This article had two parts. The first part addresses the idea about the Bible being like a finger pointing to the sunset, which is similar to a popular Zen Buddhist teaching that a finger pointing to the moon is not the moon. Part two is more information on Christian pastor and author Rob Reimer.
Part One: Is the Bible Like a Finger Pointing at the Sunset?
Why ask this question?
The illustration of the Bible being like a finger pointing at the sunset comes from a popular pastor, author and speaker who posted what seemed to be a profound thought on his Facebook page:
“I started reading the Bible on my own in junior high. By the time I was 16, I started reading it through every year. Later I learned to study Scripture, meditate on smaller portions of the Bible and I learned how to pray Scripture. Along the way I learned that the purpose of reading the Bible wasn’t to know the Bible, but to encounter and know God. It was like a finger pointing to the sunset; if I point to a sunset and you stare at my finger, you miss the whole point, you miss the glory of the sunset. The Bible is a finger pointing to God Himself; we don’t want to study the book and miss God and his glory.” Rob Reimer on his Facebook page, Nov. 28, 2025
Is it true that the Bible is like a finger pointing to the sunset?
There are at least two logical fallacies in this statement: a false analogy and a false dichotomy (false choice). A logical fallacy means the statement has inherent faults that render the claims untrue.
This part one is not a focus on Reimer, whom I address further down in part two. This section is about thinking through seemingly new ideas we are hearing more and more from popular preachers and others in the church. If you hear something that sounds new and profound, first think through it carefully, and if it’s untrue, you can unmask it to its bare deceptive bones. This is because all teachings not based on truth are like a house of cards, and can be toppled if the weak spot is found.
A False Analogy, and Why
The Scriptures are God’s revelation — God-breathed words that are “living and active” (Heb. 4:12). Although the Bible is in a book made up of physical materials produced by men, the words themselves are from God via the Holy Spirit.
A finger is part of creation, it is human. Or if one uses a stick to point at something, the stick is also part of creation. The finger and stick are therefore mere instruments used to direct attention to the sunset. However, God’s words are not part of creation, they come from an uncreated God.
There are at least four errors with this analogy:
(1) It tries to separate God from his words
(2) It implies that God’s words are part of creation, a mere instrument or tool
(3) It implies God’s words are secondary to God himself
(4) It suggests that God’s word, the Bible, obscures God’s glory
God’s words are who he is. His words do not go out via lungs and a mouth since he is spirit; they are who God is, and are therefore not part of a created world. God’s words cannot be of less value than any other aspect of God such as his mercy, love, patience, wisdom, self-sufficiency, or any other eternal attribute. You cannot pull things out of God apart from who he is; he is one. (This is the doctrine of the divine simplicity of God; see helpful video from Dr. James Dolezal).
The Bible does not just point to God the way a finger points to the sunset, the Bible is God’s revelation, “living and active.” The Holy Spirit works through God’s word, illuminating it for those in Christ, guiding those seeking to understand it, and transforming those born again in Christ who read it. The Bible reveals God’s glory and why he is worthy to be worshiped.
The Buddhist Story
The example of the finger pointing to the sun immediately reminded me of a famous Zen Buddhist story about the Buddha pointing to the moon and telling the student that looking at the finger misses the moon, because the student fixates on the finger and doesn’t see the moon. The moon in this story is not literal; it is a metaphor for what Buddhism views as the true nature of reality. Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism are geared toward realizing the true nature of reality since their views are that the phenomenal world is not actually substantive.
The Zen story is saying that the world we perceive is not real and only the moon (ultimate reality/Buddha nature/Buddha mind) is real. The story illustrates the idea that Buddhist teachings point to or lead to realization of true reality but are not part of it nor are ultimately real in and of themselves. (I spent many years reading Zen Buddhist writings and followed them as a New Ager, so I recognized the similarity of Reimer’s example with the Zen Buddhist story. (See Zen account below).
Since Contemplative teacher Ruth Haley Barton had a Buddhist mentor and includes some Buddhist parables in her book (without naming them as such), I had to wonder if perhaps Reimer has read or heard the Buddhist story from Barton, changing the moon in the story into a sunset.
A False Choice
In Reimer’s statement above, he writes:
Along the way I learned that the purpose of reading the Bible wasn’t to know the Bible, but to encounter and know God.
He is not defining “encounter,” but I would guess with 99 percent certainty that he means an experience. In truth, the purpose of the Bible is to know God and to learn who he is and what he has done, which is done by reading normally, with the mind, allowing the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Scriptures. So prayer before Bible reading and study is often recommended for that reason. But whether one has an encounter or not is irrelevant.
Reimer creates a false dichotomy (false choice) between reading the Bible or having an “encounter.” A false choice is offering two options as though they are the only two choices.
First, the Bible does not support the idea that one must have an “encounter” while reading Scripture. One often does have an encounter (experience), whether it be an insight, feeling closer to God, or one may experience Christ’s love or peace while reading the Scriptures. That could be called an encounter, but it happens as a natural result of reading and studying Scriptures in the normal manner.
True encounters or experiences are a result of the practices taught in Scripture: reading and learning God’s word; worship; fellowship with believers; and serving God and the church. If one tries to seek encounters outside of those practices, or through some other means (such as Contemplative practices or disciplines or other mystical means), the encounter cannot be authentic (i.e., from God).
The Example Fails: The Bible is not Obscuring God’s Glory
Reimer conveys the idea that the Bible can obscure God’s glory if one takes what he says to its conclusion. So can we stare at the finger (read/study the Bible) and miss the “glory of the sunset” (God)? Ironically, in the case of the Bible, it is the contrary. The glory of the sunset (God) comes as a result of looking at the finger (God’s word). The analogy of the finger with the Bible is not only false but is really the opposite because the Bible and God are connected in a supernatural way that the finger and the sunset are not.
Moreover, if the Bible is like a finger, then that demeans what the Bible is. In the story of a finger pointing at the sunset (or moon), the finger is insignificant compared to the sunset or moon. But in actuality, the Bible is God’s revelation. It is not just a means to something else but is God’s living words given by the Holy Spirit and through which the Holy Spirit works.
False dichotomies (along with other logical fallacies) are one of the specialties of unbiblical teachings: pitting head against heart; mind vs. feelings; thinking vs. experiences. This is sometimes couched in terms such as West vs. East (with the West always being inferior). This is very common in the New Age but has become increasingly common in the church (such as claiming Jesus was “Eastern;” the “Western church” is missing out on what the “Eastern church” has or what the mystics offer; “Western” is aligned with reason and logic which are viewed as inferior to feelings and experiences (i.e., mysticism). “Western” has become a pejorative to falsely indicate narrow or rigid views and emphasis on the intellect.
What is ignored with the pejorative “Western,” is that logic and reason are rooted in God’s character and taught in Scripture. Being made in the image of God means, in part, possessing the ability to reason, a trait not found in the animal world except in some cases on a very rudimentary level.
These false dichotomies are not supported in Scripture. The Bible speaks of the whole person (“heart” means the whole person – mind, will, soul, feelings). When Jesus said to love God with one’s heart, mind, soul, and strength, he meant to love God with all your being. He was not dividing the person into parts.
A Version of The Zen Story
Here is one version of the Zen Buddhist parable about pointing to the moon:
“The Buddha once said to imagine someone is trying to show you the moon by pointing at it.
The pointing finger is what guides you to the moon. Without the finger, you might not notice the moon.
But the pointing finger isn’t what matters most. It only matters because it helps you see the moon for yourself.
Which is why the Buddha also warned us not to mistake the finger for the moon.”
(Many sources say there is no evidence Buddha said this, and often the account gives a monk and not Buddha who makes this statement. But of course, nobody really knows what Buddha said since his teachings were not written down until about 29 AD (also, see Buddhist source). Nevertheless, whether Buddha said it or not, this is a popular story used to illustrate Zen Buddhist beliefs).
Part Two: A Closer Look at Rob Reimer
Despite his degrees (a Master’s of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary, and a Doctorate in Preaching from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary), Reimer teaches a bizarre mix of bad spiritual warfare(which this article does not address), what he calls “Soul Care,” and mystical practices.
Soul Care
Regarding “soul care,” Reimer has jumped on the same therapeutic bandwagon as Peter Scazzero, and teaches one must unearth garbage from the past “to heal deep wounds, break [so-called] generational sin patterns, and overcome fear, paving the way to true spiritual freedom.” In contrast to that claim is the fact that Christ has given all who trust in him full spiritual freedom from the past. One may need to work through past issues for healing, but growth in Christ is not apart from the Holy Spirit; efforts to do it alone or with man-made methods will fail or bring false but temporary relief.
This inward looking therapeutic approach not based on Scripture has infected the church very deeply.
Mysticism
Reimer advocates a variety of mystical practices from the Contemplative movement such as repeating words (mantras), Contemplative Prayer, Lectio Divina, Ignatian prayer, Imaginative Meditation, and others. Please see the embedded links for more information.
Misuse of Scripture
In this video, “Intimacy with God,” Reimer misuses Ephesians 1:17:
“…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.”
Reimer states that this means that just as we cannot know a person by reading about that person, we have to ask for revelation from God in order to know God. Reading about God in the Bible, asserts Reimer, is not what God is talking about in terms of knowing him; rather, God is talking about revelation beyond God’s word. There are three points about this claim:
First, that assertion is false.
Secondly, that is not what the verse states.
Thirdly, it is an attack on the sufficiency of Scripture.
God has given that revelation referred to in the passage already! What does Reimer think Scripture is for? The Holy Spirit works through Scripture and illuminates Scripture. Those in Christ come to know God through his revelation called the Bible. This is a pretty basic principle for all who believe the Bible is God’s word.
Speaking in the same video on Eph. 3:17-19, Reimer states this passage means God wants “encounters.” Reimer claims that:
“If we want to draw near to God, we have to have revelatory experiences.”
And
“You have to spend time with Jesus in a way that leads to an encounter.”
Just as in Reimer’s story about the finger pointing to the sunset, Reimer harps on encounters. Neither statement above is supported in God’s word and Reimer is blatantly twisting Scripture to suit his false understandings. By “encounters,” Reimer is talking about experiences with God. This is one reason he has fallen for contemplative mysticism and is trying to fit that idea into Scripture rather than reading the text for what it plainly teaches.
In the same video, Reimer describes Lectio Divina without using the term. He speaks of slowing down while reading Scripture and noticing a phrase or word that “leaps out” at you because it is God’s revelation. This is a technique of Lectio Divina.
Here is the issue: The Holy Spirit speaks through Scripture, yes, but not through a man-based method like Lectio Divina which does not respect the text. The Holy Spirit speaks through God’s word as one reads and studies Scripture in the normative, thinking fashion, and this involves regular Bible reading and study and/or pondering the text in context. Lectio Divina is reading without using the mind or taking the context into account. It treats the Bible like an esoteric book and offers private meanings in the words “that leap out at you.”
Power
Reimer teaches that the Gospel must be accompanied by signs of power (miracles) in order for people to believe. This is not the gospel. Romans 1:16-17 contradicts Reimer:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith.’”
The power is in the Gospel itself. Jesus performed miracles to demonstrate he was the Messiah and to fulfill prophecy. The apostles were given the power directly by Jesus to perform miracles to authenticate them as followers of the Messiah. This is why such miracles were called “signs.” The Bible does not teach that the gospel must be accompanied by signs.
To say that the Gospel is insufficient and one must perform miracles goes against God’s word.
More Information: Critiques of Reimer
“A Biblical Critique of Reimer’s Soul Care”
A Critique of Reimer’s Mysticism
A Critique of Reimer’s book, “Pathways to the King” on the Learn to Discern Granny blog