presence of His Holy Son, Jesus Christ in us. But the book
itself is not intrinsically holy. We need to make sure we
understand why it is called a "Holy Bible."
We do not want to be guilty of bibliolatry or the
biblicism of mere book-religion. Jesus never intended
Christianity to be a book-religion, rigidly controlled by
textual research, Biblical exegesis and motivation to
implement Scriptural principles and precepts. Such was not
the case in the early church, as has been indicated above.
They did not gather together to do Bible study, but to share
how the living expression of the Word of God in Jesus
Christ was operative and functioning in their lives. They
shared with one another what God was doing and
expressing in them.
It becomes apparent that we have lapsed into an
inappropriate teaching model in the evangelical churches of
America today. We have become book-centered, teacher-
controlled and educationally-oriented. It might be called
"the poisonous pedagogy of ecclesiasticism," the perpetual
propagation of a belief-system. Bible knowledge is often
regarded as an "end" in itself. Paul is clear that "knowledge
puffeth up" (I Corinthians 8:1); mere knowledge, including
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