High praises for the profound wisdom in this post!mjrhealth said:Far from it, God didnt give us the bible, God gave us Jesus, Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit who only speaks things He is given to speak, and He was given to lead us into all the truth. There will be no 10 bible questions before entering in to heaven, God didnt ask us to know the bible He asked that we 'know" His son.
In simple terms,
what can church give you that God, Jesus and teh Holy Spirit cannot,
it cant give you life, that is in Christ alone,
It cant save you, salvation is in Christ alone,
it cant make you "know" Jesus it can only tell you "about" Him,
it can ony offer its version of the truth, its doctrines its traditions, to know the truth one must go to Christ, as the bible says,
1Jn_5:6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
Joh_4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh_4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
In all His Love
If the Bible were essential for salvation, then I guess the first 4 centuries of Christians are lost. Certainly scriptures were a part of the Christian life even before the official canon, but never did early Christians believe that scriptures were sufficient. You're right that Jesus is the word of God, as emphasized in chapter one of John's gospel and the authority Jesus left behind was a living, breathing Church, not a Bible.
It's interesting to challenge Bible-only advocates to defend Bible only using only the Bible. Because not only does the Bible not claim for itself the status, prestige, and authority that BO advocates claim, but continually points to the true source of authority, Jesus Christ and the Church he commissioned with that authority as described here:
Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power (authority) has been given to me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
But here is where your argument is made succinctly:
John 5:39
You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,
which goes to what you are saying, that the scriptures point to Christ, but it's Christ who is the source of our salvation.