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For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. [John 17]

"I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible....

"And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made...." [Nicene Creed]

"Who lives in love lives in God and God in him." [St. Augustine]

Alamo-Girl, you wrote: "I'll never forget the first time I spiritually read and therefore understood a phrase out of Hebrews where Christ is described as the express image of His [the Father's] person."

John, too, refers to Christ as the pleroma, as revealing in His person the very fullness of God the Father....

IMHO, to read the scriptures spiritually is to not read them literally. Francis Schaeffer had the most marvelous saying, that, in the Holy Scriptures, God speaks to us truly, but not exhaustively. There is always more there than meets the eye which, by the grace of the Holy Spirit that "proceeds from the Father and the Son," unfolds to our understanding by means of spiritual vision.

Also IMHO, people who don't read the Bible don't know what they're missing. Which is God revealing to us a true (but not exhaustive) account of Himself -- and also a true (but not exhaustive) account of man, society, and nature.

In short, IMHO the Holy Scriptures are all about the community of being in this world and the next, which has Christ as its head for the purpose of reconciling us to, and leading us to, the Father. The great subject of the Bible is Divine Love.

Thank you so much, Alamo-Girl, for your beautiful reply.

Thank you so much, betty boop! Your replies are brimming with wisdom - informative and uplifting!

I agree fully that God speaks through His Word, truly but not exhaustively. Like a parable, the Word cannot be mentally understood - that's why I coin the phrase hidden in plain view to describe it.

Certainly, Divine Love is the great subject of the Bible. I think of the Word as the method God choose to reveal Himself to His own - and Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh (John 1:14)