“If Scripture is from God, why does it sometimes sound unbelievable?”

This question does not come from disbelief—it comes from honesty. People are not rejecting Scripture when they ask this; they are noticing a mismatch between what they are told the Word is and how it often sounds. Stories feel exaggerated. Images feel archaic. Descriptions of God can seem inconsistent with love, reason, or lived experience. The tension is real, and pretending otherwise only deepens the problem.

The difficulty arises when Scripture is treated as though it were written to describe spiritual realities in the same way we describe physical ones. But the Word does not speak that way. It uses the language of time, space, conflict, and image because that is the only way spiritual realities can be received by the natural mind. These forms are not the meaning—they are the vessel.

Scripture – Spiritual Ideas

In New Christian thought, Scripture is written entirely by correspondence. This means that physical images carry spiritual ideas, and dramatic narratives express inner states of mind. When those images are read as literal facts rather than representative forms, they inevitably begin to sound unbelievable—not because they are false, but because they were never meant to stand alone.

This is why Scripture can feel powerful at one stage of life and impossible at another. As understanding grows, the mind naturally asks for coherence. The problem is not that Scripture has failed, but that the way it is being read has reached its limit. The literal sense protects the Word, but it is not its destination.

When the Word Speaks Again

The teaching of the New Church addresses this directly by explaining that the Word was always written with depth beyond its surface. What sounds unbelievable when taken as description becomes meaningful when understood as revelation—revealing not events in the sky, but movements of love and truth within the human mind. In this light, Scripture does not lose its authority; it gains intelligibility. The question then shifts from “Can I believe this literally?” to “What state of life and thought is this describing?”—and suddenly the Word begins to speak again.

If you have questions about stories in scripture and you are drawn to delve into the deeper meaning, feel free to reach out to me at info@carmelnewchurch.org