The Bible is sacred. But for many, it has also become a source of confusion, division, and fear. Not because it is flawed, but because we’ve forgotten how to read it. We’ve been trained to approach it as a manual, a rulebook, or a legal document—rather than as a testimony pointing us to a Person: Jesus Christ.
How we read the Bible matters. It shapes what we see—and what we miss. The early Church didn’t read scripture as a flat text, where every verse carries equal weight. They read it Christocentrically—through the lens of the Incarnation. As Gregory of Nazianzus once said, “Whatever is not assumed is not healed.” They believed all scripture pointed to Christ, and any interpretation that failed to reveal His nature of self-giving love was incomplete.
Jesus Himself taught this. Speaking to the religious leaders who had mastered the scriptures, He said:
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life.” (John 5:39–40)
The Bible was never meant to be an end in itself—it was always meant to lead us to the Living Word.
To read the Bible rightly, we must begin with this:
Jesus is what God has to say.
Not in part, not in abstraction. He is the full, radiant, incarnate Word (Hebrews 1:1–3). The entire arc of scripture points to Him—not to a system of religion or a moral code, but to a God who enters our story, bears our suffering, and brings us home.
The early Fathers echoed this beautifully. Irenaeus wrote, “The scriptures are perfect, inasmuch as they were spoken by the Word of God and His Spirit… but we read them in light of the Incarnate Word.” Scripture without the illumination of Jesus becomes a closed book. But when seen through the Spirit of Christ, it becomes what Paul called “God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16)—righteousness that is defined in Christ, not in performance.
So how do we read the Bible?
We read it in relationship, not religion.
We read it through the lens of Jesus, not through the lens of fear or retribution.
We read it as a progressive unveiling, not a static rulebook.
And most of all, we read it with the Spirit—not just with our intellect.
The goal is not to “master the text,” but to be transformed by the One to whom the text points.
How the Bible Was Created
If we’re going to read the Bible well, we need to know how it came to be. The scriptures didn’t drop out of the sky, leather-bound and footnoted. They were written over centuries—by poets, prophets, historians, apostles, and shepherds—inspired, yes, but not dictated. They emerged from real human experience with the divine, born out of encounter, covenant, exile, resurrection, and community.
The earliest believers didn’t carry a Bible. They carried a revelation—a living memory of Jesus Christ, risen and glorified, spoken from eyewitnesses and passed from heart to heart before it was ever written in ink. The New Testament canon as we know it wasn’t finalized until the late 4th century, long after the resurrection. What held the early Church together in the meantime? Christ.
Before the ink dried on the Gospels, the early church was proclaiming a living Word. The Apostle Paul, writing decades before the Gospels were penned, declared:
“We preach Christ crucified… the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:23–24)
The Gospels, the epistles, and the Revelation of John were gradually recognized as sacred, not because of authorship alone, but because they revealed Jesus in a way consistent with the apostolic message: the God who saves, the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, the One who is “full of grace and truth.”
The Hebrew scriptures (what we now call the Old Testament) had been passed down and treasured for centuries before Christ, yet even they were read differently after the Resurrection. The early Church did not interpret the scriptures apart from Jesus—they reinterpreted them through Him. As the Risen Christ told the disciples on the road to Emmaus:
“Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:27)
The early Church Fathers followed this pattern. Origen, writing in the early third century, said:
“The entire narrative of scripture speaks of Christ, and only through Him can it be rightly understood.”
The canon was not formed to contain Christ—it was formed because of Christ. The books that revealed His nature and aligned with the apostolic witness were cherished, read aloud in gathered worship, and preserved as inspired testimony. Others, even if ancient or well-known, were set aside if they distorted or contradicted the gospel of grace revealed in Jesus.
So what do we learn from this?
That the Bible was shaped by the early Church, not to control the message, but to protect it. And that means we must approach scripture not as outsiders trying to decode a mystery, but as those already included in the great unfolding story of Love Himself.
The Bible is not a god. It is not an idol. It is not the fourth member of the Trinity. It is the sacred witness that points us to the Word made flesh. And when we read it that way, the Spirit breathes again through every page.
When Was the Bible Translated into English?
If the early Church treasured the scriptures as a living witness to Christ, then the next question becomes: how did these sacred writings find their way into our own language—into English? And what happened along the way?
For centuries, access to the scriptures was limited—both by geography and by language. The Hebrew scriptures were primarily read in Hebrew and Aramaic, with the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Old Testament, completed around the 3rd–2nd century BCE) becoming widely used in the early Church. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, the common language of the Greco-Roman world. But few ordinary people could read these texts for themselves.
By the 4th century, Latin became the dominant language of the Roman Empire, and eventually of the Western Church. The Bible was translated into Latin by Jerome, resulting in the Vulgate—which became the Church’s official translation for over 1,000 years. Yet as time passed, this sacred text was increasingly guarded, read only by the educated elite, and often inaccessible to the everyday believer.
It wasn’t until the 14th and 15th centuries that a fire began to stir: the desire for the common person to encounter the Living Word in their own language.
One of the first to challenge this was John Wycliffe (c. 1320s–1384), an English theologian who believed the Bible should be available to all. He and his followers translated the Latin Vulgate into English—not perfectly, but passionately. His translation, handwritten and circulated in secret, was considered so dangerous to the established religious powers that decades after his death, the Church dug up his remains and burned them as a posthumous punishment.
Then came William Tyndale (c. 1494–1536), who dared to translate the Bible directly from Hebrew and Greek into English—an act considered heresy at the time. He once said to a priest, “If God spare my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost!”
Tyndale’s work would lay the foundation for nearly every English Bible to follow. But it cost him his life. He was arrested, tried for heresy, and burned at the stake in 1536. His final prayer was, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.”
God answered. Less than a century later, in 1611, the King James Version was published—a majestic translation that would influence English-speaking Christianity for generations.
But it’s important to understand: translation is not simply word-for-word accuracy. It is interpretation. Every translator makes choices. Every translation reflects a lens, a context, a theology. That’s why it’s crucial to read the Bible with discernment, guided by the Spirit, and rooted in the person of Jesus.
The early Church Fathers were not English speakers, yet they taught and lived from the heart of scripture. As Athanasius said, “The holy scriptures, given by inspiration of God, are sufficient to declare the truth,”—but they must always be read in light of the incarnate Word, not as a weapon of fear or religious control.
So yes, the Bible has come a long way—from Hebrew scrolls and Greek letters to smuggled parchments and printed texts. But the goal has never changed: to reveal the face of Jesus, and to awaken the heart of humanity to our true origin and destiny in Him.
Why the Bible Is Not the Word of God
This might be the most misunderstood—and most important—distinction in modern Christianity: the Bible is not the Word of God. Jesus Christ is.
Now before you panic or protest, let’s be clear: the Bible is sacred, God-breathed, and essential. It is a profound and precious witness. But it is not the Logos.
John opens his Gospel not with a book, but with a Person:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1,14).
John did not say, “In the beginning was the Bible.” He said, “the Word was God.”
The Greek word used here is Logos—a cosmic, eternal, divine expression of the Father’s nature. Jesus is the Logos. The Logos didn’t become text. The Logos became flesh.
This distinction matters deeply.
Over time, especially in the West, the Church began to elevate the Bible to the level of Jesus Himself, sometimes even above Him. It became the ultimate authority, often weaponized to control, condemn, or divide. But the early Church did not worship scripture—they worshipped Christ. They didn’t treat the Bible as God. They treated it as a testimony that leads us to God.
Jesus said it Himself:
“You search the scriptures thinking that in them you have eternal life, but these are they that testify of Me…” (John 5:39).
The scriptures point to the Word, but they are not the Word themselves.
There are three Greek words in the New Testament that have all been translated into English as “word,” yet they carry different meanings:
- Logos (λόγος) – the divine logic, the eternal Word of God—Jesus Himself.
- Graphe (γραφή) – the written word, the scriptures, the sacred texts.
- Rhema (ῥῆμα) – the spoken, revealed, living word—often by the Spirit in the moment.
Western Christianity often confuses these, treating the Graphe (written word) as if it were the Logos (the eternal Word), and misusing Rhema as emotional proof-texting. But in the early Church, these distinctions were not blurred. As Origen wrote:
“The scriptures are like a mirror, and Christ is the image. If you stop at the mirror, you miss the reflection.”
The Bible never claims to be the Logos—it claims to reveal Him. Hebrews 1:1–3 affirms this boldly:
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets… but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son… the exact representation of His being.”
Jesus is the full and final revelation of God—not the Law, not the Prophets, not even the apostles—but the One to whom they all point.
When we mistake the Bible for the Word, we risk elevating text over person, law over love, and form over flesh. But when we let scripture take its rightful role—as a witness to the Living Word—it becomes alive with Spirit and truth.
The early Fathers understood this profoundly. As Gregory of Nyssa taught, “Every scripture is inspired by God and useful… when it leads us to the knowledge of Him who is Life.” The Bible is holy because it testifies of Christ. But it is Christ who saves.
Why Is the Bible Important?
If Jesus is the Word of God, then why is the Bible still so important?
Because it is the sacred witness.
Because it tells the story.
Because it carries the fragrance of those who walked with God, wrestled with mystery, and were caught up in a revelation too big to be contained in time or ink—but still testified boldly.
The Bible matters, not because it replaces Jesus, but because it points to Him. It is the voice of generations echoing the heartbeat of God, culminating in the full disclosure of divine love in Christ. As Athanasius said, “The scriptures were written and given to us so that through them, we might be led to a better life.”
The Bible teaches. It illuminates. It exhorts. It comforts. But its highest purpose is to unveil the nature of the Father as seen in the Son, and to awaken us to our union with Him through the Spirit.
Yes, we read it carefully. Yes, we read it prayerfully. But above all, we read it relationally—not to gain control or certainty, but to grow in wonder, trust, and communion.
The Bible is not the destination. It’s the signpost. And the signpost matters—because in a world of confusion and counterfeits, we still need the story. We still need the prophets and poets. We still need the gospel preached, the letters pondered, the psalms prayed, and the parables remembered.
But as we read, may we always remember: The Word is alive. The Word has a name. And the Word is Love.
– Selah!
Gan TV Programs To Watch
We also believe you will love this message from Gan TV host of The Jesus Trip, John Crowder – Logos and Rhema
📜 Sources & References
- John 1:1–14, John 5:39, Luke 24:27, 1 Corinthians 1:23–24, Hebrews 1:1–3, Colossians 1:15–20, 2 Timothy 3:16
- Greek terms: Logos (λόγος), Graphe (γραφή), Rhema (ῥῆμα) – Strong’s Concordance
- Church Fathers:
- Athanasius, On the Incarnation
- Origen, Homilies on Luke, De Principiis
- Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Moses
- Irenaeus, Against Heresies
- Gregory Nazianzus, Theological Orations [Read ⇒ HERE]
