The mistake the religious system called by men - Christianity - has made, is that it looks to a book that actually came out of the Dark Ages that the man of European descent gave the name "The Bible" to as "the" authority rather than God and the one that he sent, chose, authorized and told us to listen to: Jesus [the] Christ.
This book called the Bible was not sent by God, it was not authorized by God, it was not made holy by God, it was not called Scripture by God and it was certainly not called The Word of God by God. It was men who did all of those things.
A book containing 66 smaller books appears on the earthly scene conveniently after the ascension of Christ and it becomes all the the things the Christ is? I don't think so.
Yes, this book does contain sayings of God and Christ, but not the whole book; only a small portion of it does. Satan is is quoted in the book. So is Satan's utterances "The Word of God?" Of course not.
What exactly is Scripture? It is anything that is "God-Breathed." In other words, it is anything that God says. Even Jesus said this to the Devil at his temptation at Matthew 4:4:
"It is written, ‘Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth."
Everything in this book called by men "The Bible" did not come out of God's mouth.
Since Jesus is The Word of God, anything he says is Scripture since he is simply God's spokesman.
Nothing else said by anyone else in the book called by men "The Bible" is Scripture. That so many believe that the entire book called The Bible is the Word of God it what has caused so much confusion in the so-called believing world. Most have been unable to make a distinction between the utterances of God and Christ to the entirety of the Bible. The Bible is NOT the Word of God, Christ is. It is blasphemous to stand up a book that men themselves authorized and gave a name to next to the Christ and call it the Word of God. The Bible is not God's spokesman, Christ is. (Rev 19:13)
Many do not hear Christs voice in order to listen to it because they rely on a book - something that they can see and something that does not require hearing. There is no faith associated with the Bible because it can be seen. That God and Christ are invisible, faith is required. Faith is required to hear them.
That this generation is completely faithless is seen in its trust and reliance in a book. It itself becomes the authority, not God and Christ. The very thing Christ taught his disciples to use to access the Father in heaven (for wisdom, knowledge and understanding) is not used. Instead, it is a book that many turn to for those things. Thus, it is a book and not the Son of God that many have turned to.
So when a person says, "If you don't believe in God, Jesus, and everything in the Bible, you are willfully ignorant" they do know what they are saying and they have not thought this through. It is an "emotional" statement not a reasoning and rational one.
Our belief and faith is to be in God and Christ. How did the Bible get inserted in the equation?
Think: Who told the man of European descent to include only 66 of the 80 (or more scrolls) found in the canon? Who told him to call the book holy? Who told him to authorize it? Who told him to call it Scripture? Who told him to give it the name Bible? Who told him to call it the Word of God?
Answer: He told himself to do those things. This is why we see the arrogance of the man of European descent portrayed in art, film and literature of Adam, Eve, Angels, Jesus, God, The Prophets, The Apostles, etc in the likeness of the man of European descent.
So claims that others are willfully ignorant is a real stretch. What men named Christianity hates thinking persons. It seeks only blind acceptance without challenge or investigation.
God and Christ are spirits and look nothing like the fleshly portrayals we see today. The book that "images" Christianity called the Bible is nothing but a modern-day Golden Calf.
Jesus said at John 4:23-24 (this is Scripture because Jesus is speaking):
"Nevertheless, the hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshipers will worship the Father with spirit and truth, for, indeed, the Father is looking for suchlike ones to worship him. God is a Spirit, and those worshiping him must worship with spirit and truth."
God is not worship with a book.
