The Bible Is Not An Instruction Book In Christianity

[Justified Saint]

The original point is well said (and all its re-statements). The Bible is not a rule book or a program on how to live your life. If the truth is to set you free then that will take some work (i.e. thinking, interpretation, application etc.)

It is the Protestant and Fundamentalist mistake to confuse the Bible with its so-called "plain meaning" as though it came to us completely unmediated from the mouth of God. Once you make that move then you have made an idol. We seem to forget that church dogma and doctrine are interpretations that are deduced from the text, like Katholikos said. If you equate dogma with some kind of scientific 'fact' of the text then you are heading down a blind alley that will only lead to despair.

[kamiller42]

[quote name='Anomaly' post='1100688' date='Oct 25 2006, 08:00 AM']
God is about a relationship, not a rule book that can be bought for $12.97. A Church organization and athenticated and approved commentaries are AIDS to help with the relationship, not concrete rule books that will cover every single imaginable circumstance. That is where the relationship comes in. OMG, the irony of Euty wanting an infallible document that would cover everything.
[/quote]
How did I miss this?

While I agree [b]our relationship with God is more than a book[/b], certain $12.97 books are a part of the relationship with God.

If we imagine our faith as a locomotive and our journey to God with the tracks being laid by God, Scripture, the Catechism, the writings of saints, and other proper books fuel the engine. The more we read these works, the stronger our engine becomes. The less we consume these works, the engine becomes weaker and colder. "I think I can. I think I can" becomes "I think I can't. I think I can't," and we end up taking the wrong track at the next junction.

It's easy to tell someone to have a relationship with God, but imagine there was no Scripture, no writing of the saints, no Catechism. Our faith would be a train wreck. God knew this. When the Israelites were lost, God gave Moses the written word. He didn't say "I'll be your Father" and leave it at that. It required instruction. The message could have been relayed by Moses as it was done many times before, but that wasn't enough. He wrote it into tablets.

The Word gave direction and meaning to the relationship between God and his people just as that $12.97 book does.

[Budge]

[quote]The Bible is not an instruction book in Christianity.[/quote]

Sigh, it is always sad for me to see a Catholic who has managed to have scripture chained away from their heart.

Scripture is an instruction book and better said a GUIDE.

[b]Psa 119:105 NUN. Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.[/b]

What does that verse mean to you? Anything?


[quote]The Bible does not contain the entire revelation of God[/quote]

Name one revelation [b]not in the Bible[/b], that a Christian needs to know.

Do you realize the Bible itself, says IT IS WRITTEN over 90 times?

I googled that phrase on a KJV Bible site.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='Budge' post='1103196' date='Oct 28 2006, 12:55 PM']
Sigh, it is always sad for me to see a Catholic who has managed to have scripture chained away from their heart.

Scripture is an instruction book and better said a GUIDE.

[b]Psa 119:105 NUN. Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.[/b]

What does that verse mean to you? Anything?
[/quote]
Yes, God's word is transmitted through Scripture and Tradition. These together ARE a guide for Christianity.

[quote]Name one revelation [b]not in the Bible[/b], that a Christian needs to know.

Do you realize the Bible itself, says IT IS WRITTEN over 90 times?

I googled that phrase on a KJV Bible site.[/quote]

Well, according to you, sola scriptura would be one such revelation, although we would disagree.

[cmotherofpirl]

The Trinity

[Cam42]

[quote name='Budge' post='1103196' date='Oct 28 2006, 10:55 AM']

Name one revelation [b]not in the Bible[/b], that a Christian needs to know.

[/quote]

The Immaculate Conception.

[Akalyte]

Three Legged Stool:

Magesterium
Scripture
Tradition.

=Christianity

[cmotherofpirl]

the idea that Revelation is closed

[XIX]

Whether that cute red-headed girl likes me.

[Katholikos]

[quote name='Budge' post='1103196' date='Oct 28 2006, 11:55 AM']
Sigh, it is always sad for me to see a Catholic who has managed to have scripture chained away from their heart.[/quote]It's always sad for me to see a Protestant who has no knowledge of the history of the Bible, misinterprets it, and tries to twist it into serving a purpose for which it was not intended.

[quote]Scripture is an instruction book and better said a GUIDE.[/quote]Protestants have tried to make it into an instruction book, but that is not what it is. The NT is not comprehensive, and it does not give instructions on exactly what we must do to be saved. all that we are to believe, and how to put our faith into practice. It is a [u]collection[/u] of the Catholic Church's own writings. which record the early life of the newborn Church. It's like a family album. Make no mistake -- it is the inspired Word of God; but it is the Church who teaches us this, not the writings.

[quote][b]Psa 119:105 NUN. Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.[/b]

What does that verse mean to you? Anything?[/quote]It means that God's written word is not His only word.

[quote]Name one revelation [b]not in the Bible[/b], that a Christian needs to know.[/quote]The list of books that belong in the Bible.

[quote]Do you realize the Bible itself, says IT IS WRITTEN over 90 times?

I googled that phrase on a KJV Bible site.
[/quote]And do you realize that each time "it is written" appears in the Scriptures, it refers to the Septuagint OT Scriptures rejected by most Protestants? Go figure. The NT would not be collected, canonized, and preserved until the end of the fourth century.

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Blessed Father Damien, pray for us!

[HS_Dad]

[quote name='thessalonian' post='1101029' date='Oct 25 2006, 04:05 PM']
the fullness of grace.
[/quote]
This is a phrase bantied about quite a bit.... What is the precise theological definition of this in the Catholic context?

[Quietfire]

[quote name='Katholikos' post='1103344' date='Oct 28 2006, 02:36 PM']
It's always sad for me to see a Protestant who has no knowledge of the history of the Bible, misinterprets it, and tries to twist it into serving a purpose for which it was not intended.

Protestants have tried to make it into an instruction book, but that is not what it is. The NT is not comprehensive, and it does not give instructions on exactly what we must do to be saved. all that we are to believe, and how to put our faith into practice. It is a [u]collection[/u] of the Catholic Church's own writings. which record the early life of the newborn Church. It's like a family album. Make no mistake -- it is the inspired Word of God; but it is the Church who teaches us this, not the writings.

It means that God's written word is not His only word.

The list of books that belong in the Bible.

And do you realize that each time "it is written" appears in the Scriptures, it refers to the Septuagint OT Scriptures rejected by most Protestants? Go figure. The NT would not be collected, canonized, and preserved until the end of the fourth century.

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Blessed Father Damien, pray for us!
[/quote]
Well said sir.

I might add also:
[quote]And do you realize that each time "it is written" appears in the Scriptures, it refers to the Septuagint OT Scriptures rejected by most Protestants? Go figure. The NT would not be collected, canonized, and preserved until the end of the fourth century.[/quote]

Rejected by ALL Protestants originally. It then re-appeared by some but in an apocrypha.

[123]

[quote]We NEED one autoritative COMPLETE bible INTERPRETATION, can your side produce it and can I buy it, or not?
[/quote]

"Buying it" or not doesn't make it right, you go where the LORD leads you. However, there are spiritual issues in life we must do that we aren't always going to feel comfortable with. Several of Christ's followers left when he exlaimed the power of the Eucharist in John 6, becuase they thought he was a crazy cannibal! Not only did Christ know what they thought he repeated himself several times to get the point across becuase, they just didn't "buy it"

Sometimes our faith is more challening when its harder to understand, however we have Christ to light our way. He has since acsended to his kingdom, and left the authority of the Church as the vicar, his earthly representative. This is not a hard thought to think.

Edited November 27, 2006 by GloriaIesusChristi