What is the Bible?

This document is being written to help clarify the meaning of the term, “the Bible” when used on this website. It is a frustrating thing to be making a point and have someone throw off the flow by confusing the issue of what the Bible is and what it says. You are welcome to disagree with this definition of the Bible and you are welcome to believe whatever you like. However this is what I believe and is the working definition for any information on bearfruit.org.

Works I consider to be Bibles:

• King James Version or New King James Version
• New International Bible
• New Living Translation
• Catholic Bibles, though I don’t accept the 9 apocryphal books as canon, also see my note below
• There are others, see my reasoning below

Works I consider to not be Bibles:

• The Book of Mormon
• New World Translation
• Qur’ran
• Works that contain extra New Testament books than the 27 canonical books
• The Photoshop Bible
• There are probably others though I don’t spend much time reading these types of books

Reasons for being considered a Bible

I believe the Bible was given to people by God. God didn’t reach down an arm from heaven and write on the paper, instead he gave clear instruction to people telling them precisely what to write. These people accurately communicated His message without error but using the language and style they were familiar with. These writings have been collected over the centuries and God, desiring for His words to be preserved for all generations, has ensured their continued survival. (Though He has withdrawn His word from His people at times)

These works have been translated into many different languages by people who have tried earnestly to preserve the actual meaning of the original message. This is important because there are some books people refer to as a bible where the authors either chose to mistranslate portions or did not earnestly try to preserve the original message.

Neither the ordering of the books in the Bible, the chapter numbers nor the verse numbers are from God. Actually, not even the names of the books were from Him. Not one of the authors who wrote the Bible spoke English though we have a multitude of good translations available in English.

Not every individual word from God is part of the Bible. God may have given you clear direction or a message and you should listen carefully and obey all that He tells you (and ensure that it is actually God talking to you) but that doesn’t mean this word is part of the Bible. If God reveals to you His desire for you to be celibate or a foreign missionary you should obey but understand that it is not necessarily His plan for everyone. Furthermore, God chooses pastors and missionaries and teachers to help people of the church learn to follow Jesus. He gives these teachers a message, experiences and illustrations to use in order to help us understand. These are great but they are not a substitute for the Bible, nor are they necessarily free from error. If there is a discrepancy between a message you have received from a teacher (or maybe feel you’ve received from God himself) carefully weigh it against the Bible. God’s message will never contradict the Bible.

Why isn’t the Book of Mormon a Bible?

The Book of Mormon is considered “another testament of Christ.” It is not free from error. Please search the Internet for criticisms of the Book of Mormon for more details.

Why isn’t the New World Translation a Bible?

The NWT is the bible of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and differs in important ways from the Bibles listed above. It is a contemporary mis-translation and it appears to me that this fact is being deceptiviely miscommunicated by the Watch Tower Society to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. This is a subject of another article but I will briefly explain why I believe it.

When discussing John chapter 1 with a friend who is a Jehovah’s Witness I made reference to the original Greek which demonstrated a mis-translation of a key verse in the English NWT. He said that he owned an interlinear Greek/English NWT bible and would check into the matter. In a latter conversation he told me that his Greek text matched the wording in his NWT bible and that mine was in error. Therefore one of Greek bibles was wrong. I’ve located scans of very old Greek new testaments on the Internet that match mine (none that match his).

This indicates to me that this mis-translation is being covered up by fabricating Greek texts that support the incorrect wording. Because of this I will not argue theological matters when an NWT bible is being used.

Why isn’t the Qur’ran a Bible?

If you ask a Muslim if they believe the Bible they will say that they do. To Muslims, the Qur’ran is the bible. It does not take much effort to show that there is marked difference between the Qur’ran and the books listed above as being bibles, therefore it is not a substitute for what I call the Bible on this website. (see comments from greekmuslimgirl below for a better explanation of how the Qur’ran and Bible differ)

What about Gnostic Gospels and other New Testament Additions?

These are not considered canonical and are not part of the Christian bible as defined by this site. Some of these books reveal interesting historical information but many teach concepts directly refuted by the Bible.

Is the Catholic Bible a Bible?

There is little difference between Catholic bibles and protestant bibles. The main difference being the inclusion of 9 additional old testament books. Furthermore, I was given a Catholic student bible as a teenager and it was through this Bible that God reached out to me and lead me to an understanding of Christ and to salvation. Because of my personal experience I know that a person can come to an accurate understand of God and salvation using one of these bibles. This is not an endorsement of the Catholic church.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here I’ll address questions that come up.