After reading the WSJ article I saw something related on Huffington Post. This article noted that Burnett and Downey say in one place that they believe the Bible to be "the living word of God." I am familiar with this notion. I grew up in the world of conservative evangelical Christianity and my parents owned a Christian bookstore in our small Alabama town. The name of that store: The Living Word. We even had a hand painted sign with an open book right beside the name. As I read scripture over the years I began to realize that we had it all wrong. Calling the Bible "the living word" just isn't... well biblical.
Hebrews 4:12 does say that "the word of God is living and active." Nothing in that verse and the surrounding verses says anything about the Bible or scripture. The word for "word" is the Greek λόγος (logos). That word is not typically understood or translated as the written word. In the broader culture before the Christian scriptures were written, the term "logos" was used in philosophical circles to speak of a pattern of the universe. In the New Testament, the word "logos" most often refers to Jesus. Perhaps the most famous usage is John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The passage goes on to describe this word coming into world in human flesh. That Word in Christian teaching is Jesus.
A quick search of the "interwebs" will reveal many Christians speaking of the Bible as the "living word." No doubt, many of us who believe feel the scripture has an authoritative and powerful influence in our lives. Most of us Christians have no problem declaring that the Bible is "the word of God." As people of faith, we see these scriptures witnessing to the "living word" which is Jesus Christ. Sometimes it takes faith to read scripture with those eyes.
I point out this misunderstanding of the Bible as "the living word" because it is a distortion that takes away from faith. Understanding Jesus as "the living word" makes things messy. Then it is about relationship, and loving our neighbor. It means that the life and teaching of Jesus have something to say about how we read the whole of scripture. Considering the Bible to be the "living word" means that I can use it to mean what my group and I think it means to do what we want to do in the name of God.
Of course, I have just given an example of how some of us interpret "the living word of God." I took that step because I believe that Mark Burnett and Roma Downey believe with other Christians that our faith is not in a book. Our faith is in a living God who we believe to be revealed in Jesus Christ. We don't worship the book, but the God that it reveals to us.
