Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiries

 

Is the Holy Bible the Logos in written form?

A phrase customarily coming from the mouths of Protestants is the outrageous phrase: "The Holy Bible is God the Logos in written form."!!!   Exactly what are they trying to tell us with this phrase?  That the God of the Universe is identified as a divinely-inspired book, or that the Holy Bible is worshipped as a god, in God's place?

 

There are Protestants who tell us:

"The Holy Bible is the 'Word of God' in written form."

And in harmony with this statement of theirs, they add:

"How can the Orthodox Church claim to have the parenthood of the Holy Word of God (=the Holy Bible) as if it is Her own child, when the Word (Logos) of God already has a Father?"

"And how can you Orthodox claim that the Holy Bible (which is divinely-inspired) is deficient as the complete Word of God?

What can we say about such statements? Can they be accepted by a Christian?

Let's start from the end, in order to prove the magnitude of this Protestant delusion, which relates God the Logos ("Word"), our Lord Jesus Christ, to the Holy Bible:

The Holy Bible is SUFFICIENT, for the purpose that it was compiled by the Church, in the Holy Spirit.  And that purpose was so that we could have a SEMINAL, SUCCINCT picture of the faith - a "philosopher's stone" against which we can compare our experiences in order to see if we are on the correct path.

However, it is indeed deficient... but only for the purposes that Protestantism has weighed it down with.  The Holy Bible was not written as a charter of faith, nor as an encyclopedia.  It is quite obvious that - just as it is not suited to be a Physics or Biology handbook, it is likewise not suited to be a charter of the faith.

Thus, it is precisely because Protestantism uses the Bible as the ONLY source of the faith, that it is insufficient. It is insufficient, on account of its INAPPROPRIATE use by Protestantism.  This is the reason that Protestantism has splintered into thousands of inter-conflicting groups : because Protestantism has turned the Bible into a literal "charter of the faith" and "word of God" - something like a Christian type of Koran.

But the Holy Bible was not written for that purpose, because that would mean God had failed in His plan to give one, distinct and clear-cut charter, inasmuch as each and every person is able to misinterpret it so easily.

The Holy Bible is absolutely sufficient for its proper use within the Church - for which and by which it was composed.

Given therefore that the Bible was written by members of the Church, obviously the Church can rightfully claim parenthood of the writings.

Additionally, NOWHERE does it say in the Bible that the book itself is per se "the word of God", given that the word of God is INEFFABLE and is not expressed in human languages.

The Holy Bible is the divinely-inspired human word regarding the word of God.  The Gospel - which can be preached either verbally or in writing - is comprised of words REGARDING the ineffable word of God as well as God the Logos (the Son).

We invite Protestants to show us where in the Bible it (supposedly) states that it is "the word of God".  If they can not show it, it will mean that what they are insisting on is THEIR OWN, HUMAN TRADITION.

To claim that the Holy Bible is supposedly "the Logos of God in written form" constitutes IDOLATRY and BLASPHEMY, inasmuch as it equates God with a man-made idol (a book).

God is INDESCRIBABLE and INEFFABLE, as are the meanings that pertain to Him, inasmuch as it is not possible to describe God or the meanings pertaining to Him in any human tongue. Only certain things can be written about Him - as approximations to the best of human ability - either in the Holy Bible or elsewhere, and even then, they are "words pertaining to the Ineffable word of God, and to God the Logos".

The argument that Protestantism (albeit splintered into tens of thousands of conflicting groups) preaches the Gospel to Missions and elsewhere, is far from valid.  The only thing that Protestantism introduced is splintering, heresies, and confusion.  Missionary works existed in the Church, long before Protestantism, which appeared much later, in the 16th century.

The Church is not a "fenceless vineyard", where anyone can teach anything that pops into their head. The Church has clear-cut dogmas and a clear-cut therapeutic method for human nature.

Protestantism resembles a charlatan who poses as a doctor but is totally ignorant of the therapeutic methods of acknowledged medicinal practice and as such, is dangerous to the patient.

Merely preaching "something" - whatever that may be - and calling it "the Gospel" is not what counts; the Gospel is ONE AND UNIQUE AND UNALTERABLE. Whoever preaches something different is ANATHEMA, accursed, according to the Holy Bible itself (NKJV Galatians 1:7-9):

[...] but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

Only the Orthodox Church has preserved that One, Unique Gospel unaltered; consequently, all the others:  "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad." (Matthew 12: 30).

There is no Mission outside the Orthodox Church. All other self-styled "missions" are "gates to Hades" and "causes of confusion".

The Orthodox do not "look down their noses" when claiming these things about Protestantism; they speak out of a sense of responsibility - just as it is impossible for the Doctors' Union to accept as genuine medical practitioners those who are charlatans that can lead people to death.

The idolatrous confusion alone that arises from within these Protestant assertions regarding the Logos of God and a divinely-inspired book is reason enough to condemn this viewpoint as "anti-Gospel" and "anathema".

For the Orthodox Church, Jesus Christ is the central person and theme of the Christian faith. For the Protestants in question it is apparently... a book.  They have replaced Jesus Christ with the book that speaks about Him, to such an extent that they actually identify the book with God the Logos Himself, and thus commit blasphemy and transform the book into an idol. 
If the Holy Bible is identified with God the Logos, then the Bible itself MUST BE WORSHIPPED, given that : "...to Him was given the dominion and the honor and the kingship, and all peoples, tribes, languages shall be subject him. His authority is an everlasting authority, which will not pass away, and His kingship will not be destroyed." (Daniel 7:14).

So we ask:  Does Protestantism worship... a book ?

The answer is that even though Protestantism outwardly denies it,  the manner that it confronts the issue shows that it has in fact rendered the Bible a god in the place of God.

As mentioned earlier, the Holy Bible is by no means deficient, with regard to the purpose for which it was compiled.  However it obviously pains the Protestants, inasmuch as it does NOT respond to the purpose that THEY have ascribed to it - in contravention to God's purpose and the commandments of the Holy Spirit, i.e.: the prophetic word of the Holy Bible does not serve the purpose of a "charter", nor does it clearly allude to Christ; on the contrary, we read the following clarification in the Bible, which Protestants seem to have intentionally ignored in order to persist in their misconception:

"And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:19-21)

The Holy Spirit is grieved by the idolatry of those Protestants who identify God the Logos (perceived by them as the word -literally- of God) with a book - even if that book happens to be divinely inspired!

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OODE Note:  The Holy Bible was compiled by the Church, from within a centuries-long process. It did not drop into our laps from Heaven. The Holy Bible didn't exist during the first centuries; the Church however DID exist.  It took many years to decide which Books should belong in the Holy Bible and which shouldn't (albeit other books were also being read at the time, which nowadays aren't considered as belonging in the Holy Bible). Given the above, therefore, the Bible definitely did NOT appear out of the blue.

There are specialized articles in OODE, which provide details on the process that was followed:

Classification of the books of the Holy Bible  and The meaning of Divine Inspiration of the Holy Bible and the sources that confirm its canonicity.

 

Translation A. N.

Article published in English on: 1-4-2014.

Last update: 1-4-2014.

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