Since Christianity is based on the Bible accounts of the life and teachings of Christ, isn't "Bible believing" redundant? If you're a Christian of any denomination, isn't the Bible where you and your church got your information about Him in the first place?
Why is it necessary to identify yourself in that way?
Uncle Joe
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Father Joseph (Cristoiglesia) stated what I believe is the most important practical point about this matter. When people call themselves "Bible believing" Christians, they almost always are protestants, and by "Bible believing" they really are saying "Non-Catholic."
I'm irritated by the expression "Bible believing Christian" more than I am by most anti-Catholic epithets and rhetoric because it is an expression that seems to me to be used as a sort of "secret code" phrase. Christians who don't want to admit that they reject, and maybe even hate, the Catholic church use this phrase to identify themselves to other like-minded people. They know what they mean - "NOT Catholic."
People use the label very proudly, very often as a clear boast, declaring by innuendo that they are superior. It just strikes me as flatly contrary to Christian charity and humility. It also offends me because most people who label themselves as "Bible believing" use an abridged Bible (such as the KJV) that excludes seven entire books of the Bible.
Maybe the label is at least accurate in a particular sense. People who identify themselves specifically as "Bible believing" believe Christianity came from the Bible, and it is the Bible in which they have faith. We Catholics, of course, having written and compiled the Bible, certainly believe it, but we practice our faith within the community of faithful Christians that Jesus Christ established - The Catholic Church. We trust The Church that Jesus gave to the world, and we trust the Catholic Church's most famous text - The Bible. We do not, however, trust the Bible in isolation from the Catholic Church that gave it to the world. We know Jesus gave us a Church, not a book, and we trust the Church that Jesus gave us. As such, we trust The Bible, and we faithfully trust the Holy Spirit to guide our Church in teaching us the meaning of this beautiful sacred text.
I pray that all readers of the Bible will come to wonder more honestly and ambitiously how The Bible came into existence, and that their wondering will lead them to Jesus Christ and eternal salvation through the Catholic Church.
I am Roman Catholic.
Peace be with you, and with all who seek fully to accept Jesus Christ.
Kate
It sounds like it's basically away to imply that other people are wrong, or less "good" at being Christian.
It also sounds like, from some of these answers, many "Bible Believing Christians" don't know a whole lot about how the Bible was compiled.
I think it's either redundant, or it's meant to self aggrandize. Could you imagine some one typing "non-Bible believing Christian"?
Anonymous
hahahahahahaa. It is like, spouse-loving husband. A moniker is claimed by a minority who then redefine it narrowly. This puts those that do not agree with them as being a "normal Christian", not a "Bible Christian" The implication (though not what is stated) is that normal Christians and not Bible-believing.
While the statement is factually true, its intent is to mislead and vilify others. This is exactly the same kind of truth that politicians use. I call it a lie.
English communication requires that "extra" words have a reason for appearing. The adjective "Bible-believing" means that other Christians, and possibly you are not.
As with all miscommunication and lies, it is not playing nice and the person should be treated as any other liar.
Olive Garden
It is not necessary. True Christians are mandatorily guided by the Holy Scriptures in their Christian way of life. To say you are bible believing only, will label you as that fanatic fundamental protestants - a very immaterial group of protestants crying out in the wilderness, that the majority will just ignore them.
Mike N
"cristoiglesia" / Father Joseph, and "ex arcam" say it best so far, in my opinion, but I would like to add my two cents worth, or two points worth if you will. I have found that when many people here on Answers say "Bible believing", they are protestants trying to denigrate the Roman Catholic Church and Roman Catholics by inferring, and later stating, that, somehow, the Roman Catholic Church doesn't truly believe in the Bible or wholly follow it. How that can be possible, since the Roman Catholic Church is the reason why the Bible even exists, short of God Himself, is beyond me or any sensible and reasoning person. After these protestants took the Bible and butchered it like they have, how they can say we Roman Catholics don't believe in it, nor are familiar with it, is beyond me. I'm sure they identify themselves that way to serve their ignorance of and bias against The Church, and somehow it helps them put themselves up on some very shaky pedestal. God Bless you.