---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When one reads Bibles, one is less…"
description: "\"When one reads Bibles, one is less surprised at what the Deity knows than at what He doesn't know.\" — Mark Twain"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/mark-twain-22_atheism_when-one-reads-bibles-one-is-less-surpri_767566.png"
---

#  When one reads Bibles, one is less surprised at what the…

![“When one reads Bibles, one is less surprised at what the Deity knows than at what He doesn't know.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/mark-twain-22_atheism_when-one-reads-bibles-one-is-less-surpri_767566.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/mark-twain-22_atheism_when-one-reads-bibles-one-is-less-surpri_767566.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/mark-twain-22_atheism_when-one-reads-bibles-one-is-less-surpri_767566.png)

> “When one reads Bibles, one is less surprised at what the Deity knows than at what He doesn't know.”

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Reading the Bible surprises more about divine ignorance than divine knowledge.

**In simple terms:** Bible reading reveals what God may not know.

Key Takeaway

Question assumptions about divine omniscience.

Themes

faith literature philosophy

Mood

thoughtful skeptical

Type

philosophical literary

When to use this quote

- Bible study groups
- philosophical debates
- personal reflection

Key Concepts

Theology biblical criticism

Questions to Reflect On

- What does this suggest about human understanding of the divine?
- How do you reconcile faith with doubt?

A Different Perspective

Interpretations vary; not all agree on divine limits.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bible/) [Bibles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bibles/) [Deities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deities/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/)

## Related quotes

> [The two Testaments are interesting, each in its own way. The Old one gives us a picture of these people's Deity as he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-two-testaments-are-interesting-each-in-its-own-way-the-old-one/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [There was never a century nor a country that was short of experts who knew the Deity's mind and were willing to reveal it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-was-never-a-century-nor-a-country-that-was-short-of-experts-who/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“There is one notable thing about our Christianity: bad, bloody, merciless, money-grabbing, and predatory. The invention of hell measured by our Christianity of today,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-one-notable-thing-about-our-christianity-bad-bloody/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [Indeed, none but the Deity can tell what is good luck and what is bad before the returns are all in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/indeed-none-but-the-deity-can-tell-what-is-good-luck-and-what-is-bad/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [I don't speak German well but several experts have assured me that I write it like an angel. Maybe so, maybe so- I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-don-t-speak-german-well-but-several-experts-have-assured-me-that-i/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [Solomon, who was one of the Deity's favorites, had a copulation cabinet composed of seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. To save his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/solomon-who-was-one-of-the-deity-s-favorites-had-a-copulation-cabinet/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [If only more Christians read their bibles there'd be less Christians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-clayton/if-only-more-christians-read-their-bibles-there-d-be-less-christians/)

Derek Clayton

> [Break all the TVs, burn all the Bibles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/break-all-the-tvs-burn-all-the-bibles/)

[John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/)

> [“ My Cuddle Time Bible Story Book Sleeping with Jesus Baby Bibles: Tall Tales for Tiny tots Everybody Poops (Except God)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/my-cuddle-time-bible-story-book-sleeping-with-jesus-baby-bibles-tall/)

[Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/)

> [Priests clutched onto bibles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coldplay/priests-clutched-onto-bibles/)

[Coldplay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coldplay/)

> [The guys I work out with used to have a thing where if we didn't read our Bibles for 10 minutes a day we'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-froning-jr/the-guys-i-work-out-with-used-to-have-a-thing-where-if-we-didn-t-read/)

[Rich Froning Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-froning-jr/)

> [Let us read our Bibles reverently and diligently, with an honest determination to believe and practice all we find in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/let-us-read-our-bibles-reverently-and-diligently-with-an-honest/)

[J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/)

> [Never be afraid of your Bibles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/never-be-afraid-of-your-bibles/)

[Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/)

> [Bibles laid open, millions of surprises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/bibles-laid-open-millions-of-surprises/)

[George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/)

> [“That one over this is the one for the use of the white people,” Judge Amistead Jones said. “Not that I am a stickler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/that-one-over-this-is-the-one-for-the-use-of-the-white-people-judge/)

[Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/)

## More by Mark Twain

> [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

[Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

## More Atheism quotes

> [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/)

[Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/)

> [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/)

[Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/)

> [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/)

[Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/)

> [No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/no-philosophy-no-religion-has-ever-brought-so-glad-a-message-to-the/)

[Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/)

> [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/)

[John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/)

> [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

> [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/)

[Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/)

> [God speaks through me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/god-speaks-through-me/)

[George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/)

> [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/)

[Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/)

> [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/)

[Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/)

> [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/)

[Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/)

> [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/)

[Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/)

> [Do you think that was kind? Do you think it was godlike? What would you think of a physician, if a woman came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-h-gardener/do-you-think-that-was-kind-do-you-think-it-was-godlike-what-would-you/)

[Helen H. Gardener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-h-gardener/)

> [Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as by disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/science-can-destroy-religion-by-ignoring-it-as-well-as-by-disproving/)

[Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/)

> [Honest investigation is utterly impossible within the pale of any church, for the reason, that if you think the church is right you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/honest-investigation-is-utterly-impossible-within-the-pale-of-any/)

[Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/)

[Browse all 4,769 Atheism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "When one reads Bibles, one is less surprised at what the Deity knows than at what He doesn't know.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Mark Twain"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/when-one-reads-bibles-one-is-less-surprised-at-what-the-deity-knows/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Atheism"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/when-one-reads-bibles-one-is-less-surprised-at-what-the-deity-knows/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/mark-twain-22_atheism_when-one-reads-bibles-one-is-less-surpri_767566.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/mark-twain-22_atheism_when-one-reads-bibles-one-is-less-surpri_767566.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/mark-twain-22_atheism_when-one-reads-bibles-one-is-less-surpri_767566.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“When one reads Bibles, one is less surprised at what the Deity knows than at what He doesn't know.” — Mark Twain",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Mark Twain",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "When one reads Bibles, one is...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/when-one-reads-bibles-one-is-less-surprised-at-what-the-deity-knows/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/when-one-reads-bibles-one-is-less-surprised-at-what-the-deity-knows/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
