Why is the Bible so long and complicated?

About this episode

Dan and guest Jon Davies discuss the complexity and length of the Bible and its implications for faith and community.

We start a new series for 2026 addressing problems people have with the Bible, for newcomers, the curious, and those whose faith has been challenged. Dan and guest Jon Davies begin by asking why God’s message comes in the form of such a long, and sometimes complicated collection of texts. They talk through examples from poetry, law, prophecy, including Revelation’s vivid imagery and suggest that all this complexity has deliberate benefits. It provokes reflection in the context of real life, encourages community reading while avoiding coercion or legalism. While the Bible is complex, they also stress that the core gospel about Jesus is actually really simple.

People in this episode

Host: Dan

Guest: Jon Davies

Topics covered

• Bible complexity
• faith challenges
• community reading
• gospel simplicity
• poetry
• law
• prophecy

Keywords

• Bible
• complexity
• faith
• gospel
• community
• poetry
• law
• prophecy
• Revelation

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Revelation

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