Recently I had a conversation with a Christian friend who made the statement, “When it comes to the core elements of what makes a Christian, it’s a toss up for me between the Bible and Jesus Christ as Savior.” 
I stopped him fast and said, “Whoa, there! Jesus is far more important than the Bible.”
Before you stone me as a heretic, hear me out.
Between the Ascension and the writing of the first book of the New Testament there is a gap of roughly 20-some years. The New Testament wasn’t even finished for decades after that, then even more time for the book to be compiled into a single volume.
In fact, it wasn’t until the 16th century and the printing press that we had the ability to put the entire Bible in everyone’s hands.
So the question is, “What did the Apostles preach before the Bible was written, completed, and disseminated?”
Easy – they preached Jesus! Jesus is the common denominator among all those who would consider themselves Christians. Jesus is God incarnate. He physically died as a substitution for humanity. He rose again, defeating death once and for all.
Peter once preached that there is no other name than Jesus by which we must be saved. That’s it. If you don’t hold to Jesus, you don’t fall under the title Christian.
Yes, I believe that the Bible is inspired by God. It tells the story of God redeeming humanity. It is God’s Word to us. But people have been getting saved without having a Bible since the beginning of the faith. Let’s not turn the Bible into an idol.
It’s all about Jesus!
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Hmm…Well, it is definitely true, in a sense. But let’s not forget the words of our Lord in John 17:17, Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. Now with my once being a former Catholic and member of the mob, people could preach Jesus to me all day and night, would it do any good, I’ll let you be the judge of that. It wasn’t until I picked up a Bible while in prison that I got saved. Blessings, in Jesus name!
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Jesus quoted scripture which to me meant that there were written scrolls. Having and reading a Bible does not get us into heaven. Jesus is the Word. By asking Him to forgive us our sins and come into our hearts, we become a child of God and assured a place in heaven. After our salvation we still have to read God’s word for understanding, assurance, peace, wisdom, and giving praise.
The Bible and Jesus go hand-in-hand. They each have their jobs, as it were.
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So what is he referring to? I’m unable to find any Bible scholar or reference material that would agree with your conclusion. The same word that brought everything into creation is the same word that inspired the writing of the Bible and manifested itself in physical form as Jesus Christ.
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They preached Christ using the OT.
Show me one place in the book of Acts where the sermon was recorded & they don’t reference the OT.
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You think Paul always used the OT to preach to gentiles? o.O
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He used Ray Comfort’s 10 Commandment tract. 😉
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Hahahaha!!!
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John 1:1-4, 9 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
According to the book of John, you cannot separate the Word and Jesus. They are one in the same. God the Father, Jesus the physical representation of God dwelling among us, the Holy Spirit who is God living within us and the Word all have unique functions but are all equally important.
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You mistakenly associate “The Word” with “the text.” When John writes, “In the beginning was the word…” he’s NOT talking about the Bible.
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