Why do people call the bible the "Word" of God. The Word of God is Christ. The Bible is a collection of many books writen by men inspired by God. Confusion runs rampant in God's ecclesia.
Sword...at the risk of causing unintended contention I again feel the need to respond to your comments as well as those Brenda has shared. Although you have not provided the question mark at the end of your first statement, it does sound awfully similar to a question. Therefore, I will make a couple of general comments and then make an attempt to answer what I believe to be your question; namely, “Why do people call the bible the “Word” of God” (?)
For starters, with all due respect to her, I am certainly not in agreement with Brenda in regards to the King James Bible. I am afraid she has accepted a dangerous, untenable and somewhat unhealthy position of the Scriptures. Opposed to what she has stated as the lack of need to "know the politics of the Bible" I find it quite beneficial to know the history of the English translation of the Bible. Nevertheless, she certainly has the right to embrace such a position if she chooses to. I am at least encouraged to know that Brenda is embracing the Bible as the "Word of God"...something that seems to be absent from your own perspective Sword. This I say in spite of the fact that you spend a great amount of time loosely paraphrasing it and utilizing its language to teach/share your beliefs about God, Jesus and life to those who may find themselves following you…which by the way, I note that you have at least 35 followers on Hubpages. I point this out not to be mean spirited but to once again remind you that when we choose to speak about things of such weighty matters we ought to do so with great sobriety and tremendous caution.
The issue I take with your above comment is that you are speaking the truth but not the whole truth. Yes...Christ is the "Living Word". According to John 1:1 (NASB95) — 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Nevertheless, let us not be so short sighted as to miss the fact that the Bible is the "Written Word" of God. In fact, Jesus Himself, the Living Word, states in Luke 24:44–45 (NASB95) — 44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
The Law, Prophets and Psalms (Writings) was a way of referring to the entirety of the Old Testament. It was this that Jesus opened their minds to understand. Therefore, Jesus says that the written form of the Old Testament is Scripture. In other instances, pertaining to some of these very Scriptures in the Old Testament, Jesus deals with some of the religious leaders of the day who wished to violate these Scriptures which he (Jesus) happened to refer to as "the word of God."
I’ve just selected a few verses but I encourage you to be a Berean and search the Scripture yourself ; feel free to study these in context.
Matthew 15:6 (NASB95) — 6 he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
Mark 7:13 (NASB95) — 13 thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”
John 10:35 (NASB95) — 35 “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),
It should go without saying that the New Testament is also the Word of God “Scripture” but I will not leave it unsaid. One great example can be found in 2 Peter 2:16 where Peter is making some comments about the difficulty of some of the Apostle Paul’s letters. Peter states the following, “2 Peter 3:16 (NASB95) — 16 as also in all his (Paul’s) letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction”. Here Paul’s writings which were being written and passed to the various churches at the time Peter is writing this are placed on equal footing with the rest of “Scriptures” which is referring primarily to those writings already recognized as the “Word of God” …Law, Prophets and Psalms (Writings).
Yet, perhaps the most important thing to point out here in responding to your comment is that you are taking up the language of 2 Tim 3:16 but doing so with a lack of clear understanding. You are correct; the Bible is a collection of many books. In fact, it's made up of 66 books, written on 3 different continents, in three languages, by over 40 authors and over several centuries. However, if we are going to take up the language which Scripture uses of itself, as you have done (For instance, you clearly base your understanding of Jesus being the "Word" on the testimony of Scripture in 1 john and other places and you clearly base your understanding of how Scripture was recorded on the Biblical testimony found in 2 Tim 3:16.) then we need to do so with carefulness and consistency. Is it really true that the Bible was written by "Men inspired by God" as you have stated? On the surface, one would expect a dogmatic, blind and deceived Bible thumper like me (Sarcasm for those who have yet to have their coffee) to whole heartedly agree with this; however, it is here that I am suggesting that we be more precise in the manner in which we communicate about Scripture.
The danger here is in our propensity to simply regurgitate thoughts or beliefs for which we have exercised very little effort in fully understanding. When you use the term "Inspired" as you did above you are leaving the door open for an understanding that these men were stirred just as an artist or composer might be "inspired" today before producing a great work and they then wrote down their own personal thoughts about life and godliness. However, the Greek term used here and rendered “Inspired” in our English translations is saying much more. In fact, if you pay close attention, the passage says nothing about “Men” being “Inspired” but says that “Scripture” is “Inspired”.
2 Timothy 3:14–17 (NASB95) — 14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Furthermore, although I do not expect everyone to study and know the Greek language, it is worth pointing out that the term rendered “inspired” is the Greek word, “theopneustos” which literally means “God Breathed”. Paul has been speaking to Timothy about the profitability of Scripture, urging him to continue living out those things which he was taught and convinced of. If for no other reason Paul makes such a plea because in the Scripture we find salvation which is in none other than Christ himself. It is then that Paul undergirds this plea he has given Timothy by reminding him that this Scripture he is speaking of was not just a collection of books, not just a prized piece of literature, not just the opinions of man but actually the very “Word of God” breathed out by God, which gives them 9Scripture) unmatchable quality for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness. In short, the Bible (Scripture) is the very “Word of God” according to its own self-attestation….believe it or not, this is what the Bible claims.
It’s only when you get to 2 Peter 1:21 that you discover the process involved which did include the human authors. 20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
A good way to understand the doctrine of “Inspiration” is in recognizing the fact that 2 Timothy is teaching us that the “God Breathed” word is the product and men moved or superintended by the Holy Spirit is the process God chose to use. Yet, the men were not “Inspired” which should be understood as “breathed out” according to the Greek language, the Scripture was “inspired” which leaves us with the clear conclusion that the Scripture, The entirety of the Old Testament and the New testament. Are the “Word of God”.
In conclusion, I agree, “Confusion runs rampant in God's ecclesia” but I think much of it could be alleviated if we were slow to speak and quick to listen as James instructs us and if we spent more time searching the Scripture as the Bereans and studying to show ourselves approved.
Sincerely, BStiltner
when that mind is looking for proof that defies the entire context of a book...........
