Bibliolatry is what is known as worshiping the Bible being a form of idolatry. Now, I don’t know of anyone who actually worships the Bible even bowing down, singing, and praying to it. I haven’t heard of any temples or gold Bibles that people worship. “Bibliolatry” is actually used to refer to the act of worshiping God’s law and not God.
“Bibliolatry” is rarely used for people who mostly spend their time honoring the laws of the Bible with little thought on Christ, but it is usually used as a slanderous label for those who believe the Scriptures to be the word-for-word inspired and all-sufficient collection of writings for all Christian doctrines and practices (2 Timothy 3:16–17). The use of this label comes from those who do not accept the Scriptures as inspired and, or complete revelation. If a “Bible worshiper” or a “bibliolater” is just someone who believes in the inspiration of Scriptures, then this label would be referring to the Lord, His apostles, His prophets, and the church who believe and teach the inspiration of the Bible.
Worship the Christ
Christians must worship the Word in the flesh (John 1:14), but they must not worship paper, letters of a language, or books even leather bound books. Truly, the faithful must not worship the Law of Christ, but worship Christ trusting in the law of His grace. The Bible is the collection of inerrant inspired writings revealing the Word, so Christians therefore respect the Scriptures and spend a lot of time reading them for the Spirit’s revelation is there. This is not worshiping the Scriptures.
Slander
Strangely, those using the label of “bibliolatry” for slander are either missing the importance of the Word, are willingly ignorant, or more likely lack the faith to accept the Word of God as it is written. Many elaborate scenarios asserted upon a little history to assert that the Bible was collected by men, polluted by men, and inspired by the imaginations of men. The Scriptures stand because Christ stands. The Scriptures are inerrant because Christ is inerrant. As Peter preached in Acts, the predictive prophecies of Christ, Jesus’s empty tomb, and various witnesses of Jesus’s resurrection prove Jesus is the Son of God. Because Jesus is the Christ, His words given to the apostles and prophets are revealed in the Scriptures.
The Written Word
The reasons to respect the saving Word is the Word is alive and active with no need of revival or any new life to be blown into it (Hebrews 4:12). The Word gives life (John 6:63; 1 Corinthians 15:1–2). One must be born of the Spirit to enter the kingdom of Heaven, and Christians are born of the Spirit by the Word of God (1 Corinthians 4:15; 1 Peter 1:23). The Word sanctifies Christians (John 17:17). The Word comforts (1 Thessalonians 4:18). Furthermore, the Spirit guided the apostles unto all truth for the writing of the Word of God (John 16:13). The Word presents the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22; James 1:18). God’s Word also produces love (Romans 5:5; 1 John 2:5). The written Word of the Scriptures is not just another religious text or guide book for life.
The Word and Words
The wonder of the Word does not stop here. The “words” of the “Word” of Christ will judge the world (John 12:47–48). In John 3:34, John the Baptist affirmed that Jesus has the Spirit and the words of God. Jesus stated that the words He spoke are spirit and life (John 6:63). Jesus also said that His words would never pass away (Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33).
Jesus revealed that He is ashamed of those who are ashamed of His words (Luke 9:26). Those who do not hear the words of God are not of God (John 8:47). Then Jesus stated that He had many more things to say that He would speak all things by the Holy Spirit to the apostles (John 16:12–13). The apostle Paul wrote that the apostles’ words were not by man’s wisdom but from the teaching of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:13). The Spirit teaches through Jude that Christians are to remember the words of the apostles (Jude 17). First Timothy 6:3–4 teaches that man’s godliness is dependent upon whether he or she follows the words of God.
Should we read these words? Yes. Where are these words? You should know. Where does everyone go to find the words of Christ? Even those who believe the Bible to be man-made come back to the Bible for the words of Christ.
Loving Christ and His Words
Christ’s words are not just symbols written on paper. His words are spirit and life (John 6:63). Can anyone else say the same thing about their words? Upon these words, the faithful must live. By these words, Christians know Christ to worship and love Him. We may have a general love for strangers lost and saved, but to really love someone, one has to know that person. No one can love Christ without knowing Him and the more we know Him, then the more we’ll love Him. The sole verbal source to get to know Christ is the written Word and all other sources learn from the Bible. I wonder how many people who label Bible followers as “Bibliolaters” are themselves biblically illiterate worshiping their own imaginations of God, their own lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eyes, or their own life’s pride. Most don’t know the Scriptures and just rely on their own philosophy and the traditions of men.
No one should be accused of the horrible sin of idolatry, because they submit to Christ’s words presented in the Scriptures. The Bible is not just laws, but it is also not just a love letter. The Bible is so much more than what people can summarize. We must love the principles and ideals that Christ presents for the church, which He has built and bought with His own blood. My heart aches to know that so many are changing to their own version of Christianity, because they think of the Scriptures as cold pages disconnected from knowing and loving God and His Son. However, the faithful love God by obeying Jesus’s commands (1 John 5:3; 2 John 9). Where are Christ’s promises and commands written? His promises and commands are in the book for which some would like to think is an idol of worship.
Great poost thankyou
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The author writes that “the sole source for getting to know the Lord comes from the written Word…” – how then does he and others with this belief explain how believers lived in the centuries before the Bible was widely available? Or, how did anyone even become a believer during this time since there were no written scriptures available to them? This is an example to me of what might be called Bibliolatry – elevating the Scriptures above (or not fully comprehending) the real source of life, and the one who truly allows us to know the Lord – the man Jesus Christ. I believe that we live by the indwelling Holy Spirit above all – having the written Scriptures is blessing and they tell us the story of God’s love for us and of course point us to Jesus. But they should not be exalted above Him
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I can see why it may appear that I think the Bible is the only Revelation to know God from that quote but that is not what I believe or profess.
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The word of God is NOT the Bible. The Word became flesh. Did the Bible become flesh? No!! Revelation 19:13 mentions the Word of God. And the word of God is Jesus Christ.
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I have a question. My mother has been trying to tell me that the only true word of God is the Old King James Bible. She says the others were written by evil men. She has now even gotten to the point of getting angry with me because I disagree with her. She has been reading websites that are saying this so she believes them. How can I help her to see that what she is saying just isn’t right? Maybe I am wrong but isn’t this kind of treating the Bible as an idol?
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Hi Melinda,
That is a good question. I like the KJV, but it is old. It has 419 archaic words for which the meaning of these words do not mean the same today and are no longer accurate to the Hebrew and Greek. By the way, the Old Testament is usually translated from Hebrew, and the New Testament from Koine Greek. I use any word-for-word translation. These include the KJV, NKJV, ESV, NASB, and ASV. There are others.
I would not disagree with your mom. She is right that secular scholars started the critical Greek used for some other translations. However, believers are improving that text now. Yet, I prefer the Majority Text that is used for the KJV and NKJV.
Christian scholars seek to use the best, but the two forms of the Greek divide them. There is the Minority text that uses a few older texts, and there is the Majority text that is made of the majority of the texts. The former is used in the NASB and ESV. The latter is used in the KJV, NKJV, and ASV. From the KJV to the ESV, scholars from different churches help translate these. This is good for removing much bias.
All translations have flaws. I encourage you to use more than one. Also, read the preface to the ESV. That will educate you more. Do that also for the KJV and read the NIV preface too. After that, I think you may have a better conversation with your mother, but you may not be able to convince her otherwise unless you learn Greek.
God bless your studies, Scott Shifferd
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I would tell your mom that you are going to use more than one translation including the KJV.
I do not think that she is idolatry for preferring the KJV.
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You can go to the website EYA and get a lot of information on what you are looking for. And pray for your Mom to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit for herself.
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I meant EYA youtube channel.
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Isaiah 44:13-19 ESV / 6 helpful votes
The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
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