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"If, then, you are equipped for battle, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU NEED?"

Well, if I'm goin into battle, I'll take anything I can carry that I think might possibly be of help. And if I'm drawn to spiritual growth, I'm hoping to increase not decrease what I find of value in that growth.

So, I'm confused by this emphasis on determining the bare"sufficient" when it comes to spirituality and religion. I may not need to make a special place in a corner of my house, make it sacred, for morning prayer, it may be entirely sufficient not to even have that morning prayer, come to think of it, I could eliminate a lot of stuff, it's just not necessary is it? And while we're on the subject, do we really need every word of scripture, couldn't we remove a lot and still have what is sufficient for realizing salvation? What's the use of all that extra unnecessary stuff anyway?

So, pilgrim, I still don't get the point here; it seems like a minimalist effort at increasing our conscious contact with God - and that oxymoronizes me.

The words I am focusing on in 2 Tim. 3: 16-17 (see post #14 above) are "competent" (some versions say "adequate" or "complete") and "equipped"---If you have been pronounced "Equipped for battle," does that not mean that you are have ALL THAT YOU NEED so that you are adequately prepared? That is what Paul was telling Timothy---if you have the scriptures, then you are "Equipped" and adequately prepared for every good work. The scriptures contain all that we could possibly need.

I'm not ruling out any place for books and teachers and churches. We can learn a lot from what others have learned and are willing to teach us, and from theology books which have systematized the teachings of scripture. But we do not NEED extra-biblical doctrines, because we are already fully equipped.