Who should read the Bible?

Pascal makes the point that someone who spends only a few hours reading Scripture or talking to a priest is not a serious seeker of God and is arrogant to dismiss religion. I think he’s basically right. But we need a metric, a rule of thumb. How much Bible should you read before giving up?

First, let me say: leave the priest out of it. Leave the pastor out of it. Many preachers are frauds, and most of the rest are fools. They do it for a living, not for your edification. Organized religion is a business model, and the incentives are all wrong. But I do recommend reading the Bible – conditionally.

Secondly: the Bible is not easy to read. There are paraphrases, that claim to make it easier to read. Stay far away from these. They’re garbage. They dumb the material down, and they introduce distortions. No Living Bible. Likewise: no Bible studies in a church basement, no sermons, no classes, no commentaries, no Christian self help books. No shortcuts of any kind. Beware the Bridgman Point:

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Try any translation you like – so long as it’s an honest translation, not a paraphrase. Don’t look for something easy to read. This is difficult material, because it deals with difficult subject matter. It’s not supposed to be easy. Either read the Bible, or don’t. (People may tell you the King James is full of mistranslations and antiquated language. This is true, but it doesn’t matter. The problems are very minor. The hardest parts to understand are the most accurate.)

Now here’s the main point: the Bible may not be for you. If it isn’t for you, don’t read it. Don’t let anyone tell you that you should read it for your own good. Whoever tells you that doesn’t know you. Or it may be that at your current point in life, you’re not ready for the Bible. In which case, don’t try too hard to read it now. You’ll just misunderstand it all.

(I suspect that most bad theology and misguided religious movements come from people trying to interpret the Bible who aren’t up to the job.)

But how to know? By trying it a bit. Pascal says a few hours. I think you’ll probably know in one hour. That’s my standard for any reading material. If it exasperates me after an hour, I give it up. I don’t take this as a problem with the material, necessarily. It may be just that it’s fine for someone else, but not for me. Or it may be that I’m not ready for it yet.

If you can read the Bible for an hour and not be exasperated, then go on to read the whole thing. Yes, all of it. The Old Testament, the New Testament, perhaps some deuterocanonical books. Perhaps also the Gospel of Thomas (not as Gnostic as they say.) If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. This will take weeks of spare time. You won’t mind.

That’s the flip side of my main point: the Bible may be for you. If so, you’ll be glad you invested the time to read it cover-to-cover. And if I’m right, you’ll know in an hour.

If it exasperates you, just stop. To soldier through past this point is a waste of time, or worse. But consider: it may be that you’re just not ready for it yet. Make a mental note to try again later. If some major life change comes along, try it again. If twenty years have passed, try it again. Either of these things will make you a different person. The text is a constant, but the reader is a variable.

People aren’t all the same. I’m not talking in some trivial “diversity” sense. People are different at a fundamental level. The longer you live and the more you see, the more obvious this will become. I’m not sure anymore there’s such a thing as human nature. But spend an hour with the Bible and you might learn something about yourself that no one else can tell you.