Bibliology Flashcards
OT Canon
- 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
Apocrypha
(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
NT Canon
- 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)
4 characteristics of scripture
- authority
- clarity
- necessity
- sufficiency
Authority of Scripture
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”)
Means of bringing about Scripture (dictation)
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
Truthfulness of Scripture
- 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
Inerrancy
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)
Challenges to inerrancy
- 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
Only authoritative for faith and practice
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
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
Scholars have used the term and defined it clearly for 100+ years and we often use non-biblical terms for biblical concepts (trinity, incarnation)
We have no inerrant manuscripts so an “inerrant” Bible is misleading
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
Biblical authors accommodated their writings to false ideas in their day
God is perfect and can use human language perfectly (Num 23:19)
Inerrancy overemphasizes divine and neglects human
(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)
There are some clear errors
- Where?
2. All problem texts have plausible conclusions; see commentaries and historical solutions from the church
Problems with denying inerrancy
- Can we imitate God (Eph 5:1) and intentionally lie in small matters too?
- Can we trust God in anything?
- We make ourselves a higher standard of truth than God.
- If the Bible is wrong in minor details, it is wrong in major doctrine.
Clarity of scripture
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)
Necessity of scripture
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).
Sufficiency of scripture
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)
Covenant theology
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
Covenant of works
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.)
Covenant of redemption
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)
Covenant of grace
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
Dispensationalism
- 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
