Why We Need The Bible (CH2PT1)

Have you ever read the Bible? Most likely not. You've probably read Psalms, some Pauline letters and a few of the Gospels. Oh, and I bet you've read Proverbs, too. The Bible is a very interesting book in the Christian sub-culture. In many ways we love our Bible, but we never open its pages. If we hear of a preacher who might be "misrepresenting" the Bible we rally in arms to attack that persons character. We cry out against him for his offense to God's Word, and yet most Christians have little knowledge of what their Bible actually says. Christians from all corners will defend the cause of having the Bible represented accurately, but no one will take the time to read it for themselves. What does this say, Christian?

I remember when I first got saved, as a teenager, one of the first things I did was read the New Testament. I went to a private school, so I wasn't teased for bringing my Bible to class, but I wasn't exactly the norm, either. I read the Bible cover to cover three times in High school. As an adult I led Bible studies and used the Bible to minister to the unsaved. I loved the Bible. I studied the Bible. I taught the Bible, and I shared the Bible. But even with all this, I still did not know enough of the Bible to defend myself against rational opposition.

The truth is that it cannot be done. When we look at the Bible rationally we realize the Bible has issues.

I. Why We Need The Bible

For all our lackadaisical attitude toward the Bible in our personal spirituality, in the community of believers the Bible is the benchmark of normative Christian behavior. A church that decides to diminish the importance of the Bible in its customs, preaching, and teaching might as well separate itself from the idea of Christianity all together. This is not an argument for the way things ought to be, but is simply a statement of the way things are.

Given this reality, the Bible does have to be taken seriously. Technically speaking, Christianity does not require a Bible. The word, "Christian" is simply an affirmation that Jesus is Lord. As long as a person submits himself to Jesus then the appellation of Christian is deserving, but to claim this title in the face of opposition to the Bible carries with it a burden that seems hypocritical and duplicitous.

This reality causes us to ask, "What is so important about the Bible?" Why do we measure a persons faith according to our allegiance to a book? What is it about the Bible that gives Christians the right to judge another persons spiritual beliefs as being either Christian or non-Christian? Does not the importance of the Bible in modern Christianity seem more indicative of legalism than the authentic spirituality Jesus taught in the Bible? If my faith is between me and God, why would I need a Bible?

The Bible is the first document that the first believers sought to define their faith through. Jewish followers of Jesus read the Scriptures and applied those Scriptures to Christ (1 Cor. 15:3). There was no New Testament, but there was an Old Testament, or to put better, there was a Torah, the Prophets, and Wisdom literature that would later comprise the Old Testament that Jews adhered to in various ways as a canon, and there was the teachings of the Apostles, which would be carried on to the Epistles (Acts 2:42). So the Bible is in a very real way the earliest and most authentic representation of what Christianity is and was to the first believers. Just as the Declaration of Independence or the Mayflower Compact is crucial for the understanding and practice of American democracy, so the Bible is critical for the understanding and practice of the Christian faith.

But there is more. All the above analysis' consider instrumental or utilitarian reasons why the Bible is necessary for the Christian faith. None of that gives us any reason why a person should consider the Bible as being spiritually significant for their faith today, as Christians. Apart from the words, sentences, paragraphs, literary genres, and books of the Bible, the Bible is more than an instruction manual. In fact, I would say that the Bible is needed for Christians today exactly because it is NOT an instruction manual, but a witness. The Bible is an invitation to an experience. The same experience that believers had thousands of years ago which transformed their lives into the image of the Risen Lord (Col. 1:3-6). The Bible is a witness of the Gospel (Rom 1:2), and the Gospel is the core principle of a community that calls itself the People of God (1 Pet. 4:17).

For Christians who have an experience of the risen Lord that changes their life the Bible becomes necessary because it is an invitation to continue in that same experience. The Christian needs the Bible, because the Bible doesn't just "teach" the Gospel, it gives the Gospel life in the spiritual practice of the believer. In this sense, the believer does not NEED the Bible, but rather gets to have the Bible. Just as a person does not NEED a recipe to eat dinner, but is so thankful for having one to create the experience of eating like a civilized person. Just the same the Bible creates the experience of the Gospel for the spiritually inclined. Technically one does not need it in the sense of oxygen or water, but to live to one's full potential in Christ it would be foolish to ignore it.

This being the case. What happens if we cannot trust the Bible? If the Bible is so intimately linked to the spiritual development of the Christian faith, then what do we say of Christianity if the Bible is "debunked"? What would it matter if we could prove with certainty that Jesus rose from the dead, that the God of Abraham exists, and that our universe was created and designed by a divine hand? If the Bible was untrustworthy then no hope for Christianity would exist apart from the first generation of believers.

Further, religions would've developed which most likely mimicked the teachings of Paul or Jesus and perhaps in a very real way the "spirit" of Christianity would have persisted, but it's impossible to say what would really happen. Just as if, there were no Declaration of Independence or Mayflower Compact we could be sure that most likely America would be completely different, if non-existent, to the point that we would not even want to call it America, but it does not necessarily mean that American democracy would be eradicated. Hence, we can kill Christianity if we kill the Bible, but the Gospel is something that could technically live on without Christianity. The Gospel exists beyond the Bible, just as democracy exists beyond our founding documents. And just as our democracy may still exist even if we had no founding documents, so too, our religion could still exist without the Bible, but the kind of religion it would be, would be radically different then the one we have to such a point that it would be difficult to imagine it being effectively "Christian".

The reality is that the Bible is the most easily verifiable relic we have to prove or disprove the Christian faith. If it can be shown to be a cause of cognitive dissonance, or to be adding complexity or prohibiting the practice of maintaining a clear conscience then we would have good reasons to think that the Bible is unreliable, and that the Christian faith is no longer sufficient for today's spiritual believers. So a Christian can in full confidence engage in the intellectual understanding of his Holy Text understanding that even if such a text is discredited the Gospel itself can remain unaffected. And it can be argued that in the interest of faith and the Gospel that such an undertaking is of a pure heart and a clear conscience. We have the obligation as believers to test ourselves to make sure that what we believe is in line with the Gospel, not the Bible. 

Philippians 2:22 - But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.

1 Thessalonians 2:4 - On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.