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Can the Bible become an Idol and if so what does that look like?

Having come out of the Amish church system I would definitely say people do worship the book. I would go so far as to say all who replace the Holy Spirit with the Book are guilty of idolatry.

In the Gospel of John , Jesus said He would send us the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into all Truth. Not a book or sacred writing. Butttt. The Holy Spirit can lead us to the truth that is in the book.

I believe that as Jesus is the Word and He is alive, He cannot be nor should be limited to the confines of a book.

We attended the Church of Christ while seeking a home church. And tho they were very knowledgeable in Scripture they would not recognize a Living Holy Spirit. Saying He was for the ushering in of the church then the power was given to the church and now we have the written word. The same thing my dad said.

Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.? That's what led us away from the religious systems. The Amish church is very religious but has no power.
 
Asforme&myhouse said:
I’ve never met a christian who literally thinks the Bible is God in paper form.
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No, but that is the implication of the language. Do word's mean things or don't they? Let your words match your beliefs.

Asforme&myhouse said:
really? I’ve been born again for over 30 years and spent time in a number of different denominations that ranged from stodgy old school protestants to charismatics that would make Benny Hinn blush, and I’ve never known any of them to believe what you just laid out. Is there a specific denomination that believes this?
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No they don't specifically confess that, but it is the way they operate if you but look. What is the focus of Protestant church life, esp. evangelicals? By what do we draw lines of fellowship? How do we define who we (as a separate church or denomination) are? What do we say is required to become a Christian?
 
yoderfamily said:
Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.? That's what led us away from the religious systems. The Amish church is very religious but has no power.
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To their credit though, at least they've been able to preserve what they have. Almost none of the Protestant denominations can say that, always only a couple steps behind the world; furiously defending the gains their fathers or grandfathers fought against in defense of truth.
 
rockfox said:
To their credit though, at least they've been able to preserve what they have. Almost none of the Protestant denominations can say that, always only a couple steps behind the world; furiously defending the gains their fathers or grandfathers fought against in defense of truth.
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The Amish heritage is one I am proud of but I have a far greater Heritage. As a son of the Father. The Amish are a world within a world. They are constantly evolving. The only way they survive is thru control. Very little Life. There are some who become born again but when faced with following the Holy Spirit or the system most choose the system. We were told by those around us that we shouldn't have Bible study and prayer meeting as history proves people who do that don't stay Amish. We shrugged our shoulders and said it wasn't our intention to leave. The more we studied the more glaring conflicts we're exposed. Thru pointing out those conflicts the ministers from all the neighboring churches got together , said we were undermining their authority and the majority voted to excommunicate us. Quite a few people didn't agree with them but ended up being pressured to keep the peace.
Not saying one size fits all.
 
rockfox said:
No, but that is the implication of the language. Do word's mean things or don't they? Let your words match your beliefs.
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I’m not sure I follow. What are they saying that implies that they believe the Bible is literally God in paper form?

rockfox said:
No they don't specifically confess that, but it is the way they operate if you but look. What is the focus of Protestant church life, esp. evangelicals? By what do we draw lines of fellowship? How do we define who we (as a separate church or denomination) are? What do we say is required to become a Christian?
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.

Are you saying that protestants don’t allow the Holy Spirit to work? What types of things do you perceive as the work of the Holy Spirit, and in what way do they stop His work?
 
Asforme&myhouse said:
Who or what christian denomination believes this?
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Independent Baptist for one.

Asforme&myhouse said:
really? I’ve been born again for over 30 years and spent time in a number of different denominations that ranged from stodgy old school protestants to charismatics that would make Benny Hinn blush, and I’ve never known any of them to believe what you just laid out. Is there a specific denomination that believes this?
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I don't think that they put it on there Church sign outside but it definitely happens

@rockfox brought back some thoughts I had on this back when I first started thinking about this. I think Paul is a good character to look at. He studied under Gamaliel and was a pharisee of pharisees. Saul is holding the coats of the men that kill Steven and has acquired letters to persecute the Christians in Damascus. Who is Saul worshiping at this point? He was certainly humble after his conversion and nothing says he was any different before so I wouldn't say it was himself/pride. He knew the scripture as well if not better than any of his time. Despite all his knowledge he was killing God's people. So what changed and made the difference between Saul and Paul. I would imagine everyone would agree it was relationship. He finally met God. After Paul was converted he didn't go study his Bible. He disappeared in the Desert to get alone with God.

Galatians 1:11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin.
12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased
16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.

Now it could be argued that no one did more for the early Church than Paul. That tells me that when someone gets free from this thing they have a lot of potential. The downside is Paul is the only Pharisee in scripture to get set free.

Now Paul does say that he was extremely zealous for the traditions of his fathers in verse 14. Are the traditions roots or fruit of something deeper? If someone starts turning the Bible into an Idol do they start to form traditions and dogmas? I have a saying. Its easier to divert a stream than it is to turn it back on its self and the devil knows this. Its hard to convince a believer who grew up in Church seeing God move that there is no God. However, it is not that hard to get him to divert his focus just a little. Maybe even to something good and harmless. The problem lies when that good and harmless thing becomes equal to God. I'll have to think on that for a while.
 
Heb 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Profanity is placing something to higher importance than the Life of Christ within another person.
That is why I don't understand denominations who refuse to have Communion with other Believers.
 
Soldier's Psalm said:
Independent Baptist for one.


I don't think that they put it on there Church sign outside but it definitely happens

@rockfox brought back some thoughts I had on this back when I first started thinking about this. I think Paul is a good character to look at. He studied under Gamaliel and was a pharisee of pharisees. Saul is holding the coats of the men that kill Steven and has acquired letters to persecute the Christians in Damascus. Who is Saul worshiping at this point? He was certainly humble after his conversion and nothing says he was any different before so I wouldn't say it was himself/pride. He knew the scripture as well if not better than any of his time. Despite all his knowledge he was killing God's people. So what changed and made the difference between Saul and Paul. I would imagine everyone would agree it was relationship. He finally met God. After Paul was converted he didn't go study his Bible. He disappeared in the Desert to get alone with God.

Galatians 1:11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin.
12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased
16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.

Now it could be argued that no one did more for the early Church than Paul. That tells me that when someone gets free from this thing they have a lot of potential. The downside is Paul is the only Pharisee in scripture to get set free.

Now Paul does say that he was extremely zealous for the traditions of his fathers in verse 14. Are the traditions roots or fruit of something deeper? If someone starts turning the Bible into an Idol do they start to form traditions and dogmas? I have a saying. Its easier to divert a stream than it is to turn it back on its self and the devil knows this. Its hard to convince a believer who grew up in Church seeing God move that there is no God. However, it is not that hard to get him to divert his focus just a little. Maybe even to something good and harmless. The problem lies when that good and harmless thing becomes equal to God. I'll have to think on that for a while.
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Independent Baptist is one denomination that i have not been affiliated with, so I will have to look into that.

Truth without love is a clanging cymbal. Just because someone is a clanging cymbal doesn’t mean they don’t have truth, it just means they don’t have love which is equally important. I sounds to me like they are picking and choosing what passages of scripture they want to follow and are beating others over the head with them. I don’t think that’s idolizing the Bible, I think this ignoring parts of it, and probably adding traditions to it.

The roots of those traditions always come from a straying from or adding to, the word of God. The Tradition of the Elders was what the pharisees followed and for them it superseded the written Word. Remember that they “nullified” the word of God for the sake of their traditions. It was extra biblical revelation, and Yeshua trashed it and upheld the written Word.

Your stream diversion metaphor is a good one. That’s how the enemy works, for sure. Like in the Garden when he said “hath God said?” And then twisted what God had actually said. The enemy tries to get us to stray from the word of God. Like the traditions that Saul was zealous for, so too are some zealous for traditions that don’t include love. But if we truly study the scriptures with the focus being on Christ and what He has done for us, we are cut to the heart by the Holy Spirit and our pride is stripped from us by the Law that we are unable to keep and we are humbled by the debt we’ve been forgiven. What flows from that is love for one another and a desire to tell others the Good News.
 
Jesus walked with Peter yet it took the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to him that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus could not do it. People who make a God out of the Bible become extreme fundamentalists who get so bogged down with the words until they miss the thoughts they were intended to convey. It is not that the words are not important but the sense of the intended thought is more important than the overreach of many to bog down over words until the intended thought is missed. This was the error of the Scribes. Lawyers, and Pharisees. I believe in the Scripture. I seek the truth it intends to convey. We must not wrest the scriptures to our destruction.
 
Soldier's Psalm said:
Independent Baptist for one.
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This is a major over generalization. I was Independent Baptist for 37 years up until early this year and I never believed that nor do I know anyone within the independent Baptist movement who does... perhaps there are some but I don’t know them...

As far as kjv only that part is popular among independent Baptist but that has varying degrees from extreme to moderate to mild...
 
Soldier's Psalm said:
So what changed and made the difference between Saul and Paul.
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No difference in his name. One is a Hebrew pronunciation and the other was transliterated for Greek speakers... thats an oversimplification but ultimately his name was never changed...
 
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Pacman said:
Disagree here...

Acts 15:5
[5] But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed...
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These are the guys Paul refers to specifically in Galatians 2:4,5
And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:
To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

Paul is referring here back to the Acts 15 passage that had happened some 14 years previous to his epistle to the Galatians
 
There is also the very real possibility of making a particular version an idol when it’s translation was intentionally biased towards a clergy laity system as in the case of the KJV. king Jimmy was ok with them translating with an anti RCC bias, but the translation had to retain and support the idea of a separate and elevated clergy though the original doesn’t.

A version like this would of necessity be placed on a pedestal by those it elevated.
 
Verifyveritas76 said:
These are the guys Paul refers to specifically in Galatians 2:4,5
And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:
To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

Paul is referring here back to the Acts 15 passage that had happened some 14 years previous to his epistle to the Galatians
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There is no indication that the folks spoken about in Acts 15:5 are false brethren. Verse 1 yes but not verse 5
 
One of the major false assumptions that is being made here is that some are assuming that because others don't believe the Holy Spirit operates in a certain way that they then don't believe in the Holy Spirit. Pentecostals don't have a lock on the Holy Spirit and any dispensationalist church that rejects the Holy Spirit isn't even Christian. The differences between the two sides here is of methods and degrees. And they can only be addressed through Scripture.
 
Pacman said:
There is no indication that the folks spoken about in Acts 15:5 are false brethren. Verse 1 yes but not verse 5
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Both verses look like the same doctrine to me

Galatians 2 is all about Acts 15 and a direct reference to it. I don’t see anyone else in Acts 15 that Paul could have been referring to.
 
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