tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20587008.post3689992967394827523..comments2024-01-25T03:56:02.403-08:00Comments on Presbyterian Bloggers: Sunday Devotional - Would Christianity Survive without the Bible?Mirandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16380861596539183040noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20587008.post-76080994244837312562007-08-16T09:22:00.000-07:002007-08-16T09:22:00.000-07:00"Each Christian or Christian community could deter..."Each Christian or Christian community could determine what they hear God saying with no checks and balances."<BR/><BR/>Well our descent into relativism and the denial of the authority of Scripture has already made this statement a reality in the mainlines.Benjamin P. Glaserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02728290792232181473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20587008.post-68199590758124098502007-08-11T21:34:00.000-07:002007-08-11T21:34:00.000-07:00I have had my first experience of personally givin...I have had my first experience of personally giving someone a Bible (I've mailed one to someone) and as a book person and librarian, and as a lover of the Word, it made sense to the givers that I was sharing something precious with them. I am a person of books. But mostly I am a woman of The Book. <BR/><BR/>I know I should have more scripture memorized, which the early Christians and Jews had, in the oral tradition. <BR/><BR/>And I always love your stained glass window creations.Sarah Louisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00251034210962259082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20587008.post-66079077949896163612007-08-05T13:08:00.000-07:002007-08-05T13:08:00.000-07:00Thanks Shawn for your comments. The original quest...Thanks Shawn for your comments. The original question stipulated the Bible, and not holy scriptures. This is what made it intriguing to me.<BR/><BR/>I personally love the Bible, but it does not make or break my relationship with Christ. But I also belive that if the scriptures were taken from us (as in Ray Bradbury's sci-fi story Fahrenheit 451) Christians would re-learn the craft of oral transmission.Stushiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10693178228505134028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20587008.post-73151198299528490662007-08-05T07:00:00.000-07:002007-08-05T07:00:00.000-07:00"If we look back to the faith of the first Christi..."If we look back to the faith of the first Christians, we come across an amazing fact: they didn’t have any scriptures to sustain their beliefs."<BR/><BR/>I don't think the above statement is entirely accurate. It is true that they didn't have the Bible in the form that we know it, but they most certainly had scriptures. They had scriptures in the sense that they had stories and events about God and Jesus that had been told and written down.<BR/><BR/>The OT may not have been canonized but the Hebrew scriptures were pretty standardized and Jewish Christians of many different places had a common written background in the Torah, Law and writings. That's why Jesus quoted the OT by saying, "You have heard it said..."<BR/><BR/>The early Christians may not have had the NT in written form, but they had enough of it in oral form until the written form came along.<BR/><BR/>Has Christianity survived without the Bible as we know it? Yes, although they most certainly had scriptures. Would Christianity today survive without any commonly accepted written stories/history of God and God's people? I say no, because we would have no reliable standard to check ourselves against. Each Christian or Christian community could determine what they hear God saying with no checks and balances.<BR/><BR/>Being Reformed and Presbyterian I admit that I am fallen enough to need more than my or your discernment.Shawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06640018914098361293noreply@blogger.com