Lately I think the bible isn't so important.

Landon Caeli said:

Lately, I think what's more important is how I behave on earth, and how I treat others. In my view, worshipping God and praying are positive acts that facilitate a greater connection with God. I could be doing more good deeds for others too, but with studying the bible texts, I'm taking time away from actual things I could be doing.

...Is this right or wrong?

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Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. We bear fruit in the world, but if we are cut off from the vine we will die as will those who depend on our fruit. Scripture is one of the most basic ways that we stay connected to the vine.

Landon Caeli said:

I've seen some people from the Westboro Baptist Church claim to be astute bible readers while simultaneously egging people on and causing harm to others. That confuses me.

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As Paul said, knowledge without love is nothing. I challenged WBC people to their faces on a couple of occasions. They're not used to being challenged in their cult.

Finding spiritual balance is key. Proverbs says it's not good to have zeal without knowledge. So it's not all doing, its finding the balance.

Stay rooted in Christ, (Jn 15) then go do what you feel led to by his Spirit. Doctrine is very, very important, but it can also trap people when you think you know it all. A disciple of Christ is always learning, and serving.

Landon Caeli said:

Lately, I think what's more important is how I behave on earth, and how I treat others. In my view, worshipping God and praying are positive acts that facilitate a greater connection with God. I could be doing more good deeds for others too, but with studying the bible texts, I'm taking time away from actual things I could be doing.

...Is this right or wrong?

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Augustine once said that the mature Christian no longer has a need for the scriptures.

"And thus a man who is resting upon faith, hope and love, and who keeps a firm hold upon these, does not need the Scriptures except for the purpose of instructing others. Accordingly, many live without copies of the Scriptures, even in solitude, on the strength of these three graces." On Christian Doctrine 1.43

And Thus a Man who is Resting Upon Faith...

Personally, the scriptures are so rich and deep that I can't help but to keep digging. Nonetheless, they are means to an end and that end includes getting out there and being the hands and feet of Christ in the world. I don't know that it has to be either/or, but study cannot somehow be a substitution for good works.

The Bible is valuable, but no, it is not essential. Jesus Christ founded one Church, said it was to remain one, and promised that one Church "The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth", and "Whatsoever you bind upon Earth is bound in Heaven", and "He who hears you hears Me". That one Church began teaching that fullness of truth immediately, and has continued doing so for 2,000 years, just as its founder promised. 350 years after Jesus founded His Church, that Church decided to gather some of its early writings in to a book for easy reference. The Pope called together all the bishops of the Church, and assigned them that task. They spent about 6 years reading, studying, discerning, and discussing several hundred texts before deciding on the 73 texts the Holy Spirit wanted included. However, none of these texts contained anything the Church was not already teaching.

Landon Caeli said:

Lately, I think what's more important is how I behave on earth, and how I treat others. In my view, worshipping God and praying are positive acts that facilitate a greater connection with God. I could be doing more good deeds for others too, but with studying the bible texts, I'm taking time away from actual things I could be doing.

...Is this right or wrong?

Click to expand...

The point of learning what God has to say is so the Holy Spirit will bring it back to remembrance as you live your life.

Perhaps the Holy Spirit has a mission for you.

Landon Caeli said:

Lately, I think what's more important is how I behave on earth, and how I treat others. In my view, worshipping God and praying are positive acts that facilitate a greater connection with God. I could be doing more good deeds for others too, but with studying the bible texts, I'm taking time away from actual things I could be doing.

...Is this right or wrong?

Click to expand...

The bible is our guide. While yes we have the Holy Spirit to guide us. We have his word we should always use as our source to check what we are being told. If you feel you have "gotten to know" everything the bible has to teach you. I suggest maybe pray that the Holy Spirit shows you his word in a new light. Besides the Holy Spirit. The bible is the only guide we have. And many study it for years and still learn.

I think it is dangerous to think we can achieve not needing the bible anymore. That can be a trap to mislead us later down our path.

I found where it is estimated that only 20% of Christians read the bible every day. New Research: Less Than 20% of Churchgoers Read the Bible Daily
What I would focus on though is whether you are hearing God personally through the bible. The bible is not mere words, but through the Holy Spirit, it can give guidance and instruction in a very individualized way. Moving away from that instruction (personal revelation) is dangerous, you would be on a path that is only lit by what you have received in the past.
Consider the parable of the sower and the seed. Often so much of the word is lost to us because of stony hearts, or other hindrances. So to those people there would be little or no harvest and if they stop planting the word of God, then there is no chance of a future harvest. Even if you returned 100 fold on the word, at some point the harvest will stop if you quit planting. That person would be like a farmer who had a bumper crop one year, then doing nothing they expect a similar crop the next year? Sorry but that won't happen. Give us this day our daily bread. No daily bread = no growth. No planting = no harvest.

All that I have read in the word of God suggests that our prosperity at least in part depends on our meditating the word.
Joshua 1:8 (KJV)
8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Psalm 119:103-105 (KJV)
103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. 105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Romans 10:17 (KJV)
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the (rhema) word of God.

If the word is not too important as an ongoing endeavor, then why would god say to Galatians 6:6 (KJV) 6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.

Sure some can say many never had bibles, or could not read throughout history. That is why the law was read out out loud often in the OT and in the NT Paul tells Timothy: 1 Timothy 4:13 (KJV)
13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

If anything, we all should consider reading more of the word of God and reading it with the right heart so that we can expect many harvests to come.

Landon Caeli said:

I've seen some people from the Westboro Baptist Church claim to be astute bible readers while simultaneously egging people on and causing harm to others. That confuses me.

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They might only be reading the bits that agree with their agenda.
They are certainly not putting Jesus' commands to "love their enemies", into practice.

The Spirit inspired the Bible to be written, and his role is to point people to Jesus and make them more like Jesus.

John Helpher said:

Exactly. The Bible is not the word of God

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Yes, it is.

John Helpher said:

Jesus is the word of God.

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Jesus is the Logos. When we translate that as "Word," we use a capital letter.

Landon Caeli said:

Lately, I think what's more important is how I behave on earth, and how I treat others. In my view, worshipping God and praying are positive acts that facilitate a greater connection with God. I could be doing more good deeds for others too, but with studying the bible texts, I'm taking time away from actual things I could be doing.

...Is this right or wrong?

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How you behave on earth is very important to God. Yes, we all need the fruits of the Holy Spirit to behave well. But how will you know exactly if what you doing is right or wrong without studying the Word in a deeper manner?

Landon Caeli said:

But we can read it once, and then it's done... Right?

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There's more there than meets the eye.

Increased knowledge comes from knowing the Greek and Hebrew; this is why theologians that know Greek and Hebrew are worth reading.

Also, the Bible is highly connected. Each coloured line in this chart marks a connection between chapters. Each chapter really needs to be read in the light of the chapters it links to.

Landon Caeli said:

Because the emphasis placed on the importance of the scriptures seems to be fairly recent in my understanding.

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Well, no.

Read the homilies of the Church Fathers, or the writings of the Doctors of the Church. Those guys were just saturated in Scripture.

And Scripture is important because that is how God speaks to us.

Landon Caeli said:

Lately, I think what's more important is how I behave on earth, and how I treat others. In my view, worshipping God and praying are positive acts that facilitate a greater connection with God. I could be doing more good deeds for others too, but with studying the bible texts, I'm taking time away from actual things I could be doing.

...Is this right or wrong?

Click to expand...

The Word of God is the history of God's interactions with His creation over a long period of time. It is His commands to us, it is our instruction on how to live and how to treat one another. While worshiping, prayer and fellowship are vitally important, one cannot neglect the study of the Word. It is very important to be doers of the Word and not mere readers of the Word. The fact is we can do all these things and do them all well if we live a life disciplined to provide time for all God has for us. To bless others in large part blesses oneself and is pleasing to God. To be able to talk confidently about God requires a solid foundation of knowledge and knowledge comes from His Word.

Bible reading and the activities you mentioned are all just as important. We need to read the Bible all the time to remind us, because since we are human and we forget. I'm amazed sometimes at my poor recollection of some parts of scripture if I do not read it regularly.

The Bible is not like a novel that you can read once and get the whole story. The same scripture in the Bible can speak many things and as the Holy Spirit teaches you ,you start to see the whole thing in a broader sense and it all becomes one beautiful story of God's love ,grace, power and that He ought to be loved and feared because of it.

Landon Caeli said:

I've seen some people from the Westboro Baptist Church claim to be astute bible readers while simultaneously egging people on and causing harm to others. That confuses me.

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There are now and have always been those who profess Christ and are ever learning but unable to come to The Knowledge of The Truth.
2Tim.3

1. [7] Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Landon Caeli said:

Lately, I think what's more important is how I behave on earth, and how I treat others. In my view, worshipping God and praying are positive acts that facilitate a greater connection with God. I could be doing more good deeds for others too, but with studying the bible texts, I'm taking time away from actual things I could be doing.

...Is this right or wrong?

Click to expand...

When I hear people say "I don't have time to do X..." or "we should get rid of X so we can do more of Y" what it usually means is they don't like X and want to ignore it and are using Y to get rid of it.

Y however typically gets no more attention as these types of choices are done so lacking a strategy.

So when you spend more time with people and they want to know more about your faith what do you tell them? Let's say they form natural gatherings listening to you speak of your faith with God and they ask how can they know more? Where do you direct them? Or is this all about listen to the voice inside and follow it?

Landon Caeli said:

Lately, I think what's more important is how I behave on earth, and how I treat others. In my view, worshipping God and praying are positive acts that facilitate a greater connection with God. I could be doing more good deeds for others too, but with studying the bible texts, I'm taking time away from actual things I could be doing.

...Is this right or wrong?

Click to expand...

Yes, it is good to do God's work... However, IMO, the bible is more important than ever in order to do His work properly and with knowledge of the times.

We need to be knowledgeable of the many many prophesies that are going to unfold. More prophesies are left unfulfilled than have been fulfilled.

It is a time when your knowledge of and the importance of the bible is greater than ever.

Landon Caeli said:

Lately, I think what's more important is how I behave on earth, and how I treat others. In my view, worshipping God and praying are positive acts that facilitate a greater connection with God. I could be doing more good deeds for others too, but with studying the bible texts, I'm taking time away from actual things I could be doing.

...Is this right or wrong?

Click to expand...

Could be right or could be wrong depending on what you're meaning! People can make a god out of theological things to the point when they're walking down the road and see someone beaten up in the ditch (similar to the Good Samaritan story) they choose not to take the time to be a blessing but that doesn't mean you don't have need to continually mediate and feed upon God's word. Jesus said man shall not live by bread alone Mk 4 but by every word of God and Job 23:12 states that Job longed for God's word daily more than his necessary food. Balance is the key!

Landon Caeli said:

I've seen some people from the Westboro Baptist Church claim to be astute bible readers while simultaneously egging people on and causing harm to others. That confuses me.

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They are pretenders.

This thread is a perfect example of why "the bible clearly says" statements are so ridiculous. Even statements like "Thou shalt not steal" are not clear. While we might all agree that stealing is breaking the commandment, how do we define stealing? Different cultures define stealing in different ways. I might be "stealing" when I go into my neighbor's house and take her radio, but another culture might believe that it's not stealing because such things are common property for the entire community to enjoy. So whether or not it is "stealing" would depend on context and so we cannot say that in all cases, taking one's neighbor's radio is breaking that commandment.

As far as scripture in general goes, I do believe it is important for Christians to regularly read scripture and also attempt to understand it in multiple contexts and not be convinced that any given interpretation is the one and only true interpretation. It's very true that scripture you're adamantly certain about one year may appear differently ten years later when the Holy Spirit reveals a side of it that was previously unseen and undiscovered by a person.

Scripture is like a gem. Some people only see one facet of the gem and insist it's the entire gem when it's really only one small part of it.

In fact, very much like our understanding (or lack of) of God.

As important as scripture must be for followers of Christ, God is much, much bigger than "the bible" and when we box him into being limited to a book, we fall into danger of making a god out of the bible rather than the bible being a tool to help us better understand the complexities of God and as a guide to helping us along in our process of salvation.

The bible is a tool that can be used for the spiritual edification of ourselves and others to draw us closer to God, or it can be a tool used for the purpose of great harm and destruction in God's name.