The phrase “Word of God” is used a lot by Christians. I hear it in church every Sunday. The liturgist will read a portion of scripture and conclude by reciting the words, “The Word of God for the people of God,” and the congregation responds, “Thanks be to God.” The Word of God is equated with the Bible. When Christians talk about the Word of God, they are usually referring to the Christian scriptures.
In this episode today I am proposing another way of understanding the term – a more inclusive use of the term, which also happens to be the Biblical way of understanding the phrase. Biblically speaking the Word of God is not limited to a book. We can say the Bible is the Word of God, but it does not exhaust the Word of God. Also it is important to note that the Christian Scriptures – the New Testament - is not called the Word of God in the Bible.
How could it be? The Bible had not been completed or complied or canonized until the fourth century – three hundred years after the latest book in the bible was written. So the phrase “the Word of God” in the Bible could not be referring to something that did not yet exist. Furthermore the term is used in the Bible for much more than the biblical books.
To limit the Word of God to a book – or rather a collection of books - that were written, edited and canonized by the institution of the church is to quench the Spirit, stifle the living Word of God that is present in all people and all things and all scriptures and all religions.
So what exactly is the Word of God? In the Bible the phrase refers to God speaking. It is the living Presence and Power of the Divine speaking to us from the depths of the Spirit. The Hebrew prophets knew this Word of God directly and intimately.
In the opening verses of the Book of Jeremiah, the prophet says, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah experienced the Word of the Lord coming to him. Zechariah writes: “The word of the Lord came unto me.” Ezekiel said, “And the word of the Lord came to me, saying…”
The Word of the Lord or the Word of God is the Power of God inspiring people to speak truth. In the New Testament that is how the phrase “word of God” is used throughout the Book of Acts. The Word of God is the direct inspiration of God in our lives. Those who limit it to the Bible are trying to control the Spirit of God. They end up sequencing the Spirit, as the apostle Paul calls it. They are trying to exercise control over people. That limited understanding of the Word of God is church tradition; it is the Word of Man, not the Word of God.
The Bible says that the inspiration of God is not limited to special people thousands of years ago. It is for all of us. All of us have access to the unmediated Word of God. This is the message of Pentecost. The apostle Peter got up before a crowd on the Day of Pentecost and recited the words of the prophet Joel:
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.”
Peter said this scripture was being fulfilled then and there. In other words he was saying that the hearing and speaking of the Word of God was not limited to a special class of people called prophets. The Spirit of prophecy is poured out on all people. Peter was breaking down the division between spiritually special people and all other people. We see the same thing happening in the New Testament with the priesthood. No longer was there to be a special group of people to act as mediators between God and humans. We are all priests. We all have equal access to God.
This became known in Protestant Christianity as the priesthood of the believer. Unfortunately it was betrayed when Christianity developed its own division between clergy and laity, not only in the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church but also the Protestant church.
We see the same sort of thing in other religions, with their priests. We see it in nonduality circles. There are special spiritual teachers or masters or gurus who are thought to be different than the rest of us because they’ve got it and we don’t. They are enlightened or liberated. Their disciples venerate them and bow down to them and literally put them on a pedestal. The words that come from their mouths are considered to be the divine truth.
The Word of God is God. The prologue of the Gospel of John opens with the words: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” It goes on to say that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The Word of God is the Eternal Christ. This Eternal Word of God was enfleshed in the man named Jesus. But not only in Jesus.
Where it says “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” it literally says in the Greek text, “The Word became flesh and dwelt IN us.” It can also be translated “within us.” It is the same preposition Jesus used when he said, “the Kingdom of Heaven is within you.” The Word of God is in us. The Eternal Logos, the Word of God, became flesh in Jesus but the Word is also in us. The First Letter of John says, “The word of God lives in you.”
This is an entirely different way of understanding the Word of God. It is a different way of understanding Christ and incarnation. Paul says, “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” Christ, the Word of God is in us, incarnated in us. This is a different way or understanding the Spirit of prophecy. It is a different way of approaching spiritual authority. Authority is not in a church hierarchy or priesthood. It is not in church tradition or creeds. Authority is not in a pope or the Dalai Lama or some religious leader or prophet or founder of a religion.
The authority is the Eternal Word of God. And the Word of God is the Living Presence of God here now in each one of us. This is the Word of God that Hebrews says describes as “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
In Christianity the Quakers understood this better than most denominations. This emphasis was present in the early centuries of the church in groups like the Gnostics and Montanists, but these groups were branded as heretics because they undermined the authority of the bishops and church hierarchy and tradition.
The true Word of God is Nondual Reality expressed in and through this manifested world. It is expressed in silence better than in words. It is expressed in Nature. The heavens declare the glory of God! The Word of God spoke the universe into existence, according to Genesis, and it is still speaking through the universe.
The Word is incarnated in the man Jesus, whom Christians call Christ. The Eternal Word is also incarnated in us as we abide in Christ. Paul calls this being “in Christ” of “in the Spirit.” Christ is in us and we are in Christ. The Spirit is in us and us in the Spirit. This Divine Spirit is not unique to Christianity. The Spirit is called the Tao or Brahman or a host of other terms.
The Word of God cannot be limited to words. In fact it can only be imperfectly expressed through human words. Actions speak louder than words. This Word of God is the essential nature of the universe, and therefore is our true nature. This is the Word of God. As Jesus said, “Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.”