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Information
and Advice for Christian Teenagers
CHAPTER
3
DISCOVERING
THE BIBLE
The
Bible is the Word of God. By reading it regularly you
will come to understand how God wants you to behave and
think. It will help you discover the best way to grow
strong as a Christian, It will show you how to best develop
your relationship with God.
You
will be influenced by what you absorb most. If you listen
to the world a lot, you will be influenced by it. If
you listen to God, by praying, praising and reading the Bible, He
will influence you. If you allow yourself to be influenced
by both, you'll get into a muddle - one will fight against
the other. Many Christians experience this problem. And
many don't realise they have a problem. Many of us spend
twenty hours a week watching the world, absorbing its
attitudes and opinions, leaving only two or three hours
for the Lord.
The
Bible is your teacher. It teaches you about God's Salvation
found only in Jesus Christ through faith. In the Bible
you learn about personal morality and purity, how a church
should be run and how to have proper Christian relationships.
It explains why we need to be rescued from the painful
and destructive effects of sin. It reveals the character
and will of God. The more we read it, the more we know,
and the more we know the more determined we should be
to please God.
The
Bible will challenge you to put God's ways before everything
else. It will direct you and feed you (spiritually speaking)
on life's journey. God's Word "was written for our
instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement
of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Romans 15:4, NASB).
We might put it this way: the Bible is your Instruction Manual for Christian Living. If
you don't read the instruction manual you will be more
likely to make mistakes and feel like giving up.
Understandably
you may find some of the information in this chapter
a little bit complicated, but please try to work your
way through it. It's very important that you have confidence
in the Bible as God's Word. You must make an effort to
read it regularly.
"BUT,
THE BIBLE'S HARD TO READ!"
Many
teenagers are stumped when they open their Bibles. Everything
seems odd and confusing - almost irrelevant to where
they are. Things are made even worse if you try to read
a popular version of the Bible written in English hundreds
of years out of date!
But
the Bible is no ordinary book. Contrary to the opinions
of some, it can't just be read like a cheap daily newspaper.
Because it is God's Word, it has great depth and meaning.
The first step to making sure you understand the Bible
is to get yourself a reliable modern translation. The
New King James Version and the New American Standard
Bible are particularly recommended for accuracy, but
for general reading many prefer the New International
Version or the New Century Version.
Bear
in mind that best-selling translations of the Bible may
not be the most dependable. One of the most popular editions
of the Bible from the 70s, the Living Bible, isn't really
a translation at all. No doubt many people find it helpful,
but for depth and quality you need to look elsewhere.
Popularity is no recommendation. Neither is self-praise
- publishers can get a bit carried away!
There's
not a red face in sight when they use words like richness, elegance, remarkable, accurate,
grafted, beauty, clear, exact to describe
their particular translation. We'll just rise above the
hype and marketing techniques which can have no place
in the Christian's life.
Bible
translations are sometimes produced in special study editions where
you can find lots of information on a variety of important
subjects. The Thompson Chain Reference Bible,
for example, has a number of useful sections including
the Text Cyclopaedia of Topics and Texts, selected Bible
Readings, Outline Studies of the Bible, a reasonable
Concordance (which is a list of Bible words and where
to find them), and full-colour maps of Bible lands.
A Bible Dictionary can
be very helpful and educational. It too covers a variety
of subjects and topics such as Archaeology of the Bible,
Arts and Crafts, Crime and Punishment, Dead Sea Scrolls,
Holiness, Magic and Sorcery, Music, Papyrus, Prayer,
Purity, The Passover, Resurrection, and so on. It's great
for gathering together background knowledge.
To
help get you into the way of reading the Bible of your
choice, you may like to use a daily reading booklet for teenagers. There
are several available - some good, some not so good.
For example, fashion, music and romance may not be put
across with sensitivity. So be careful. Each daily reading
should help you understand the direct message of God's
Word and suggest ways in which you can apply it to your
life. The usual format is: Bible reading leading to comment
followed by the application.
Finally,
if you've any money left, get yourself a copy of Daily Light on the Daily Path. This
book is compilation of Bible verses for every day of
the year, morning and night. It will really help you
get the Word of God into your head and heart. Try to
get the complete edition that has "additional readings
for special occasions". Daily Light is
available in a number of translations.
Here
then is your final checklist: 1) A reliable translation
of the Bible in modern English; 2) A good study edition
of the Bible; 3) A Bible Dictionary; 4) A daily reading
booklet for teenagers; 5) Daily Light on the Daily Path. All
of these regularly used together will fill your heart
and mind with God's powerful truths.
BIBLE
FACTS
1.
Its name and contents
Why
do we call God's Book the Bible? What does this
word mean? "Bible " comes from the Greek "biblia",
plural of "biblion ", diminutive of "biblos" (meaning
book), derived from "byblos" (papyrus). Papyrus
was writing paper derived from the Cyperus papyrus plant.
By
about the 5th century the Greek church fathers, as scholars
call them, applied the term "biblia" to the
whole Christian Scriptures. Later the word passed into
the western church, and although it is really a plural
neuter noun, it came to be used in the Latin as a feminine
singular. So "The Books" became known as "The
Book " - The Bible.
The
great Book itself is divided into two main sections,
the Old Testament and the New Testament. Why is this
so? We could use the word covenant instead of testament.
In the context of the Bible, a covenant is an engagement
entered into between God and His people. In the first
section of the Bible, Genesis through to Malachi, God
had a particular relationship and covenant with His people.
When Christ died and rose again, God introduced a better
covenant or agreement. The former - the Old - came to
perfection and fulfilment in the New.
The
New Covenant was not like the covenant God made with
the fathers in the day He took them by the hand to bring
them out of Egypt (see Jeremiah 3l: 31-34). Under the
New Covenant a better relationship is available through
Jesus Christ and His great work on the cross.
The
Bible is further divided into 66 books covering thousands
of years of history, written by men from various backgrounds.
We may divide these books into 7 distinct sections:
1) HISTORICAL -
Genesis to Esther
2) POETICAL -
Job to Song of Solomon
3) PROPHETIC -
Isaiah to Malachi
4)
GOSPELS - Matthew (the beginning of the
New Testament) to John
5) ACTS of
the Apostles
6) LETTERS -
Romans to Jude
7) REVELATION of
Jesus Christ to John
Each
book of the Bible is divided into chapters and verses.
These do not appear in the original writings but have
been added for convenience. About 1227, Stephen Langton,
a professor at the University of Paris, divided the Bible
into the modern chapter divisions. (Confusingly, credit
for this work also goes to Cardinal Hugo of St. Cher.)
In
1551 verse divisions were added by printer Robert Stephanus.
It is said they were hurriedly arranged on a Journey
from Paris to Lyons. "I think," someone has
remarked, "it had been better done on his knees
in the closet." There are 1189 chapters in the Bible:
929 in the Old Testament and 260 in the New. The longest
chapter is Psalm 119, the shortest Psalm 117, which,
oddly enough, is also the middle chapter of the Bible.
The longest verse is Esther 8:9, the shortest John 11:35.
The
66 books of the Bible have been received by the Church
as genuinely inspired. Other ancient religious documents
have been rejected. These works, which include the Apocrypha,
cannot be afforded a place alongside the inspired books.
Generally speaking many are heretical and a few fanciful.
They are not supported by quotations in the New Testament.
2.
Its inspiration
The
Bible is called the Word of God because Christians believe
it to be divinely inspired. But what does
inspiration mean? The clearest definition of inspiration
is found in the Bible itself: "All scripture is
given by inspiration of God" (2nd Timothy 3:16, NKJV).
The Greek word used here for inspiration (the New Testament
was written in Greek) is theopneustos, and means "God-breathed".
It is used nowhere else in the New Testament.
The
means by which God has given us His Word is further explained
in 2nd Peter 1:20, 21: "...no prophecy of Scripture
is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never
came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as
they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (NKJV).
Scriptural prophecy and by implication the fullness of
Scripture itself, came to men by the moving of God's
Spirit in their lives.
God
has given us a Bible that is uniquely "profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness that the man of God may be complete,
thoroughly equipped for every good work " (2nd Timothy
3:16,17, NKJV).
3.
Its Hebrew and Greek texts
The
Old Testament
The
Old Testament inspired writings were preserved in the
form of carefully executed copies. There are no such
manuscripts in existence dating from before the Babylonian
captivity (586 BC) but there are many copies dating from
the Talmudic period (300 BC-AD 500), when they fell into
two general classes: the synagogue rolls and
the private copies.
The
synagogue rolls containing the Old Testament were used
in public meeting places. Great care was exercised during
their preparation. The transcriber of the copy was bound
not to deviate at all from older text he had before him.
Every word and letter - even the smallest strokes of
the pen - could only be written after having looked at
the text: it was forbidden to write from memory. Even
the king himself was ignored if he tried to talk to a
busy copyist.
But
private copies were not prepared with such care. Often
they were ornamental. Sometimes marginal notes and commentaries
accompanied the text.
The
Old Testament text has also been handed down to us in
the renowned Dead Sea Scrolls (167 BC - AD 133), discovered
in eleven caves in the Judean desert near Qumran between
March 1947 and February 1956.
A
Greek version of the Pentateuch (the first five books
of the Old Testament) was produced in Egypt by Alexandrian
Jews. It is called the Septuagint ( LXX), the
Greek word for 70, because of the number of scribes who
were supposedly involved in the translating process.
In time the entire Old Testament was translated into
Greek.
In
the Massoretic period (AD 500-1000), Jewish textual scribes
(Massoretes - the "transmitters ") worked to
produce a standardised text of the Hebrew Old Testament.
This remains the standard Hebrew text today.
The
New Testament
The
original documents of the New Testament (known as autographs)
have all perished a long, long time ago. As with
the Old Testament they were carefully copied and so preserved
for future generations. A great many manuscripts have
been found containing, to varying degrees, the New Testament
text.
There
are different kinds of Greek manuscripts. Some are called uncials because
they contain characters written in capital letters. Others
are called minuscules or cursives because
the letters are lower case. All manuscripts, along with
other sources of evidence, are carefully examined and
through a process known as textual criticism the original
text clearly emerges.
Besides
direct copies of Scripture, the writings of the early
church fathers quote all of the New Testament text with
the exception of eleven verses. Ancient lectionaries,
(early church books containing selected Scripture readings)
some 2000 in all, are also consulted during the work
of textual reconstruction.
"The
text of the Bible has been transmitted accurately. We
may rest assured that what we have today is a correct
representation of what was originally given. For example,
there is more evidence for the reliability of the text
of the New Testament as an accurate reflection of what
was initially written than there is for any thirty pieces
of classical literature put together" (Josh McDowell, Reasons Why
We Should Consider Christianity).
"The
Bible... based as it is on the critical Hebrew and Creek
texts, is a faithful reproduction of the books produced
by its original authors. No book from antiquity comes
to the modern world with greater evidence for its authenticity
than does the Bible. Directly related to this historical
conclusion is a theological one. For if there is overwhelming
evidence that the biblical documents are genuine and
authentic ... then one must face seriously their persistent
claim to divine inspiration. When these claims are thoroughly
examined and honestly faced, one can but conclude that
the Bible as a whole claims to be the Word of God and
the evidence confirms that claim" (Norman L. Geisler
and William E. Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible).
GREEK
TEXTS AND METHODS OF TRANSLATION
Now
things get a bit technical, but stay with it - it's
important. "What is the pre-eminent trait of a good
Bible translation?" asks pastor and professor Robert
Martin. "The answer must be accuracy of translation" (Accuracy of Translation and the New International Version). So,
which one is best?
These
days there are plenty of Bible versions around. You will
find some of them at church on Sunday: the 1611 King
James Version, the New American Standard Bible, the New
International Version, the Revised Standard Version,
the Good News Bible, the New Century Version and the
increasingly popular New King James Version. There are
of course major similarities, but no two are exactly
the same. Each one is unique for a number of reasons.
Earlier
we mentioned the ancient manuscript evidence supporting
the text of the Bible. From these sources scholars reconstruct
the Hebrew and Greek Testaments as originally inspired
by God. Although there is agreement among scholars in
the field of Old Testament textual criticism, this is
not the case with the New.
Scholars
have at their disposal over 5,000 manuscripts containing
portions of the New Testament text. Some are mere fragments;
others contain whole books. Most scholars believe that
the agreed text of a small number of more ancient manuscripts
is correct and therefore more reliable than the text
of the majority. As a result they lean heavily on them
when formulating their text. The text that has been produced
this way may be called the Revised Text.
There
are others who believe this approach is at best questionable
and prefer to accept the witness of the majority of manuscripts.
Their resulting text may be called the Majority Text
or Received Text (also called the Textus Receptus), which
is similar. "The Majority Text describes the form
of the Greek text found in a majority of handwritten copies
(manuscripts). The Textus Receptus refers to the printed editions produced
during the earliest period of the printed history
of the Greek New Testament" (Earl Radmacher and
Zane . Hodges, The NIV Reconsidered).
Only two major English Bibles use the Received Text as
the basis for their New Testament: the 1611 King James
Version and the 1982 New King James Version.
In
recent decades the Received Text has earned itself greater
acceptance among scholars: "There is growing concern
among reputable New Testament scholars that the nineteenth
century text (Revised Text) suffers from over-revision
and the traditional Greek Text (Received Text) is much
more reliable than previously supposed" (Preface
to The New King James Version, British
edition).
But
Robert Martin, concerned about unreasonable and even
extreme support for the Received Text, draws attention
to the fact that it is not above scholarly scrutiny and
criticisms: "The Textus Receptus, of course, is
not a single ancient handwritten manuscript of the Greek
New Testament (like Codex Sinaiticus or Codex Alexandrinus),
but a printed edition which itself underwent revision
both before and after the label Received Text was
attached to it. This fact alone casts doubt over the
assertion that the Textus Receptus should never be emended
or have any of its readings challenged."
In
passing it is important to realise that these two opinions
on the most reliable Greek text relate to approximately
3% of the New Testament text.
Versions
are also translated in different methods or styles with
some more accurate than others. Arguably, standards of
modern translations of the Bible extend from the less
reliable Good News Bible and New Century Version, (the
Living Bible is not a translation), to the New
King James Version and New American Standard Bible, with
the Revised Standard Version and New International Version
somewhere between.
Basically dynamic equivalence translations
such as the Good News Bible and the New Century Version,
and to a certain extent the New International Version,
express freely (some would say too freely) the sense
and import of the original. Formal equivalence translations
such as the New King James Version and New American Standard
Bible draw "attention to the message itself, in
both form and content ... the translator attempts to
reproduce as literally and meaningfully as possible the
form and content of the original. It is designed to permit
the reader to identify himself as fully as possible with
a person in the source-language context and to understand
as much as he can of the customs, manner of thought and
means of expression" (Eugene A. Nida, Toward a Science of Translating, p.
160).
If
you're serious about studying the Bible, it s a good
idea to regularly compare your free or dynamic translation
with a formal one. The dynamic equivalence translation
can be a refreshing read, but it s best to keep a check
on accuracy.
Paraphrasing occurs
in all translations to a certain extent and dynamic equivalence
tends to excessively promote it. A translator paraphrases
when he or she tries to express the gist (meaning, idea,
essence) of the original in his or her own words. Occasionally
the meaning and sense of the text are marred when the
paraphrase is inaccurate, inappropriate or just too interpretive.
The
following examples, taken from 4 dynamic equivalence
translations, illustrate the problems associated with
paraphrasing:
-
John
10:32: "great miracles" instead of "good
works "
-
John
13:1 "he now showed them the full extent
of his love" instead of "He loved them
to the end"
-
Romans
1:16: "I have complete confidence in the
Gospel" instead of "I am not ashamed
of the Gospel"
-
Romans
1:17: "by faith from first to last" instead
of "from faith to faith"
-
Romans
16:16: "give one another a hearty handshake
all round " instead of "greet one another
with a holy kiss"
-
2nd
Corinthians 6:16, 17: "I will live
with them and walk with them & You people,
leave, leave, get out of Babylon " instead
of "I will dwell in them and walk among them...
Therefore come out from their midst and be separate,
says the Lord "
-
1st
John 3:10: "anyone who does not
do what is right is not a child of God" instead
of "whoever does not practise righteousness
is not of God"
Interestingly,
a minor translation takes paraphrasing much too far by
describing the hours of darkness during Christ's crucifixion
as "an eclipse of the sun". No such statement
is found in the original Greek text. Jesus was crucified
at the time of the full moon.
MAJOR
TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE
a.
The Authorised Version (or King James Version)
The
Authorised Version was prompted initially by a desire
to make God's truths more easily understood by the masses
and to purify the Church of England's government and
liturgy.
In
response King James met with churchmen and theologians
in January 1604. Among those present was John Reynolds,
a Puritan, who "moved His Majesty, that there might
be a new translation of the Bible, because those that
where allowed in the reigns of Henry the eighth and Edward
the sixth were corrupt and not answerable to the truth
of the original. "
Despite
opposing voices, King James was sympathetic to the proposal
and the following day met with his ministers and bishops.
Finally it was decided "that a translation be made
of the whole Bible, as consistent as can be to the original
Hebrew and Greek; and this to be set out and printed,
without any marginal notes, and only to be used in all
Churches of England in time of divine service."
Fifty-four
scholars were chosen for the task and of these forty-seven
eventually began working on the new translation. They
divided into six companies, each dedicated to a particular
portion of text.
The
completed work was published in 1611 and given the extravagant
title, "The Holy Bible containing the Old Testament
and the New; Newly Translated out of the original tongues,
with the former Translations diligently compared and
revised by his Majesty's special commandment. Appointed
to be read in Churches."
The
Authorised Version was soon to become more popular than
any other version and in years to come was often analysed
and improved. The books of the Apocrypha were removed
in 1629. Marginal references were introduced into printings
in 1660, and in 1683 Dr. Anthony Scattergood added 7,250
references in an edition no longer available.
Revisions
of the Authorised Version took place in 1638, 1653, 1701,
1762 and 1769. The 1769 revision is the edition in circulation
today and differs from the 1611 translation in more than
75,000 details. In fact so many changes have been made
that someone has remarked that the original Authorised
Version is something of a "phantom"!
To
this day the Authorised Version remains a popular Bible
version, although its archaic language and style are
unacceptable to many Christians.
b.
The Revised Version
In
1870 the Convocation of Canterbury decided to undertake "a
revision of the Authorised Version &" It was
decided to seek "the co-operation of any eminent
for scholarship". (This generous invitation attracted
a Unitarian.) The new translation was published in 1885
and, despite impressive initial sales, it created little
impression on the public, although scholars found the
marginal notes of interest. For the first time the Revised
Text displaced the Received Text.
c.
The Revised Standard Version
The
Revised Standard Version was first published in 1952.
The translators were to "embody the best results
of modern scholarship as to the meaning of the Scriptures." In
1965 a Roman Catholic edition of the RSV appeared, with
a few changes to the text, as recommended by the Catholic
Biblical Association of Great Britain.
d.
The New American Standard Bible
Published
in 1971, this version sought faithful translation of
the original text into contemporary English. It was produced
by a group of unidentified evangelical Hebrew and Greek
scholars aided by pastors and experts in English usage.
It
has been shown (before the introduction of the New King
James Version) that the New American Standard Bible as
a word-by-word translation (formal equivalence) deviates
less from the original languages than any other modern
Bible. Other examples of word-by-word translations include
the Authorised Version, the Revised Version and the New
King James Version.
e.
The New International Version
The
New International Version was first published in Great
Britain in 1979. According to its enthusiastic publishers
it is "...a balanced, scholarly, eminently readable
Bible providing the exact illuminating rendering of the
original languages into English ... so faithfully accurate
that it ushers in a new era of Scriptural clarity for
Christians around the world."
Over
one hundred scholars worked "directly from the best
available Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek Texts" (NIV preface).
f.
The New King James Version
This
translation first appeared in 1982 following seven years
of work by a team of 130 Greek, Hebrew and English scholars,
editors, church leaders and Christian laity. Each member
of the team signed a statement of faith declaring a belief
that the Scriptures in their entirety are the inspired
Word of God, free from error in their original autographs.
It
was intended that the New King James Version (or Revised
Authorised Version as it was known in the UK for a short
time) should be an improved Authorised Version in modern,
dignified English.
Its
Greek Text is that of the Authorised Version - the Received
Text.
THE
BIBLE IS ALL YOU NEED
Should
we add anything to the Bible? Is the Word of God sufficient
as it stands? The Bible claims to be the Word of God.
It also claims that its own truths are sufficient. Nothing
can be added to the Bible: "Every Scripture is God-breathed
- given by His inspiration - and profitable for instruction,
for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of
error and discipline in obedience, and for training in
righteousness so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well-fitted
and thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2nd Timothy
3:5; 16, 17, Amplified Bible).
With
the Bible, and the Bible alone, we can be fully equipped
and completely informed. Why then add anything to it?
The Bible itself warns us that people will teach their
own brand of "truth". "People will not tolerate (endure)
sound and wholesome instruction, but having ears itching
for something pleasing and gratifying, they will gather
to themselves one teacher after another to a considerable
number chosen to satisfy their own liking and to foster
the error they hold, and will turn aside from hearing
the truth and wander off into myths and man-made fictions" (2nd
Timothy 4:3, 4, Amplified Bible). Do we
see this happening today?
Care
must be taken not to cause unnecessary offence. People
have a right to accept or reject the testimony and sufficiency
of the Bible. At the same time an effort must be made
to draw attention to the Bible's final authority in all
matters relating to genuine faith and religious practice.
Adding to the Bible only diminishes its authority.
Bearing
in mind the warning from 2nd Timothy, we ought to highlight
and avoid beliefs and teachings not clearly supported
by Scripture. Raising contentious issues is often considered
controversial and unhelpful. However, no one wants to
see Bible truth obscured behind a smokescreen of tradition
and false religious teaching. Our enemy is religious
lies and distractions, propped up when challenged, by
convoluted intellectual arguments. We are not against
any particular church or religious organisation. Like
it or not, serious questions have to be asked and conclusions
reached.
Let's
boldly consider Tradition in the Roman Catholic Church
and so-called protestant churches. This certainly bothers
a large number of evangelical Christians. Some churches
believe in church membership through infant baptism.
The infallible tradition of Roman Catholicism
goes further and teaches that people can only become
Christians through the sacrament of baptism (also known
as baptismal regeneration). The Bible does not clearly support
infant baptism and sprinkling but specifically mentions
the necessary immersion or dipping of those who have
placed their faith in Christ and call themselves Christians
(not an option for infants).
It
is more logical to accept the clear New Testament teaching
on the baptism of believers than to force from Scripture
a practice which is altogether different. Stated simply,
God's Word does not teach salvation through a ritual.
Thankfully, salvation is by faith alone in Christ (see
Ephesians 2:1-10 and many other verses).
For
many balanced Christians, not necessarily protestant,
baptismal regeneration alone puts a serious question
mark over the ecumenical movement. Man-made beliefs have
produced countless 'church members' who have never deliberately
turned from their sin and accepted Christ as Saviour
and Lord - they have never really had a radical life-changing
encounter with God, and are following the religious
routines of their churches rather than Christ Himself. This
is the inevitable consequence of allowing church membership
through baptism.
In
Roman Catholicism Tradition and the Bible are awkwardly
bound together: "Sacred tradition and sacred Scripture
form one deposit of the Word of God, which is committed
to the [Roman] Church" (From Vatican Council II, quoted
in the essay, "The Purpose of the Bible", New American Bible for Catholics). But
we must respectfully point out that this opinion (it
is nothing more than that) tends to place the Word of
God in the shadow of infallible Tradition, which is extensive
and gives the Roman Catholic Church its unique and, for
many, objectionable character.
Many
hundreds of years have been spent adding extra-biblical
Tradition to the Bible. Many beliefs and practices of
the modern Roman system are not clearly supported by
the direct and comprehensive teaching of the New
Testament. These include the Papacy, the Mass, the Confessional,
the Priesthood, The Final Purification (or Purgatory),
Penance, Prayers for and Communion with the Dead (sometimes
at a price, as with the Association of Crusade of Prayer
for the Souls in Purgatory, Syon Abbey, Devon where,
since 1892, "spiritual benefits" have been bought for "deceased
persons"), and the sinlessness, perpetual virginity and
bodily resurrection of Mary - Advocate, Helper, Benefactress,
Mediatrix, the Queen of Heaven and Queen Over All Things,
the Holy Virgin, Seat of Wisdom, Mother of the Church,
Mother of the Living, Mother of the Incarnate Word, the
Mother of God. (Roman Catholicism's unique doctrines
can be investigated further in "Catechism of the Catholic Church", published
by Veritas, 1994.)
After you
have dealt with more important issues, talk these matters
over with mature, knowledgeable Christians who acknowledge
the final authority of Christ Word. It is important that
you are able to identify teachings, beliefs and practices
which have been added to the completeness of the Bible.
False
doctrine pollutes and dilutes the Truth.
Others
very clearly deny the sufficiency of the Bible. The Mormons (
known properly as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints) have added their own book to the Bible. It must
be said that The Book of Mormon as
a whole is ludicrous and irrelevant. "The Book of Mormon is
untrue Biblically, historically and scientifically" (William
Duncan Strong of the Department of Anthropology, Columbia
University, New York City).
The
Book of Mormon contains various glaring
cultural and geographical errors, not to mention a
number of clear quotations from the old 1611 King James
Version of the Bible!
Mormons
demote the Bible. Joseph Fielding Smith said, "Guided
by the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the
Spirit of the Lord, it is not difficult for one to discern
the errors of the Bible." But Mormon leaders ignore the
overwhelming evidence of archaeology and textual criticism.
Jehovah's
Witnesses, another influential religious group,
have added a mountain of literature to the Bible to
support their many distinctive doctrines. They believe
that Christ was a god and not the God (and alter
the text of John 1:1 to prove' it); Christ was resurrected
a spirit and not in bodily form; the Holy Spirit is
not a Person; there is no eternal punishment; since
1914 mankind has been experiencing the Last Days.
They
believe that as one they speak as a prophet, yet on many
occasions their prophecies have turned out to be as wrong
as wrong can be (see Deuteronomy 18:20-22 and Jeremiah
14:14).
There
are many good books available exposing the false beliefs
of Mormons and the Watch Tower religion.
Remember
to show respect to those who call at your door. Most
are well trained, intelligent and sincere. They have
a right to their beliefs.
Conclusion
The
Bible will give you all the direction you need. By reading
it and heeding it you can be all God wants you to be.
There is no need to look anywhere else, although it is
important to remember that God will also guide you from
day to day by His Spirit. But His inner spiritual guidance
will always harmonise with the completeness of His written
Word. God will never add to or contradict the Bible.
Religion's
vain attempts to add to the Bible only prove how sufficient
God's Word really is. Man-made Church Tradition is just
distracting religious baggage we could all do without.
"In
and through Scripture God is the unique, infallible,
and absolute authority in all matters of faith and practice" (Geoffrey
U. Bromiley, writing for the study edition of the New American Standard Bible).
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