Is Christianity a religion of the Word or a religion of the Book?

Question

Most religions claim to be religions of a book dictated by God. For Judaism, it is the Torah. For Muslims, it is the Quran.

Christians seem to be divided on this point. Catholics point to John I, where we learn that the Word was made flesh and lived among us. In John 21, we learn that most of Christ's actions and teachings are not in the Bible; "If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." Catholics rely on the original Christians' memories of Christ's teachings preserved in other early Christian writings.

Protestants, on the other hand, restrict our knowledge sources to the books selected in the biblical canon. They follow Jews and Muslims in creating a religion of a book, rather than a religion of the Word.

Who is right?

Answer 1

The ‘Word of God’ often refers to a proclaimed, oral word of prophets of apostles even if these utterances are, or not, written down. These teachings were taken with equal authority in writing or as proclamation-never-reduced-to-writing. We find an example of this in Jeremiah 25:3: “Since the thirteenth year of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day-these three and twenty years-the word of the LORD has come to me and I spoke to you untiringly, but you would not listen.” As we can see, Jeremiah spoke the Word of the Lord for 23 years. And in these 23 years we find only these few in the Bible. It’s pretty evident that the majority of what Jeremiah spoke for the Lord was not written down in Scripture but all was taken as the Word of the Lord on equal footing to Scripture because both were, and are, considered the Word of God.

This is also true of apostolic preaching where ‘Word of God’ or ‘Word of the Lord’ almost always refers to oral preaching, not to Scripture. Most notably in 1 Thess 2:13 “…in receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received not a human word but, as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe”. When we compare this passage with 2 Thess 3:6, which was written to the same church, Paul appears to regard tradition and word of God as synonymous.

2 Thess 3:6 …keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.

I feel I need to point out that Tradition is not a dirty word. Many Christians quote verses from the Bible where corrupt traditions of men are condemned. Of course, Catholics agree with this. But it’s not the whole truth. True apostolic traditions are also positively endorsed. In the sense of finding which traditions are corrupt or apostolic, Scripture is the “final Judge” of Tradition, but not in the sense that it rules out all binding Tradition and Church authority. Here are a few relevant verses (RSV):

1 Cor 11:2 I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you.


2 Thess 2:15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.


2 Tim 1:13-4 Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.


2 Tim 2:2 and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.


We need to remember that Jesus and Paul both accepted Non-Biblical oral and written traditions. Protestants defending sola scriptura will claim that Jesus and Paul accepted the authority of the Old Testament. This is true, but they also appealed to other authority, outside of written revelation. For example:

A) Matt 2:23: the reference to “…He shall be called a Nazarene” cannot be found in the Old Testament, yet it was passed down “by the prophets.” Thus, a prophecy, which is considered to be “God’s Word” was passed down orally, rather than through Scripture.

B) Matt 23:2-3: Jesus teaches that the scribes and Pharisees have a legitimate, binding authority, based on Moses’ seat, which phrase (or idea) cannot be found anywhere in the Old Testament. It is found in the (originally oral) Mishna, where a sort of “teaching succession” from Moses on down is taught.


And now two examples from the Apostle Paul:

C) In 1 Cor 10:4, St Paul refers to a rock which ‘followed’ the Jews through the Sinai wilderness. The Old Testament says nothing about such miraculous movement, in the related passages about Moses striking the rock to produce water (Exo 17:1-7; Num 20:2-13). But rabbinic tradition does.

D) 2 Tim 3:8: “As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses…” These two men cannot be found in the related Old Testament passage (Exo 7:8 ff), or anywhere else in the Old Testament.


So Jesus set up a church where His teachings would be found in Sacred Scripture but ALSO in Sacred Tradition. If you do not use both then you are missing part of His message...part of the Truth since the Church is the defender and standard of truth and Jesus IS the truth that will set you free.

God Bless
Robin
God Bless
Robin

Answer 2

That would depend on whether you're Catholic or Protestant. To us Catholics, the Bible is one of the ways that God has revealed Himself, along with Sacred Tradition and the teachings of the Church. Sacred Tradition and church teaching does not (and indeed cannot) go against what the Bible teaches, but neither do they rely solely on what has been written in Scripture. In that sense, the Word is dynamic -- ever living and ever revealing more about Himself to us. Protestants generally believe in "Sola Scriptura," or "by Scripture alone." Despite having a history of traditional worship forms (borrowed largely from Catholicism), the Protestant church claims to be entirely dependent on the Bible for revelation of truth. This would be fine. . .except there doesn't seem to be much consensus about what that revealed "truth" really is. For example, one denomination may believe that Communion is a simple memorial service, while another group believes that it is literally the Body and Blood of Jesus after the elements are consecrated. And since there are so many translations of the Bible, one church may insist that the KJV is the only acceptable version, while someone else will say that the NIV is the best translation. The bottom line is that Catholic Christianity is a religion of the living and holy Word, Who is Jesus Christ. Protestant Christianity may deny it, but all too often, they are a religion of the book. . .if they could only agree on which version and what it says.

Answer 3

Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. We are given warnings about adding words and taking away words from it. Now we are faced today with so many religions, and we check them against that Word.

The choice is always up to you. The Bible does not teach anything about praying to Mary or the saints. Indeed the Bible calls every believer a saint, rather than just those selected by a religious organization. The Bible in the same chapter says to Peter, "your are blessed" and then later "get behind me Satan," yet some choose to make men Popes. Again the choice is yours. Choose the Bible, or any other literature you want.

Answer 4

Good question. But I don't think Christains are divided. I think religions are. As a matter of fact, I would consider it a very irresponsible Christian teacher, who said confine your reading to the Bible.
If you are a "Christian", a follower of Christ's teachings, it is irrelevant how many of His words are recorded. The Bible is still His Living Word. It constantly changes, as your capability and understanding change.
So the Bible is not limited by the number of words or books in it, it is limited by where your understanding of them stands, at any given moment. If you read it with open mind and pray for understanding, it will change often, in it's content. Thousands of books on subjects as varied as angelic ministries and people who have been taken "in the Spirit" to many places while accompanied by Jesus and often to the presence of God the Father, are available and purchased Christian population. The deal is, the Bible is what you have to bring it back to, whether what you are reading contradicts the ever changing lessons in the Living Word of God.
Whether you enhance your learning through prayer, fasting, instruction, non-bilical reading, prophesy, visions or strictly biblical reading- you have to compare what you are hearing/learning to the Living Word, the Bible.
What ever your combination of sources is, if it contradicts the Bible, it is a statement generated by Lucifer, the trickster, to lead you down a road of worldly interest.
A wonderful book to co-read with the Bible is "Ask for the Ancient Paths."

Answer 5

Bruce,

You left out a word!! You should have said, "Fundamentalist Protestants, on the other hand, restrict ...." Most mainstream denominations do not subscribe to the extreme "solo scriptura" and do not restrict knowledge sources to only the bible. There is discussion in theological circles about the distinction between "solo scriptura" and "sola scriptura", but I like the way you put it much better.

I have faith in the Word not the Book.

Cheers,
Skip

Answer 6

Christianity is a way of life based on the words of Christ, which are found in the Holy Bible. You try to complicate the words of Christ by adding others' words, via other transcripts, most of the time you complicate your relationship with Christ himself. Everything you need to know to lead a Christian life is right there in the Bible.

Answer 7

If you read what Jesus said all through His life you will know that true Christianity is not a religion - it is a belief, a way of life. Religion puts regulations on things, Christianity frees one from those regulations just because we believe in Jesus and His work on Earth. Lots of Christians still want to hold to the regulations because people need control over other people. Jesus never ever said that we had to keep the law of Moses but that we should be people with clean hearts and that we should love one another.

Answer 8

All things in God is created by God. God is love.

Holy Scripture speaks in Jesus redeeming power, which is the unselfish love. It the most greatest to live and relive Jesus' Gospel. From history until the fulfillment you will witness His teaching and ministry unselfishly even death on the cross.

To justify the God's work: " the word was mad flesh". In active and participatory. Jesus promised to us: " I am with always..."

Therefore we must not be confused in the word of God but rather shares it and lives it- God's love.

Answer 9

Almost all other major religious figures come down to us as fully alive, intelligent, lustful human beings.

Christ comes down to us as an illiterate, sexless, bum.

So much of his life has been stripped away by the historical religious censors, that we have only a shadow man in his place.

There are other Gospels that describe Jesus' life but they are not included as "God's Word."

I think that it is safe to say that Christianity is 10% Christ's teaching and 90% Church Business.

Answer 10

Christianity is a religion of the living Word of God and not just the written word,which is an important and irreplaceable aspect of the whole Word of God which is centered on and revealed by Jesus, the total and definitive Incarnate Word of God

Answer 11

I'd say it's a Religion of the Word and not the Book.