Is there a book of Doctrines??

[enoob57]

There are some really good books to help with the study of scripture. God made it so we all would need each other to grow in understanding. Many great men of the faith have written books that God has used mightily to help his Church grow. Not all of us could be greek scholars, or spend time searching scripture like some of these giants of the faith who dedicated their entire lives to studying and rightly dividing God's word. Yes it is good to simply study the bible itself, but God has ordained that we should learn from others. No one of us has all the truth concerning doctrine down to 100%.

God has set men in the church to help with it's overall growth. Men like Dr. Strong who studied greek and brought it down to the average layman so he could get some insight into the original language. Men like Dr. Chafer who have written exhaustive books on doctrine and Christian theology. These are gifts from the Lord to his body so that we may grow. You can only learn on your own for so far until you will need another part of the Body to impart something from scripture that will help you in your faith.

Eph 4:11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,

Eph 4:12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

Eph 4:13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Eph 4:14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.

Yes, we need each other, to have conversations with, to toss ideas around, to voice opinions and receive a response, to laugh with, to cry with, to work beside, to worship with, to study with, to pray for, to pray for you, to grow with, to be accountable with, and so on. You cannot get that from a book.

When you read a book from a man, you then have to go back to scripture to see if what they are saying is true or not. If you don't have the time to do a deeper study in scripture and discuss with others, how is reading another mans writings saving you time unless you take the mans words blindly?

Remember, not all who write books have the gift of teaching Gods word. Every member you listed above is someone they had contact with in person. You may never meet the person who wrote the book you read.

Sorry, but I trust the leading of the Holy Spirit far more than I do a man I never met and know nothing about.

I agree with you Onelight, I simply used books as an example. There are many dear saints you will never meet, but they are vital to you as a fellow member of the body of Christ. They supply their share to the body and help us all to increase and grow. I'm sure there are some great people of faith who you have never actually met, but have benefited from their testimony, or there teaching, etc. The Spirit is not bound, and truth is truth. Just an example is Paul teaching the Laodiceans yet he never actually met many of them.

Col 2:1 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.

Yes, those who penned scripture. I use to read other mans writing until they were proven to be in error, some with very small errors and others very large errors. I had placed a lot of trust in Hal Lindsey in the late 70's, hoping what he preached was correct, only to be let down hard. That is when I turned to studying scripture only. I do listen to others who teach and preach, but take it all back to scripture to see if anything I heard that was new is correct or not.

this is how the Berean's gained the badge of noble... Act 17