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No..not true. The spirit was there through word of mouth before they compiled the new testament and Jesus needed no book to express the good spirit. You guys use the bible as a cruth and it is not a deep faith to have to rely upon it for which all the early Chritians had not. It is the spirt spirit spirit that speaks and acts through people that awakens it in others. It is alive and the bible or other great books are simply a written testamony of that alive holy spirit. Sorry, but you guys are dry and dead like..stuck in the written word.

"Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to MY GOSPEL, and the PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST, ACCORDING TO THE MYSTERY, which was kept SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN, But NOW is MADE MANIFEST, and BY THE SCRIPTURES of the prophets, ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENT of the everlasting God, MADE KNOWN to all nations for the OBEDIENCE OF FAITH." Rom. 16:25,26.

Good luck.

Jesus needed no book to express the good spirit.

OH???

Then just WHY did HE refer to the WRITTEN WORD so much?

NIV Matthew 4:4,7,10

4. Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' "
7. Jesus answered him, "It is also written: `Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' "
10. Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: `Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' "

NIV Matthew 11:10
This is the one about whom it is written: "`I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'

NIV Matthew 21:13
"It is written," he said to them, "`My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a `den of robbers.' "

NIV Matthew 26:24
The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him.

NIV Matthew 26:31
Then Jesus told them, "This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: "`I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'

NIV Mark 7:6-7
6. He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "`These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
7. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'

NIV Mark 9:11-13
11. And they asked him, "Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"
12. Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected?
13. But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him."

NIV Mark 11:17
And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: "`My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations' ? But you have made it `a den of robbers.' "

NIV Mark 14:27
"You will all fall away," Jesus told them, "for it is written: "`I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'

NIV Luke 1:1-4
1. Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,
2. just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.
3. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
4. so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

NIV Luke 4:17-19
17. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18. "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,
19. to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

NIV Luke 7:27
This is the one about whom it is written: "`I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'

NIV Luke 10:26
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

NIV Luke 18:31-33
31. Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
32. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him.
33. On the third day he will rise again."

NIV Luke 20:17-18
17. Jesus looked directly at them and asked, "Then what is the meaning of that which is written: "`The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone ' ?
18. Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."

NIV Luke 21:22
For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written.

NIV Luke 22:37
It is written: `And he was numbered with the transgressors' ; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment."

NIV Luke 24:44-47
44. He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
45. Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
46. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
47. and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

NIV John 2:17
His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."

NIV John 6:31
Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: `He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' "

NIV John 6:45
It is written in the Prophets: `They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.

NIV John 12:14-16
14. Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,
15. "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt."
16. At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

NIV John 15:25
But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: `They hated me without reason.'

The spirit was there through word of mouth before they compiled the new testament and Jesus needed no book to express the good spirit. You guys use the bible as a cruth and it is not a deep faith to have to rely upon it for which all the early Chritians had not. It is the spirt spirit spirit that speaks and acts through people that awakens it in others. It is alive and the bible or other great books are simply a written testamony of that alive holy spirit. Sorry, but you guys are dry and dead like..stuck in the written word.

The HOLY Spirit has always been here because he is God. It is the Holy Spirit who has moved the writers of Scripture: 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. And these men WROTE their revelations from God for the benefit of ALL mankind so that all may know the mind of God towards man. Just because the entire compilation of the books of the New Testament did not happen at the start, does not mean that people were not being taught the truths of God as He revealed them.

You say "Jesus needed no book to express the good spirit." Since we KNOW that Jesus IS God in the flesh and He was fully aware of ALL that had already been written concerning the Messiah, he STILL quoted from the Scriptures to dispute Satan, to confirm his authority and to remind his followers of his purpose and the words he had already spoken to them. While you disparage the written word and call it a "crutch" and misquote partial verses in a patchwork of trying to piece them together to somehow prove the Gospel According to Fabian, those of us who KNOW the Bible keep calling your bluff and pointing to your ignorance of what the word of God really does say. Those early Christians relied upon word of mouth for the teachings of Jesus, but they never changed - there were too many other people around who heard his words in person for some to come along and make up stuff. Once the letters started coming to the churches from the Apostles, with their stamp of approval upon them, and which contained in written form all the teachings of Jesus as well as the further revelation from Him, the early and growing Christian body depended upon these books to verify the teachings of those who came after the Apostles died out. The New Testament, as the Old Testament before it, became the authority by which truth claims could be verified. It's how they kept the faith intact.

You say it is a sign of weak faith to depend upon the Scriptures yet we are doing exactly as the first Christians did and the truths that are contained in the Bible do NOT change and its power is manifested in our hearts THROUGH the Holy Spirit who illuminates God's word to us. You are the one who is missing out because you can NEVER know what deep things have been revealed from God if all you ever do is "watch" and wait for the words to come to you. If you have no base, how can there be any enlightenment from God? How will you know if it IS truth? There ARE many false prophets out there, without a solid foundation you are at the mercy of anyone smooth-tongued enough to turn your head.

You lump the Bible in with every other "great book" and ignore that the Bible alone is GOD-BREATHED truth. No other books have that pedigree I don't care how popular they are. You presume that because we believe in what the Bible says, it makes us "dry and dead like"? Do you think you have any greater knowledge of the truth because you can learn to sit still long enough? How insane! You know what I think is the REAL issue here? You don't really know the Bible - you prove it every time you try to say it says something it doesn't - and to make up for your inadequate knowledge, you have to belittle those of us who DO know it and love it. It sounds like Mr. Masters has the same issue, only he has come to believe he doesn't NEED to know the Bible. Here's the thing, fabian, we can know the Scriptures and rely and trust in them because they ARE the revealed words of God AND we can live them more than you can ever imagine is possible. We not only KNOW what the promises of God are, we can see them being fulfilled every day of our lives. We have the added benefit of being protected from false prophets who twist the Scriptures for their own nefarious purposes.

I pray that you learn discernment so that you will come to understand that the Scriptures were given to us for our protection against false teachers - hardly as a crutch. We are told to meditate on God's word and His precepts - not sit still and watch our words dance by our heads. Unless we know the truth from God's word - unless we know the right from wrong - how are we able to live the truth? The Scriptures are also our only OFFENSIVE weapon (the Sword of the Spirit) and you cannot fight spiritual battles without it. We are exhorted to study God's word and to be able to give an answer to everyone who asks us of the reason for the hope that is within us, that hope and knowledge does not get in there by magic. Knowing God's truth is a lifelong learning process and it not only comes from study but also from living it, experiencing it, seeing it work for others and watching as God keeps His promises. It is hardly a dry, dead, stuck way of life. It is a life full of joy and the blessed assurance of being a forever child of God! Please don't allow yourself to be deceived any longer. The peace, forgiveness, joy and victorious living you seek to have is there and more than you ever thought possible.