The Word of God

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . .And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory. . ." (John 1).

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4.12)

"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse!  He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.  His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself.  He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God."  (Revelation 19.11ff)

Please, do me a favour!  If you ever hear me refer to the scriptures as "the Word of God", stop me.  Since seeing the connections in these verses I cannot view "the Word of God" as mere black marks on a page.  "The Word of God" has to be something more than a book.  It is alive, dynamic, active.  Scary, even!

And seeing "the Word of God" this way raises some questions:  Has God's Word been spoken on earth in ways other than that which the church proclaims?

For example, China.  Having a son live in China for five+ years has opened my eyes to this huge group of people, their vast culture, their immensely long history.  Has God just ignored them?  Or is there a possibility that his Word has come to them in ways we are unfamiliar with?  And we could go on and on.  The Americas pre-European invasion.  Africa.  Other parts of Asia.  Etc.

I know that I myself am responsible for responding to the Word of God as it comes to me.  I am not responsible for any others' responses.  But I certainly do like to contemplate the possibilities!

I am coming more and more to believe that the so-called exclusivity that exists in Christianity belongs not to the scriptures themselves, but to the Church.  It is the Church which wants to be the only path to God. I no longer believe that the scripture teaches that.  I think there are allowances for other appearances of "God's Word", in forms other than what I have been taught.

For more on my view of the scriptures, the Bible, see my next blog!