The Bible Is Not God - Part I
The argument goes something like this: “The Bible isn’t God. The Holy Spirit is God so therefore, Christians should always consider the Bible subordinate to the Holy Spirit.”
Well, that’s a cleaner, tidier way of presenting it. Often times, the argument gets presented in more callous ways: “The Bible isn’t a magic book.”
“Christians should stop bowing down to the Bible.”
“Christians shouldn’t worship the Bible.”
“The Bible is not perfect. There are parts of it we don’t even follow anymore.”
And so on. Inevitably, words like “fundamentalism,” “biblicist,” and “literalist,” eventually find their way into the conversation, usually intended as insults and condescending dismissals.
Of course, all of this is usually accompanied with loud pronouncements of commitment to the Bible and a daily interaction with it, as well as high praise for the beauty it possesses, the truth it teaches, and the Christ to which it points. None of this, we are assured, should be taken as an attack on the Scriptures. The Word of God is not being assaulted, merely put in its proper place. Because, as we all know, those Christians out there who regard the Bible too highly and take the Bible too seriously wind up abusing congregants in their churches, binding up enormous legalistic weights upon their fellow believers, and missing out on the ministry of the Holy Spirit almost entirely.
This, more or less, is the argument. So, let’s cut right to the chase and take issue with it.
First and foremost, let me address the 2,000-pound straw elephants in the room. I understand that many who make this argument are themselves the victims of some very real religious abuse. People who have experienced the burdens of legalism in the church, whether it be via unattainable behavioral standards or phony notions of true Christianity or some other misapplication of biblical teaching should never be disregarded or marginalized. False Christianity comes in many forms, and legalism forced upon people through the auspices of Scriptural truth is certainly one of the most common and damnable.
But that legalism is the fault of false teachers and sinful, human leaders and not the fault of the Scriptures. The Bible is replete with teachings against outward demonstrations of religious duty for the purposes of acquiring social capital (Matthew 23:3b-5, Matthew 6:1), a conformity to the commandments of God that does not affect one’s heart (Psalm 51:16-17, Matthew 23:23-28, Isaiah 29:13), the inability of good works to merit salvation (Isaiah 64:6, Ephesians 2:8-9) and the hypocrisy of not living the faith you claim to love (Luke 6:46, Matthew 7:21-23, James 1:22-25 & 2:14-26).
The Bible goes to great lengths to speak against the kind of hypocritical and legalistic abuses that are the cause of so much undue suffering. Consequently, Christians who are truly dedicated to the teachings of the Bible will be the stalwart enemies of religious abuse and never its proponents.
Furthermore, before we continue on to answer this argument more directly, it feels unfortunately necessary to point out that I have never once heard of a single Christian worshiping the Bible. I have never seen or heard of a single instance where a copy of the Scriptures was placed on an altar or dais in a church to be bowed down to. I have never once heard a serious Christian describe the Bible as “magic”. These kinds of accusations seem to be part and parcel of the arguments for those seeking to marginalize the Bible, but they are ludicrous caricatures that describe the actions of no Christian anywhere of which I am aware.
I might conclude Part I here by pointing out that if a person’s position in an argument relies on gross mischaracterizations and strawman claims, they’re probably not starting off on the right foot.
Such is the kind of argumentation we’ll seek to deal with in the next post.
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And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
- I Thessalonians 2:13
Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, "declares the Lord." Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.
- Jeremiah 23:29-32
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
- Hebrews 4:12