IS THE BIBLE INCOMPLETE?

By David J. Riggs

The Catholic Church insists that the Bible does not contain all truth and therefore it alone cannot be our rule of faith. A Catholic writer by the name of James Gibbons said, "The Catholic Church correctly teaches that our Lord and His Apostles inculcated certain important duties of religion which were not recorded by the inspired writers. (See John xxi. 25)." (The Faith of Our Fathers, p. 73). John did not say that certain important duties were not recorded by the inspired writers. The verse simply says, "And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written." (John 21:25).

John was emphasizing that his gospel was only a brief account of what Jesus did. To write every detail of every breath, thought, and move of the life of Jesus would take a world full of books. John, through the power of the Holy Spirit, wrote only those things which are essential. In a parallel verse, John himself said, "And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name." (John 20:30-31).

Mr. Gibbons said that "worship on Sunday" is an example of an important Christian duty that was left out of the inspired writings. He said "But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify." (The Faith of Our Fathers, pp. 72-73; see also The Faith of Millions, p. 154). By this argument, the Catholic officials reveal their lack of knowledge of the Bible. It is truly sad that through such falsehoods they deceive the hearts of millions of people.

The Bible explicitly enjoins the first day of the week (Sunday) as the day of worship. "Now concerning the contribution for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of the week, each of you is to put something aside..." (1 Cor. 16:1-2 Catholic Edition Revised Standard Version). "Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight." (Acts 20:7). Col. 2:14-17 and other passages clearly show that the law of Moses, Sabbath day worship included, was nailed to the cross.

The assertions that the Bible does not contain all truth by the Catholic writers reveal the true attitude of the Catholic Church toward the Bible. The Catholic Church does not have love and respect for the Bible; otherwise, why raise such claims? The Catholic Church is not building men's faith in the Bible alone as the authority but is destroying it. It wants to place on equality with the Bible its own man made authorities; namely, Catholic human traditions, a human church, and the pope. However, those of us who truly love the Lord will follow only the Bible. It contains all truth, is a perfect and complete guide to heaven, and is the only standard by which we will be judged in the last day.