Can Every Believer Understand Scripture Equally?

Is Scripture accessible?

It is as accessible as any other piece of ancient literature—we can understand it, if we work at it. It is accessible, but some people can understand what they read better than others. It is accessible, if one is literate, both in eye and in mind. This means that not everyone, in reality, has direct access to it. Not everyone can read, for one thing. And not everyone, even if they can read, can read well enough to understand all the words of the translators. And not everyone, even if they understand the words, can sift through the cultural differences to the principles of God’s word that can be applied to our culture today. Therefore, the simple reading and understanding of Scripture is not for everyone. Some people are dependent on others whom God has given the additional gift of interpretation.

Thus, it is arrogant to assume that everyone can be an interpreter of Scripture. Some have the gift, some do not. How this gift is determined is hard to say. But I will say this—many popular “interpreters” of Scripture are not interpreters at all, but re-writers. They are not interested in delving into Scripture to dig out the treasure that is discovered there. Rather, the “precious stones” they discover have the faux shine of the ideals of this world. They are filled with the judgments, prejudices, fears and assumptions of our own culture. To a certain degree, this is understandable. But when an interpreter only tells people what they want to hear, is “praised by all”, and does not hope in God’s deliverance, but in a deliverance from man, then such an interpreter must be avoided. To claim to be speaking God’s word when it only a re-packaged hope of one’s contemporary culture is the worst of all lies.