Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will build My church, and the
gates of Hades shall not overpower it" (Matthew 16:18).
God's preservation of His people, His church, is not
contingent or dependent on our knowing the factual data of
a book. It is not what we "do"; it is what God "does" by His
expression, His living Word, Jesus Christ in us.
Within the context of the early church a written record
did materialize and come into being. There were gospel
narratives recording how the Living Word, Jesus Christ,
appeared in flesh. Paul and others wrote epistles
encouraging Christians to allow for the dynamic expression
of Christ in them. These writings were compiled into what
we know as the New Testament. For all the benefit that
these writings have had as an objective criteria of Christian
understanding, there has been the counteractive risk
whereby the natural propensity of man tends to develop
absolutism, textualism and legalism, and thus to allow
Christianity to become a "religion of the book."
Robert Brinsmead of Australia writes,
"The written record became absolutized. The gospel became a new
law. Faith was confounded with orthodoxy. The Church ceased to
be a charismatic community and became an institution. Instead of
the Spirit there were rules. Instead of the priesthood of all
believers, there was wretched clericalism. Instead of the Spirit and
presence of the living Christ there were religious canned goods.