Should The Bible Be An Official Book?

Recently, the state of Tennessee has made a proposal which states the Bible will be the official book of the state. Yesterday, it was reported that they put the proposal on the shelf. Some may see these as politicians backing away from standing up for religious freedom, which does not seem the case for Tennessee. Other may look at this as a violation of the separation of church and state. So the question is should the Bible be an official book for any form of government or even a business?

First, let me say as a Christian living in America, it is great to see one state proposing something like this yet it may not be the best thing. Why, you may ask. Consider this, some people who cannot believe in the existence of God look to the Bible for scientific explanations for His existence. Yet we believe the Bible to be the Word of God but we do not believe it to be a science book. We believe the Bible to be a book of redemption history but not American history or any other history. In the business world, the Bible may be the best thing to use when wondering how to interact with people in business transactions.

Second, The Bible is the Word of God which points us to Jesus Christ for the salvation of our souls from the penalty for our sins. There are people in the world that read the Bible whether for research or selfish gain, yet they do not turn to Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. Jesus addressed in his day in the gospel of John, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life" (John 5:39-40). You can use the Bible as a guide book from your life but it will be just another book of virtue.

It should be noted that the Lt. Governor of Tennessee said, "The Bible is my official book but it need not be the official book of the state of Tennessee." Was he wrong for saying that? I don't think he was wrong. It should not surprise us if state don't make the Bible their official state book, but it should when churches don't preach from it. As a Christian living in American I am baffled at why churches get more upset with state governments as well as federal governments get so upset when they dismiss Biblical claims when there are churches that do the same thing.

Should a government, local, state, or federal, recognize the Bible as their official book? My answer is no. The Bible never commands Christians to make sure the Bible is at the front of how their government should run. Should a church make the Bible their official book? YES!!!!!! Christians should never neglect the Bible even when the government or a business does. I will admit there are times I am shocked when I go to Books-A-Million or Hastings and see a huge selection of Bibles for people to purchase. Is that a bad thing? No, but we are not expected to see that. I heard that the government in it's earlier days handed Bibles out to people which was a good thing but should that be the churches job?

The Bible should be the official book for Christians as their final authority for faith and practice. It should also be the official book for churches to teach, preach, and memorize. When a church starts neglecting the Bible, that is more dangerous ground than one state putting a proposal to make it the official book on the shelf.