Understanding what God would have us know from the Bible
is made difficult by many factors:
The Bible contains some very ancient books;
Sometimes it is not even known who the author of a book
 really was;
Not knowing for certain who an author was is complicated
by the period of time in which an author lived;
Since many authors were ancient Semites, their way of
thinking and manner of expressing themselves
differ from our own;
Since we do not possess any original manuscripts of the
books of the Bible, we have to contend with copying
and editing which occurred over time;
Then the issue of the multiplicity of human authors and
editors complicates our understanding;
Finally, the fact of both a divine and a human author makes
understanding a challenge.