How many of you go to a church that studies books other then the Bible?

Question

Such as Purpose Driven Life, Boundaries, etc. And have you agreed with putting God's Word aside to do it?

Answer 1

We use the Bible and only the Bible.

Would I put the Bible aside to follow another book??? NO WAY thank you, absolutely Not !!!

Too many other books have man's opinion and many have twisted the scriptures to accommodate their way of thinking, Purpose Drive Life being one of them. That's why the path to destruction is so wide.

Answer 2

Your question is strange. Purpose Driven Life works in conjunction with the Bible. All the books I study from do the same. They help people understand the Bible, the language of the times and the customs and how that all relates to our lives. The Bible is a living document, the Inspirational Word of God. Why would anyone put it aside AND read the other? backwards and strange??????

Answer 3

i am roman catholic.

we use the catechism of the catholic church, it is a book that helps explain doctrinal truths we find in the bible. looking to the catechism,the lives of the saints,the writings of teh early church fathers etc do not take anything away from the bible or replace the bible in any way. if anything they help us in our reading,studying and understanding of the bible. for those who say all you need to read is the bible then why do they go to church to have a human explain it to them or teach them from it? all creation is gods and we can learn from all he gives us, truth be told, do the proper study and you will find that the first christians had no bible, so what did they do, they listened to teh church. the books that came to be incorporated into the bible were often disputed by the early christians, the church compiled the final selection and canonized which books were useful for christians and which were not. so from this what can we learn,

a) the church gave us the bible and "the church is the pillar and bulwark of the faith"

b)then we need to decipher waht church did the early christians belong to? with an honest study of history we find no other than the roman catholic church, therefore the early christians were catholic and the catholic church gave us the bible.
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/
http://www.catholiceducation.org/
http://www.fisheaters.com/
http://www.salvationhistory.com/

Answer 4

hello,

I agree with christoiglesia, though i wouldn't have been able to express it as well.

It took nearly three hundred years after Christ for the Church to decide on the cannon of the bible. (collect all the books that make up the Bible) That's not a problem, but it puts Christianity in an awkward position if you believe that Christ would expect his followers, to worship a book that didn't yet exist, rather than the truth that he revealed by word, example, and Sacred Tradition.

thin~Q
:)

Answer 5

My church (Church of Religious Science) uses lots of books. We use "The Science of Mind" - the Koran - the Bhagavad Gita - Harry Potter (I'm not kidding - our minister LOVES Harry Potter - and uses it in his sermons - one of the Potter books was even our book of the month) some stuff by Wayne Dyer and Alan Cohen - and the Bible too. So many books have good things to say.

Since I believe that God is everything - and God is love - I believe it's all God's word. So we are not putting anything aside.

Namaste!

Answer 6

I would assume most preachers or ministers plan and prepare their sermons from The Bible. I dont think followers listening to his or her sermon should have a problem to any other book or story that supports the sermons.

I can see one feeling a little suspicious if a preacher or minister gets in a bad habit of reading from other books in its stead for extended periods of time.

The Bible for all in the christian world is the rock and backbone to Christianity. Preaching from it gives us peace of mind knowing the preacher isn't wandering too far on some tangent or on his own personal agenda.

So I'd say its ok - as long as its not forgotten and used as often as possible.

I'm LDS, so Im used to various books of scripture playing a role in a lesson or prepared talk. Its always nice and refreshing to get multiple perspectives from various books and sources on a certain topic. - so yes, other books is ok.

Answer 7

I've studied with Roman Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and Buddhists. I've read psychological texts and self help books, as well as the writings of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Queen Elizabeth I and Oprah. I've listened to the philosophies of children, neighbors, paranormal mediums, dictators and idiots. There is nothing in this world that cannot give me information for my own mind to discern. I am a Baha'i.

Answer 8

My Church makes a point NOT to put aside the Bible in favor of other books. We study the Bible.

Answer 9

I am LDS, and we study not only the Holy Bible, but other books we believe to be scripture. The Book of Mormon is the record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas. We also believe the Doctrine and Covenants ( or the D&C for short), and the Pearl of Great Price to be scripture. The D&C is revelation given to Joseph Smith who, we believe, was a prophet like Moses, Noah, or Abraham. The Pearl of Great Price is a translation of Genesis and Egyptian papyri.
However I, personally use other books that are not considered scripture to help with my study of the scriptures.

Answer 10

No Church can exist without the Bible