What is the word of God?

[Ezra]

 

• When the apostles talked about the word of God, what were they refering to?
• Obviously it was not the old testament. and there was no new testament then.

There are several applications to  *the Word of God* as used by the apostles (and evangelists):

 

1. The Word of God is called *the Holy Scriptures* (as well as the Old Testament) which is a reference to the Hebrew Tanakh.  So obviously it was the Old Testament. 

 

2. The New Testament had already come into existence by 50 AD. and Peter was fully conversant with ALL of Paul s Epistles (60 AD).  So that too was the Word of God for the apostles.

 

3. The Word of God was also the oral preaching and teaching of the apostles, who were fully aware that they were receiving Divine revelations.

 

4. The Word of God was also a title of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore context would determine whether they were speaking about Jesus or about the Scriptures.

[ricky]

Was the Greek Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) commonly available to people, as that is the version that is quoted in Hebrews quite often. If I am not mistaken there s a place where Jesus quotes it too in one of the Gospels.

[kwikphilly]

Blessings...

   

 

King James Bible
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God                                                  John 1:1

And as it is Written in God's Word,,,,

 

King James Bible
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.                                                                                         Romans 19:17

In referring to when "not everyone had access to the Holy Scriptures,the Word of God was read to everyone who wanted to "hear".........Even Jesus Himself  read for the people in the Temple,the Synagogue.................

 

King James Bible
And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,                         Luke 4:17

                                                                                                                                                         With love-in Christ,Kwik

[Willa]

I disagree that the Hebrew Bible was ever "trimmed down". The Masoretic text, to my understanding, was established before Christ and was accepted by the most competent, conservative scholars. It is noted for its extreme emphasis on accuracy. The accepted texts ended with Daniel. Other branches of Judism such as those affected by gnostism and the Sadducees may have accepted other manuscripts, which we call approchraphal. The Greek translation and O.T. texts were used often by the early church and most of the New Testament was in Greek. But they remained as collections of scrolls for many centuries.

2 Peter 3:16 calls Paul's epistles "Scriptures".

I have heard that the book of Mark was found among the dead sea scrolls. Most of the New Testament has much earlier dates than liberal scholars give credit for. They were widely circulated among areas of churches with only a few not extending to the farthest regions. They were widely copied for personal use in the Greek church, but not always accurately. The best early manuscripts were lost by the destruction ordered by the Roman emporers.

There is a cohesiveness in all of God's Word that shows a single Source of inspiration. It is indeed God-breathed, even though it was written over many centuries and ended with the writing of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

[Qnts2]

Qnts, it has already been established that the common people did indeed have access to the OT texts. Sure, the written texts weren't kept in everyones homes-but they were read in the synagogues, and memorized, and then recited to their kids. The text was available to the common man, its a false argument to say they didn't have any access to it.

 

And like I pointed out earlier, even if THEY DIDN'T have access to it, it doesnt mean that its not the word of God in the passage. In the middle ages, only the priesthood had access to the Bible. Well, the Bible was still the Bible, regardless of who had it and who didn't. So saying that the common man "didn't" have access to the text, doesn't, in reality have any bearing one way or another in this discussion, in that regard. 

 

It is possible they were speaking of both in some cases-because obviously, if Jesus said it, it was the word of God. But so was the OT texts. So its possible they were referring to both the words of Jesus and the OT, and its possible they were referring only to the OT text, but it is highly unlikely that they were referring to only the words of Jesus. After all, John 1:1 talks about the beginning of time-as in previous, Paul, in timothy, is talking about all scripture, Paul also mentions how important the law is and what it is to be used for in Romans, and like has been previously mentioned Jesus Himself quoted the OT several times. 

 

So please don't say that the common man didn't have access-they did. The culture was different-the torah and other writings were kept in scrolls, and handwritten, they were expensive and time consuming to make and took up a lot of room, so no, the individual people did not have their own copy. But keep in mind, their "church" services were not like ours, it wasnt go sunday morning, get half an hour of music and a 20 minute sermon, it was a hours upon hours affair, and the scribes would sit there and read the scripture to the people-just the straight scripture-and the people would listen, and they would memorize it, and bring it home to their kids. So they did have access-they knew the scripture-probably better then most of us do today, with all our 5 gazillion translations and a bible on every bookshelf. 

 

I said the common man DID have access. And that they memorized large portions of the OT. 

[The_Patriot21]

so you did. I apologize, I misread it.

[Openly Curious]

• When the apostles talked about the word of God, what were they refering to?
• Obviously it was not the old testament. and there was no new testament then.
• i believe it was not the old testament becasue no ordinary person had access to it
• they usually say things like: and the word of God grew
• "we will give ourselves to the study of the word and prayer"
• And i believe they were not referring to Jesus Christ as the word, because of the context of usage.

I will appreciate your opinions, i have had this in my mind for a while.

 

Thank you all.

Hebrews 1:1-3

[Kan]

The Word of God is specifically the creative and redemptive power of the voice of God through and by Jesus Christ, which upholds the universe, maintaining the order and purpose of all creation, giving life and conscience, inspiration, guidance, talents, the written scriptures, the power of healing, the calling and renewing of the saints by the Spirit, and finally the power in the resurrection and the recreation of the world.

 

Everything that exists - in the creation is made by the power of the Word, which governs and provides with infinite wisdom.

 

This was proven and demonstrated to man, when God rested from all the work He had done. God did nothing but rest, and the universe never missed a beat. 

 

Today the same word is able to destroy and recreate the world - even though it was only spoken once in the beginning, and does not need to be spoken again, because it will fulfill the wishes of God, it cannot be altered or stopped, not in a million years.

 

It is this power of recreation which was spoken by the apostles - not as the word of men, but the Word of God - which is living and spiritual. The Words in scripture, the promises, contain the truth and the will of God, which is carried out by the power of the Word.

[missmuffet]

Jesus Christ is the Living Word of God.

 

John1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God

[Pro1728]

Have any of you read the apocryphal books? I always wondered how bad they were. I guess as a child I had this silly fear of them...akin to the warning mom would give about not sticking metal in the microwave. I never thought I would be struck down as a heretic just by looking at them but it is about as appealing as poking about with a black widow.