The Bible Is Not A Substitute for the Word of God

Martin Luther, 500+ years ago said: "The Bible is the manger in which the Word of God was laid."

I have been quite unsatisfied with Fundamentalism.  Whether Conservative, Evangelical, or especially Charismatic (it almost seems like an oxymoron - a Charismatic Fundamentalist) it's disconcerting what believers, churches and deonominations have done to the Word of God by substituting the Bible for the Word of God.

Now, don't taze me bro.  I believe the Bible: from cover to cover - even the maps in the back.  I read it; I meditate on it day and night; I live it.  So hear me out. 

Keep in mind, Liberal Christianity (the social gospel) has denigrated of the Word of God in equal proportion, with a similar (ironically) appeal to reason, in the form of higher criticism.  Fundamentalism was created in reaction to the theological rationalism of the 19th Century, with Darwinism most notably leading the parade.   What Fundamentalism did to answer Liberal theology was fight fire with fire, with an appeal to reason, albeit for different reasons.  In describing this firefight, Orton Wiley lamented:

"Lastly, Reason itself was forced into a false authority. Severed from its Living Source, the Bible was debased to the position of a mere book among books. It was thus subjected to the test of human reason, and as a consequence there arose the critical or critico-historical movement of the last century known as 'destructive criticism.' Over against this as a protest arose a reactionary party, which originating in a worthy desire to maintain belief in the plenary inspiration of the Bible, as well as its genuineness, authenticity and authority as the Rule of Faith, resorted to a mere legalistic defense of the Scriptures. It depended upon logic rather than life. Spiritual men and women-those filled with the Holy Spirit, are not unduly concerned with either higher or lower criticism. They do not rest merely in the letter which must be defended by argument. They have a broader and more substantial basis for their faith. It rests in their risen Lord, the glorified Christ. They know that the Bible is true, not primarily through the efforts of the apologists, but because they are acquainted with its Author. The Spirit which inspired the Word dwells within them and witnesses to its truth. In them the formal and material principles of the Reformation are conjoined. The Holy Spirit is the great conservator of orthodoxy. To the Jew, Christ was a stumbling block, and to the Greek foolishness; 'but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God' (I Cor. 1:24). "'

Orton Wiley was one of the founding fathers and theologians of the newly-birthed Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene.  In the above quote he's taking both Liberal Theology and Fundamentalism to the woodshed.

In all our talk about the Word of God, we've forgotten what - or WHO the Word of God is.  And it has gotten so bad that it's dangerous, in Evangelical Christendom, to make any arguments that even appear to cast dispersions on the Bible.  In other words, to say that there is a higher authority than the Bible, than it's assumed that you obviously don't believe in the 'plenary inspiration of Scripture'.

But listen to the words of the Westminster confesssion, one of the oldest and commonest statemtents of faith in Western Christianity:

"We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverent esteem of the holy scripture; and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it both abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God; yet, notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth, and divine authorship thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts."

Up until the turn of the 20th century, it was commonly understood that the Word of God was not synonomous with the Bible.  The Bible contained the word of God.  But the title: Word of God has been, and will always be reserved for Jesus Christ, who is called the Word of God:

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. (Revelation 19:11-13)

R.T. Kendall made a salient point regarding this in his book, entitled The Annointing:"Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones (Kendall's predecessor at Westminster Chapel in London) used to say to me, "The Bible was not given to replace direct and immediate revelation from God; it was given to correct abuses."  there is not the slightest hint in the New Testament that the Bible, once completed, would replace God's supernatural dealings with us . . . There is nothing more comforting (or scary) than knowing that God can speak to us in a clear and direct manner." (page 82)

Jesus, immediately after his baptism, was led into the wilderness where Satan confronted him and attempted to make Jesus mid-identify Himself, as something other than God's "beloved son, opon whom [His] favor rests."  Jesus answers him with a quote from Moses:  4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Matthew 4:4  What we miss Jesus saying is the ongoing present-tense nature of God's words.  A better rendition of that says:  "every word that is (now) proceeding out of the mouth of God."  The assumption is that God still has something to say.

In other words, God still talks.  In fact, I'd venture to say that He is, and always will be, the most talkative Being in the universe.  I wish I could find the exact quote from Saint Jerome, the writer of the Latin Vulgate Bible:  "We've chased God into a little book!"