by Richard Ellis

Created on: May 08, 2012

Christianity could not long survive in its purest form without the Bible. Without the word of God in written form Christianity would run the risk of becoming the hearsay religion of men.  Without it heresy and error would creep in and distort or destroy Christian doctrine. The Bible is our reference book, to be studied and looked to for verification of all that Christians believe. It is our proof that what we believe about God, Christ and salvation are true.

As it is said of the Bereans in Acts 17:10-12, KJV:  "And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few."

The Bereans believed, not because of what Paul and Silas told them, but because they had holy scripture to refer to as proof of the truth of what was told them.

A good example of what would happen without God's written word can be seen in many Christian churches today. For centuries the Catholic Church forbade the common man to read the Bible. Though the Church no longer does this it is certainly true that many churches of various denominations do not encourage people to study it, therefore there is a certain amount of Bible illiteracy among Christians even today. People get their Bible knowledge from their Pastor or Sunday school teacher and never check "whether those things were so" as did the Bereans. This leaves the door wide open to misunderstanding of scripture and even doctrinal manipulation by unscrupulous teachers. Think how much worse the situation would be if we had no Bible. The devil would love it; he would have a great time spreading confusion.

We need written documents as guides for all facets of civilized life: constitutions, by-laws, contracts, instructions and guides for various activities- without such the world would be in complete chaos. The same applies to religion. All great religions have their Bible; it is an absolute must for their adherents.

Many people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through the printed scripture. Various Bible missionary organizations send out free scripture all around the world, in various languages, so that people can see for themselves what the Holy Bible says. A single missionary can only reach so many people through his or her preaching. Preachers' sermons are all too often forgotten in a very short time. The written word is something that can be shared by many and referred to again and again until the message is clear in one's mind. Christianity must have the Bible to survive.

"Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand." Revelation 1:3. (Blessed is he that reads the Bible.)

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