Can non-Christians truly understand the Bible? Why or why not?

That is in agreement with what the Bible states:

"We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:

"No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him"— but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:

"For who has known the mind of the Lord

that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ."

I Corinthians 2:6-16

to BrunoGio - So who are you arguing with? Me, or God?

It just proves my point, that you don't understand.

The Bible; It is written, those that come to the Lord must believe that He is Lord and a Rewarder of those that Diligently Seek Him; Therefore the Word of God would be a Sealed Book to a Self Proclaimed Atheist ;An Atheist might as well read the wall street Journal ;You are correct the Holy Spirit will reveal the Scripture to an Honest Person,But You have to ask God to open His Word to You or Me;------Someone who reads the Bible looking for Loopholes or to debate, isn"t on

the right approach; The Word of God is the Most Powerful Weapon in the House;Aim it at Satan and Speak what God"s Word Says;

No... The Bible is not intended for the non-believer to understand without the leading of God. If a non-believer comes to the Bible honestly seeking to understand God's Will then there will be some understanding as God alows... as for Christians who may claim to "fully" understand The Bible... They either are misunderstanding their own understanding... or they are lying and not truly of The Faith, just running a con...No one of The True Christian Faith would make such a claim anyway...It is more than a lifetime study, if one started from day one, let alone starting late in life... I did not come to God from any reading of The Bible. I did not even own a bible on the day of my Salvation. I did not start to read it, for study, untill after answering God's Call to me... and I do not expect to even finsh one reading of it even if I surpass the " average" life span..and I am near sixty now...and I have been of the Christian Faith just over 6yrs now.

I was going to say yes but then I decided on no. Yes everyone can understand the bible it has been translated into as many different languages as possible. Whether people are Christians or not; God is everywhere to help them understand the bible.

My understanding of the bible is not perfect. Can all Christians truly understand the bible? My answer would be no so from my point of view it would not be fair use the claim against non-Christians. Therefore the claim is not valid.

I would like to commend A2Z's response I learnt a lot from that.

Read PS. 14:1; 40:10; 53:1; 92:6. Also read Mathew 16,17. When i read the Bible, and find something that doesn't make sense, I stop and pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it takes quit awhile before I get an answer, but I do get one. Years ago I would read the Bible and it was just a story book. Then I had a life changing experience, accepted JESUS CHRIST as my personal savior, was baptized and received the Holy Spirit, and now the Bible makes sense to me.

Your reasoning has merit but it is also a sorry excuse!

We have ample time on Earth to study and learn the words of God/Jesus.

Truthfully, simple prayer is more important than any of the above.

Do you think mother Theresa had the time to study the bible, she was too busy always helping others.

She was a woman who wasted very little time speaking, she stated "one does not need to speak, actions make the other person aware".

When we can sit in an easy chair and read the bible we are truly blessed to have such leisure!

The natural mind cannot understand the Bible.

So yes, the Holy Spirit reveals the Truth.

Before I was born-again I tried to read the Bible and couldn't understand anything, now that I have the Holy Spirit I understand.

Muffie,

Boy are you off base. I am non-Christian and truly understand the entire Bible. I believe in the words of the Bible and its purpose. The Bible I believe in is what you refer to as the Old Testament. This is the only Testament. The New Testament is a nice account of the time in Judea around 2000 years ago. It was written down about 150-300 years after your messiah died. This New Testament is not the Bible and either is the Third Testament also known as the Koran. I am a believer, but not in your Holy Spirit.

The above statement I wrote is true. I am Jewish. The above statement is also bigoted and hateful, just as I find your question to be. I do not care if you want to worship the stump in your backyard. Why should you care what I believe? Everyone has the right to choose what and how they believe or in fact what they don't believe. I think I like my God better then your God. My God doesn't want me to convert the world, he just wants peace.

don't be silly. anyone can "read" the bible. as for understanding? that's harder to say...

a child of six can probably read the bible. but does that child understand it? maybe not.

emotionally, spiritually, some of us are very young...the message might be hidden from some people, regardless of how many times they've read it...Christian or non-Christian is irrelevant.

but the Christian will likely make a harder effort to understand...

Non-Christians have a better understanding because they are able to view it objectively. A Christian is taught to believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God and that there could not possibly be anything even remotely incorrect in it. No two Christians agree that the Bible means what it says how it says it. Modern science has proven that the Bible is not correct on many occasions. There is very little if anything in the Bible that is original and not found in other cultures and religions.

Anyone who says that a non-Christian has no knowledge whatsoever of the Bible and its contents is deceiving themselves. Many people have become non-Christians because of the Bible's inaccuracies and errors that as a Christian they wouldn't dare consider questioning.

Yes its what bible states that w/o the holy spirit to guide convict instruct they cannot understand w/o it!