Not Just Inkblots: How the Bible Is (and Isn’t) Like a Rorschach Test

Tom Holland – the famous historian, once observed that drawing lessons from history is like interpreting a Rorschach card. Everyone sees something — but what they see usually says more about them than the ink blot.

Learning from history can be similar. History is messy and complex. We approach it with assumptions, needs, and worldviews. And so, often, what we find is what we bring.

Is the Bible like that?

In some ways, yes. None of us comes to Scripture neutral. We bring our personalities, theology, culture, and experience. Baptists find evidence of believers Baptism. Pentecostals notice the Spirit, evangelicals the Word. Even the “plain reading” of the text is read by a self, who interprets in the process of reading.

So yes — reading the Bible requires humility. Be aware you have preferences and blind spots. Let the text surprise us.

But the comparison ends there.

Rorschach cards are meant to be meaningless. They don’t say anything — they only reflect. But Scripture speaks – or better, God speaks through his Word. It testifies to a real and living God. It’s not a mirror of ourselves — it’s a witness to something (and someone) beyond us.

Umberto Eco helps here. He insisted that while texts can have various interpretations, not all interpretations are valid. Some readings can be falsified — tested against the structure, grammar, and trajectory of the text itself. He spoke of the “intention of the text”: not the author’s hidden mind, but the way a well-crafted text pushes back on poor readings.

The Bible resists distortion. It won’t let you turn it into just anything.

So we read with realism and reverence. We are aware our ‘self’ can get in the way of us access meaning perfectly — but we believe it’s there. The Bible has shape, coherence, a centre in Christ, and a direction toward the mission of God.

That’s why we need tools. History. Theology. Literary sensitivity. The Spirit. And one another.

Yes, we interpret. But we cannot just invent. Yes, we bring ourselves to the text. But the text is alive and active, and it reads us. God speaks, and we hear not just reflection, but revelation.