Difficult Scriptures

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Though most of the Bible is easily understood, some verses are difficult. Some may be difficult for the reader, while some may be difficult to explain to others. Various sections consider questions about Death, God, Atonement, Christian Living, and three sections considering things to happen from now until the eternal Kingdom of God. Some examples of each section are:

(1) Unwise punctuation unintentionally makes it seem as though Jesus was promising to take the thief with him to a paradise in hell (Luke 23:43).

(2) Misunderstanding of common words can make it appear that God creates sin, even though He cannot sin (Isaiah 45:8). Or that God repented of a sin (Genesis 6:7)

(3) Overlooking the John 19:20 context can make it appear that the Gospels gave three or four conflicting versions of the superscriptions on the cross.

(4) Ignoring time features in God’s plan can make election and free grace seem contradictory.

(5) How the invisible can be clearly seen is discussed for Revelation 1:7.

(6) Differences in the ancient manuscripts can resolve a problem of the first resurrection looking like a non-resurrection (Revelation 20:5).

(7) Good Bible study can explain how Christian baptism will benefit the dead (1Corinthians 15:29).

(8) The Bible student may consider more than one plausible explanation without being dogmatic.

(9) A Scripture Index is appended for the scriptures addressed in the questions. Authors are also identified here.

Editor’s notes are added somewhat freely to consider additional possibilities or to add supplemental information.