Misconceptions that Keep Us from Understanding the Bible

The Bible has been a controversial and misunderstood book. 

Why is the Bible confusing? Why do so many people, sects, and denominations disagree about what certain passages of Scripture mean or how the word of God should be applied to our lives? This post will address what I believe are the most common misconceptions that lead to misunderstanding the Bible today, and help us to see the deeper meanings of the Scripture.

Now to be clear, I am not saying that many people don't understand much of the Bible. But I do believe that all of us have room to grow and better understand the words that we have been given. 

I don't know if you've ever looked through eyeglasses that weren't quite your prescription, but if you have you may know that even if you can see the general layout of your surroundings, the details are fuzzy at best. Looking through the wrong lens can very well lead to a headache. I think a lot of us have spent much of our lives looking at the Bible through lenses of wrong beliefs or incorrect assumptions like those below. Recognizing these misconceptions as incorrect is the first step towards correctly seeing both the Old and New Testaments

Misconceptions about the Bible that lead Christians to misunderstand God's word:

-Jesus was against Biblical commandments. I spent most of my teenage years believing that the Savior's interactions with religious leaders in the Gospels were him telling them to chill out about keeping Biblical law, and that idea could not be more incorrect. Jesus's words were always, always about restoring the word of God, and absolutely never about changing it.

-That the religious leaders of the day were doing what God wanted. I used to picture the culture the Messiah was born into as the perfect example of people following the Bible, but truthfully things were not going well when Jesus arrived on the scene. Leaders were a long way from perfectly implementing Biblical instructions. In their run-ins with the Messiah he called them out for ignoring commandments, greed, making a show of doing good deeds, focusing on small instructions while disregarding larger ones, and replacing God's commands altogether with their own laws.

-There's only one type of law in the Bible. If you believe this, then there is simply no way to read through all of the New Testament and have it make cohesive sense. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:20 something like, "I am not under the law...I am not free from the law...I am under the law." Have fun figuring out what that can mean if those are all the same kinds of law. But if we recognize that Scripture frequently references Biblical law, laws for the Levitical priesthood, and manmade traditions, then passages like these come into better focus.

-Only those of a certain bloodline were eligible for salvation before Jesus. It's a popular belief that before Christ, only those of a certain bloodline could be included among the people of Israel, or would have eternal life. This idea is not found in Scripture. Instead, we have many examples of all people being permitted to join the people of YHWH. From the idolatrous backgrounds of Abraham and Sarah, to the Egyptians that joined Israel during the Exodus, to Caleb the Kenezite. The authors of the Messiah's genealogies purposely included women like Ruth and Rahab - women who were not Israelites by birth or bloodline, but nonetheless great-grandmothers of the Savior himself, to dispel this idea.

-There was only one tribe of Israel. Most Bible students know that there were twelve tribes of Israel, yet we act like there was only one. Beliefs such as, 'Everyone in the Old Testament was Jewish,' or ignoring the split in the kingdom of Israel, and subsequently, the different kings and happenings in each kingdom, are direct reflections of this wrong idea. This myth also causes us to miss the true meaning of the Messiah's statement that he was sent "only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel"(Matthew 15:24).

-Scripture speaks of money and finances from a capitalist perspective. It's really easy to read the passages of the Bible that relate to money and assume God's plan for the financial structure of society is modern capitalism, but Biblical law has some huge differences from how things are today. As just one example: in capitalism, anyone with enough money can purchase property, and anyone who owns property could potentially lose it. While under Biblical law, land is not something that is bought, but given by YHWH. And no one can lose their land! If we are looking at Scripture through a lens of capitalism, it's going to be difficult to understand passages like 'render unto Caesar,' and 'a day's wages for a loaf of bread.'

-The Scripture being referenced was our New Testament. So often when Paul, Peter, and even the Savior's own words make reference to Scripture or what is written, we forget the fact that the New Testament did not yet exist. Authors of the New Testament spoke highly of the Old Testament!

-All priesthoods are the same. I used to read Hebrews and think that what was "fading away" was the Levitical priesthood in the Bible and everything else from the Old Testament. But there is another priesthood that was operation in Abraham's day and that is the Melchizedek priesthood that the Messiah is now high priest over.

-Individuals going to heaven is the point of Scripture and the work of God. While it's absolutely true that God loves each individual in the world and that the Bible does address eternal life, looking at the Bible like its only concern is about individuals getting to heaven is a lens that needs to be adjusted. This is an important topic to be sure, and, yes, I would gladly prefer someone know that Jesus loves them and died for their eternal life as opposed to nothing of God's promises. But that doesn't mean that there isn't more going on in this holy book.

Please hear that there's no shame in having had these beliefs! I grew up going to church every Sunday and most Wednesdays and these were things I was taught by pastors, youth pastors, and Christian authors and speakers. Thoughts like these are common and unfortunately, they lead to making the Bible difficult to impossible to understand. As we realize that the beliefs and customs that were passed to us are not necessarily Biblical truth, we can start to better understand the word of God.

Related posts:
The Three Types of Laws in the Bible
Commandments or Traditions - Understanding What the Messiah Spoke Against
Comparing the Melchizedek and Levitical Priesthoods