Can We Understand the Bible Alike? (Matthews)

by Samuel A. Matthews

“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7 KJV).

Loved ones, various denominational preachers have affirmed on numerous occasions that it is impossible for men to understand the Bible alike. They asserted that those who believe that we can are simply entertaining an ignorant viewpoint. Such a claim is nothing more than an attempt to place the blame on God for the seeming inability of men to come to a unified consensus on what the Bible teaches in matters of doctrine.

The claim is frequently made: “You understand the Bible one way, and I understand it another. Neither of us should condemn the other.” Another variation of the same tune: “Well, that is your interpretation of the Scriptures. I have mine as well. Perhaps both of us are right.”
These statements contain a logical contradiction. There is no such thing as “understanding the Bible differently.” Moreover, a passage does not yield two different interpretations; somewhere, one of them is misinterpreting it. If two people differ on the meaning of a biblical text, one of them is wrong about the matter—possibly both. We might misunderstand something differently, but we do not understand something differently.

If the claim is true that men cannot understand the Bible alike, certainly there must be a reasonable explanation for the accusation. Before exploring possible reasons for man's inability to understand the Bible alike, it may be helpful to examine some of the words in the title of this article.

First, there is the word "understand." Merriam-Webster online says it means "to grasp the meaning of." With that meaning fixed, two people cannot understand something differently. We can misunderstand something dozens, if not thousands, of different ways. But if we understand something, it is impossible to draw two different and often contradictory meanings to the same words. To claim such strikes at the very essence of communication.

Next, there is the word "alike,” meaning "in the same manner, form, or degree" (Merriam-Webster.com). It seems clear, therefore, that to combine the two words "understand" and "alike" is redundant, for if two people understand something, their conclusion will be "alike."
When a person claims that men cannot understand the Bible alike, they are essentially implying that men cannot understand the Bible. But such flies in the very face of the Scriptures. Listen to the words of Paul: “How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)" {Ephesians 3:3-4}.

Consider the following salient points that come out of these two verses. First, Paul had a flawless understanding of the mystery of Christ. It is flawless because it came by divine revelation. Second, Paul wrote his divinely inspired, flawless understanding of that mystery in words. Words are symbols by which a thought is conveyed. Third, when someone reads the very words Paul wrote, assuming no bias in his heart, he will perceive the apostle's understanding.

If it is the case that it is impossible for man to understand the Bible alike, then the fault lies in only one of two areas. Either God made man incapable of understanding the Bible, or God gave a book to men that is incapable of being understood. Either position thrusts one into a two-horned dilemma from which there is no escape.

Why then do men not understand the Bible? Any attempt to exhaust all the reasons for this monumental blunder is beyond the scope of this brief post. Here are a few reasons you can pick from: prejudice; ignorance of the whole of God's word; disrespect for the divinely inspired book itself. The bottom line was expressed by our Lord as He quoted from the prophet Isaiah:

“Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Matthew 13:13-15).

You see, my friend, the problem is not God's inability to provide us with a book we can understand. Nor did He make us incapable of understanding. The problem lies in the heart of man who chooses not to listen to the Word of God. That is why men do not understand the Bible (alike).

Can God Make Himself Understood?

We operate daily upon the presumption that we, frail mortals though we are, can make ourselves understood to our peers.

• A department store places an advertisement in the newspaper about an upcoming sale. Hundreds of people flock to the same establishment on the correct day at the right time, expecting specific items at a certain price to be available for purchase. How do they understand the ad alike?
• A recipe is printed on a cereal box for oat bran muffins. Hundreds of ladies across the country follow it and bake delicious muffins for their families. Do they understand the instructions alike?
• A physician prescribes a medication. Do we believe the pharmacist will understand what the doctor prescribed, and are we confident we can understand the instructions for taking the medicine?

If we can sensibly operate our lives on a routine basis, recognizing that we are able to communicate with one another in an intelligible fashion, why can’t we acknowledge that God, who is infinitely wiser and abler than man, can clearly make His will known to humanity?

If one suggests that Jehovah could not clearly make Himself known to man, he reflects upon the power of the Lord. If one argues that God purposely did not reveal Himself to mankind in a lucid fashion, he reflects upon the benevolence of his maker. If one contends that man has no responsibility to understand and obey the precepts of the Scriptures, it is he who evidences great ignorance of his obligation to Heaven.

What Saith the Scripture?

The Bible is replete with passages that rest on the assumption that we can uniformly understand our divine responsibility as made known in the sacred writings. Consider the following:

Christ declared that man shall not live by bread alone, but “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). If spiritual life is only to be found in the words from God, does it not stand to reason that humanity is capable of understanding that message?
When Jesus rebuked the Sadducees for their error concerning the resurrection of the human body, He charged that a part of their problem was that they were ignorant of the Scriptures (Matthew 22:29). Does this not presuppose that had they been good students of the Old Testament, they could have uniformly known that there was to be a resurrection of the body?

Though none of us was alive to witness the first-century miracles performed by the Lord Jesus, the history of those events was written down so that we might believe the signs that documented the Master’s claim of deity (John 20:30-31). Can we believe the biblical narratives regarding Christ’s deeds and confidently have a united understanding that He is the Son of God? If not, of what value is the New Testament?

Of the early church, it is said: “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul” (Acts 4:32). How could such a statement possibly be made unless those early saints were capable of agreeing upon the apostolic instruction?

The citizens of the city of Berea were considered to be nobler than those of Thessalonica, because they received the word of God with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily to determine the accuracy of what they were being taught (Acts 17:11). Does this affirmation not imply that these inquirers were able to draw harmonious conclusions about the word of God?

The Christians in Rome were commanded to be on the lookout for those who caused divisions and occasions of stumbling “contrary to the doctrine which ye learned” (Romans 16:17). If we cannot understand the Bible alike, how could anyone ever be disciplined for walking contrary to sound doctrine? That would make no sense whatsoever.

In the New Testament epistles, the churches are constantly admonished to “speak the same thing,” to be free from divisions, and to “be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (I Corinthians 1:10; cf. Philippians 2:2). How can we possibly take this instruction seriously if we are incapable of understanding the Bible alike?

The apostle Paul plainly charged: “Wherefore be ye not foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17). The inspired Scriptures are said to be profitable “for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work” (II Timothy 3:16-17). If we do not have the ability to understand the Scriptures, how can the holy writings profit us in the aforementioned categories?

Can we understand the Bible? Of course we can. Can we understand it alike? Why not? If we can understand that 2 + 2 = 4, if we can understand that sixty miles per hour means just that, then we can understand, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16; cf. I Peter 3:21). We can understand that there is one faith and one body (Ephesians 4:4-5), and that that body is the church (Colossians 1:18). We can further know that salvation is in that body (Ephesians 5:23), and outside of that body no redemption is to be found (II Timothy 2:10). The problem with those who contend that men cannot agree upon the Scripture’s teaching is simply this: they are seeking a way to justify error!