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Tom said:

Actually I think you are wrong about the non-elect not being able to understand many parts of the Bible.
Some of the most knowledgeable people of the Bible I have ever met were non-Christians.

Tom,

As Ruth pointed out, I wasn't speaking of just a general head knowledge of the Bible, but a true understanding in the heart. I still maintain that this true understanding of what the Bible teaches is not possible by an unregenerate person. 1 Corinthians 2 has a lot to say about this. I do agree with you that the unregenerate are unwilling to believe what the Bible teaches due to the corruption of their nature, but one of the reasons they are unwilling to accept the truth is because the truth is "foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised" (1 Cor. 2:14). I agree that some non-Christians are extremely knowledgeable about the Bible, even more so than I am. Some of them can probably explain the doctrines of the Bible quite well, but at a heart level, they truly don't understand them. I think that even the newest Christian with only a little bit of knowledge about the Bible, at a heart-level, understands the true meaning of the doctrines of the Bible more than someone who has studied it all their lives but is still not a Christian. From the outside, if you were to talk to the two of them, it may not seem like the Christian understands more than the non-Christian, but I still believe that is the case.

John