There really are Protestants who say "The Bible is God"

[MoreCoffee]

There really are Protestants who say "The Bible is God".

I used to think that such claims were coming from Catholics and other people who had an exaggerated idea about what Protestants say about the bible and how they venerate it but evidently I was wrong. On the other forum, the one which many here have come from, there is a thread entitled "The Bible is God" and the chap who started it is a Presbyterian and he is serious about the claim though he does "qualify" it. The thread in the other place is here - click this link.

 

[kiwimac]

I have argued with KJV-Onlyists with similar beliefs.

 

[MoreCoffee]

I have argued with KJV-Onlyists with similar beliefs.

Holy scripture does warn about God sending strong delusions upon people who refuse to love what is true.

2Thess 2:5 Do you not remember, I spoke of it when I was still with you? 6 But you, also, know, what prevents him from appearing, until his due time. 7 The mystery of sin is already at work, but the one who restrains it, at present, has to be taken away. 8 Then, the wicked one will appear, whom the Lord is to sweep away, with the breath of his mouth, and destroy, in the splendour of his coming. 9 This lawless one will appear, with the power of Satan, performing miracles and wonderful signs, at the service of deception. 10 All the deceits of evil will then be used, for the ruin of those who refused to love truth, and be saved. 11 This is why God will send them the power of delusion, that they may believe what is false. 12 So all those who chose wickedness, instead of believing the truth, will be condemned.

 

[Andrew]

The Bible is the closest thing we have to God and indeed the Word IS God. Or at least knowing the word is knowing God, a physical bible in your hand is obsolete until you use it. Without the Bible we would all be affirming that Shiva or Allah or whatever is the god.
The word became flesh indeed, its an instrument and the instrument to come to know God. The word is God... So its not too farfetched to say the bible is God "in a sense"

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[MoreCoffee]

The Bible is the closest thing we have to God and indeed the Word IS God. Or at least knowing the word is knowing God, a physical bible in your hand is obsolete until you use it. Without the Bible we would all be affirming that Shiva or Allah or whatever is the god.
The word became flesh indeed, its an instrument and the instrument to come to know God. The word is God... So its not too farfetched to say the bible is God "in a sense"

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The bible may be the closest thing that you think that you have to God. That is not my perspective. I have both the scriptures and the Word made flesh in the holy Eucharist. The first teaches and the second gives life.

 

[Andrew]

The bible may be the closest thing that you think that you have to God. That is not my perspective. I have both the scriptures and the Word made flesh in the holy Eucharist. The first teaches and the second gives life.

No offense but Latin has superstition engrained in their traditions, for example down the in valley near mexico they have many wafer superstitions and importance other than any thing to do with God. The Body is his sinless body that was sacrificed and atoned for our sins, we accept the body when we accept his sacrifice and reward for us, the blood is his testimony... This is confirmed in scripture YET because God works by both literal and symbolic means you (why else we he say that?) but did he eat his own body? To me its purely symbolic just as many many things are in the bible and churches can get carried away and drift a bit when they base their teachings around literal symbology, I surely wouldnt want o to literally be baptised in fire. This is all my opinion tho, I dont mind going to a Catholic church and taking the Eucharist and making the sign of the cross, because to me its symbolic... I dont think im literally eating his flesh since he is heaven and wafers are made in ice cream cone factories. No offense I just see symbology more than strict Catholic dogma, that I am eating Jesus Christ when again the body is his church (his temple and our temple as his) and his sacrifice for us and our sins by the blood of which is his testimony (makes brilliant sense)

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[NewCreation435]

He goes on to qualify this statement to say the Bible is the speech of God. I think the initial statement is confusing and really unclear. We don't worship the Bible.

 

[MoreCoffee]

He goes on to qualify this statement to say the Bible is the speech of God. I think the initial statement is confusing and really unclear. We don't worship the Bible.

I know I do not worship the bible but I am not sure about a chap who says "The Bible is God" even after he adds "qualifications". The statement "The Bible is God" is so deeply heretical that is cannot be entertained by any of the faithful without serious sin.

 

[Albion]

There really are Protestants who say "The Bible is God".

There are members of EVERY denomination who say silly or uninformed things which are not in accord with the tenets of the churches that they belong to. This is the case with Protestants, Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and even members of cults.

This particular statement ("The Bible is God") is something I have never actually heard anyone claim, although I know Catholics who like to charge that it is typical of some "non-Catholics. " The charge is a favorite with these folks, just like the other old standby, "Protestants worship the Bible."

To the extent that someone, somewhere, actually does insist that the Bible is God, I strongly suspect that these are people who are not good with the language and simply have difficulty expressing the precise idea that they have in mind, which in this case most likely is that the Bible is the word of God (but not God itself).

 

[MennoSota]

[MENTION=60]MoreCoffee[/MENTION], do you disagree with this statement?
"So what do I mean? I mean that the Bible is the very speech of God and that his speech cannot be easily separated from his person."

 

[ImaginaryDay2]

The Bible is the closest thing we have to God and indeed the Word IS God. Or at least knowing the word is knowing God, a physical bible in your hand is obsolete until you use it. Without the Bible we would all be affirming that Shiva or Allah or whatever is the god.
The word became flesh indeed, its an instrument and the instrument to come to know God. The word is God... So its not too farfetched to say the bible is God "in a sense"

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This is the argument being used in the link to the other forum. And it should be rejected. The Word of God and the word of God need to be recognized as separate and distinct. Christ - the Word - was God made flesh. His word is truth, and those truths are contained in the word of God - the bible. Yet they are distinct and not on the same level. Elevating them is nowhere supported in that word, or by the Word.

 

[tango]

[MENTION=60]MoreCoffee[/MENTION], do you disagree with this statement?
"So what do I mean? I mean that the Bible is the very speech of God and that his speech cannot be easily separated from his person."

I can't help thinking that the best possible interpretation is that someone is going for a headline that will shock in the hope of subsequently qualifying it later.

To map his comparison onto a human analogy, if I write a letter to you and mail it to you, those words may have come from me and express something of who and what I am but to say that the letter is me is patently absurd.

 

[MennoSota]

[MENTION=60]MoreCoffee[/MENTION], do you disagree with this statement?
"So what do I mean? I mean that the Bible is the very speech of God and that his speech cannot be easily separated from his person."

I can't help thinking that the best possible interpretation is that someone is going for a headline that will shock in the hope of subsequently qualifying it later.

To map his comparison onto a human analogy, if I write a letter to you and mail it to you, those words may have come from me and express something of who and what I am but to say that the letter is me is patently absurd.

In the quote, did he say the letter is God?
He said, "It is the very speech of God."
The Bible is not God. We can agree on that. But, is it the word (speech) of God written down?

 

[MoreCoffee]

Exodus contains words spoken by God in the ten commandments but most passages in holy scripture do not contain verbatim quotes of God speaking. It is not wrong to say that the holy scriptures are the word of God or a word from God since that is essentially true but it would be wrong to assert that every word in the holy scriptures was spoken by God. There are several passages where Satan speaks and no Christian worth his/her salt would say that Satan is God. For similar reasons no Christian with his/her salt would assert that "the Bible is God" as the thread starter in the other place did. That notion is heresy through and through. The thread ought to have been removed as trolling by the moderators in the other place but that has not happened and the thread appears to have galvanised opinions with most opposing the idiotic proposition in the title and a few supporting it. For me, as a Catholic Christian, it is astonishing that anybody would ever think to say that "The Bible is God" even as a little bit of trolling.

 

[MennoSota]

Yes, all scripture is given by inspiration of God, but it is not God himself. Scripture reveals the nature of God via God himself, but scripture is not God.

 

[MoreCoffee]

I have no idea what "scripture reveals the nature of God via God" means. It reads as gibberish even though the words are English. Perhaps you'll explain what you intended that set of words to mean.

 

[Cassia]

The bible is the only record of God in the whole universe. And we're told to be relationally-one with Him. How is that possible w/o the bible? In knowing who God is one must study the bible to find out ... simply because that information is nowhere else to be found.
To avoid perversion of knowledge of who He is one must learn from His God-breathed revelation found in the Bible, essentially and foundationally, to have any intimate walk with God. The record that is in the Bible is the closest we will ever come to knowing who God is. Once known then His voice becomes unmistakable, yet intrically tied to the biblical message.
Then ours becomes one more of the human recordings of relationships with God that began it's recordings in the Bible. From visable to invisable is seen in the upside down Kingdom of our Lord Jesus as He comes forth from the unseen to the seen, recorded biblically for us in types and shadows of God, hidden in Him, the Bible.
Hypostasis as the essence of God, also being the definition of God, leaves the tracings of Him on Bible pages. His breath is that essence. Breath brings new life. But it is God who decides the one reading (or hearing) worthy to find Him there and whether to be uniquely tied with Him within that foundation.

 

[hedrick]

Calvin saw an analogy between the Incarnation and Scripture. Scripture is a human work, but it is also God's word. When properly used, the analogy can actually be helpful. But this seems to be pushing it further, to say that the Bible is the inliberation of the Logos, the Word made book. While I'm not aware of any historical heresy that quite matches this, it seems to me that a second physical form of the Word contradicts the uniqueness of the Incarnation, and should properly be considered a form of idolatry. I'm tempted to call this the pumpkinification of Scripture.

 

[hedrick]

It's worth noting that the other Protestants in the discussion weren't receptive to this idea.

 

[MoreCoffee]

It's worth noting that the other Protestants in the discussion weren't receptive to this idea.

While it is true that many Protestants in the thread did oppose the crazy-heretical title ("The Bible is God") it is also true that some supported it.