Why would anyone want to put together yet another Bible commentary? After all, there already are so many of them, most from Bible historians and experts far more qualified than the likes of me could ever aspire to.

The answer, surprisingly, is just as simple: because I can and because I should.

The majority of Christian believers are more than content to go and warm a pew or chair and be preached to. They’re content with being told what they should and should not believe, what they can do and not do, what activities they should and should not participate in. This deference of personal responsibility has been the way of Christians for centuries as church and religious leaders insisted that the general populace simply could not be trusted to understand God’s Word correctly. And this in spite of the fact that the Bible itself has managed to infiltrate nearly every home, hovel, and hotel since the dawn of the printing press.

For the most part, people seem to believe that they cannot understand the Bible on their own. For them, it seems just too easy, and thus too far-fetched. And rather than make a determine effort to do just that: study the Bible and try to grasp its contents, they defer to self-proclaimed experts, church leaders, and religious hierarchies. That way, the work is done for them and they just have to comply. And if they are faced with something they don’t agree with or don’t like, they change churches or religious affiliations until they find another one more to their liking and comfort level.

It is a tragic statement to Christianity that the vast majority of believing individuals believe on the basis of what someone else told them they should believe rather than on establishing those Truths independently through study and research.

Of course, churches and religious groups and organizations like to argue that if everyone studied the Bible for themselves, everyone would believe differently from everyone else and chaos would ensue. But what seems to escape the notice of most Christians who buy into this age-old deception is that it is an argument borne of self-interest. In other words, the religious leaders argue this because they’d be “out of a job” if people did study the Bible for themselves, independently. Suddenly, everyone would have direct access to their Creator and Heavenly Father, without having to go through mortal men first. Suddenly, everyone would have direct access to their Saviour and King, Jesus the Christ, without having to go through those same mortal men acting as “intercessors,” “spokesmen,” and “mediators.”

What, then, about the argument that if everyone studied the Bible by themselves, then there would be as many different beliefs as there are believers? That everyone would believe someone different from everyone else.

First, is the alternative any better? Have and insist that everyone believe the exact same things about the Bible as the church’s or group’s leader does as a condition to being approved before God? Before the congregation itself? What about when (not if, but when) the leader or leaders of the church or group is found to be in error? It stands to reason that there is a calculable risk that the person discovering the error will end up being ostracized or even cut off from association because they brought attention to the error and did not wait on God to enlighten the church or group’s leaders first. Sadly, this is the case in several Christian groups even today. And it’s always been a part of the long, sad history of Christianity for as far back as Christianity has existed. Strangely, emphasis is placed more on uniformity of beliefs as determined by leadership to portray unity than unity of purpose and direction. When this happens, no longer is God’s holy spirit entrusted with congregational harmony and love; rather, it is through the institution of enforceable rules and belief system as determined by the religion’s leaders.

Another argument, primarily raised by Christian groups who place a high emphasis on unity through beliefs as determined by its leadership, is that there can, after all, only be one true religion. They then are only too eager to show others a list of carefully-selected beliefs that they hold, replete with Bible proofs. These are usually selected so as to at the same time demonstrate the failure of any other Christian groups in holding to said beliefs—since “they” don’t believe or practice these things and “we” do, that proves that “we” are the one “true” religion. At least that’s how the argument goes. I’ll be talking more about that in a separate entry.

Second, the Christian arrangement is self-governing. It does not require a lone leader or group or committee of leaders to enforce rules and beliefs. When it does, then something is wrong. The Christian arrangement was never intended to centralize authority to a single man or group of men. That was its sheer brilliance, after all: to dispense with that sort of arrangement and bring every man, woman, and child into a direct, personal relationship with their Heavenly Father. Until the Day when that is a reality, we have a single intercessor: Jesus the Christ, who acts as High Priest, King, and Judge. This, too, I will be addressing in a separate entry.

Third, we are all expected to not only know what we personally believe, but why we believe it. We should be able to explain it to others, and then be willing to listen to others who, in turn, explain their reasons for believing to us. By doing so, we sharpen one another and refine one another in a way that is in keeping with the entire purpose of Christianity. As such, this Commentary is strictly for my own sake. It is a public declaration of what I know, what I believe, and the reasons thereof. It is not meant to be and cannot be the final word. In fact, it is my utmost conviction that every believer should go through the Christian Bible, personally, and make a written commentary of their own. The majority of Christians would, I am very certain, be surprised at what they find compared to what they believe, and likewise, how little they know about the Bible and the record therein. In turn, doing so will ignite a desire within every person doing so to want to know more, to better understand. Further, they’ll feel an inexplicable compulsion to talk to others, with others, in a way that perhaps they never have. This is the power behind the Bible.

And it is a good thing.