Over the years, I’ve met numerous Christians who rejected the authority, inspiration, and reliability of the Bible (mostly younger progressives).
At the same time, I’ve met numerous Christians who idolized the Bible, making it the fourth member of the Trinity, a few millimeters above the Holy Spirit (mostly older fundamentalists).
In reaction to this second group, some have jealously sought to protect the uniqueness of Jesus and distance themselves from bibliolatry by saying things like “Jesus is the Word of God and the Bible is not.”
But is this statement true? And is such a notion necessary to debunk the idolization of Scripture?
The Bible itself answers this question.
Paul wrote that the Scriptures are God breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). And according to Jesus, from Genesis all the way to the genuine leather, they reveal, glorify, and present Christ (John 5:39. Jesus: A Theography takes a deep dive into how this works).
Jesus is God’s autobiography in human flesh. The Bible is God’s autobiography in written form.
For this reason, from the earliest days of our faith, Jesus-followers have called Scripture the written word of God while calling Jesus the living Word of God.
Because Scripture is God breathed, the words of God are recorded therein. Thus the Scriptures have been called “God’s word,” even by the biblical authors themselves.
Some examples:
Jesus Himself called the Scriptures “the word of God” in Mark 7:13.
If you read the context, in verses 6 – 12, Jesus quotes the Old Testament. And He calls those Old Testament quotes “the word of God.”
Jesus also used the phrase “the word of God” to refer to the gospel that He preached, namely, the gospel of the kingdom (Luke 8:11, 21).
In John 10:34-35, Jesus connects “the word of God” with Scripture.
Throughout the book of Acts, after Jesus ascended, “the word of God” is spoken by humans, heard by humans, received by humans, and spread by humans.
In Acts, the phrase “the word of God“ mainly refers to the gospel of the kingdom, which is recorded in Scripture (Acts 4:31; 6:2, 7; 8:14; 13:5, 7, 46; 18:11).
Paul spoke the word of God to people and some received it (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
The writer of Hebrews speaks about the elementary teachings of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 6:1). He then speaks of “the word of God,” distinguishing it from the Holy Spirit (6:4).
The Old Testament prophets use the phrase “word of God” (1 Samuel 9:27; 1 Kings 12:22, etc.) many times to refer to a word that God has spoken (“the word of the Lord came to me”) and those words are recorded in Scripture.
Therefore, it is NOT an error to say that the Scriptures are God’s word because Jesus and the apostles did so.
Of course, it IS an error to idolize the Bible and have it replace a living relationship with Christ. It’s also an error to say that the ONLY way God speaks to us is through the Bible.
But every great Christian, past and present, who believed Scripture to be God’s word also believed in a living relationship with Christ. And none of them worshipped the Bible.
Again, the Scriptures themselves testify that they are God’s word.
Jesus is the INCARNATION of the word of God, who has “come” to do God’s will as it is “written in the volume [scroll] of the book” (Hebrews 10:7).
Christ is the Word made flesh.
Beyond all this, a simple exercise in logic — a word that has its origins in logos — tells us that the Scriptures are God’s word.
Jesus is called “the Word of God” throughout Scripture.
ALL Scripture — every bit of it according to Jesus Himself — points to Him. Therefore, if Jesus is the Word and all Scripture reveals, displays, testifies, and witnesses to Jesus, then ergo, it’s not erroneous to say that the Scriptures contain, convey, and embody God’s Word.
When God speaks, it’s Christ. And when God breathes, it’s Christ. That’s why all that the Father and the Spirit utter is Christ. Hence, the Scriptures are God’s word.
None of what I’ve stated so far, by the way, is the typical Protestant or evangelical “formulation.”
Before I wrote this article, I sought for material that showed that the Scriptures are God’s word from the evangelical/Protestant world, and I found very little that was compelling.
While I agreed with their conclusion (Scripture is God’s word), the way they arrived at this conclusion wasn’t strong enough in my opinion. So I hope this piece adds value to the conversation.
Two more things to note.
1) I’ve heard some charismatic Christians say that when God speaks through His written word the Greek word logos is used but when He gives a prophetic word to someone (outside the Bible) the Greek word rhema is used.
I know of no Greek scholar who supports this conclusion. In fact, the foremost New Testament scholar of our time – Craig Keener (who is also a charismatic) – says this about it:
“The book of John simply (with one exception) used logos for the singular and rhema for the plural. In Koine Greek, they are often interchangeable. Of course, there is a difference between mere knowledge of Scripture and us experiencing the Spirit speaking to us through Scripture (contrast, e.g., the Pharisees and Jesus!) But I wouldn’t rest that distinction primarily on those two Greek terms.”
Biblical scholar John Nugent observes the same saying,
“Both words (logos and rhema) refer to prophetic speech and ordinary speech, from God and from humans. In that sense, they are used interchangeably.”
2) Those of us who take our stand with the Christians over the centuries who have called Scripture “the word of God” do NOT believe that God speaks to us only through the Bible.
We believe He speaks to us in numerous ways. But if it’s a true word from God, it will never contradict the written Scriptures.
In Jesus Speaks, I discuss how to practically hear and recognize the voice of Jesus today, within Scripture, through others, and internally.
Bottom line: the next time someone rakes you over the coals for calling the Bible “God’s word,” you have solid footing. For you are standing on the shoulders of Jesus Himself, the living Word who referred to Scripture as “the word of God.”
The follow-up video below – HOW IS THE BIBLE AUTHORITATIVE, ACCURATE, AND RELIABLE? – deals with questions of historical accuracy, the so-called “errors and contradictions” in the Bible, its
Both this article and the video supplement one another.
Reframing Rejection
Thank you!
The one thing that is often missed on this topic is the OT vs NT.
Every example in your post referring to ‘scripture’ is referring to the OT scripture. Jesus and Paul when making comments about the ‘word of God’ or ‘scripture’ are not talking about the NT b/c it hadn’t been written yet.
Therefore, how can we use these arguments as a support for NT? I agree with your examples of genre, context, audience etc. I don’t doubt the writings of the NT but more of the who not the what. We have popes & bishops fro the 3rd to 5th centuries determining what the canon is. So, although I sincerely believe my Bible, I find it an intellectual issue when these arguments are made, calling the ‘scripture’ inerrant & infallible and including verses obviously referring to the OT but now we’ve included the NT into Jesus’s or Paul’s words. I doubt Paul was thinking he was writing ‘scripture’ in this definition. He was just advising, teaching, instructing, rebuking according to the truth and testimony he knew as real.
Given the corruption in church history, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say there could be some question around what was canonized. I see this and I am not on the other side trying to add books but there are a lot that were not added that other orthodox include. There was obviously agreement over the 4th&5th century that got us what we have but does agreement by men in one system solidify that?
I’m not here to argue against what we have, more of how we are arguing that it is infallible and God breathed when those comments are specifically referring to the OT scriptures.
Thoughts??
Have you watched/heard the video? I reference F.F. Bruce’s “The Canon of Scripture” – it answers these questions. Also, Peter calls Paul’s writings Scripture. They were understood to be such in the first century and beyond.
God preserved His written Word *despite* ecclesiastical corruption AND the onslaughts of those who sought to destroy the Sacred Text through the centuries. Again, I talk about this in the video.
Both the article and the video supplement each other and should be taken together.
Thx. for the comment.
P.S. Bruce goes into depth on all of this in his “Canon” opus. When Jesus referred to “the Scriptures,” He was speaking of the entire First Testament canon, which was made up of three parts. A future podcast in The Insurgent Podcast will explore the three parts of the OT and how they relate to encountering Jesus today as we read the First and Second Testaments (OT and NT).
Thank you.