Why do believers think the Bible is the “Word of God?” (Jesus used the term long before the Bible came along)?
The New Testament did not even exist when Jesus used the term "Word of God" in the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:11). So why in the world would believers think that something that did not exist would be included in what Jesus himself called the "Word of God?"
Was he sowing out Bibles?
Just exactly what was Jesus sowing out to all those people that would bring a "bountiful crop." It certainly was not the Bible… and it certainly was not himself if he was the one who was sowing that word.
Was it his message?… and if so, what particular message of his was called the "Word of God?"
This question (puzzle) comes from the Gospel Enigma e-book.
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Tags: bible, bibles, bountiful crop, e book, jesus, new testament, parable of the sower, puzzle, word of god
I invite you to attend the Sunday School.
To avoid confusion, I tend to use caps when referring to the Bible (the word of God), or Jesus (the Word of God).
The Bible is called the word of God. Jesus is the Word of God.
So in the time of Jesus, he referred to scriptures because there was a written account of what occurred in the past of the Hebrews. He had them available and would quote from them.
1) Why do believers think the Bible is the "Word of God?"
Because it relates – quite literally, in some passages – the words of God.
2) The New Testament did not even exist when Jesus used the term "Word of God" in the Parable of the Sower
Understand that "the word of God" is "the word of God". If someone wrote down one particular instance of that word two years after Jesus death, and then *that* was not included in the bible until the 4th or even 5th century C.E., that makes those words that were recorded no less the word of God! The word of God can be recorded by many means, and it so happens that – in those days – it was most frequently recorded by the remembering of it and by the writing of it.
3) and it certainly was not himself if he was the one who was sowing that word.
I would call this an unwarranted assumption. I am not saying that you are wrong – but this does not follow, logically, considering the language that Jesus is known to have used (for example, at the Last Supper).
Still, it seems most likely Jesus was referring to the gospel (that is, the "good news") in this passage. Again, just one example of the word of God.
Jim, http://www.bible-reviews.com/