Is God more than the Bible?

[KingJ]

However, we have been given the Spirit of truth who can lead and guide us into all truth if we will listen. Some people want to corral God's people with doctrine and make them stay within the confines of whatever truth they have decided is right. However, I think the shepherding of God's sheep is best left up to God Himself. The offices of the church are transitory and ultimately we all have to stand before God and allow Him to lead us directly.

Those who are fearful say that chaos will ensue if we actually allow people to be led by the Spirit. However, is that any worse than the hypocrisy that exists in our congregations today? Is disobedience better because it is hidden? At least, if everyone is allowed and even encouraged to either follow or not follow the Holy Spirit the sin which is hidden will be made manifest.

The bottom line is that those who freak out about God being more than is contained within the Bible simply do not trust God to lead His people. However, if not Him then who?

So Justin, you are implying that God is dumb? He missed mentioning things we needed to know? You are implying that the Holy Spirit will teach us more then what is in scripture?

Sorry, God is not dumb and the Holy Spirit / God and Jesus will never go against scripture nor add to it. If you are having any experience that add's to it or goes against it, I suggest you check the source (emotions or demons) or pray for the Holy Spirit to prove it to you in scripture before you continue in whatever it is you are.

Did you miss the last verse in the bible?

 

[Justin Mangonel]

Dear K,

No, K, I did not say nor imply that God is dumb...you said it. I do not believe that all God is will be found in the Bible. Yes, I believe the Holy Spirit will even outlast the scriptures. For the Holy Spirit, which is in reality God the Father, will still be around when all the scriptures are fulfilled.

God or His son Jesus Christ will never go against scripture but they we certainly go against mans erroneous doctrines. People tend to worship the Bible their cherished viewpoints more than they worship God. This is what happened to the Pharisees and is the reason why they rejected God manifest in the flesh. Though God came to them in the strongest possible way very few recieved Him and not one of the stood up to the others for Him. They loved belonging to a group more than they loved God.

Since you are advising me to check my sources...why don't you go first? Are you Spirit filled with the evidence of speaking in other tongues? Does God speak to you and how does He do it? How is your theology lived out in your daily life? For instance, what did God do though you today? I ask these questions because I would like to know if you doctrine has real world application or if it mainly theoretical. Have you ever dealt with a demon personally? In what context and what did the demon do or say? Inquiring minds wish to know.

Many, who are bound in deep dogma, define down what God is and restrict what God can and cannot do to what their doctrine allows. If God ever dares to do differently than what they believe He should the dismiss Him or, even worse, call what He does of the devil. I, on the other hand, realize that God is much greater than my understanding of His word and therefore I allow for new revelation and new experiences. Those who want people to align with their doctrine do so out of a desire to control others. With their doctrine they force themselves between God and His people and demand that His people believe like they do if they want to serve God. This type of thinking is rubbish and needs to be abolished. Many (not all) of the leadership of the normative Christian church have become tyrants in God's vineyard and believe they are the owners of His people. They speak with soft words but they cut and cripple God's sheep so they cannot escape their forked tongues. I am less than impressed with those who speak of doctrine and scripture that with those who actually live it.

 

[KingJ]

Dear K, I did not say nor imply that God is dumb...you said it. I do not believe that all God is will be found in the Bible. Yes, I believe the Holy Spirit will even outlast the scriptures. For the Holy Spirit, which is in reality God the Father, will still be around when all the scriptures are fulfilled. God or His son Jesus Christ will never go against scripture but they we certainly go against mans erroneous doctrines. People tend to worship the Bible their cherished viewpoints more than they worship God.

Ian, no offence! But either God is dumb or you are dumb. If God did not include everything we need to know in scripture, if He forgot to include something pertaining to our Christian walk, then He is dumb. If God did not forget / is not dumb then it IS either a case of you not discerning properly / grasping certain scripture or you are a heretic wanting us to add to God's word.

You are walking a fine line here. Sure the bible does not go into detail on what we will be doing in the 100th millennium in heaven, nor can it fully account for God's greatness (He is more then capable of creating aliens or other universes) but it does contain everything we need to know for our Christian walk. If we do anything outside of scripture we are outside of Christianity.

I agree with what you said above that I underlined but not when you say this below:

I guess it makes people nervous when we cannot define everything in Christianity

You know, I was thinking the other day of how people seem to want to explain every single thing that happens in Christianity with scripture.

 

[Graceismine]

Dear All,

I believe that God is greater than the word that He wrote.

God is the word He wrote. Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.


I find this a very strange question. God is the Creator of the universe so there is nothing or no one greater than Him.

While we are able to see God in His creation we are unable to get to know Him personally through His creation.

There is no such thing as God being "more" than the Bible, How can He be more than what and who He is which is the beginning of all things?

We hear accounts of people in different tribes around the world who come to God in supernatural ways. However a relationship with Him must be established through the knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ and it is through the Bible that we learn about Him from the written accounts of those who were with Him.

Studying the Scriptures is crucial for a Christian in his understanding of who God really is, without the Bible we would be open to every deception that Satan has floating around.

All that we know of God comes from God's word, in fact He is the Word, He spoke it into being and so I would say He is equal with His word if I was going to think like the OP suggests. :unsure:

 

[Selene]

God is the word He wrote. Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.



I find this a very strange question. God is the Creator of the universe so there is nothing or no one greater than Him.

While we are able to see God in His creation we are unable to get to know Him personally through His creation.

There is no such thing as God being "more" than the Bible, How can He be more than what and who He is which is the beginning of all things?

We hear accounts of people in different tribes around the world who come to God in supernatural ways. However a relationship with Him must be established through the knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ and it is through the Bible that we learn about Him from the written accounts of those who were with Him.

Studying the Scriptures is crucial for a Christian in his understanding of who God really is, without the Bible we would be open to every deception that Satan has floating around.

All that we know of God comes from God's word, in fact He is the Word, He spoke it into being and so I would say He is equal with His word if I was going to think like the OP suggests. :unsure:

God is not the Bible. The Word that existed in the beginning and became flesh is a person. He has a name, and His name is Jesus Christ, not Holy Bible. Scripture (graphe) and the living Word (Logos) are not the same. We worship Jesus Christ. We don't worship the Holy Bible. Even the Bible says to worship only God. It never said to worship the Bible or scripture.

 

[veteran]

God is not the Bible. The Word that existed in the beginning and became flesh is a person. He has a name, and His name is Jesus Christ, not Holy Bible. Scripture (graphe) and the living Word (Logos) are not the same. We worship Jesus Christ. We don't worship the Holy Bible. Even the Bible says to worship only God. It never said to worship the Bible or scripture.

True, we don't worship ink on paper which is not The LORD Himself. In John 1 we are told that in the beginning was the 'logos' ("word"), and the logos was with God, and was God. The Greek word 'logos' means 'utterance by a living voice, discourse, doctrine, reason, mind', etc. God spoke and His creation came into existence. That reveals that the 'logos' IS indeed a part of Himself.

 

[Justin Mangonel]

Dear All,

I think a point worth considering is that when people think that the word we have is all that God is then we feel like we have all the pieces to the jigsaw puzzle. I don't think we do. Before the New Testament people thought they had all the pieces but then they received a bunch more when the apostles started to write the New Testament. These pieces allow a greater revelation to be realized and, for those who received this testament, it allowed them to know God in deeper and more accurate ways.

 

[veteran]

Dear All,

I think a point worth considering is that when people think that the word we have is all that God is then we feel like we have all the pieces to the jigsaw puzzle. I don't think we do. Before the New Testament people thought they had all the pieces but then they received a bunch more when the apostles started to write the New Testament. These pieces allow a greater revelation to be realized and, for those who received this testament, it allowed them to know God in deeper and more accurate ways.

Does that mean you believe The New Testament is still... being written today?

 

[mjrhealth]

Now to make thsi real simple, every time you quote the bible , than write bible, than whenever you qoute something from God write His word, soon you will see " bible" everywhere and "word" very little mentioned. How easy it is to confound the minds of men, no wonder the enemy enjoys messing around with us.

In All His Love

 

[Justin Mangonel]

Dear V,

I believe that the Bible is most likely incomplete. Which is to say that one day, probably in the millennium, God will pen more scripture through holy men of God as they are moved by the Spirit that will illuminate and clarify what He has already written. I do not believe that anything written since the book of revelation rises to the level of scripture but some have come close.

I think that those who want to close down the revelation of God are basically standing in the same place and are in the same danger that the Pharisees stood and were in when Christ came in the first century. Namely, that their dogma was so firmly entrenched that even when God shows up again, in the manifested sons of God, they will reject what God clearly accepts.

Note, nothing that Jesus said contradicted the real meaning of the word of God revealed up to that point but it did contradict and was disruptive to the Pharisees theology.

 

[Graceismine]

God is not the Bible. The Word that existed in the beginning and became flesh is a person. He has a name, and His name is Jesus Christ, not Holy Bible. Scripture (graphe) and the living Word (Logos) are not the same. We worship Jesus Christ. We don't worship the Holy Bible. Even the Bible says to worship only God. It never said to worship the Bible or scripture.

I didn't say that God is the Bible.

Can you tell me what this means Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Dear All,

I think a point worth considering is that when people think that the word we have is all that God is then we feel like we have all the pieces to the jigsaw puzzle. I don't think we do. Before the New Testament people thought they had all the pieces but then they received a bunch more when the apostles started to write the New Testament. These pieces allow a greater revelation to be realized and, for those who received this testament, it allowed them to know God in deeper and more accurate ways.

The Holy Spirit is always revealing Himself to us in new ways. New ways that contradict Scripture do not come from the Holy Spirit, The truth lies in the Scriptures not outside of them.

Our revelation of God has come in these times through Jesus. Heb 1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, Heb 1:2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

 

[veteran]

Dear V,

I believe that the Bible is most likely incomplete. Which is to say that one day, probably in the millennium, God will pen more scripture through holy men of God as they are moved by the Spirit that will illuminate and clarify what He has already written. I do not believe that anything written since the book of revelation rises to the level of scripture but some have come close.

I think that those who want to close down the revelation of God are basically standing in the same place and are in the same danger that the Pharisees stood and were in when Christ came in the first century. Namely, that their dogma was so firmly entrenched that even when God shows up again, in the manifested sons of God, they will reject what God clearly accepts.

Note, nothing that Jesus said contradicted the real meaning of the word of God revealed up to that point but it did contradict and was disruptive to the Pharisees theology.

Well, that's one of the differences between you and me, because I believe that God's Holy Writ is very... complete. That's why His Holy Writ also... covers the events of Christ's future "thousand years" and thereafter, even giving us written examples of the new heavens, and new earth in final. This is why Christ through His Apostle John warned against adding and taking away from It in the Rev.22 Scripture.

Who is it specifically that would even want... to get away from God's Holy Writ, or even treat it as being incomplete? Those ideas don't originate from God; they originate from men who think to replace Him with something else. Brethren who listen to those kinds of men will always wind up in a state of confusion, and be in danger of falling away.

 

[mjrhealth]

Now when one understands that Jesus is the word of God the bible just a book, calling it Holy doesnt make it such, calling it the word of God helps no one. Jesus is complete Hi is for ever. the bible is a book made of paper and ink, its words fade, the paper rots, it isnt forever.

In his Love

 

[bosco]

I agree completely with veteran. Scripture is part of God's self-disclosure to man; yes, He is greater than Scripture, but of His own choosing we cannot separate Him from it. He chose Scripture Himself as a means of self-communication, and while that self-communication continues with every new human life, it's content ended in the 1st century. There are new expressions of that content, but not new content, by definition. This is a foundational Christian belief that can't be set aside.

 

[Justin Mangonel]

Dear G,

I am saying that God will reveal Himself to us in new ways that do not fit our doctrine and may not be specifically found in the Bible. We do not have to fear what God does. We must learn to accept Him as He is. Right now we restrict him out of fear and doctrine.

Dear V,

Did you even get the example I gave about the Pharisees? Who many of them rejected Christ on scriptural grounds? How they rejected the New Testament? People want to dance around the Bible but really they just dance around there doctrine. They say God is the Bible but their God is really just their doctrine. I really like reading about God and having Him speak to me through His word but I realize that what I have between the covers is not all He is. I realize too that my understanding of Him even through the word is very incomplete.

You talked about the millennium as if a few scriptures tell you all you need to know about it and as if it covers everything that will go on of importance during that time. That is simply not the case. A thousand years is a long time and God is going to be working with His chosen people again. If God wrote the New Testament for a wild branch that was grafted into the natural vine how much more will He have things to say to His chosen people who are restored from the dead?

 

[Arnie Manitoba]

Justin Mangonel

I think your biggest problem here is that most folks do not quite grasp what you are saying.

I do grasp it , and I tend to agree with you.

Arnie M.

 

[Selene]

I agree completely with veteran. Scripture is part of God's self-disclosure to man; yes, He is greater than Scripture, but of His own choosing we cannot separate Him from it. He chose Scripture Himself as a means of self-communication, and while that self-communication continues with every new human life, it's content ended in the 1st century. There are new expressions of that content, but not new content, by definition. This is a foundational Christian belief that can't be set aside.

I agree that God is greater than Scripture, but He did not choose scripture as a means of self-communication. Christ told the Apostles to go out to all the nations and PREACH the Gospels. He never said to write a book. God had always used the prophets to orally transmit His message to Israel. He did the same with the Apostles. His way of reaching the people had always been through oral teachings. Later these things were written down, and there were some who were not even Apostles (such as Luke and Mark) who wrote it down. Oral teachings came first. Then the written words came later. Nevertheless, we believe the written words still came from the Holy Spirit despite that some of the men who wrote them were not Apostles (such as Luke and Mark). We also believe that what was written is in line with the oral traditions that were passed down. The oral traditions came first and then the written words (scripture) came later.

 

[teamventure]

Now when one understands that Jesus is the word of God the bible just a book, calling it Holy doesnt make it such, calling it the word of God helps no one. Jesus is complete Hi is for ever. the bible is a book made of paper and ink, its words fade, the paper rots, it isnt forever.

In his Love

heaven and earth will pass away but my word will never pass away.

I agree that God is greater than Scripture, but He did not choose scripture as a means of self-communication. Christ told the Apostles to go out to all the nations and PREACH the Gospels. He never said to write a book. God had always used the prophets to orally transmit His message to Israel. He did the same with the Apostles. His way of reaching the people had always been through oral teachings. Later these things were written down, and there were some who were not even Apostles (such as Luke and Mark) who wrote it down. Oral teachings came first. Then the written words came later. Nevertheless, we believe the written words still came from the Holy Spirit despite that some of the men who wrote them were not Apostles (such as Luke and Mark). We also believe that what was written is in line with the oral traditions that were passed down. The oral traditions came first and then the written words (scripture) came later.

wow, you're even saying that the Bible isn't the word of God. you sound more like an athiest than a Christian.

 

[mjrhealth]

When christians start seeking the things of God for themselves and stop believeing everything they are told, they will soon discover as the pharisses did, that Jesus and God are nothing like you think they are. We have taken something beautiful and endless nad condensed Him into a book made of paper and Ink. Is that al God is to you??

In all His Love

 

[Selene]

heaven and earth will pass away but my word will never pass away.



wow, you're even saying that the Bible isn't the word of God. you sound more like an athiest than a Christian.

Where in my post did I say that the Bible is NOT the word of God?