The concept of holy books is so central to religions that one cannot think of any religion without a holy book. A book above all others is so important in every movement that even in presumably non-religions movements such as Marxism, Darwinism, or Freudian-thinking, one finds a key book around which the movement coheres. The book gives them direction, binds them as a group, and imparts vigor to the movement. It is practically difficult to conceive of a major religious or social movement without such a book. The Christian faith is no different.
However, in spite of the similarity with other religions and movements, the concept of the Holy book is radically different in the Christian faith. Thus looking at this book from a superficial understanding of Holy Books based upon a general observation and study of world-religions can easily mislead both Christians as well as non Christians and we do see this all around.
There are a large number of theological radicals whose allegiance to the Bible is far less than that of Hindus or Muslims. That is because they view the Bible in the light of the general observations of religious books and try to fit it into that mould. The same is the problem with False Cults and deviant Christian movements. Rather than deriving their outlook about the Bible from the Bible itself, they approach the Bible with a pre-formed outlook and then try to fit the Bible into that mould. In that process much of the Bible is lost and a new religious movement arises that is Christian in name but not in essence.
The reason is simple! The Bible is totally different and unbelievably unique in what it is, the way it was written, and the way it transforms life. It is also totally different in the way it claims inerrancy and infallibility, and the way it demands total obedience. Therefore, before anyone uses the Bible for anything related to his faith and practice, he needs to understand the precise nature of the Bible, including how it is unique and different from other religious books.
Dr. Johnson C. Philip is a physicist and Christian apologist based in Kochi, India. The article has been placed by him in Creative Commons. You can read his apologetics articles at www.JohnsonCPhilip.Com
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October 24th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
The Bible is the only inspired book and Word of God, therefore it is
Holy,Sacred and most Powerfulful book on earth.
June 14th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Thank you Dr., My master,
as a comment, from my experience in the service of Christ ( thanks to God I have 40 years in His service ), I always advise who request or ask many questions about the contents of the Bible ( in concern of some texts that is used by the Critics groups ), to ask themselves faithfully before God are they pure enough to deal with the Bible , God will not lead the unfaithful to the Knowledge , He leads always the faithfuls , I usually lead them to the Calvary where they must search faithfully by the help of the Holy Spirit about their sins to put them under the Cross , To pray that the blood of The crucified Christ cleans them first , I testify that most of those find their answers without my help after that , most of those produce serious great personal studies for the Bible .
Thank you again my Master Dr.Johnson C. Phillip