{"id":9052,"date":"2007-03-19T20:23:20","date_gmt":"2007-03-20T01:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=9052"},"modified":"2019-09-05T20:30:59","modified_gmt":"2019-09-06T01:30:59","slug":"can-the-bible-be-understood-by-the-common-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-the-bible-be-understood-by-the-common-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the Bible be understood by the common man?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Have you heard of Eli Soriano? What do you think about his teachings?<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>I looked briefly at Eli Soriano&#8217;s website. I&#8217;m afraid I didn&#8217;t get far because there was a statement on the first page that I knew to be contrary to God&#8217;s Word.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;The Bible contains many things hard to understand. Such understanding cannot be had by just anyone; it is a gift of God. Only the wise appointed by God to understand can have that understanding, and that understanding may lead many to be purified \u2013 in the last days. These wise men given understanding to lead many to righteousness shall be very visible \u2013 as the stars. And they can be tried if they are true through testing what they preach. Their understanding of the things of God shall prove them to be the wise men mentioned in the Bible.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Yes, there are hard passages in the Bible, Peter said so. &#8220;<i>Consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation&#8211;as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures<\/i>&#8221; (II Peter 3:15-16). Notice that Peter said, &#8220;some things,&#8221; not &#8220;many things.&#8221; Still, nowhere does God claim that you need a special gift to understand the Bible. In fact, God commands the opposite. &#8220;<i>Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is<\/i>&#8221; (Ephesians 5:17). God doesn&#8217;t command man to do something that he is unable to do.<\/p>\n<p>Hard passages mean you have to work harder and dig deeper to gain a good understanding of what is said. Others, who have walked the path before you, can point you to things that you might not have thought about, but it still requires effort on your part to learn. &#8220;<i>Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness<\/i>&#8221; (II Timothy 2:14-16).<\/p>\n<p>The position taken by this man is one of pride. It is not a godly position.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Have you heard of Eli Soriano? What do you think about his teachings? Answer: I looked briefly at Eli Soriano&#8217;s website. I&#8217;m afraid I didn&#8217;t get far because there was a statement on the first page that I knew to be contrary to God&#8217;s Word. &#8220;The Bible contains many things hard to understand. Such&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[478,761],"class_list":["post-9052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-false-teachers","tag-understanding"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":29595,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-god-kill-so-many-humans\/","url_meta":{"origin":9052,"position":0},"title":"Why does God kill so many humans?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why does God kill so many humans? And why does this website try and make excuses for killing those humans? Surely such an amazing supernatural Creator could come up with a better plan than that. When I read about your God I find it hilarious. I really can believe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85411,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-understand-the-bible-alike\/","url_meta":{"origin":9052,"position":1},"title":"Can We Understand the Bible Alike?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton If we think about it, anytime we understand something, we understand it alike. We can misunderstand things differently, but when we truly understand something, we understand it alike-2 plus 2 equals 4. If we understand that math problem, we will understand it alike. Anyone who comes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19586,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/understanding-the-will-of-the-lord\/","url_meta":{"origin":9052,"position":2},"title":"Understanding the Will of the Lord","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 4, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Charles L. Morton via\u00a0The Preceptor, Vol. 28, No. 5, March 1979 \"Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the Will of the Lord is\" (Ephesians 5:17). Some things are involved in this text that are basic. Your attention is invited to some of them. The admonition to understand\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/Bible-Reading-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35736,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-check-my-own-understanding-if-i-misunderstand-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":9052,"position":3},"title":"How can I check my own understanding if I misunderstand the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How can I check my own understanding in comparison to the Bible, if I misunderstand the Bible itself? Answer: \"Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is\" (Ephesians 5:17). The first point to realize is that the Bible is understandable. Yes, people do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20364,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-i-be-judged-for-not-being-as-smart-as-another-person\/","url_meta":{"origin":9052,"position":4},"title":"Will I be judged for not being as smart as another person?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good evening. I am having trouble understanding intellect. Is intellect a worldly thing or does it come from above? I understand Colossians 3 and how it identifies the things we should be thinking about and the things we need to mortify. It didn\u2019t mention intellect precisely, but I do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31435,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-non-christian-truly-understand-forgiveness\/","url_meta":{"origin":9052,"position":5},"title":"Can a non-Christian truly understand forgiveness?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I understand that it is impossible for a non-Christian to understand the concept of true forgiveness toward another person. Is that correct? Answer: Most spiritual concepts are difficult for non-believers to grasp. Not because the concepts are hard, but because it requires looking at the world from a framework\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9052\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}