Should Christians follow the Bible only?

Is there any other source of spiritual knowledge for the believer?

Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash

Some Christians say the Bible is the only source of authority in spiritual matters. Other Christians say they follow the Holy Spirit’s leading as equal to or even superior to the Bible.

The Bible is important. I love the Scriptures as much as anyone. It is the only objective source we have for understanding God.

At the same time, I recognize the role of the Holy Spirit in teaching us.

For the first few hundred years after Jesus was born, there was no Bible. The individual books existed, but it was not officially made into “the Bible” until the late 300s.

The Bible being readily available to anyone at any time is a recent development. The lack of a Bible did not slow down the spread of Christianity.

While I would say the Bible is the most authoritative source we have on spiritual matters, I would not go so far as to say it is the only one. People have done well spiritually as Christians even before the Bible was printed or made available.

It should not be an “either-or” question. The answer is “both, and.”