It is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament

“The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.” -- Soren Kierkegaard 

While I believe that there is a far too harsh view of Christian scholarship in Kierkegaard's comment, there is enough truth there that one should not be able to read it without experiencing a huge sense of discomfort. Are we to interpret Mathew 5,6 or are we to live those chapters? Feed the poor, forgive others, do not judge, love your enemies. These are commands not suggestions, and yet there are great disputes among Christians concerning these things, and many of the disputers provide reams of evidence to prove that Jesus did not mean what He said. Could it be so simple as to just read what was written and add nothing to the text?
Simplicity is too simple for most folks. We have a tendency to massage scripture to fit our own biases rather than to conform our thinking to scripture.
I fall victim to this as often as others. What can I do to relieve this defect in my thinking about scripture? Read the bible again and again, try not to isolate myself from the thoughts of those who do not think in lockstep with me, and pray for discernment. And finally, understand that many of these disputes will not be resolved in this world, and it may very well be that they won't even be important in the world to come. Seeking common ground with other believers about truly important stuff, like the Harvest, can be difficult but worth the effort.