They will use verses of their choice to cancel out other verses that don't fit their doctrine. They teach that the Bible is difficult to understand, and that scholars know better what it says than you do. But they're wrong, and they need the help and enlightenment of all of us to realize it. There is a better Way: The Light of the World that will lead you through the darkness in the Bible to the true freedom offered by Jesus, who said: "...I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him." (John 14:6-7) Jesus is the Way to Knowledge about God, His Words are the Truth about God, and His Life is our Life Witness of God's Character - what Jesus did on earth is what God Himself would have done. Jesus taught us how to read the Bible, speaking plainly and also using allegory. Is there darkness in the Bible? Yes. Can we discern it for ourselves? Yes, if we compare what we read to the Life of Jesus, which is our Witness to the Truth about God's Character and how He feels toward us. Jesus said: "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22-23) The Spiritual light we receive through our eye comes from the scriptures, the words of inspired men. We know that sections of the Bible cause us to feel darkness - this is the darkness Jesus is speaking of here, IMO. To me, there is absolutely no light in the Sacrificial System, for example, except as its rites and ordinances point to the Messiah. Another instruction to search the scriptures for light: "Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." (Matthew 13:52) The "treasure" is the Word of God, the Bible. The things "new and old" are the parts of the New and Old Testaments that describe God as Jesus Witnessed His Character. Finally, once we know Jesus, how He lived and loved others, how He came to save all of mankind, we will understand the parts of the Bible that truly describe God as Jesus Witnessed Him. That skill comes from God through Jesus, of course, as indicated in the following verse: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." (John 10:27-28) When you read the Bible, if what you hear is not something Jesus would have condoned or taught according to the Gospels, note it as not describing God correctly and move on. The Bible DOES make sense to those who read it. We don't need anyone else to tell us, as long as we follow Jesus' Life Example of God's Character as we read. Try these steps: The New Testament gives us three important concepts about God: God is Good (Matthew 10:18); God is Spirit (John 4:24); God is Love (1 John 4:16) Everything you read in the Bible ought to resolve to these three Truths as Jesus taught and Lived them. Print them out and hang them up. If something doesn't resolve to these, think it through as to why. For example, remember that God allows men to credit Him for their own deeds. Remember also God's words to Moses that gave Moses the ability to speak for God to the Children of Israel: "And [Aaron] shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to [Aaron] instead of God." (Exodus 4:16) Man's commands thus resemble the commands of God in the Bible. Man is God's creation, and God takes responsibility for what man does. Remember the story of Jacob and Esau. God says: "And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness." (Malachi 1:3) But God is Love! That's how you can reason that God's recorded "will", in the case of Esau, was represented by the feelings of Rebeccah, whose deceptions won out in the end over Isaac's will - as God had predicted they would. Jacob deceived Isaac into blessing him rather than Esau, not a good thing! This "hatred" of Esau did not represent the opinion of God the Creator, but rather of those "parts" of God that wrote all the history crediting God Himself with all things that they did, that His creations did. There is other darkness in the Bible... A great New Testament example of darkness is Romans 13:1-8. Paul is supposed to be admonishing believers to obey worldly rulers: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." (Romans 13:1-4) When applied to civil power as people many times do today, this teaching not only contradicts the teachings of Jesus, it contradicts the teachings and actions of Paul himself. No Apostle broke more laws and disobeyed more commands to be silent rather than preach from rulers than Paul did in order to follow Jesus and live His teachings, and preach the Gospel as commanded. At its most horrific, this verse insinuates that even Hitler was ordained of God. At the least, it is used by Christians to silence themselves and others when they are persecuted for spreading the Gospel. The only way men can resolve these verses with the rest of Paul's teachings is to teach that men do not have free will, rather God makes our choices for us and our lives our "predestined" by Him. Poppycock! Know that God does not break His own commandments - He does not kill, for example, or Jesus would have defended Himself and His apostles from the Romans. Hard to believe, right? But it's true, and it is clear from the Spiritual Words God has recorded in the Bible along with the words of men who searched for Him and blamed Him for evil. If you follow the Law He has written in your heart, you will find His wonderful Truth for us in the Bible today. You can also safely read anything else in your search for Him - even the Qur'an will show you Jesus as the recipient of all of God's power as shown in Matthew 28:18. We have many errors taught by churches to overcome. Churches need the help of those who can see and are seeking God today. Click here to read about the importance of following Jesus only as you seek God in the Bible. Click here to read more about the Bible, and rightly dividing it to glean God's wonderful Truths therein.
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Christian Churches and teachers of the many, many denominations
teach the Bible, they tend to lay heavy burdens on themselves and you
in order to resolve all of the Bible contradictions to their own
teachings and doctrine. All denominations teach differently, and even
scholars and teachers within the denominations themselves seldom
agree consistently.