THE BIBLE, THE WHOLE BIBLE, AND NOTHING BUT THE BIBLE

Our Motto

"The Bible, the Whole Bible and Nothing but the Bible."

The visitor in any Brethren church, be he frequent or infrequent, could not miss seeing in some weekly bulletin, on some bulletin board, or in some conspicuous place the motto, "The Bible, the Whole Bible and Nothing but the Bible." From the very beginning, the idea embodied in this motto has characterized the belief and practice of the church. Week after week these words have made their impact upon the minds and hearts of the membership of the church and those who participated in the worship of the church. The very brevity and clarity of the words have offered something attractive and worthwhile to the thinking mind. It is possible that very few have lingered long enough to analyze the force of these words, so the following is presented as a miniature analysis.

          In the first place it will be noted that the place of pre-eminence is given to the Bible. That is what is meant by the words, "The Bible." The word "Bible" means book. And there are many books in the world. In fact, "Of making many books there is no end" (Eccl. 12:12), a thing which will be true so long as men think and believe their ideas are worth preserving and propagating. This was true when The Brethren Church originated. It has been true throughout the period of her existence. It is true today. But in all these years Brethren people have always believed that the Bible deserved the supreme place in their thinking and conduct. This does not mean that they have not seen truth and value in other books. But in the Bible they have heard the voice of God speaking to their own hearts. For them, the words of Paul have been basic in explaining their response to books. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Tim. 3:16) puts the Bible in a class all by itself. Therefore, Brethren come to the Bible as the Bible, the Book among all books. While Brethren see in this book a message which lifts them up to higher heights and provides them with deeper thoughts and inspires them to a greater devotion than any other book. They do not put this Book in the same class with other books in that it is merely a human production. To them it is a God-breathed message from beginning to end. Sound, form, and structure may be human, but the thoughts were conceived in the mind of Deity, conveyed by the Holy Spirit, and conserved within the pages of this remarkable volume. Like no other book, the Bible is the Book.
          In the second place, the motto indicates that the Bible is received in all its parts. That is the meaning of the words, "The Whole Bible." These words are to be taken in the generally accepted sense throughout the history of the church since the completion of the New Testament. This means then, the two divisions of the Bible; namely, the Old and New Testaments. It means that the Old Testament is comprised of the 39 books which made up the Old Testament from which our Lord read. It means that the New Testament is comprised of the 27 books upon which the church universally has placed its seal from the beginning. It takes all of these books to constitute "all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:27), which "is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16). The various methods of reducing the. Word of God to something less than its proper proportions have been looked upon by Brethren people with something akin to askance. That is the reason for the word "whole" in this phrase. The method of deliberately selecting various portions of the Bible and designating that much as the Word of God is not valid procedure. The method of interpreting the Word of God in such a way that disagreeable portions cease to have any further value to the Christian is another unfair practice. The method of utterly ignoring great sections of the Bible in preaching, teaching, and practice is still another response that Brethren have been unwilling to make. Brethren insist that "All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable," and therefore the book must be received and followed in its entirety.

In the third place, Brethren receive the Bible as the absolute authority in all matters pertaining to faith and practice. That is the meaning of the words, "And Nothing but the Bible." It is obvious from the very beginning that this phrase does not mean that Brethren people read or think of nothing else except the Bible. That could not be true. But in matters which pertain to creed and conduct, the Bible and nothing but the Bible is appealed to as the final authority. One can well understand this statement if he knows the background out of which The Brethren Church originated. At various stages in the history of Christianity the church has lapsed into two errors, either on the one hand to place the authority, of men on a higher plane than then Bible, or to place the authority of the church on a higher plane than the Bible. In either case it was esteeming the voice of fallible men of greater import than the voice of God. The Brethren Church has tried to avoid these grievous errors by insisting always upon the final and absolute authority of the Scriptures. The "Thus saith the Lord" has been her watchword, "knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Pet. 1:20-21).

Giving to the Bible the place of pre-eminence in all its parts, and deeming it as having final and absolute authority, The Brethren Church goes on its way with the watchword, "The Bible, the Whole Bible, and Nothing but the Bible."