The Bible isn't hard to understand. So why do so many people think that it is? There are several possible reasons for this. First, some people believe that only a 400-year-old English translation is a good translation despite the fact that English has changed over the centuries. The use of archaic terms, and words whose meanings have changed, interfere with understanding. This is easily cleared up by using any of several modern translations. Though the erasmus Bible app includes older historical translations, it also includes modern translations.
Second, in centuries past the Catholic church prevented translations in any language other than Latin, which most people couldn't read. Thus, people had to get their teaching from priests rather than directly from the Bible. This ingrained idea of the need for an "expert" to read and interpret the Bible for the masses still affects the mindset of some people.
Third, it is true that there are a handful of obscure verses whose meanings even experts cannot come to an agreement on. But these are neither common nor do any of them have anything to do with important doctrines. One can skip over them without affecting a clear understanding of the vast majority of the Bible.
Finally, it is common for people to read things into the scripture which aren't there or to take things out of context. With the resulting multitude of interpretations, it can appear as if the Bible is unclear. But if you read it as literal except where it clearly symbolic, most of these different interpretations vanish. Obviously, if you approach it as if it were entirely metaphorical, you can draw any meaning out of it that you want. Many people have done this. Things are much less confusing if you take it at face value.
None of this is to say that reading the Bible is easy. It is challenging because it challenges us with themes of sin, judgment, radical forgiveness, radical love, and so forth. Sinful man doesn't want to be convicted of his sin or face the final judgment that comes to sinners. We don't want to forgive others. We don't want to love our enemies. We don't want to submit to the Lordship of Jesus. But none of these mean that the Bible is hard to understand. It is easy to understand. It is hard to live it out.
Of course, the Bible tells us about the omniscient, omnipresent, Almighty Creator, who exists outside of time and space. If you dig into it, you will find that it has depths to it that no man can fully fathom - just as no man can fully fathom our Creator God. So, the Bible is understandable on many levels. The simplest level gives us the essential information that we need to know: we are sinners, God is love, Jesus came to reconcile us to God so that we can live with Him forever, and how to live in the light of those things. That is available to all.
The Bible contains sections that are rather dry, such as the genealogies in the Old Testament. But those sections are there for reference - not for causual reading. They document that Jesus descended from Adam, through Noah, through Abraham, and King David, just as God promised. So, we'd recommend that people start with the New Testament (but don't completely neglect the Old Testament). You can use the Bible Reading Plan provided by erasmus to plan out a route to reading the New Testament (or entire Bible) over a given period of time.
And if you do come across something that is hard to understand (perhaps due to ancient cultural context), the erasmus Bible app comes with a library of reference books written by experts that can help explain things. Commentaries and Bible Encyclopedias, written by learned men, can help answer questions. And you don't need to worry about those answers coming from fringe groups, AI, or supposed online "experts". We have hand-picked works which can be relied upon. In fact, these resources can deepen your understanding even in passages that are not hard to understand.
