highest selling book, even the most highlighted Kindle book, and ironically the most stolen book. Some say that although it is the most popular book, that it is also the most misunderstood. It seems that other books that are also complex, are still easier to understand, or even i

f they are not, people usually have narrowed down the meaning of things down to a few. Still, there are thousands upon thousands of interpretations of the Bible though, and the number continues to grow. The way that people have interpreted the Bible have sparked actions as vast as saving people from dangerous conditions to being murderous, from the individual scale to grand movements and decisions of nations, but what are some reasons why we should try to understand it today? There are so many interpretations, and it seriously seems like an impossible task to understand it according to God’s perspective. Those with a restless curiosity to gain an in-depth perspective of God’s heart often search for good devotionals or Bible reading plans to help guide them on their journey to seeking truth. We can think about the importance of the most popular book, and what we, as a human race can do to take a reasonable and wise approach when looking at these Scriptures. 

So, first of all, let’s think about the wrong things that happen when we try to make Scripture mean whatever we currently believe is correct. To specify, I am talking about when people look at a single verse or chapter of the Bible, and decide upon a meaning from only that context. The thing that this technique does is also allow for the interpreter to write things that are not according to the overall message, and if the writer deviates too far from the original meaning, they can be using a quote against the author’s actual message. This is a flawed way of reading and understanding for this reason, and because it allows for the majority of the text to be ignored. Overall, it goes against the point of learning and wanting to move forward with information. Therefore, the understanding of the Scripture should be according to the overall message, if one wants to be able to learn the meaning according to the author’s perspective, which is God’s. Still, there are many that believe that this is a better approach and still have different theories as to what God wants from His believers. This is an issue that has been ongoing for thousands of years. 

Next, we can see an example of this taking place at the First Coming of Jesus, and how the religious leaders and congregation members did not realize that he was the Messiah. At the time of Jesus’ First Coming, there were many who thought they correctly understood, but many did follow Christ. Why was this the case? There are also various reasons why they did not do so, and some of their excuses were that they thought that he was demon-possessed, was a cult leader, was a criminal, but there were also people who realized that he was speaking the truth and still they did not follow him? Were they being held hostage in their homes and threatened if they listened to him? Not quite, but there were other things that people risked if they chose to follow Jesus Christ. For the religious leaders, like the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, they would lose their power if they did this, because they would be lowering themselves and no longer be the one that the people listened to. This was a result of not really understanding what was at stake, because if you think about it, they were choosing power on Earth instead of following the Saviour. If they actually understood, don’t you think that they would stop caring about power and authority in the world? So, when thinking about why the most popular and stolen book still does not have the same effect upon everyone who reads it, there is still a lack of a common understanding. Maybe that is something that believers are hoping for and seeking, and it makes sense that a true interpretation would exist.