This is a guest post by Dan Pedersen. He is passionate about helping people break-free from religious oppression by writing about the true character of God, love. Dan lives in Canada with his wife and daughter. You can find his blog at www.livingwithconfidence.net
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I recently received an email from a lady questioning me about my last blog post, ‘Life Is But A Dream, But Love Is Real.’ She said that some of the things I wrote were not “biblical,” and warned me to be careful about “adding to Scripture.”
She also questioned me about who my “teachers” are, and what church I go to. And she stated that God does not reveal things to people which are not written in the bible, nor can you understand the bible without a teacher; she mentioned that her teacher (“pastor”) was “top of the line.”
This lady was not attacking me, she merely wanted to better understand what I was trying to say in my post, and essentially, what qualifies me to say it. I replied with a lengthy email, which has since inspired me to write about the issue of spiritual teachers (some of the following was taken from the said email).
When I was a youth I regularly attended a Pentecostal church. I went to Sunday school, I listened to sermons, I participated in a bible study group, I went to a Christian youth camp one summer, and I sometimes read the bible at home. Over the years I’ve also been to services at Baptist, Catholic, United, and “Non-Denominational” churches.
From about age 18 to 28 I fell away from the Christian “religion” altogether, but still harbored a belief in God and Jesus. But a little over 5 years ago I started reading the bible again, listening to preachers online, and reading books by Christian authors. During this time I experienced a radical change in my beliefs about God.
In short, I no longer saw God as a rule-based authoritarian, and began to see him as a loving Creator. Nowadays, I listen to a couple of pastors online once in awhile, and many of the books I read are by former “church pastors,” who had the same type of revelation about the character of God that I had.
The lady who emailed me was right that we need a “top of the line teacher,” but there is no such person as a top of the line “pastor,” only those who teach truth. The greatest teacher is God Himself. One of the descriptions in the bible for the Holy Spirit is “the Counselor,” and Jesus told his disciples that he would send the Spirit to them, who would teach them all things (John 14:26).
The lady in the email said that she learns through “the Word,” and that you need a good teacher (pastor) to show you what the Word is saying. By “the Word,” she was referring to the bible. I also learn by reading the bible; one of the things I learned is that the bible is not the Word. When the Apostle John wrote, “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1), he wasn’t talking about a book, he was talking about Jesus. He referred to Jesus as “the Word made flesh” (John 1:14). As far as the bible goes, John was adding to it by penning those very words about Jesus – the living Word. The bible was written in order to point us toward Jesus, who as the Apostle Paul said, lives in us (Colossians 1:27, Galatians 2:20).
The bible is not the Word, it is the written word. It was written by men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit, who is the very Spirit of Christ (scripture says that the Father, Son & Holy Spirit are One). The bible is not just stories about Jesus, but an actual connection with Him in our spirit; as Paul said, “the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with him” (1 Corinthians 6:17, emphasis mine).
You can’t read the bible and understand it without a good teacher, it’s true; that teacher is “Christ in you” (Colossians 1:27). He reveals the meaning to us in our spirit, otherwise it’s just words on a page, or the learning of facts with no real life in them. Jesus criticized the Pharisees for doing this when he said, “you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me” (John 5:39). The Pharisees memorized large portions of scripture, but didn’t understand that they were about Jesus.
We listen to human teachers, such as pastors, for the same reason we read the bible – the pastor is supposed to lead us toward Christ’s presence within us, through his own experience of Christ in him. Having said that, we don’t “need” a pastor or bible teacher, we don’t even “need” the bible, we only need Christ’s Holy Spirit; as John said, “the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things.” (1 John 2:27, emphasis mine).
But John still “taught” anyway, why? Because he was teaching that the real “teacher” is in us. And what is it that the Teacher wants to teach us?
It’s all about love, because God “is love” (1 John 4:8).
We do need the bible. Rom 12:2- And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Yes, and faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. I absolutely agree that we need the Bible.
Whether or not you need the bible is a personal matter.
The bible itself makes no such claim that everyone needs to read it or keep reading it.
As I mentioned in my post, 1 John 2:27 says the opposite, “you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things.”
The only purpose for the bible is to remind you that God’s spirit is in you and that he will guide you.
Hm. Is that really the only purpose of the Bible? I might agree that this is a main purpose of Scripture, but maybe not the only purpose. I like the direction of this way of thinking, however.
Since the bible is a collection of individual books and letters, etc., written over the span of many years, by many different authors, some of which who wrote anonymously (including the authors of all four gospels), then we might say that it has no purpose other than what people use it for.
But if we believe that each part of the bible is inspired by God, then he must be trying to tell us something. The problem is that the entire bible is not necessarily inspired, or at least not in the way we have traditionally believed. According to Bart Ehrman, most biblical scholars (secular and non-secular) agree that some of the letters attributed to Paul are actually forgeries. This is only one example.
So is God using the bible to tell us something? Regardless of its inaccuracy I think the answer is still yes. I hear a lot of truth in the bible, but it’s not the words themselves (as Jesus said about the Pharisees trying to find life by reading the Torah). It’s about the Spirit.
So at the end of the day, it’s about what the Spirit reveals to you, otherwise there is not Spirit and it’s just a bunch of stories and opinions. I believe that the over-arching message of the bible is that “God is in you.”
If the Bible is inaccurate, then what standard do we have to measure truth against? Also, if one part is inaccurate, how do we know if it isn’t all inaccuratet? Who decides which part is accurate, and which part isn’t? The “scholars” who hold to the inaccuracy of the Bible all disagree on this issue.
If your answer to all of that is: “we have the spirit”, the problem is, people have done and said many different, and terrible, things in “the name of the spirit”. The experience of the spirit is important, but it is subjective. Subjective experience must be measured against something objective. If the spirit is the only measure of truth, Christianity is degraded into subjectivity. We have no ground for absolute truth; what is true for you might be different for me, because the spirit told you something different than it did me, and I have no ground to know who is right.
Jesus said “I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life”. If there is only 1 way, but there is no absolute objective standard, only subjective experience, how can we know which one is the right way? How can we know that Jesus actually said that, or if it’s even true or not?
One other thing about the spirit: how do we even know about the spirit? Through the Bible. But, if the Bible is inaccurate, how can we know that what we believe about the spirit is actually true? Same goes for Jesus. I 100% agree that the Bible is all about Jesus, and that Christianity is about a relationship with him, through the spirit. But, how do we know about Jesus? Again, through the Bible.
You are teaching me now.
I would add, In all humility as one saved by grace, myself. The only authority we have in this day and age is the authority of scripture. Otherwise, it becomes your opinion vs my opinion. To say some is inspired and some is not will only enflame dispute in the church, and outside the church. That then becomes an opinion of which scripture is, or is not inspired. So if we use scripture as our authority, and compass for truth, we can believe what it says about itself.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Vince,
Please see my comment to Michael Sharpnack.
Also 2 Timothy is one of the letters many biblical scholars believe is a forgery.
To Michael Sharpnack:
Even if you believe the Bible does not contain forgeries there’s still no objective standard, because 1 John 2:27 says “the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things.”
The truth is we don’t even know who wrote 1 John. It was written anonymously by someone who called himself “the elder.” Whoever he was, I think he was right. There’s a lot of truth in the Bible. That’s my subjective experience.
Like it or not, your experience of God is subjective. There is no objective standard. Yes, terrible things can be done in the name of “the spirit”. Just as plenty of things have been done in the name of the Bible and in the name of Jesus. Read about the Crusades, read about the Spanish Inquisition, read about Columbus and many other “explorers.” They were Bible believing Christians who wholeheartedly believed they were doing what God wanted them to do on authority of the Bible and the Church. Read about the bloodbaths between Catholics and Protestants.
We could argue that they all interpreted the Bible wrong, but that is also subjective. Your interpretation of the Bible is subjective. That is why there are thousands of Christian denominations. It is not logical to believe that only one denomination is right or that only your non-denominational movement is right. Nor is it logical to believe they are all objectively right.
The fact that biblical scholars, many of whom have made it their full-time job to study the origins of the many books of the Bible, can’t agree on it’s authenticity should at least leave you with some doubt about it’s authenticity. Especially since most of them believe the Bible does contain forgeries. It’s even taught in many theological schools. But mostly omitted from the pulpit.
The truth is we don’t know what Jesus did or did not say. There was a group of biblical scholars in the 1980’s (The Jesus Seminar) who determined that most of the words attributed to Jesus in the Bible were not things he actually said. So who knows?
You have to consult your own heart. That’s the only way. Even if sometimes you might be wrong. I wish it were easier. I wish it could all be laid out in black and white, but it’s not.
All the best to you.
We can try to not change the Bible and what it says anymore.
Wow! Consult the heart? Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” Or is that forgery as well?
Humanity proves beyond doubt that the only reason why anyone would need to lie and forge anything into anything would entirely be for selfish reasons! Lies, forgeries, slander, and anything of that kind is the work of the devil and its ends never result in good. So why would these people include forgeries in the Holy Bible? What was in it for them? So the name of Jesus could be preached even more? so there would be more love and brotherhood in this dark sinful world? Tell you what man even if it were claimed by the Bible scholars that all of it is forgery, yet it continues to transforms people’s lives, then it stands as an unquestionable objective standard. This why you never hear that argument from the pulpit, for transformation of lives is evident.
By the time you question the authenticity of the Holy Bible and you have to rely on your own heart then you are either deceived or a deceiver. I am really sorry to say that, and in no way am i attacking you Sir, i just want facts to remain facts!
Being without an objective standard is being without stable ground! And being without stable ground is being like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind! In simple terms it is called unbelief! And without faith IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD!
Saying that we do not need a Pastor, a teacher or the Bible is actually Anti-Christ! For how then will they receive Jesus and His Instructions? Or even the anointing in 1 John 2:27? And for clarification purposes that verse does not say that you don’t need a Pastor, a Bible or even a TEACHER! Not needing anyone to teach you is not the same as not needing a teacher! These are two different things. A teacher does teach but literally speaking the teacher is not the teaching! Jesus walking the earth was a teacher but not all He did was ONLY teaching! The pharisees objected against everything He taught yet they followed Him almost everywhere He went! It is possible to have a teacher that you never listen to! What then is the use of having one? good question. What is the use of having a president that you disagree with?
As a humble observation, i think your view of the Bible is imbalanced! There is no way you can base such a major decision (as whether the Bible is an objective standard or not) on a single verse out of 31,102 verses found in the bible. That is just not fair. Chances are 99.999% a single verse will be blown out of context. And Church history has its own share of crazy mistakes but it never derailed God’s original purposes! The Church is still here, both the Living and written word still transforming lives and above all Jesus is still lord!
While scientists are pondering the idea today that there could be more that 1 universe, God in His Holy word declared thousands of years ago in Jeremiah 31 that the heavens above cannot be measured and that the foundations of the earth cannot be searched out! How can anyone mess with that? God is exceedingly great that even if a man live a thousand lifetimes on earth each being 1,000 years it would still be impossible for him to figure Him out!
This is why He says He gives grace to the Humble!
Bless you!