Is the Bible the Only True Word of God?

Kathi S. (age 12) asks,

“How do we know the Bible is the only true Word of God?”

Thanks for your question, Kathi!

We believe that God inspired the 66 books of the Bible to be a completely accurate record—that’s why we call the Bible the Word of God. But some people think other books should be included in the Bible, while others believe God gave more books in addition to the Bible.

Besides the Old and New Testaments, there is a group of books called the Apocrypha that Roman Catholics include in their Bible. Some of these books contain some historically accurate things, but they also contain errors, and they don’t seem to view themselves as Scripture either. They also weren’t written in Hebrew like the Old Testament books. Most Christians throughout history haven’t recognized them as Scripture, even when they thought there were some helpful things in them.

There are also books named after New Testament people, like the Gospel of Peter and the Gospel of Thomas. But these were written a long time after the rest of the New Testament, and eyewitnesses didn’t write them. They also contain errors, such as inaccurate descriptions of places that we can easily verify. So they have never been recognized as part of the New Testament.

Other religions believe that God inspired entirely different books that are not the Bible. The Muslims believe the Quran is inspired, and the Mormons believe the Book of Mormon is inspired. But both of these books contradict the Bible, and no genuine revelation from God will contradict his previous revelations.

Examples of books that were not truly inspired by God.

But could God possibly reveal another inspired book? No. God has already given us the best revelation possible in Jesus, who is God in the flesh. He gave us enough revelation in the New Testament to know who Jesus is, how to be in a right relationship with him, and to look forward to his second coming and the resurrection of the dead. The book of Hebrews tells us:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the world. (Hebrews 1:1–2)

This means that the revelation through Jesus, which is preserved in the New Testament, is better than the Old Testament, because Jesus is better than the people through whom God revealed the Old Testament. If there were another book from God in the future, it would imply that something better than Jesus has arrived, which is impossible! So we can be confident that not only is the Bible true, but it is complete.

The Bible is true and complete.

Do you have a question about the Bible? Ask your parents to help you submit your question today. We’d love to hear from you!