"Often, I hear that the Bible is simple. Is it? Conservatives often use this maxim as an intellectual scapegoat. Wed this idea to the equally disturbing notion that the "Bible is all you need" (another fretful argument) and it culminates in a shallow intellectual tradition. Why proclaim that the Bible is simple when it says of itself that it is not?"
The Bible is simple, yet It is also incredibly complex. The book of John specifically has been described as profoundly simple yet simply profound. To ignore either part is to seriously limit our understanding of and our growth in the Scriptures.
How am I going to connect this entry with a blog all about literature? By noting that it is the authorship of the Bible that makes It these complimenting opposites. Because the Bible was written by God, It is complex, for It was written by an intelligent, infinite Being, and yet as simple to understand as the greatest literary Mind in the universe can make It.
Don't argue too heartily that the Bible is simple to the exclusion of Its being complex or complex to the exclusion of Its being simple. It is both, and that is why It appeals to the ignorant as well as the intellectual.
(Quote from The Rambling Prophet: Where are the Christian Intellectuals?)
