I can not answer for the other billion of readers and believers in the Bible as being the 'one true word of God'. I do know that there were over 600 books that were written over thousands of years that the early un-reformed Christian cult(s) held in esteem as being the 'Word of God'. I also know that during the reformation of the Church by Constantine that many of those books were rejected as for consideration by the Reformed Church (Roman Catholic) based on various reasons, some dealing with the time frame after Christ in which it was written, others dealing with how the book could not fit in what was being formed as 'doctrine'. So I know that the bible is not the one and only Word - there are many other so called 'missing' or 'lost books' many of which still exist, some of them online. There are those that are named in the existing bible but no one knows where they went. Folk who accept the bible as the unerring and only book of God have been told this many, many times by higher authorities who they have been taught to believe and listen too. Unfortunately these are people - humans - and they too have been lead down these blind alleys of 'faith'. sometimes on purpose, other times because time has created a heavy tradition that folk just can not seem to shrug off.

Do we have reason to doubt the Bible is incomplete? The Bible we have today was initially sorted out through a canon or a series of tests to determine whether each book (or letter) was of God and should be considered scripture. Based on the results of these tests and which texts failed them I believe that those works not selected were left out for good reasons. Some, such as the Gospel of Mary we have no evidence to suggest that it was written by Mary or existed around the time Mary would've lived.

why does it matter? do you have to have all the food in all the world in order to satisfy your hunger, or can you be content with just as much as you need? it's the same with God and His word. we have as much as we need, if we want to be content.

good question. the bible is made up of not just god's word but also contains the word of other prophets. some of these prophets are suspected to have written a lot more work than what's included in the bible and people believe the work has been lost or destroyed. so in a way, yes. the bible is someone incomplete. but i think all the important things we need are there.

God has given us everything that He wants us to know, regarding salvation, and how to live, according to His instructions. If He had wanted us to have more things written in the Bible, He would have told those who wrote it to put it in there. He would have put it in their minds, so to speak, to put it in. If everything written about Jesus, or the things that happened in biblical days was put in the Bible, it would be way too big to read, and God wanted His word to be compact enough to carry around to church, in purses or briefcases, or even our pockets. He gave us just what He wanted us to know to be saved and live in a way that pleases Him. :)

You know it is incomplete because we keep finding more and more books that didn't make the grade Constantine wise. http://www.thelostbooks.com/ What the other folks answering pussyfoot around- some of the other books make mockery of what they believe in. which is to say- they teach things that are at odds with what they want YOU to believe in. One only has to remember- The Early Christians felt that their books were true. It was only when Constantine (who by the way never converted to Christianity) got a bunch of them together and hammered out a politicised bible that supported the chain of command, that theirs went bye-bye. http://www.hiddenmysteries.org/religion/christianity/piousfraud.shtml

We know for a fact that the current Christian bible was comprised of books that a Vatican Council determined to be the most spiritual and complete. As a Catholic I have been taught to believe that these spiritual fathers were guided by God. However, history has proven that the Church is an organization made of imperfect humans who do not always follow the teachings of Jesus. So, go read some of the lost books and judge for yourself.

There are several gospels that were excluded from the Bible. You can still find most of them. Of course, the Roman Catholic Bible contains books the Protestant Bible doesn't have.

Right, we know it's god's word. How? Because it says so.

Oh it can't be complete now can it Whew? . After all, Joseph Smith said that it wasn't! . And, of course, Joseph Smith was COMPLETELY trustworthy wasn't he? Far more trustworthy than the Bible - right? . Or was he . . . ? http://mccue.cc/bob/audio%20belief%20and%20reason%201.htm http://mccue.cc/bob/audio%20belief%20and%20reason%202.htm

DUPLICATE ANSWER - SYSADMIN PLEASE DELETE!

Well now that I'm done needling Whew and Glenn . . . SHORT ANSWER: As Francis Schaeffer said so well: "The Bible speaks to us completely but not comprehensively." It is impossible to contain the infinite, personal God in within the pages of any book - including the Bible. However, in terms of what we need in order to victoriously fulfill our mission/passage through life it, along with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is sufficient. LONG ANSWER: The Bible is the written word, not the Living Word - which is Jesus Christ. Francis Schaeffer also once wrote: "He speaks to us through the Bible most of all; but also, and surely, in other ways. But there must be the communication from our side or the [relationship] is no longer what it was created to be; that is [in terms of our being] moral, rational beings. So regular prayer is very important..." http://www.thewords.com/articles/schaeffer2.htm So the Bible is important but it's not everything. The Christian who discounts the every present ministry of the "Living Word" really isn't a Christian at all. And, as one might expect, the Bible itself actually answers and addresses this question quite directly: As Peter said: 1 Peter 1 (NLT) 21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. 22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. 23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24 As the Scriptures say, “People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. 25 But the word of the Lord remains forever.” And that word is the Good News that was preached to you. At the beginning of his gospel John said: John 1 (NIV) 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. 6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. And at the end he said: John 21 (NIV) 25Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. So the Bible isn't comprehensive but it is complete and sufficient for what we need. AND SINCE THIS IS YET ANOTHER OF WHEW'S INFAMOUS LDS-CENTRIC AGENDA LADEN QUESTIONS: Reasons why ANYTHING from Joseph Smith is clearly NOT "God's word": I. The LDS Standard Works (less the KVJ Bible of course) contradict the Bible. It is only reasonable and logical that if Joseph Smith's "revelations" were "God's word" as he claims they would complement rather than contradict God's existing written word in the same way that the New Testament complements the Old Testament. II. Based on the criteria given in the Bible Joseph Smith was CLEARLY a false prophet: Deu 13:1-11; 18:18-22 Mat 7:15-20 These failures included (but are not limited to) 1) Numerous unfulfilled prophecies. http://www.ils.unc.edu/~unsworth/mormon/unfulfilledprophecies.html 2) Use of Occult practices like scrying and Shamanism. http://www.concernedchristians.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=42&func=view&id=79046&catid=3#79046 http://www.concernedchristians.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=42&func=view&id=73023&catid=522 3) Incorporating Free Masonry into the LDS Temple ceremonies - it is rooted in Kabbalah which is occultic) http://www.concernedchristians.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=42&func=view&id=69507&catid=522 http://www.concernedchristians.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=42&func=view&id=72979&catid=522 http://www.concernedchristians.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=42&func=view&id=72975&catid=522 SUMMARY CONCLUSION: Mormons are correct in emphasizing the fact that without the revelation of Jesus Christ via the Holy Spirit the Bible is a dead book. However, they are WRONG whenever they point to Joseph Smith and his "revelations" as in any form or fashion to be an extension of God's Word. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: The following Videos go into further detail on each of these points here are links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1mFdO1wB08&eurl=http://www.answerbag.com/a_view/5650454&feature=player_embedded http://www.concernedchristians.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=42&func=view&id=75164&catid=513

We do not. In fact we can be certain that it is not. The Bible itself speaks of a number of works the writers considered authoritative which are not in the Bible. . And the apostles tell us that Jesus said and did far more than was written.

Take some Bible classes at university and you will learn these things -- how the Bible came to be the collection of books that it is.

I found an interesting article about the Bible which tells quite a story. And which agrees somewhat with what the Church of Jesus Christ has been saying, from the beginning, about the Bible. I shall also post the link where this article can be found in full... (Quote) "it is important to remember that all modern attempts to represent the Bible via shining new translations from "the originals" really cannot do so -- no matter how honest their intentions. The texts of the Old and New Testament simply no longer exist in their original forms. All anyone has to translate from are copies of copies of copies. Furthermore, we know unequivocally that these texts have been tampered with and altered over time. And we know that alterations and errors were introduced both accidentally, through scribal errors, and intentionally for political or ideological reasons. Therefore, no amount of retranslating the remaining fragments of those antique copies will allow us to view the original texts as they were written and intended to be read. Nor should we mistakenly confer on them some kind of false authority and accuracy simply because they are so old. In short, they are not old enough! By Christian reckoning, the longest-lived Apostle died about 19 centuries ago. Therefore, texts which are only 16 centuries old should not be assumed to be accurate records of his thoughts and deeds, nor those of Jesus. And even less legitimacy should be accorded to the Latin Vulgate (created 500 years after Jesus' time) or the King James Bible (created 1600 years after) -- especially when each has been shown to contain glaring discrepancies of significant doctrinal importance. How then are Christians to know the true message of Christ? For some the answer has simply been to fall back on tradition -- to trust that what was passed down for generations must have some authority (despite the folly of this approach, as discussed above). But for others, there have been some exciting developments in the last century that give hope that we may be able to piece together Christianity's earlier (and more authentic) message through comparing current and historic versions of the Bible with newly discovered fragments, such as the Gospel of Thomas and other works from Nag Hammadi, the Secret Gospel of Mark, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and other similar finds. http://www.rotten.com/library/religion/bible/historical-construction/babel-bibles/(Close quote) As near as I could tell, the people who wrote this article are not Christian and do not appear to have any particular agenda. But they do deal with facts and not so much on opinion, as some have done. But the bottom line is, according to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Bible is the word of God, but it does not contain ALL of His words. Even with all of our extra scriptures, we do not have All of His words, but we will receive more when we are ready...Later