The Bible — Record of Revelation, Not Revelation Itself

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.

— John 21:25

The Most Important Distinction

Perhaps the most powerful insight in our entire discussion is this one:

This distinction, once understood, changes everything about how we approach the question of scriptural authority.

• The Bible documents what God said to prophets
• The Bible does not replace the ongoing process of God speaking to prophets
• The Bible points toChrist — it is not itself Christ
• The Bible recordscovenants — it is not itself a covenant

Consider: Christ existed beforethe Bible was written. He is described as “the Word” — not a book, but a person. The scriptures themselves testify of Him — they do not constitute Him.

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

— John 5:39

Christ said the scriptures testify of him. He did not say the scriptures are him, or that they replace him, or that they supersede him. He is above the record. He is the living source from which the record flows.

The Bible Has Been Changed — A Documented Historical Fact

Translation Errors

The Bible has passed through:

• Original Hebrew and Aramaic (Old Testament)
• Greek (New Testament — written ~50–100 AD)
• Latin (The Vulgate — Jerome, ~382–405 AD)
• Multiple early vernacular translations
• The King James Version (1611)
• Hundreds of modern translations

Each translation involves human judgment. Single word choices have produced dramatic doctrinal consequences.

Example — Isaiah 7:14:

• Hebrew original: almah— a young woman of marriageable age
• Greek Septuagint: parthenos— virgin (a more specific word)
• This single translation choice became foundational to the doctrine of the virgin birth

Example — 1 John 5:7 (The Comma Johanneum):

The phrase “the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one”— used as a primary proof text for the Trinity — is now widely acknowledged by scholars as a later insertion not found in the earliest Greek manuscripts. The Trinitarian formula was added to support a doctrine that was already being taught, not derived from original text.

Books Removed and Added

The Deuterocanonical books removed from Protestant Bibles include:

• Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees
• Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch

Who decided which books belonged? Councils of men.The Council of Trent (1546) formally defined the Catholic canon — 1,500 years after most of the books were written. Protestant reformers made their own canonical decisions.

No one claimed prophetic authorityto make these canonical decisions. They were scholarly and theological judgments — some good, some questionable.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

Discovered in 1947 in the caves of Qumran near the Dead Sea. These manuscripts date to approximately 150 BC–70 AD — making them roughly 1,000 years older than any previously known Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament.

What they revealed:

• Significant variations exist between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Masoretic Text (which underlies most modern Old Testament translations)
• Some books differ substantially from what we now have
• The transmission of scripture over centuries introduced changes

Why “The Bible Alone” Cannot Be Sufficient

The Interpretation Problem

No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

— 2 Peter 1:20

Peter explicitly warns that individual interpretation of scripture is insufficient and dangerous. Yet Sola Scriptura demands exactly that — each individual (or each denomination) becomes their own final interpreter.

The result is exactly what we observe: 45,000 denominations, each reading the same Bible and reaching different conclusions.

The Completion Problem

John himself acknowledges the Bible is incomplete:

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.

— John 21:25

If John understood the written record to be incomplete, why do we treat it as exhaustive?

The “Closed Canon” Problem

Revelation 22:18 is frequently cited to argue that no new scripture is possible:

If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.

— Revelation 22:18

The contextual problem with this interpretation:

1. John wrote Revelation beforeseveral other New Testament books were written — including some of the epistles
2. He was specifically referring to that book(the Book of Revelation) — not declaring the entire biblical canon closed
3. The canon was not even assembled for centuries after John wrote this
4. By this logic, anything written after Revelation — including later epistles — would be forbidden
5. The same warning exists in Deuteronomy 4:2 — “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you” — yet God clearly continued to give new scripture after Moses

The Living Voice Problem

Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

— Amos 3:7

God has never — in any dispensation — led His people solely through a written record without living prophets. To claim He would do so now, for the longest and most challenging period of earth’s history, contradicts every pattern of His dealings with humanity.

What the Bible Actually Teaches About Itself

The Bible never claims to be the sole and complete authority for all time. That doctrine was invented by men during the Reformation as a counter to Catholic overreach. The Bible itself teaches:

1. It is incomplete (John 21:25)
2. It should not be privately interpreted (2 Peter 1:20)
3. Revelation continues(Acts 2:17 — “your sons and daughters shall prophesy”)
4. Prophets continue(Ephesians 4:11–13 — “till we all come in unity”)
5. God speaks today(Hebrews 13:8 — “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever”)