Lately I think the bible isn't so important.

Radagast said:

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.

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God also speaks to us through the Holy Spirit.

Before I say "Gitcher haid back in the book, Landon!" I must realize that I HAVE TO keep reading cuz I forget so much the older I get

What was this thread about?

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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As "growing" believers, we need the "food" of God's Word. You don't have to study the Bible in order to read it. I read the whole Bible through a chapter a day, which takes about 3 years. Then, I pray, and I'm thinking about the passage and praying all day long, which is God's will (1 Thess. 5:17). Also, 2 Tim. 3:16-17 makes it clear that God's Word is vital for our spiritual growth.

bekkilyn said:

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.

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This is why I have the quote I do in my signature. We must pray for understanding and wisdom in order to gain it from the word. It’s the only way to get the clarity given through revelation as we read it.

I understand but.. with out faith.. we will never please Him. And that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So.. one must always read His word.

Tra Phull said:

What was this thread about?

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Good question. I had understood the spirit of the OP as questioning why we put so much importance on the Bible. It's a good question.

A friend of mine once explained to me that there are Bibolaters in the world; they are people who have made a God of the Bible. They use the Bible to make themselves feel better. They make claims about the Bible which the Bible itself does not make. They claim the Bible immunizes them from criticism (so long as they also make a grand display of how much they read and respect the Bible), they prop the Bible up in such a way that it is blasphemos to question it, even if the question is sincere, and finally, they use the Bible to justify whatever personal desires they have. The Bible covers so much history, so much culture, and so much behavior that it is easy to pick and choose from any of its passages and since it's all the word of God, it's easy to justify such picking and choosing of any verse; it's all the the word of God
so there is no way to say what is right or what is wrong.

Sincere people can see a problem with this kind of approach, even if they don't clearly recognize why it's wrong; they can see that such convenient legitimization in the name of Holiness is not sincere or right.

Abraham was a sincere and inspired person. Moses was a sincere inspired person. David had a man killed for his own lust, and yet he was sincere and inspired by God. But, Jesus is the word of God. Not Abraham. Not Moses. Not David, or Solomon, or Paul, or John or any number of other people referenced in the Bible. Jesus is the Word of God. He is the savior. He is the Messiah. He is the cornerstone. He is the Boss. His teachings are the words of truth and life. Anyone who suggests that any other person is equal to Jesus, that any other person is The Word of God, is a false prophet, seeking to steal Jesus' authority by giving it to some other prophet for their own benefit.

The Bible itself never claims to be perfect, or complete nor infallible. Anyone making those claims on behalf of the Bible is doing so out of religious dogma; spiritual bluff. But neither does the Bible need to be perfect, or complete or infallible for a sincere person to still recognize the truth behind the teachings of Jesus. A sincere person will not need to brag about how a particular book is perfect; a sincere person will respond to the spirit behind Jesus' teachings and try his best to practice them.

Bruce Leiter said:

As "growing" believers, we need the "food" of God's Word. You don't have to study the Bible in order to read it. I read the whole Bible through a chapter a day, which takes about 3 years. Then, I pray, and I'm thinking about the passage and praying all day long, which is God's will (1 Thess. 5:17). Also, 2 Tim. 3:16-17 makes it clear that God's Word is vital for our spiritual growth.

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I have read it through front to back in a year, but I keep going depending how interesting it is.

I say SUFFICIENCY rather than INERRANCY.

We are not Jesus, only human.

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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Ive been going through something similar.
Used to get up, pray, read my Bible, then the rest.
Now I look, it’s 3PM. Still haven’t read it. Whoops..
But the thing is, the Bible is more than another book where we read it once and never look at it again.
Even if it’s the same message, story, etc it can be applied to difficulties all throughout our lives- in every individual area.
And of course general life.

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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So, God told me to give my favorite Bible away.

Literally, my favorite.

I was so upset. I was about to go out and minister to people and God said, "Bring your favorite Bible. You're going to give it away to someone."

So, I did a little temper-tantrum, but finally, when I finally finished, God said, "Apart from me, this is just a book. When you read it without Me, they are just words on pages. It is Me who brings it to life because it is God-breathed and it is the Rhema of God."

When you read the Word apart from God, there's no meaning, there's things that don't really come out, and we sometimes go through dry spells. Because we are trying to grab things from the Word from our own understanding instead of God's understanding which then becomes our own.

We've been there before, going through a dry spell with the Word, with God. If someone hasn't, they will at some point. Reading the Word, in my opinion, is important. I don't want anything in my life which does not line up with God and what doesn't line up with the Word. The Word even talks about hiding it in our hearts.

With that said, I also believe being with God is important just as it is reading the Word. I usually spend time with God by worshipping Him and journaling to Him and then reading the Word. The Word usually confirms what He speaks to me through my journal and through worship, and it is just a really cool experience to see everything simultaneously be working together.

I think where you are is fine. Worshiping God, speaking with Him. However, I also think bringing in the Bible is also extremely important because you'll find Him in the midst of it and He speaks strongly in reading the Word and knowing it. When spiritual warfare happens, you need to know the Word in order to combat lies that are thrown at you. Even Jesus used Scripture when he was tempted to combat the enemy.

shineyourlight said:

So, God told me to give my favorite Bible away.

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Do you know for certain that that was God?

shineyourlight said:

When you read the Word apart from God, there's no meaning, there's things that don't really come out, and we sometimes go through dry spells.

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Part of the solution to the dry spells is to read the Scriptures.

Rachel20 said:

Not me! Verses I've read a thousand times can suddenly stand out with new understanding. I'm always left puzzled how I missed it so many times before!

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This same thing happens to me all the time.

Radagast said:

Do you know for certain that that was God?


Part of the solution to the dry spells is to read the Scriptures.

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Yes, I am 100% certain. I have other Bibles. It wasn't my only Bible. Also, if it was my only Bible, I would just buy another one. My spiritual life grew more after that, I promise.

I don't think I said it wasn't the solution! So, yes, absolutely. Reading the Word can help with dry spells. If I'm not hearing God, I tend to read the Psalms and put some worship music. We all go through dry spells.

Rachel20 said:

Not me! Verses I've read a thousand times can suddenly stand out with new understanding. I'm always left puzzled how I missed it so many times before!

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That's called Rhema <3

You can read a verse hundreds of times, and Rhema is a "quickened word" and you get different reactions every time you read it. It jumps out at 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?

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Except the Bible is our guidance and we as humans have a great tendency of drifting away from it, so had to be reminded from time to time.

Christianity is the only religion in the world that told us in our face that NONE is good enough for God, and NONE can go to heaven for our good works.
Isaiah 64:6, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

If you think you can enter heaven by your good works, then you are been arrogant before God. We all see how people end up when they think we the people can do good things without God. Just look at how the communist countries end up, a seemingly good idea of taking away iniquities killed millions and then all back to square one.

Should we do good work? Yes for faith without good works is dead. But if we place works (behavior, treat other etc) over grace and faith, then all that "good works" will only lead to arrogance.

Landon Caeli said:

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

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Hi, I have been studying scripture since 1984 and still to this day the Holy Spirit opens my eyes to see a hidden wisdom in them....for example the Holy Spirit led me to read Revelation a while back....I don't particularly enjoy it because it is so hard to understand....BUT when I started reading it again the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see things in it that I had not seen or rather understood before....one prime example is the Seven Spirits of God....I didn't realize there were seven spirits of God...but this caused me to study it deeper and realize in the old testament it talks about the seven spirits and that Jesus will manifest all of them...
Isaiah 11:1-3
“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear…”

There are seven distinct expressions of the one Holy Spirit: 1) Spirit of the Lord, 2) Spirit of Wisdom, 3) Spirit of Understanding, 4) Spirit of Counsel, 5) Spirit of Strength, 6) Spirit of Knowledge and 7) the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord. Just as God is one but has three distinct personhoods: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, so the Holy Spirit is One but with seven distinct expressions.

By discovering this hidden wisdom I began to understand more about the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord...
We grow spiritually as we continue to seek Him and seek His Truth and Hidden Wisdom....as Paul said we must move on from being on the milk of the word and begin to enjoy the meat of it.....if you stay on the milk all your life you will never come to know the deeper mysteries of God..

Read the Bible until you know it and remember it. Put faith in it, from faith you will receive grace and can do good works. Romans 5:5 is a promise. The Bible has promises. So we can advance towards more of the commands. You cannot give away what you do not have. We need to be hungry for living water, Jesus' sacred blood sprinkling and the anointing. To be regenerate, to bear the fruit of the Spirit, in order to serve others. I add words of knowledge are part of the best service. Knowing the Bible pray it and fellowship from it. Also then you can read other Christian books.

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal has good reading lists, which can become group fellowship studies.

shineyourlight said:

Literally, my favorite.

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Why was it your favorite?

John Helpher said:

Why was it your favorite?

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Forgive me, because I want to answer, but I'm also not sure if this is a genuine question or a question to cause a debate because of a version of the Bible

Haha.