> As I have said, most people on this list, probably everyone will say, that
> Scripture is God's Word. I do not think that I ever said that "a human, a
> creature, with spirit "can be above the Bible and above God's creation." "
>
I wonder who it was that first had the idea that Scripture is God's Word in the
sense that it is *only* God's Word..
It was sometime after 70 AD (wasn't it?) that the Jews themselves decided what
was canon in the OT. The gospels and letters were used more and more by the
Christians, some more than others, as time went by. After several hundred years
there were many ideas about what should be included as NT canon. There were
different lists of canonical books circulating through those years. The Eastern
church had their list of canonical books by at least 400 AD. The Western church
really didn't have a list until some reformers like Calvin and Luther threw out
books which didn't agree with their views. Finally the Catholics replied in about
1546? or so at the Council of Trent with their list which, I believe, is in
effect today. That list, or the Eastern one, would command the greatest authority
I would think.
When you read the Apocrapha you find the origins of parables and many of the
sayings of Jesus. There are many uplifting stories which bear directly on our
lives and living today. Many Christians have used these stories as inspired
directives for centuries and centuries.
(Logos) became flesh and dwelt among us even as words (written and spoken in the
Christian tradition) is not contested I would think. But to equate Word to
Scripture would be to equate the substance of what God is to what that substance
has created (human expression). This I would think is the heresy of Monism or at
least Panentheism where part of nature is God.
In other words, there is more to God's Word than the (properly interpreted) words
of the Bible. I hope no one disagrees with that!
Christopher Morbey