“I Can’t Understand the Bible!”

Bill Brinkworth

Too many claim “the Bible is too hard to understand” as their main reason for not reading the Bible. Actually, the King James Bible, according to Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Indicator that measures reading difficulty, is rated at a 5.8 grade level average1. Many of the newer ‘bibles” are even much more difficult to read. The New International Version has been ranked at a grade level of 8.4, and the New King James, which is really not a revised King James at all, is ranked at 6.9. The USA Today Newspaper is ranked at grade nine, and People Magazine is ranked at eighth grade. Grade level wise, the King James Bible should not be difficult to understand for most. However, there other factors that do make it appear as if it were “too difficult”.

All born-again (John 3:3) children of God can understand the Word of God, or God would not have gone through such great efforts to preserve it for us today, just as it was penned to the men of God of the past It is not necessary to lay out all the different versions and translations to understand the Bible.

There is one God and one Word. Do not rely on some translator to make it clearer. With over 250 modern translations available, it is believed that fewer people read God’s Word today and even fewer understand it. What many English-speaking people do not fully understand is that it does not take a translator, or even knowing Greek and Hebrew to understand God’s Word. It only takes the translating Spirit of God to help one understand His Word. All can understand the Bible.

1 G. A. Riplinger, New Age Bible Versions, AV Publications Corp., 1995, Pg. 196

 

This lesson ws featured in The Bible View #241.

  The Fundamental Top 500