Breaking the First Commandment

[J. K.]

"You shall have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3.

It occurred to me this morning what mistake the fundamentalists have made. They have made the gospel and the Bible into gods. They worship the message of the gospel instead of the object of the gospel. They worship the Bible instead of the one at the center of the Bible.

Any thoughts?

[Leonardo]

If the bible is the Word of God, then isn't the fundamentalists' adherence to that Word not absolutely in line with God's Will?

After all, having/following just one person's interpretation of that Word may not be how God intended the bible to be used/read?

[+and-then]

It's an interesting idea. But if we do not devote ourselves to the revealed mind of the Creator - then what? I try to strictly focus on Jesus's message to the believers and worry less about the OT admonitions to Israel's descendants. The law was given to show mankind he is irrevocably flawed and in need of a savior. But I agree that those who beat others over the head with the letter of the law seem to be missing the forest for the trees.

[Dark_Grey]

I try to strictly focus on Jesus's message to the believers and worry less about the OT admonitions to Israel's descendants.

Agreed - my time on UM has changed my perspective of the Bible in that I regard the vast majority of the old testament as more Jewish orientated doctrine...

[ambelamba]

It was an alleged collection of documents that were written over many centuries. We shouldn't expect the consistency in minute detail.

[simplybill]

It occurred to me this morning what mistake the fundamentalists have made. They have made the gospel and the Bible into gods. They worship the message of the gospel instead of the object of the gospel. They worship the Bible instead of the one at the center of the Bible.

That's an interesting perspective J. K.

I wonder how different Christianity is in countries where Bibles are scarce, or owning a Bible is cause for imprisonment. I have a minister friend who used to smuggle Bibles into the former Soviet Union, during the days of the Iron Curtain. I'll send him an email and ask if he can provide some insight.

Thanks for the thought-provoking topic.

[JJ50]

No doubt the Biblical author who came up with that one, liked their version of the deity best!

[Purplos]

I never heard of anyone worshiping the Bible. How does one worship a book?

I was under the impression that Christians think it contains the inspired word of God and they use it as a tool to learn about him and live their life, etc. It's a tool of worship.

[J. K.]

Let me see if I can explain what I mean. The Bible is our written source of information about God. We interact with it by reading it, studying, meditating upon it, and memorizing it. Once we have taken in the knowledge, God uses that knowledge to communicate spiritual truth to us, thereby making the words come alive for us. But if the Bible remains unread, it's just a compilation of paper, ink and binding.

I've known people who treat a Bible as if were an actual holy object itself, as if the presence of God was dwelling in it. I knew one pastor who would never place his Bible face down, and would never put anything on top of it. To me, that speaks of reverence, but I think it's misplaced. The words only bear fruit when we internalize them. God's presence lives in us, not in that physical object.

That's what I mean by worshiping the Bible. We should treasure the words of Scripture, certainly; but the actual physical object itself is just a book.

[simplybill]

Well, my minister friend had a LOT to say about this! It's a hot topic for him. He gave half a dozen examples of various sects that appear to worship their "mode of worship" rather than God. He's attended services where the main topic was proper dress and behavior, with little if any mention of Jesus. The Russian and Ukrainian believers also had problems with particularly legalistic sects that had strict rules on how to handle the bible (it was always to be held in one's hands or on one's lap, never placed on a seat or on the floor) and how to dress.

My friend can say more in 10 minutes than I say in 2 weeks, so I haven't really done justice to the topic. His main point was how church sects sometimes go off on extreme legalistic tangents, forgetting what their real purpose here is.

[apron]

God's central message in Bible is there is ONE GOD. One body, complete, absolute, perfect. Not like Adam which is said on him '' it is not good to be alone" type. That was incomplete, imperfect. Adam as the name signifies was hot, fire, red, erect Penis. This alone made humanity fail to meet the divine quality. Adam then humble himself, slept, silence himself.Jacob was the same position like Adam , he was alone, wrestling with himself until he shrink his Penis, 'sinew that shrank''. Jacob united with [angel] goddess his future companion, his celestial wife, wrestled with her, F....d her, and made himself perfect.

Adam and Eve together in unity - divine oneness- is godlike Man- the image and likeness of god.

[DeWitz]

God's central message in Bible is there is ONE GOD. One body, complete, absolute, perfect. Not like Adam which is said on him '' it is not good to be alone" type. That was incomplete, imperfect. Adam as the name signifies was hot, fire, red, erect Penis. This alone made humanity fail to meet the divine quality. Adam then humble himself, slept, silence himself.Jacob was the same position like Adam , he was alone, wrestling with himself until he shrink his Penis, 'sinew that shrank''. Jacob united with [angel] goddess his future companion, his celestial wife, wrestled with her, F....d her, and made himself perfect.

Adam and Eve together in unity - divine oneness- is godlike Man- the image and likeness of god.

Apron, you're a hard act to follow. . . . . . . .

Having said that, J.K.'s point is well-made, in my opinion. There is even a word for this tendency to misuse the Bible: "bibliolatry," as in worshipping the book as one would worship an idol. Many sects and believers claim to hold the Bible wholly accurate and inerrant in matters of science, belief and ethics, without use of the various schools of historical-critical and literary criticism (which used to be collectively known as higher criticism" in the late 1800's, and against which modern-day fundamentalism reasserted itself in the early 20th century). Without such methods of critical analysis the Bible has "weak points," such as gladness at the bashing of children's heads on rocks (Psalm 137:9) and other questionable passages, which are impossible to take literally and demand that the reader analyze the context in order to understand.

[029b10]

To begin with, you sure you have the First Commandment.

In order to learn how to read, you need the written word to provide you with the substance to begin learning. If you don't have anything to read, it is awful how to learn how to read. In fact, I hear that a human being can not teach themselves how to read or write without some form of educational assistance from one that does have the knowledge how to read and write.

But that would make it all a mute point if you didn't communicate using the spoken word. My personal opinion is that our ability to communicate using the spoken word is a gift of the Spirit referred unto in the scriptures as the gift of tongues, or rather being the ability to communicate using the spoken word. In my opinion, the word originates in your spirit which is connected to the flesh like a the interface between a computer program and the operator. While you hear these words, they didn't originate from your computer monitor.

But in regards to your question, They worship the message of the gospel instead of the object of the gospel. They worship the Bible instead of the one at the center of the Bible.

John 4:23-24

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

KJV

Edited May 31, 2014 by 029b10

[JGirl]

I never heard of anyone worshiping the Bible. How does one worship a book?

they do so by allowing its message/writings/stories etc. to dominate their lives and their decision making process

[GoldenWolf]

they do so by allowing its message/writings/stories etc. to dominate their lives and their decision making process

They forfeit their souls.

Edited May 31, 2014 by Mystic Crusader

[Beany]

I don't know if they worship the bible, but it does seem that some put so much focus on it and defending it that it sometimes obscures the message of living life in a way that emulates Christ and would please god. Myself, I've found that coming to know the divine/sacred is experiential, and those experiences inform me much more than any words.

[DeWitz]

They forfeit their souls.

Mystic, see post #12. Souls aren't 'forfeited', although they might be confused or compromised.