People of the Book versus People of the Word (Part Two)

Hey guys. Here's a short part II to my earlier post on the concepts of People of the Word versus People of the Book. I'd recommend you read Part One before this so be sure to check it out!


Power was also given to the prime minister of the kingdom, who was responsible for the day to day affairs and spoke in the name of the king, exercising his authority. What’s most important is that the ancient Jews looked to the future when the fullness of the kingdom, king, queen mother, and prime minister – and even Temple sacrifice – would come to pass with the advent of the promised messiah. For Christians the Jewish figures of authority took on a greater dimension with Jesus, the Church, Mary, the Pope, the Apostles (with their successors, the bishops), and the Mass.

It all begins, however, with Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God – and as Christians we are a People of the Word, not of a book.

St. John opens his Gospel by saying: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In the beginning here refers not to the beginning of time but rather to the timelessness of eternity; before anything was made. In fact, St. John also tells us that it was through this Word that all things were made. Jesus Christ, the Word, existed with God and was God, a distinct Person within the Godhead yet one with God in nature. This is the first indication of multi-personal God, an indication which would ultimately culminate with the full revelation of the Trinity as three divine Persons Who each fully possess the one divine nature.

This was a radical idea in the history of religion. It was the first and only adequate answer to the question which caused the first major divisions in world religions: can God get lonely?