The phrase "The Cult of the Bible" is often used as a derogatory term to describe Protestantism. It is understandable that the Reformation took place. There was much to protest indeed. The average person in the pews had been beaten into submission through a system of rigid oppressive controls and the hands of the Catholic priesthood. God could not be found outside of the church, they gloated, and the priesthood held the keys to heaven and hell. This article is not about that so I'll end that thought here but urge anyone who wants a deeper understanding of how we got to where we are today to study history for themselves.

Unfortunately many of the Reformers were more cruel and arrogant than their oppressors. The cruelty imposed by men such as Martin Luther and John Calvin would have impressed even the most harsh of the Inquisitors. As a side note, Luther was held in high esteem by Adolph Hitler which has to make one stop and think.

I want to point out one very important observation that perhaps will spur on some readers to truly think about things; Why is it that so many followers of Protestantism, including most Fundamentalists, have no qualms in believing that the Reformation was a revelation from God to bring truth back to his people. Yet these same people so vigorously rail against any further revelation of truth that God may be trying to show them.

In essence, hundreds of millions of people rejoice that they have thrown off many of the false teachings of Romanism yet most of them have replaced it not with the love of the one true God but rather with a book, The Bible.

Jesus Christ is called many things; One of the most revealing of his titles is "The Word". The Word of God is Christ himself. The printed word is helpful although to call it infallible displays ignorance. Even greater ignorance is wallowed in by those who insist that only a particular version of the the written word is from God. Usually it is the King James Version that these misguided souls trump as being the only true word of God. Poor Swahilis..........what will they ever do!

FACT: The written word of God, the Bible, is far from perfect. The evidence clearly shows that the early church almost unanimously believed in the final universal reconciliation of all men to God.

FACT: The "angry" language of today's Bible versions (in particular, the KJV) did not exist in the early manuscripts. God's judgments were good. God's judgments were designed for the benefit of the sinner. They were meant to restore and correct the one being judged. They could be compared to the way a human parent lovingly corrects their children when they go astray.

FACT: Most people who are convinced that they follow the Bible are only following what they have been told the Bible teaches. In many cases those who feel they know the written word the most are instead the most misguided because they refuse to be open to the Spirit of God. They can be insulated from The Word, Jesus Christ, because they worship the poorly interpreted written word.

If you're reading this and I have made you angry, good. My hope and prayer is that you are angry enough to do some serious study in which, God willing, will set you free from bondage and fear. I urge everyone to to study Biblical history and the early church. There are some fantastic sites to get started with in our links section. I challenge everyone to take just a week in serious study and find out for yourselves what you have been missing.

The New Testament as we call it does not claim to be absolutely infallible. Jesus quoted the Old Testament often and gave his "Seal of authority" so to speak to the words therein. However neither Jesus nor the New Testaments books themselves make any claim about being literally perfect or even divinely inspired. There are some unique revelations from God contained within them, but nowhere is there any authority giving the compilation of letters that we call the New Testament the status of written perfection.

The early church which by most accounts was the most loving and devoted of all churches of all time, did not have a Bible! At best they had assorted manuscripts, only some of which are included in todays' New Testament. Many of the letters in which they relied on didn't even make the final book. Yet they understood and lived in the love of God far better than we do today!

For all of you "Chapter and Verse" junkies, the books of the New Testament were not divided into chapter and verse when they were written. This is a relatively new "improvement". I say improvement a little tongue in cheek as in many cases the division into chapters and verses was not done nearly as well as it could have been.

If the written word of God were infallible and so easily understood then explain one thing to me please; How is it that there are more than 20,000 denominations, each professing to practicing the truth when they all claim to be precisely following the instructions of the perfect written word?

God is alive. You may be drawn to him by something you read in your Bible. On the other hand God also clearly speaks to those who have never owned a Bible or even ever heard of it. If you take comfort in listening to a preacher who grabs one verse from Romans, two verse from Corinthians, three from James and twists them all into a mishmash of convoluted ideas, adds a smattering of out-of-context Matthew and presents the whole mess as absolute truth, then enjoy! But you'd be much further ahead truthfully seeking the Word, who is Christ Jesus himself. By the way, the happiest Christians are not those that have memorized the most verses. Actually if you study the written word long enough you will eventually become familiar with the many contradictions in the writers accounts. No, the happiest are those with a simple faith in their creator.......those who know the fullness of the love of their heavenly father.

Let's end with a shocking fact which will bless the truth seeker and annoy the self-righteous person. It is accepted that the Apostle Paul was the apostle to the gentiles. It is also accepted that the vast majority of the New Testament, particularly the Epistles to the early churches, were written by Paul. How many times in all of Paul's writings do you think he warns against hell and eternal torment? Surely the pet doctrine of Fundamentalist churches must have been a major topic of the number one New Testament writer!

How about NEVER. Zip. Nil. Nada. Zilch! Is that clear enough for you. And Paul's writings were all that much of the early church would have had. Perhaps that explains the love and peace that they lived in.

It wasn't until much later when the mythological heathen teachings of eternal torment wormed their way into the church that it became such a bloody mess. If you think I'm only writing figuratively when I write "bloody mess" think again. The Catholic Inquisitions and the leaders of the Reformation both had blood on their hands. Don't be surprised though; they were only acting out how they believed God wanted them to. After all, if you think God is going to torment your enemies forever, nothing wrong with giving them a foretaste with a hot metal poker up their unmentionables or a simple yet effective burning at the stake.

The false doctrine of eternal torment in hell has always been cruel. It has always been dangerous. It has always mocked the true nature of our loving heavenly father. Don't you think perhaps it's time for a true reformation......one that makes sense........one that acknowledges that God loves even his enemies?

Amen