I began posting articles about Real Bible Study on this site on January 10, 2010. I am thankful this was made possible for me by my son Dan. I have often been assisted by my son Tim.
I have suggested that a good way to understand this site is to visit the Archives and start reading the articles in the order they were written, starting with January, 2010.
I have been following my own advice. Each evening after supper I read one article to my wife. We just finished the articles written for October, 2013, last night.
Sometimes I present very controversial information about Bible doctrine. I have always tried to be fair to all sides of a disputed question or doctrine. Considering that I have been studying the Bible since 1953, I may have learned something about it over all these years!
Thank you for reading along with me. Always feel free to submit a comment or question of your own.
THERE IS A MAJOR DIFFERENCE
There is a major difference between Bible readers who go by the Bible alone and in its entirety and those who choose or have been taught to do otherwise.
Some Bible readers come from a religious background which teaches them that the Bible is not the only authority in spiritual or religious matters. They must also believe in accordance to what their church and its tradition teach.
Others, perhaps far fewer in number, are like me. They have read the Bible for itself and believe that the Bible teaches we must go by what is written in the Bible and not by sources from outside the Bible.
I have been asked the question: “But where in the Bible does the Bible teach that you must go by the Bible alone?”
The answer is very simple and is clearly stated in the Bible at Isaiah 8:20 and its context:
Isa 8:20 To the law rather, and to the testimony. And if they speak not according to this word, they shall not have the morning light. (DRB, Douay-Rheims Bible)
Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (KJV, King James Version)
Isa 8:20 You should follow the teachings and the agreement. I swear, if you follow those other things, there is no future for you. (ERV, Easy to Read Version)
In brief, and in context, Isaiah warns his countrymen that they must not turn to the occult for guidance when God seems not to answer prayer in a crisis. Rather, they must turn to written Scripture for the guidance they need. “To the law” and “to the testimony” are terms Isaiah uses to refer to the Bible itself.
Thus, in Isaiah 8:20 we have the truth expressed that the Bible is the true and only standard of faith and practice and the warning against the danger of false standards, Topic Number 46 in the Topic Number Index of The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury.
I have been gently and repeatedly sharing this truth with others who come from religious backgrounds or traditions which do not share this view about the Bible. I will attempt to share here what I recently wrote about this:
I need hardly remind you again, but in gentleness I will:
You state:
“Since the Bible is NOT the sole rule of faith, but the Church AND the Bible”
Isaiah 8:20 and context is still in the Bible. It confirms we are to go by what is written IN the Bible, not by what is NOT in the Bible.
A careful study of the cross references to Isaiah 8:20 will confirm that God in His written word the Bible, including the New Testament, asserts both directly and indirectly this fundamental Bible truth.
You will recall that I recently shared with you several New Testament passages citing the words of our Lord Jesus Christ as recorded in the Gospels that by necessary inference indicate that we are to go by the Scripture alone.
Nevertheless, though we have agreed to disagree on this matter, I fully respect and appreciate all that you share regarding your Christian faith.
I was answered in the discussion thread that while Isaiah 8:20 may teach what I affirm it does, Isaiah was written under the Old Covenant, while we are now living under the New Covenant, which does not contain any such directive.
I answered:
The Old Testament is still very much a part of the Bible. What Isaiah declared as the Word of the Lord will never be obsolete.
The principle of the supremacy of Scripture is valid for all time. This is the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, when He asserted:
Joh 10:35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God was spoken; and the scripture cannot be broken: (DRB)
A careful study of the cross references I have collected for this verse will shed much light on what the Bible itself teaches on this subject.
Jesus sternly warned His Apostles to avoid imitating the Gentile, that is, heathen or pagan, practice of establishing a hierarchy for His church, in the words “but it shall not be so among you.”
Mat 20:25 But Jesus called them to him and said: You know that the princes of the Gentiles lord it over them; and that they that are the greater, exercise power upon them.
Mat 20:26 It shall not be so among you: but whosoever is the greater among you, let him be your minister.
Mat 20:27 And he that will be first among you shall be your servant.
Mat 20:28 Even as the Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a redemption for many. (DRB)
Notice those words carefully: “It shall not be so among you.” The evidence in Scripture demonstrates the Apostles learned and remembered this lesson well. Paul alludes to this statement of Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:24). Peter alludes to this statement (1 Peter 5:3). The testimony of these two witnesses to the teaching of Jesus should alert all of us to the danger of departing, whether in belief or practice, from what our Lord Jesus Christ plainly commanded.
I cannot find what I wrote in another comment about what Jesus Himself stated about the Bible. By direct statement and by the rule of necessary inference, what Jesus states, as recorded in the four Gospels we have in our New Testament, demonstrates that He by example based His teaching and His refutation of error by direct appeal to the Old Testament Scriptures. This establishes as fact in the New Testament that the principle that we are to go by what is IN the Bible, NOT by what is NOT IN the Bible still holds true, if we follow the example of Jesus:
Mar 12:24 And Jesus answering, saith to them: Do ye not therefore err, because you know not the scriptures nor the power of God? (DRB)
Mar 12:26 And as concerning the dead that they rise again have you not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spoke to him, saying: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?
Mar 12:27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You therefore do greatly err. (DRB)
Jesus, therefore, charged the religious leaders of His day with error, because they did not know the Scriptures.
A number of times Jesus asked the question, “Have ye not read?” Jesus expected them, and expects us, to read and be very familiar with the Scriptures:
Mar 2:25 And he said to them: Have you never read what David did when he had need and was hungry, himself and they that were with him? (DRB)
This question of Jesus is repeated several times in the Gospel record. At Matthew 12:3, I have placed a comprehensive note on this subject in The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury:
Matthew 12:3
Have ye not read. Mat 12:5, Mat 19:4; +Mat 21:16; +Mat 21:42; Mat 22:31, Mar 2:25; Mar 12:10; Mar 12:26, Luk 6:3; Luk 10:26. Jesus appealed repeatedly to the Bible alone as the source of spiritual authority. Notice the preceding cross references which document Christ’s repeated question, “Have ye not read?” Jesus expected his hearers to have read the Bible. He expects them to understand what they read (Mat 24:15 note). His question, “Have ye not read?” is recorded ten times! Jesus referred to seven distinct passages (Gen 1:27 at Mat 19:4; Exo 3:6 at Mat 22:31, 32; Lev 24:6, 7, 8, 9 at Mat 12:3; Num 28:9, 10 at Mat 12:5; 1Sa 21:6 at Mat 12:3; Psa 8:2 at Mat 21:16; Psa 118:22 at Mat 21:42).
Jesus appealed to the Bible as His authority many times, but never once did he appeal to the authority of the religious leaders in Israel (Pharisees or Sadducees), or to religious tradition. He commanded to “Search the Scriptures” (Joh 5:39). Two dozen times Jesus cites the Old Testament Prophets as recorded in the New Testament (Luk 24:27 note).
Even during His temptation in the wilderness, Jesus cited the Scripture, not tradition, when he resisted the Devil successfully. It seems we could learn something from that (**Mat 4:4; Mat 4:6, 7; Mat 4:10).
Mat 4:4 Who answered and said: It is written, Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. (DRB)
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (KJV)
Mat 4:4 Jesus answered him, “The Scriptures say, ‘It is not just bread that keeps people alive. Their lives depend on what God says.'” (ERV, Easy to Read Version)
Mat 4:4 Jesus answered, “The Scriptures say: ‘No one can live only on food. People need every word that God has spoken.’ ” (CEV, Contemporary English Version)
That the New Testament was written by the authority of Christ may be legitimately inferred from the fact that: (1) John explicitly records that Jesus Christ commanded him to write (Rev 1:19). (2) Jesus directly promised that the Holy Spirit would guide his apostles into all truth and bring all things to their remembrance (Joh 16:12, 13). Thus, as they wrote the writings we now have in the New Testament we are assured of their accuracy for they were written under divine inspiration (2Ti 3:16, 2Pe 1:21). Peter called the letters written by Paul “Scripture” (2Pe 3:16), and clearly possessed them as a well-known collection. Paul cites the words of Jesus, quoting them exactly, from Luk 10:7 in 1Ti 5:17, 18.
The book of Revelation makes at least four direct quotations from the Gospels. By John’s death, the entire New Testament as we have it today was available and being read by or to all genuine Christians. Thus the claim by some Roman Catholics that Jesus gave us the Church, not the Bible, as our teaching authority and source of spiritual truth, the “pillar and ground of the truth” (**1Ti 3:15 note), is untrue, for Jesus himself appealed to the authority of Scripture, not tradition or the religious institution of his day. Mat 9:13; +*Mat 22:29, Lev 10:16, 17, 18, 19, 20, +Deut 17:19, +*Psa 119:139, Act 13:27.
I am thankful for John 5:46, 47. Jesus summed up the ancient testimony, and this verse
answers so many arguments of the skeptics.
I agree, Gary. I may post the cross references to those verses soon if I find I have not yet done so.
Hi Jerry,
To whom much is given, more will be required. The path narrows more and more concurrently. I suppose that it may take a couple more years for you to prove out of the scriptures and conclude for yourselves all that i have sent to you. The Message is expanded from time to time. You have received the latest. And as you have said of your own observations of which you have written, truth always goes against what the world gets to see as the visible ‘church’. But the true children of God are Hidden in His hand, for the most part, except for times of His choosing. This is one of those times. Compromise for no one when you know what the will of the Lord is. Let no man steal your crown.
Dear Doug,
I have read with interest much of what you have posted here.
If you were to “boil it down” to the most significant point you want to make, what would you say?
You will notice in my writing that I do not hide anything behind a lot of verbiage. I try to make direct statements that can be immediately grasped by any reader.
My position, as I think you may already know, is that I believe all of us can continue to grow in our knowledge of the Bible and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I also have stated many times here that if I am proven wrong on any point I have presented, I am always willing to be corrected and will change my mind. Are you willing to state the truth as you believe it to be taught in the Bible, and to change your mind should it happen that you are proven mistaken?
Thank you for participating here!
Hi Jerry,
If you received the 25 part message that I sent to you, The ‘boiled down’ gist of it is that the Righteous Sin Not. The Verbiage is to show the truth of what that means. A simple point now needed is that there are no insignificant passages in the Word of God. How do we worship God in Spirit and in truth if we don’t know the truth. It’s a big book that God wrote, and spiritually discerned. Some of the finer points that are generally missed, or perverted by the unlearned, are still important to God, or else why did He write it. Please show attention to doctrine that is deserved of the living God. I do not rely on the opinions of men to reach the conclusions that God would have His true children to acknowledge. That is why the use of extensive KJV Bible references are necessary to show proof. If you think I’m here to contend? I know by whom I have been taught. You will not be arguing with me but Him. If you choose to cut all that I have sent to you out of love with a penknife and throw it in the fire that is your choice. But I would rather find a friend if God wills.
Jerry,
As an after thought after re-reading your message, No I am not above reproof. May God lead all of His true children unto all truth.
Thank you Doug for continuing the discussion here.
I agree with you that the King James Version ought to be the basis of our study of God’s Word in English.
As a now retired high school English teacher, I have great appreciation of the King James Version for its literary stature and quality. Beyond that, the King James Version is usually better to consult in our studies because it more accurately preserves the Figures of Speech present in the original Bible languages of Hebrew and Greek.
I believe that I have received all of the material you posted today. I am only able to preview about five new posts at a time because of how this Word Press based site is configured to work.
I firmly believe in the Priestly-Sacrificial Atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In connection with the underlying Greek grammar used at John 8:11, Jesus literally commanded the woman taken in adultery to “Stop sinning.” This ultimately ties in to the doctrine of holiness. Hebrews 12:14,
Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
You and I may agree on some points about what the Bible teaches.
I have noticed in something I read that you posted here that you do not believe in the doctrine of the Deity of Christ.
On that subject you may find it profitable to study the subject of the Deity of Christ as it is taught in the Bible. This is a major issue about which we may differ in our understanding of Scripture.
Thank you for clarifying where I can find more of what you posted here. As time permits, I look forward to reading what you have learned in your own study of the Bible.
Many modern English Bible translations appear to cast doubt on the authenticity of the account of the woman taken in adultery found in John, chapter 8. I firmly believe that the Received Text which underlies the King James Version is superior to some modern texts which cast doubt on this passage. Sometimes modern translations do follow a text which is better than the Received Text since scholars today have access to a greater number of New Testament Greek manuscripts than the King James translators did.