Am I reading the Bible without error?

 

Am I reading the Bible without error?

 

(To begin)

Why do believers read the Bible? The answer to this is likely to seek salvation. Therefore, they realize that their perspective on the Bible is truly important. Many churches today hold the view that the world was originally a perfect creation, but it became this way because Adam misused the free will God gave him.

They explain that God created a perfect world and intended to dwell forever with Adam and Eve, who offered Him praise, worship, and adoration starting from the Garden of Eden, while He communed with them. However, because Adam and Eve misused their free will and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, this vision was broken, and God had no choice but to destroy the world. Consequently, they believe that God's people perform good deeds with a good heart, aiming to change the world and, furthermore, transform the evil world into the Kingdom of God.

However, believers must realize that the world is not something that good people can change through their own efforts; only then will their mindset regarding the Bible change. The most important thing will not be efforts to improve how believers live, but rather realizing that they are beings in sin while living in the world, repenting, and turning to God.

This is not a task one can accomplish on one's own, but one that must be accomplished in Christ. In other words, it begins with realizing the meaning of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. From this perspective, one must first survey the entire Bible regarding Christ and study the Scriptures.

While learning and studying the Old Testament, I was shocked to discover that the translation of *Bereishit*—the theme of Genesis—as "in the beginning" was incorrect. Consequently, I attempted extensive research on *Bereishit* through Hebrew dictionaries and the overall context. As a result, I came to realize that *Bereishit* represents Christ, and is the theme of Genesis, the Old Testament, and ultimately the entire Bible.

The thought that a single word could shake the entire meaning struck me as terrifying. Convinced that the entire Old Testament is a story about Christ, and with Jesus’ testimony regarding the Old Testament in the Gospel of John resonating more clearly, I exerted great effort with the resolve to study the Old and New Testaments in conjunction. As a result, the New Testament came to be accepted as merely an explanation of the meaning of the Old Testament, while the Old Testament was accepted as a foreshadowing of the contents of the New Testament.

It was discovered that all biblical teachings focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross. Therefore, although they are expressed in various ways—as mythical stories, poetic literary works, 3D movies, or fantastic novels—one can realize that their intentions are all heading in the same direction.

When reading the Bible, it is extremely important to read with a proper flow and to consider the author's intention and the message conveyed through the words. Otherwise, one might simply view it as a historical narrative of Israel, love stories, war stories, healing stories, or stories of spiritual life and death, leading to a direction of learning lessons to live a diligent life of faith, making it difficult to grasp the true intention within the Bible.

The current state in which the Bible struggles to properly convey the truth can be broadly categorized into several factors. The first is that people are not reading the Bible while envisioning a comprehensive picture of salvation. The second point is that believers are not reading the Bible while connecting the Old and New Testaments. When reading the Old Testament, one should consider the nature of future prophecies and how those prophecies were fulfilled in the New Testament; however, since most believers fail to do so, it feels as if a veil is placed over the text until that picture is revealed.

If the connection between the Old and New Testaments is not considered, the Bible becomes a collection of the Old and New Testaments. Therefore, before delving into the various issues of the New Testament, one must examine what reveals Christ within the Old Testament.

Third, there is the disharmony between the Bible and doctrine. The history of the Bible being widely distributed and read by believers is not long. Consequently, doctrines emerged, and various doctrines have been grouped together and systematized under the name of "systematic theology," which is currently studied at theological universities.

Once, I was having a conversation about the Bible and doctrine with a pastor from a church I used to attend, and I had doubts regarding the doctrine of original sin. This doctrine states that all people in the world became sinners because of Adam. However, while the Bible clearly states that Jesus is without sin, there was one thing that raised a question in my mind.

I asked how it could be explained that Jesus, born of a sinner like Mary, was without sin, given that according to the doctrine of original sin, Jesus' mother would have also been a sinner. The pastor who was continuing the conversation with me at that time cut me off midway because it was shaking the very foundation of doctrine.

It is likely not the sin of the doctrine of original sin, but the body of sin. Here, not only doctrine but also translation issues play a role. Since then, I have come to realize that what can shake the essence of the Bible is not just doctrine, but translation issues that exert influence and affect the biblical interpretation perspectives of pastors who preach the Scriptures.

The fourth factor is translation issues and erroneous sermons. When reading the Bible as a whole, parts that are not smooth frequently appear. However, when this state persists, I would initially dismiss it as a translation issue and set it aside, only to skim through it by comparing it with an English translation. Then, thinking it was necessary to compare it with the original languages ​​of the Bible, Hebrew or Greek, I began to study and came to realize that doctrinal contradictions regarding the Bible, errors in original language translations, and the arbitrary interpretations of pastors are collectively playing a role in blocking the truth of the Bible.

If the Word of the Bible loses the trust of believers, it becomes difficult to restore. If left unchecked without diagnosing what causes this, the Bible and the church that proclaims it will lose their true nature.

To summarize, these include disconnected interpretations of the Old and New Testaments, contradictions between doctrine and Scripture, a lack of understanding of symbols and parables within the Bible, differences in perspectives on biblical interpretation, pastors preaching differently within the overall context, and inconsistencies between translation and content.

Due to these various causes, believers have come to feel that they are not reading the Bible properly. It is crucial that the Bible aligns with the purpose for which believers read it. Otherwise, it ends up becoming a Bible unrelated to salvation. To prevent this, the aim was to uncover the various factors that create misunderstandings and erroneous perceptions of the Bible among believers. I would like to state that I wrote this with the hope that it will serve a beneficial purpose for believers in engaging with the Bible and that it will enhance their correct understanding of the Scriptures.

 

 

                2026 . 8

 

Global Mission Committee