Are Christians really “People of the Book”?
This is related to our earlier discussion about biblicism...
Back in December, I found myself scratching my head over a paragraph in an article by Anthony D. Baker in Christianity Today:
“The first thing Muslim children learn about Christians is one of the last things Christians learn about themselves: we are a 'people of the Book.' Perhaps we ought to ask how to make this observation from the Qur'an true, once more, among those who fellowship around the Bible. How can we form ourselves as a people of the Book?”
Are Christians really “people of the Book”? Is it our commitment to the Bible that defines us? Do we, as Baker says, fellowship around the Bible?
I guess I’m starting wonder if we’re not supposed be known instead as “people who follow Jesus Christ,” if it should be Christ around whom we fellowship.
C.S. Lewis wrote that, "It is Christ Himself, not the Bible, who is the true Word of God. The Bible, read in the right spirit, and with the guidance of good teachers, will bring us to Him."
What do you think? I'm truly open to dialog here. Just thinking out loud...