CAN'T A PERFECT GOD MAKE A PERFECTLY CLEAR BIBLE?

Critics have suggested the Bible cannot be the work of an all-knowing deity, since it's not always clear. The fact that people disagree on how to interpret Scripture is held up as proof that Scripture is fallible. In other words, skeptics claim a perfect God would make a book perfectly immune to misinterpretation. The mere existence of denominations, bible translations, and doctrinal debates is held up as evidence that the Bible is not what it claims to be.

Let's assume, for the sake of argument, I presented the world with a perfectly accurate, "crystal-clear" explanation of something important and controversial. Would every single person in the world understand, accept, and obey that, simply because it's "clear?" Of course not; people will still misinterpret and contradict it for all sorts of reasons:

• Some lack intellect or information.
• Some lack interest; they're apathetic or careless.
• Some don't like what it says and they'd rather it said something else.
• Some will deliberately lie about it for their own purposes.
• Some will be confused by people who misinterpreted the "crystal-clear" message for the above reasons.

The weak link in this process is not the Bible, it's us. Human beings are not infallible, so even an "omnipotent" God could never write a book that literally every person would automatically understand with perfect precision. "Imperfect" people by definition cannot "perfectly" understand. Likewise, in order for the Bible to never leave any possible question open, it would have to be infinitely long in order to explicitly cover all possible nuances of every situation.

Rather, what God did was give us a Bible that establishes the things we must know, in sufficient clarity that those crucial aspects can only be denied by those with deliberate intent. And He explicitly established a system of learning about that message which requires the involvement of other people who can help guide someone. And, all of that is meant to be done along with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

It's unavoidable that there will be room for the ignorant or hard-headed to misinterpret the Bible. And it's unavoidable that there will sometimes be issues for which there is no explicit instruction, only principles to be applied. The Christian concept of God, Scripture, morality, salvation, and discipleship takes all of that into account.

The same principles apply to Christian sects. Perfect people would have the same ideas all the time—but we're not perfect people. More importantly, honest examination shows most denominations are separated by preferences and not fundamental ideas. On most of those disagreements, and for most of those groups, other Christians simply consider them wrong on that point or points. They don't think of them as non-Christians. But when a group starts to cross "clear" lines, we see them more often labelled non-Christians, not members of a different sect.

Translations are necessary because there is no such thing as a simplistic one-to-one translation from one language to another. Language is also dynamic; the way people use words and grammar in any tongue changes over time. Different people have different needs or abilities, as well.

All in all, objecting to the Bible because we sometimes get it wrong is irrational. There's a reason Scripture warns us against useless arguments (Romans 14:1–4; Titus 3:9), and commands us to be patient with each other (Colossians 3:12–13). Even on secondary issues, someone is right, and someone is wrong, but we might not fully know which is which until we arrive in eternity. That's not God's fault, or Scripture's fault. It's ours.