Some 15 years ago I wrote a piece on the perspicuity of Scripture. Some of you might ask: ‘The pers what?’ The term simply refers to the clarity of the Bible. It is the idea that a child can benefit greatly from reading it, although still acknowledging there are some hard-to-understand portions of it. As I wrote in that article:
The Christian doctrine of the perspicuity of Scripture simply refers to the belief that the Bible is clear in terms of its central message. One need not be a Scripture scholar or a Bible College professor to understand the basic message of the Bible.
But that is not quite the end of the story. Indeed, if it were, there would be no need for this article. Ironically, a discussion about the clarity of Scripture can result in a lack of clarity if one is not careful. Biblical balance is needed here.
Two extremes must be avoided in all this. Those who would insist that the Word of God is closed to the common man, and must be explained by certain elites, are mistaken. But so too are those who think the Bible is the world’s most transparent book, and one does not need any aid or assistance in how to understand and interpret it.
The doctrine of perspicuity simply offers a corrective balance here. The biblical position lies in between the two extremes: all believers can come directly to the Word, yet there is nonetheless a need for teachers to help educate us about its wonderful truths. https://billmuehlenberg.com/2010/12/01/on-the-perspicuity-of-scripture/
As I just said in a radio interview earlier this week, children can read the Bible, but the greatest minds will still need to dig hard and long to unearth all its riches. There is a place for scholars and experts and teachers and others to help us as we navigate this book of books. Simply saying we have the Holy Spirit so we need no one else is not how we should proceed here. As I also wrote in the above article:
The perspicuity of Scripture then means that we have joint activity taking place. God promises to guide us in his word, but we need to put some effort into it as well. In the same way, God promises to feed the birds, but the birds put a lot of work into it too. God promises to give us what we need, but Abraham and Jacob had to work hard at digging wells to get their water. The supernatural and the natural often go together.
John Stott said God chose human language to reveal himself in. “As a result, although Scripture is unlike all other books in being the word of God, it is also like all other books in being the words of men. Since it is unique because divine, we must study it like no other book, praying to the Holy Spirit for illumination. Since it is ordinary because human, we must study it like every other book, paying attention to the common rules of vocabulary, grammar and syntax.”
The truth is, Christ has gifted the church with teachers. This means that we are all in need of some teaching. There ARE tough texts and various biblical difficulties that we can all use some help with. As I said in another piece, if the Bible is so crystal clear, then why will we get a whole range of interpretations of passages such as these:
What is baptism for the dead? 1 Cor. 15:29
Should women teach? 1 Tim. 2:11-12
Who are the spirits in prison that were preached to? 1 Pet. 3:19
How do you explain the Trinity?
How can people make free choices if God knows the future in every detail?
Can God create a rock so big that even he can’t lift it?
I dare say that if just one of these passages were given to a group of twenty people, and they were told to go away and come back with the meaning, there may well be twenty different understandings and interpretations of the passage given. Being a spirit-filled Christian, in other words, is no guarantee that one will always interpret Scripture properly. The tools of theology help us as we approach God’s word. https://billmuehlenberg.com/2006/09/26/in-defence-of-theology/
And then it can seem that there are contradictions in the Bible. Critics and sceptics will claim for example that the four gospel accounts contradict each other when it comes to things like the resurrection accounts and the like. So how do we understand all these troubling and at times confusing passages?
Well, in addition to pastors and teachers offering help in sermons and so on, any solid biblical commentary will seek to deal with most of these problem texts. Either helpful background information will be shared, or other appropriate biblical texts will be discussed, etc. Or at times, the commentators will simply list the major interpretations of a problematic passage, giving the pros and cons of each one.
But there do exist a number of books that deal specifically with various Bible difficulties, hard sayings, supposed contradictions, and so on. Here are 10 volumes that have been of real use to the Christian in this regard:
Archer, Gleason, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties(Zondervan, 1982)
In some 475 pages the Old Testament scholar looks at hundreds of texts from almost all the biblical books. Most of the passages that have worried or confused believers over the centuries are found here, and capably dealt with. A solid volume.
DeHaan, M. R., 508 Answers to Bible Questions (Zondervan, 1952, 1973)
This is one of the earlier volumes that set out to explore puzzling texts. Given that it deals with so many passages in just 250 pages, the answers provided, while usually helpful, can sometimes be too brief and/or lacking in sufficient detail.
Geisler, Norman and Thomas Howe, When Critics Ask (Baker, 1992)
The first of two works by Geisler, this one is subtitled, “A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties.” Coming in at over 600 pages, it is among the most thorough and detailed works available. In the hundreds of texts examined, supposed problems are stated and then possible solutions are offered. A very good and thorough work.
When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficultiesby Geisler, Norman L. (Author), Howe, Thomas (Author)
Geisler, Norman and Ron Brooks, When Skeptics Ask (Baker, 1992)
This volume is more a work of apologetics, as the subtitle indicates: “A Handbook of Christian Evidences.” But it covers territory that many believers have troubles with, be it the problem of evil, why sin entered the world, what to make of miracles, how the Bible was written and put together, and so on. A very useful volume.
Harris, Murray, Navigating Tough Texts: A Guide to Problem Passages in the New Testament, vol. 1 (Lexham Press, 2020) Harris, Murray, Navigating Tough Texts: A Guide to Problem Passages in the New Testament, vol. 2 (Lexham Press, 2024)
These two books by Harris cover just New Testament problem passages. The first volume deals with 66 such texts while the second volume looks at 60 more. Totalling some 400 pages in total, if you just want to look at New Testament texts, this is a clear choice.
Kaiser, Walter, et. al., Hard Sayings of the Bible (IVP, 1996)
This is a collection of five previous books on hard sayings, totalling over 800 pages. The five had been two books by Kaiser on Old Testament texts, F. F. Bruce on the hard sayings of Jesus, Manfred Brauch on Pauline texts, and Peter Davids on other New Testament passages. New material has also been added to this single-volume work. An excellent resource.
Rhodes. Ron, Commonly Misunderstood Bible Verses: Clear Explanations for the DifficultPassages (Harvest House, 2008)
The author does a good job of going through numerous Bible difficulties, from Genesis to Revelation. Looking at texts from just about every book of the Bible, he covers a lot of ground and offers brief but solid answers to many troubling texts.
As stated in the title, many hundreds of tough texts are covered here in just under 400 pages. They are all capably, but somewhat briefly, dealt with. Helpful answers are found throughout.
Sproul, R. C., Hard Sayings: Understanding Difficult Passages of Scripture (Ligonier Ministries, 2023)
In this slim posthumously published volume 27 tough texts are carefully dealt with. Topics include: the sons of God in Genesis, holy war, the unpardonable sin, vessels prepared for destruction, head coverings, and the man of lawlessness. Sproul, as always, does a great job in dealing with the various biblical passages.
There are of course other books like this around. One older classic is Alleged Discrepancies of the Biblewritten by John Haley back in 1874. The volume is still available, and it comes to around 450 pages. In addition, many more books that are more apologetic in nature do exist, such as the second Geisler book above, dealing with various objections and criticisms to various biblical teachings and texts.
As to my preferences concerning the ten books I described, the comments made above sort of make that clear. But if you want solid and detailed accounts of many passages from both Testaments, your best bets are these: the first work by Geisler and the volume by Kaiser. But all of them are of some value and help.
4 Replies to “Tough Texts and Biblical Difficulties”
I came across a popular list of Bible “contradictions” which I have seen crop up on the Internet from time to time. I knew nothing about these the first time. Should teachers not prepare us for this kind of thing?
Thanks John. Any good teacher, pastor, or commentator SHOULD deal with those matters, and many of them do.
Tough texts? Nah! Easy peasy.
I’ll only address the least controversial one so as to not solicit the other nineteen views.
Of course God cannot create a rock that He cannot move because He, Himself is the Rock which cannot be moved.
I came across a popular list of Bible “contradictions” which I have seen crop up on the Internet from time to time. I knew nothing about these the first time. Should teachers not prepare us for this kind of thing?
Thanks John. Any good teacher, pastor, or commentator SHOULD deal with those matters, and many of them do.
Tough texts? Nah! Easy peasy.
I’ll only address the least controversial one so as to not solicit the other nineteen views.
Of course God cannot create a rock that He cannot move because He, Himself is the Rock which cannot be moved.
That last one was not so such a biblical difficulty as a theological/philosophical problem. And the answer to it is found here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2016/01/05/the-omnipotence-of-god/