- Jul 2, 2018
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This hypothetical example from the OP is pretty spot on. "Bang on", as the Brits say.Again, imagine a community of 1st generation Christians, a community that possesses no copy of the scriptures, they find a hermit, they proclaim the gospel in her hearing, and she comes to faith. What does she lack? She has faith in the resurrected Son of God, she has a community within which to worship and learn and grow, so what does she lack not having an opportunity to read the scriptures?
It was centuries before the NT was canonized. And more centuries before the Bible was available to commoners. Therefore, EVERYONE who came to Christ in that time period did so WITHOUT a Bible to deliver the message. Because there simply wasn't one.
This even begs the question of whether God even wanted us to have a canonized NT. Was this man's idea, or God's idea? Men cast votes to decide what should be included and what shouldn't. The book of James barely made the cut.
So, what do we have here? How dependent have we become on the book? What have we LOST in the process? And do we not use this book to beat each other up on the forum? Is the book not used to divide the body of Christ into sects? Do not divisive doctrines proceed from the study and theorizing of the texts? Are not schools of thought created which drive us farther apart instead of bringing us closer together? These should be sobering questions.
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