Bibliology

Question 1

OT Canon

Answer 1

• earliest collection of written word of God: 10 commandments
• canon continued to grow until 435 BC
• Josephus confirmed the canon closed around 435 and Apocryphal writings were not Scripture
• Jesus, disciples, and Jews were in agreement that canon closed 435 (NT quotes)
• earliest list by Melito AD 170

Question 2

Apocrypha

Answer 2

(earliest evidence is decidedly against it as scripture)

• the use of it gradually grew until the reformation
• not declared scripture by Catholic church until Council of Trent (1546)
• Should not be considered scripture because:
  (1) they don’t claim to be scripture
  (2) not regarded as scripture by the Jews from whom they originated
  (3) not considered scripture by Jesus or NT authors
  (4) contain teachings contrary to scripture

Question 3

NT Canon

Answer 3

• list of 27 books confirmed by Athanasius in AD 367, Council of Carthage AD 397
• apostles are seen to have same authority as OT prophets to speak and write the words of God (2 Pet 3:2)
• “what I’m writing is a command of the Lord” (1 Cor 14:37)
• Peter appropriates Paul (2 Pet 3:16)
• Paul appropriates Luke (1 Tim 5:17-18)
• 22 books written by authority of apostles; 4 accepted by authors’ closeness to apostles; Hebrews by intrinsic qualities (must have been authored by God)
• canon is closed (Heb 1:1-2, Rev 22:18-19)

Question 4

4 characteristics of scripture

Answer 4

1. authority
2. clarity
3. necessity
4. sufficiency

Question 5

Authority of Scripture

Answer 5

All words in scripture are God’s words in such a way as to disbelieve or disobey any word of scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God (Jesus rebukes disciples for not believing OT Lk 24:25; believers are to keep disciples’ words Jn 15:20)
- Bible claims this for itself (2 Tim 3:16, “thus says the Lord”)

Question 6

Means of bringing about Scripture (dictation)

Answer 6

God brought about his word through multiple means (“spoke in many ways” Heb 1:1-2)

• dictation (the Lord commands them to write): to the churches in Revelation
• similarly, “the word of the Lord came to Isaiah…” (Isa 38)
• Luke’s historical research: “it seemed good for me to write an orderly account for you” (Lk 1:1-3)
• other scripture predominantly involved human personality and style writing, under God’s providential oversight and direction

Question 7

Truthfulness of Scripture

Answer 7

• God cannot lie (Heb 6:18 “it is impossible for God to lie”)
• Therefore all of scripture is true and without error (Ps 12:6 “The words of the Lord… are pure”)
• The ultimate standard of truth (Jn 17:17 “Your word is truth” not just true but is truth itself)
• Nothing will ever contradict the Bible

Question 8

Inerrancy

Answer 8

The Bible in its original manuscripts does not affirm anything contrary to fact

• can still use ordinary language (esp. in scientific/historical descriptions; has more to do with truthfulness than precision)
• can still include loose/free quotations (content over precision)
• can still have uncommon/unusual grammatical constructions (a statement can be ungrammatical and still true)

Question 9

Challenges to inerrancy

Answer 9

• Faith and practice
• Poor term
• No inerrant manuscripts
• Authors “accommodated” false ideas in their days
• Overemphasizes divine and neglects the human aspects
• There are clear errors

Question 10

Only authoritative for faith and practice

Answer 10

The Bible does not make any restrictions on the kinds of subjects to which it speaks truthfully, 2 Tim 3:16; this mistakes the major purpose of scripture for the total purpose

Question 11

Inerrancy is a poor term, denotes an absolute precision that we don’t want to claim for scripture, and isn’t used in the Bible

Answer 11

Scholars have used the term and defined it clearly for 100+ years and we often use non-biblical terms for biblical concepts (trinity, incarnation)

Question 12

We have no inerrant manuscripts so an “inerrant” Bible is misleading

Answer 12

For over 99% of the Bible we know the original words and in the textual variants we are still quite sure from context; plus, subsequent copies were made by men with no guarantee from God that they would be perfect. Practically speaking, our current Greek and Hebrew texts are the same as the original

Question 13

Biblical authors accommodated their writings to false ideas in their day

Answer 13

God is perfect and can use human language perfectly (Num 23:19)

Question 14

Inerrancy overemphasizes divine and neglects human

Answer 14

(i.e. in order to have human aspects, it must have imperfect aspects) God’s overseeing the writing of scripture causes it to be perfect (Num 23:19)

Question 15

There are some clear errors

Answer 15

1. Where?

2. All problem texts have plausible conclusions; see commentaries and historical solutions from the church

Question 16

Problems with denying inerrancy

Answer 16

1. Can we imitate God (Eph 5:1) and intentionally lie in small matters too?
2. Can we trust God in anything?
3. We make ourselves a higher standard of truth than God.
4. If the Bible is wrong in minor details, it is wrong in major doctrine.

Question 17

Clarity of scripture

Answer 17

The Bible is written in such a way that its teachings are able to be understood by all who will read it seeking God’s help and being willing to follow it.

• Bible affirms its own clarity (Dt 6:6-7)
• More a moral/spiritual than intellectual ability (1 Cor 2:14, the natural person)

Question 18

Necessity of scripture

Answer 18

The Bible is necessary for knowing the gospel (Rom 10:13-17), for maintaining spiritual life (Mt 4:4), and for knowing God’s will (Dt 29:29), but it is not necessary for knowing that God exists or for knowing something about God’s character and moral laws (Rom 1:20).

Question 19

Sufficiency of scripture

Answer 19

Scripture contains all the words of God that he intended his people to have at each stage of redemptive history, and that it now contains everything we need God to tell us for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and for obeying him perfectly (2 Tim 3:17)

Question 20

Covenant theology

Answer 20

A covenant is an unchangeable, divinely imposed legal agreement between God and man that stipulates the conditions of their relationship.

A. Covenant of works
B. Covenant of redemption
C. Covenant of grace

Question 21

Covenant of works

Answer 21

In the Garden of Eden, there was a legally binding set of provisions that defined the conditions of the relationship between God and man.
- command not to eat of the tree
- promise for punishment if disobedient
- promise for blessing if obedient
(This is important because it shows that this relationship was not something that was automatic between Creator and creature.)

Question 22

Covenant of redemption

Answer 22

An agreement among the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in which the Son agreed to become a man, be our representative, obey the demands of the covenant of works on our behalf, and pay the penalty for sin, which we deserved (Jn 6:44, Jn 3:16)
- (the HS empowers Christ to carry out his ministry; testing in the desert Lk 4)

Question 23

Covenant of grace

Answer 23

The rest of scripture after the fall is the story of God working out in history the amazing plan of redemption whereby sinful people could come into fellowship with himself.

• The parties to this covenant of grace are God and the people whom he will redeem. But in this case Christ fulfills a special role as “mediator” in which he fulfills the conditions of the covenant for us and thereby reconciles us to God. (There was no mediator between God and man in the covenant of works.)
• The condition (or requirement) of participation in the covenant is faith in the work of Christ the redeemer
• The promise of blessing was a promise of eternal life with God.
• The sign of the covenant varies between OT and NT

Question 24

Dispensationalism

Answer 24

• Began in 19th century with Darby (also put forth by Scofield)
• The distinction between Israel and the church as two groups in God’s overall plan, the pretribulational rapture of the church, a future literal fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel, and the dividing of biblical history into seven periods or “dispensations” of God’s ways of relating to his people
• insistence on interpreting biblical prophecies “literally where possible”
• 1 Thess 4:16-17

Question 25

Pentecostalism

Answer 25

Traces its roots back to the Pentecost revival in the US in 1901. Doctrinal positions:

a. baptism in HS is ordinarily an event subsequent to conversion
b. baptism in HS is made evident by the sign of speaking in tongues
c. all the spiritual gifts mentioned in the NT are to be sought and used today
d. Acts 19:6 - And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

Question 26

Pentecostal “second blessing”

Answer 26

Distinctives:

1. ‘Second blessing’ is in addition to believer’s baptism
2. ‘Second blessing’ or ‘baptism in the Holy Spirit’ empowers a Christian to live a spirit-filled life and to practice the spiritual gifts.

• Support: Acts 2 (Pentecost); Acts 8:14 (Samaritans); Acts 10:44-46 (Gentiles); Acts 19:1-6 (Paul in Ephesus)
• Deficiency: Charismatic gifts other than glossolalia are neglected; interpretation of tongues is typically neglected; many Pentecostals will not fellowship with non-Pentecostals (exclusivity/divisiveness); triumphalism leaves no room for grieving losses; pervasive anti-intellectualism; emphasis on glossolalia neglects contemplative silence and meditation on the Word

Question 27

Pentecostal use of “baptism”

Answer 27

a. Baptism into the body of Christ: This refers to salvation. Every believer in Christ is made a part of his body, the Church, through baptism. The Holy Spirit is the agent, and the body of Christ is the medium.
b. Water baptism: Symbolic of dying to the world and living in Christ, water baptism is an outward symbol of that which has already been accomplished by the Holy Spirit, namely baptism into the body of Christ.
c. Baptism with the Holy Spirit: This is an empowering experience distinct from baptism into the body of Christ. In this baptism, Christ is the agent and the Holy Spirit is the medium.

Question 28

Catholocism

Answer 28

(Matt 16:18) - And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

a. Scripture plus church tradition (equal)
b. Authority of the pope and the church. Pope is infallible (Vatican 1)
c. Apocrypha is part of the Bible.
d. Prayer to Mary (as mediator). Immaculate conception (Mary also sinless)
e. Sacraments are necessary for salvation
f. Purgatory is a place of suffering/Prayers for the dead

Question 29

Liberalism

Answer 29

A movement in 19th and 20th century Protestant circles that builds from the assumption that Christianity is reconcilable with positive human aspirations, including the quest for autonomy.

• desires to adapt religion to modern thought and culture (views divine love as realized primarily, if not totally, in love of one’s neighbor, and the kingdom of God as a present reality found especially within an ethically transformed society.)
• Phil. 4:8

Question 30

Liberal theologians

Answer 30

i. Schleiermacher (1768-1834): father of modern liberalism; basis of religion found in experience; pantheistic tendencies; whereas ethics is a way of acting and science a way of knowing, by contrast, religion is a way of being.
ii. Ritschl (1822-1889): theology without metaphysics; religion is a matter of moral judgments
iii. von Harnack (1851-1930): searched for the Historical Jesus; set forth a non-miraculous Jesus
iv. Wellhausen (1844-1918): defended and popularized the JEDP theory

Question 31

Lutheran

Answer 31

“By grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone”
• Infant baptism
• congregational government
• Consubstantiation – not that the bread actually becomes the physical body of Christ, but that the physical body of Christ is present “in, with, and under” the bread
• Emphasis on the Word of God proclaimed (preaching)
• God declares the sinner righteous through Jesus’ death rather than through human merit or works (penal substitution)
• Faith entails trust in and acceptance of God’s gift of salvation through the “merits” of Christ

Question 32

Calvinism

Answer 32

Synod of Dort (1618-1619)
T (Rom 3:10-11)
U (Eph. 1:15 - he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will)
L (John 10:15 - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep)
I (John 6:37 - All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.)
P (Phil. 1:6 - And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.)

Question 33

Arminianism

Answer 33

• Human free will (Deut. 30:19 - I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live)
• Conditional Election (Rom. 8:29 - For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son)
• Universal Atonement (1 John 2:2 - He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world)
• Resistible Grace (Acts 7:51 - You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.)
• Fall from Grace - The teaching that a person can fall from grace and lose their salvation. (Heb. 6:4-6 - For it is impossible…. to restore them again to repentance)