When the Bible Stops Making Sense
Why confusion isn’t a threat to faith — it’s often the beginning of it.
During Lent, we are invited to slow down with Scripture rather than rush past it. Not to force it into tidy conclusions, but to sit with it honestly.
Today’s reflection explores what happens when the Bible stops making sense, and why that might be the very place faith deepens.
Some parts of the Bible make perfect sense. Others leave you blinking at the page, thinking, “What on earth did I just read?”
Over the years, people have quietly asked me things like:
Why does God seem different from one book to the next?
What’s going on with all the violence?
What’s with the talking snake and donkey?
What on earth is happening in Revelation?
For a long time, I thought I was supposed to pretend the confusing bits didn’t bother me, so I glossed over them, smiled and nodded, before swiftly moving on to a passage in the gospels.
The thing is, though, the older I get, the more I realise something important:
If the Bible sometimes makes no sense to you, then you should be pleased, because you are reading it honestly.
