Why Is the Bible Sometimes Confusing?

Anybody who has ever read the Bible has struggled with parts that have confused them. This should not surprise us, but rather we should expect it for a number of reasons. But before we look at these, we should note that Christians also believe in what has been called the clarity of Scripture. 

This means that the most important concepts in Scripture are clear and understandable to those who read it in dependence upon God and who humbly desire to understand it, believe it, and follow it. Psalm 19:7 says, “The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple” (see also Psalm 119:130). So even though there may be some things in Scripture that are confusing, the parts that are vital to understand can be readily understood by God’s design.

The first reason the Bible can sometimes be confusing is because it is the record of God’s thoughts and ways. As we read it, we are trying to better understand God himself. The problem is that our finite human minds are ultimately unable to understand the infinite thoughts and ways of God. 

God himself says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.… As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9). This is further complicated by God’s holiness and perfection, especially as we compare it to the sinfulness of our human minds. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” 

The Old Testament concept of the heart includes the immaterial things that are going on within us—thoughts, attitudes, motives, desires. Scripture is clear that sin has twisted and distorted the human mind. So this, too, greatly complicates our understanding of the things of God found in his Word. This should make us humble as we come to the Bible, leading us to depend on God himself for the help we need to overcome these handicaps.

Another reason related to this, but in itself hard to understand, is that God intended his Word to be confusing to those who did not want to know and believe it in the first place. Jesus told his disciples that he often spoke in parables or stories to both reveal and conceal the truth. 

He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand’ ” (Matthew 13:11–13, quoting from Jeremiah 5:21). 

He goes on to quote from Isaiah 6:9–10. Therefore, this principle was also in effect in the Old Testament through God’s messengers, the prophets. The point is that there are things God wants to reveal only to those who already believe in him and are sincerely looking for truth. But for those who are not, parts of the Bible are divinely intended to be confusing. Paul puts it this way: “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:14). 

The very important implication is this: To understand the Bible, one must have faith in God and a genuine desire to understand what God has revealed. God will reward this by opening our eyes with the gift of understanding.

A third reason the Bible may be confusing is because life itself is complicated and confusing. A part of what God provides for us through the Bible is an explanation of the world around us and life as we experience it as well as solutions to the many problems found in the world and life. 

We live in a complicated world to begin with (for example, do you understand string theory?) and sin has made it even more complicated. All of this makes for challenging depictions of the nature of reality and complex solutions to the problems created by sin. The ultimate solution to these problems is Christ and his death and resurrection, but even the Bible acknowledges that this is foolishness to unbelievers (1 Corinthians 1:18). Again, the answer is to believe: “God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21).

A fourth reason the Bible is confusing is because even though God intended it for all people of all times and places, it was originally written to certain peoples in certain cultural settings in certain historical periods. The Old Testament contains many references to farming, animals, crops, and plants that the intended audience would understand through personal experience, but for twenty-first-century city-dwellers, these references are puzzling. 

The New Testament epistles contain references to master-slave relationships (e.g., Ephesians 6:5–9) and “food sacrificed to idols” (1 Corinthians 8:1). These address common situations in the Roman Empire in the first century AD, but again, are baffling to the modern reader. So our challenge today is to try to crawl into the minds and experiences of the original audience so that we can understand Scripture the way they would have understood it. Only then can we better understand how it applies to us thousands of years later (and it does!).

Another possible reason for the Bible being sometimes hard to understand is that this is a God-intended means of continually drawing us back to Scripture in order to wrestle with it. Think about it: If God were easy to understand, he would not be worth worshiping; if God’s Word were easy to understand, it would not be worth studying. 

How often are we drawn back to children’s books to read and reread them so that we can understand them better and benefit from their great wisdom? There are riches to be found in the Word of God. And as is true of most kinds of riches, they are not obtained easily, but they are worth the hard work. David said that the law, statutes, precepts, and commands of God “are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward” (Psalm 19:7–11). If we long for the greatest kinds of riches—those that come from God—we will continually be engaged with Scripture, despite the challenges and hard work that entails.

All of these reasons should motivate us not only to read but also to study the Bible. God is an infinite and holy God, and we are challenged to understand him with finite and fallen minds. The Bible discusses difficult problems and presents difficult solutions, and we are challenged to comprehend both. The Bible was written to people long ago in very different settings, and we are challenged to understand things now that they understood intuitively then. How can we do that? That is the topic of chapter 32.


Aaron, D. (2012). Understanding Your Bible in 15 Minutes a Day (pp. 139–142). Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publisher.