For most of my life, I accepted the belief that the Bible was the only legitimate place where God speaks. It was so deeply ingrained in my Christian upbringing that I never thought to question it. I grew up with the assumption that Scripture was the exclusive channel for divine communication, and everything else—intuition, dreams, experiences, even the natural world—was secondary at best or deceptive at worst. This wasn’t just a belief I adopted passively; it shaped the way I taught, wrote, and lived. In fact, I argued as much in my own book, Raw Material, convinced that Scripture held a kind of final authority that no other source could match.
But over the years, through study, spiritual practice, lived experience, and a willingness to sit with uncomfortable questions, I realized the belief I held so tightly wasn’t rooted in evidence as much as it was in assumption. And when I finally allowed myself to examine that assumption directly, it opened the door to a much deeper and more expansive experience of God than I ever expected.
The Familiar Arguments—And Their Limits
If you ask Christians why they believe the Bible is the only place God speaks, you’ll hear a range of reasons, some more sophisticated than others. The most common is that Scripture declares itself to be the Word of God. Passages like 2 Timothy 3:16 or Psalm 119 are often cited as if they settle the question entirely. But this line of reasoning is circular: it’s an attempt to prove the authority of the Bible by appealing to the Bible itself. I used to rely on this argument heavily, not realizing that what I was really doing was treating a faith claim as if it were an empirical conclusion.
Many Christians, however, don’t rely solely on this kind of argument. Over time, I came to appreciate that there are deeper frameworks at play. Some believe that the Holy Spirit guided the early church in recognizing which writings were inspired, suggesting that the biblical canon reflects divine oversight. But the history of the canon’s formation is complex. It involved debates, competing theologies, cultural pressures, and human discernment. Even today, different Christian traditions hold different canons. Recognizing this doesn’t diminish the Bible’s value; it simply acknowledges that its formation was more human than many are comfortable admitting.
Others argue for the unity of Scripture as a sign of its divine origin. They point out that it contains writings from dozens of authors, across centuries, cultures, and languages, yet still presents a coherent story. And there is truth to that. But unity does not mean uniformity. The Bible contains diverse voices, differing perspectives, and evolving understandings of God and human morality. This richness is part of what makes Scripture beautiful—but it also challenges the idea that it operates as a single, seamless message dropped directly from heaven.
The Example of Jesus—And What It Reveals
Another argument often used is that Jesus affirmed Scripture, pointing to His frequent quotations from the Hebrew Bible. And, yes, Jesus clearly held the Scriptures in high regard. But a closer reading shows that He did not treat them as the final or inflexible word on all matters. Through the Sermon on the Mount and other teachings, Jesus repeatedly reinterpreted, reframed, and at times overturned the literal meaning of Scripture. “You have heard it said… but I say to you” is the language of someone who sees divine revelation as dynamic, not static.
This raises an important point: if Jesus saw Scripture as something that could be built upon, reshaped, or deepened, then perhaps divine communication has never been limited to a text—not even in His day.
Historical Strengths That Don’t Prove Exclusivity
Some Christians point to archaeology, manuscript evidence, and historical detail as proof that Scripture is uniquely authoritative. The Bible does have an impressive record in these areas. And these details do matter if you want to understand the world of the biblical writers. But historical preservation doesn’t automatically mean divine exclusivity. Many sacred texts across the world have equally ancient traditions, rich manuscript histories, and deep cultural significance.
If anything, the Bible’s historical depth shows that it has been a meaningful vessel for spiritual insight—not that it is the only one.
Transformation as Evidence—And Its Wider Reach
Perhaps the most compelling argument Christians use is that the Bible changes lives. I know this firsthand. Scripture shaped the trajectory of my life in countless ways. But transformation is not the sole domain of the Bible. People all over the world experience profound spiritual shifts through the Quran, the Bhagavad Gita, Buddhist meditation practices, mystical poetry, time in nature, and even modern spiritual texts like A Course in Miracles. Transformation occurs wherever people encounter truth in a way that awakens them to love, compassion, and deeper alignment.
Transformation is the fruit of resonance, not exclusivity.
Acknowledging that doesn’t diminish the Bible’s impact. It simply expands our understanding of how God works.
The Bible’s Own Story of Divine Communication
The interesting thing is that the Bible itself doesn’t endorse the idea that it is the only place God speaks. Before any Scriptures were written, people encountered God in dreams, visions, burning bushes, still small voices, and even face-to-face encounters. The prophets routinely heard from God outside of existing writings. Jesus never read a New Testament because it didn’t exist. Paul’s revelations came through mystical visions and inner experiences.
The Bible does not depict a God who speaks only through texts. It depicts a God who speaks through anything God chooses: nature, intuition, circumstances, conversations, archetypes, dreams, angels, silence, and the human heart.
What Happens When God Is Confined to a Book
When we confine divine communication exclusively to Scripture, we end up with a God who is limited to the past. We create a spiritual world where God no longer speaks in real time, except through our interpretation of ancient writings. Intuition becomes suspect. Personal experience becomes dangerous. Wisdom from other traditions becomes forbidden. And our spiritual growth becomes dependent on how well we can master a text rather than how deeply we can align ourselves with love.
This approach can create fear around any direct experience of God, as if the Divine must always be filtered through someone else’s writings in order to be valid.
My Evolving Relationship with the Bible
Despite everything I’ve said, I want to be clear that I still value the Bible immensely. It remains a meaningful part of my journey. I find truth in its pages, depth in its poetry, guidance in its wisdom, and comfort in its stories. But I no longer need it to be infallible or exclusive in order for it to be sacred. The Bible is a witness to the Divine, not the entirety of the Divine. It points us toward God, but it is not God.
What I Found When I Allowed God to Speak Broader
When I finally released the belief that God only speaks through the Bible, I didn’t lose my faith—I found it expanding. I began to notice divine communication in places I had previously dismissed: intuition, synchronicities, meditation, breathwork, nature, dreams, and insights that emerged from deep stillness. I saw spiritual truth reflected in Human Design, astrology, and even in secular books that had nothing to do with religion. These experiences didn’t replace Scripture; they broadened the space in which God could meet me.
The most surprising part was that these experiences produced the same fruits I had always associated with God’s presence: peace, clarity, compassion, alignment, and a deeper sense of love. If the fruit of something is life-giving, then perhaps God is in it—even if it falls outside of the boundaries we were taught to draw.
The Invitation Forward
You don’t have to reject Scripture to believe that God speaks through more than Scripture. You don’t have to leave behind the richness of your Christian tradition. You simply have to allow the possibility that God never limited Himself to one method, one medium, or one era. If God is alive, then God’s voice is alive—and alive voices don’t confine themselves to ancient pages.
The greatest discovery in my journey was this:
God had been speaking to me all along. I just didn’t know I was allowed to listen.