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| Source: http://bit.ly/1lPie1g |
But before I begin, let me lay down two important premises.
Premise 1: I am a Christian. I love and believe in God; and I also believe in the authenticity of the Bible as God's Word.
Premise 2: I do not claim to know all the answers. I probably even have more questions than answers; and I'm with this piece, trying to put some structure to my jumbled thoughts. So, biko, follow through with me. And if by any chance you get more confused after reading..well, welcome to the club :D
Now, the title is not just a marketing ploy. I mean every word. Think about it for a second...is the Bible really complete? Now, I'm not about to argue some faith-based circular reasoning that says 'The Bible is complete because the Bible says so' (pls refer to premise 1). Logic 101 tells me there's something inherently wrong with that line of reasoning. I strongly believe God gave us our minds to think and reason things out for ourselves, especially for things that are right out there in the open. And I consider this topic to be one of those things we should think about.
First, who wrote the Bible? Men did. Yes, you heard me. Men wrote the Bible. Largely inspired by God, yes, but penned down by the hands of men. From the historical early books, to the prophetical, the biographical, the letters, and to the revelational, men were those God used to write words that we call the Bible today. This fact is important.
Second, I don't think God sat down one day to say: Hmm..I think I need to author a book, and I'll solidly call it 'The Bible!' (ghen gheunn!!). I sincerely doubt that. In the days of Jesus, what we call the Old Testament were different and distinct books often referred to as 'Scriptures', which loosely means 'Writings'. Just imagine a white-bearded, Gandalf-looking, old man with a crooked walking stick called Isaiah (the old man is called Isaiah, not his walking stick - in case you read that wrong :p), writing down in Hebrew some prophesies that God revealed to him, and finally wrapping up these writings in a scroll for safe keeping. Now, also imagine a young lad in the bush tending to sheep and once in a while writing down poetry on a papyrus sheet and squeezing it into his tunic the moment he sees a hungry bear yawning and prancing towards his sheep to feed (Lool! Too dramaic?) Now imagine a very wise and wealthy king consumed out of deep love (and lust?) for some voluptuous babe(s?) and pens down how much he loves her body and wants to get into bed with her, coupled with his fantasies of her wanting him too (This particular book started with King Solomon Randy asking for a frenchkiss! Naughty, naughty King Solomon. Lool! Go read it from The Message Bible, if you don't believe me). Now fastforward a couple of centuries and imagine a filty, beaten prisoner with shackles on his hands and feet, dictating a letter to a friendly slave, who scribbles what the prisoner says and sends out the letter to his former master named Philemon.
These scenarios are exactly how the Bible was written. Men were the ones, in much later years, who decided to compile these different writings into one volume called 'The Bible'. I won't bother you with the history and controversy behind this compilation...Google (much unlike the Nigeria Police) is your friend here.
Third, and here is the clincher: The Bible is over 2,000 years old, with the earliest books written as far back as 3,500 years ago! Did God stop speaking somewhere along the line? Or do we have everything we would possibly need scribbled in 66+ holy books? Some would argue 'Yes we do!' I won't argue. I'll tell you what I think.
I think there is more to the Bible than the compilation of ancient writings.
So, the question is, if the Bible is incomplete, as I'm postulating, what then completes the Bible?
Two things:
- If (notice how there has been too many 'ifs' in this piece?) God speaking to his prophets in ancient times and other interesting activities people decided to pen down, make up what we call the Bible, then it takes no rocket scientist to see the missing link in today's world. Books! There are a million and three solid, God-inspired books out there that are valid extensions of the Bible. God still speaks to his prophets, pastors, etc, who in turn write down what God has said. And I'm not talking just about spiritual or 'prophetic' books. I also mean the everyday inspiring books written by everyday people that inspire and motivate us to be better. Considering the fact that people like David, Solomon, Ruth, Job and the likes weren't prophets but wrote 'Scriptures' or had 'Scriptures' written about them, it goes to show that God can inspire everyday people too to write Bible extensions. Everyday people like you and me! Lool! (Of which, if you haven't read my God-inspired book, read it here. hehe...). And also, it means that everyday people can have books written about them inspire others. Now this is food for thought: Will your (auto)biography inspire people?
- Now the major difference between those old buggers two thousand years ago and now is this: God speaks to us directly! And this is a huge shift. You see, in those days, people like King David, etc used to rely on Prophets (and their writings) to hear from God or to understand the best course of action in any situation. but with the advent of the Holy Spirit, we have direct access to God and his Word. This implies that I can simply ask God for stuff (direction/help/understanding, etc) and trust that He'll answer. I'm not reducing the relevance of the Bible. I'm simply saying there's a difference between 'what God said', and 'what God is saying'. I call it situational relevance! And this, in my opinion, is final piece that completes the Bible. Think about it.
Update:
This piece came about from a conversation I had with Ada, and a question she asked. She has also asked that I give credit where credit is due. So, babe, here you go!
