Exam 4 - part 2 Flashcards
Millard Erickson and Charles Ryrie on Revelation and Inspiration
What is the definition of revelation in relation to bibliology?
The communication of truth from God to humans. Vertical.
What is the definition of inspiration in relation to bibliology?
The relaying of God’s communicated truth from the first recipient(s) of it to other persons, whether then or later. Horizontal.
How does Erickson define the inspiration of Scripture?
The “supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit on the Scripture writers that rendered their writings an accurate record of the revelation or that resulted in what they wrote actually being the Word of God” (Erickson, p. 169).
How does Ryrie define the inspiration of Scripture?
God carried the Scripture writers along by the Holy Spirit so that they recorded, without error, His message to mankind.
How is 1 Tim. 5:18 a key verse supporting the inspiration of the whole Bible?
In this verse, Paul combined an Old and New Testament reference and called them both Scripture.
What does 2 Peter 1:21 say about inspiration?
“God used men and gave us a completely truthful Bible” (Ryrie, p. 79).
What does 1 Cor. 2:13 teach concerning inspiration?
“The actual words of the Bible are inspired” (Ryrie, p. 80).
True or false: God sometimes allowed human writers to compose His message using their freedom of expression.
True
How does the Scripture itself give us proof that the Bible is the Word of God?
“Throughout Scripture there is the claim, or even the assumption, of its divine origin, or its equivalency with the actual speech of the Lord” (Erickson, p. 170).
How is using the Bible to defend the Bible not circular reasoning?
The testimony of the Bible would only be circular if it settled the dispute. Additionally it’s “permissible to use the Bible as a historical document and to allow it to plead its own case” (Erickson, p. 170)
How does the Bible itself support its divine origin?
The New Testament authors believed the Scriptures available to them (the Old Testament) were God’s Word (2 Pet. 1:20-21; 2 Tim. 3:16).
How did Jesus defend the Scriptures as authoritative and inspired by God?
He never rebuked the Pharisees for their view of the nature of Scripture. He disagreed with their interpretation of it, and their adding of traditions to it. Additionally, when Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He quoted Scripture.
What is the approach of most conservative theologians in regard to the didactic material and phenomena of Scripture?
The didactic material should get the major emphasis while the phenomena is secondary.
What is didactic material of Scripture?
“Doctrine held by Jesus and the apostles (and other biblical authors) about the nature of the Bible” (Erickson, p. 176).
What is the phenomena of Scripture?
his is “what the Scriptures are actually like as opposed to what the authors thought and wrote about their own or other Biblical writers’ writing” (Erickson, p. 177).
Was inspiration tied to the office of apostle or prophet so that everything they wrote, said or did should have been recorded as the Word of God?
No. While inspiration may have happened at other times than the precise moment of writing Scripture, it did not extend to everything they did. The Scripture writers were normal human beings.
Are the very words that the writers used inspired? What about when there are discrepancies in calculations, etc. in the Bible?
Yes, the words are inspired. But God directed the thoughts of the writers and allowed their personalities to come through. He directed them to choose the words they did, and just the degree of detail that God wanted. Insignificant details may not have always harmonized with other Scripture if God was not interested in the details.
What is the “natural inspiration” view and how does it defect from the Biblical doctrine of inspiration?
The writers were geniuses who did not need supernatural guidance to write the Bible. If this were true, why can’t modern geniuses write anything as inspired as the Bible? Also, this view does not hold that the Bible is infallible.
What is the “dynamic or mystical inspiration” view and how does it defect from the Biblical doctrine of inspiration?
The writers were both natural geniuses and also Spirit-filled. Other Christian material can be just as inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Bible in this view is not infallible.
What is the “degree inspiration” view and how does it defect from the Biblical doctrine of inspiration?
In this view, some parts of the Bible are considered more inspired than others.
What is the “partial inspiration” view and how does it defect from the Biblical doctrine of inspiration?
Some parts of the Bible are inspired, while others are not at all. In this view the Bible is inspired in its purpose, but there are parts that contain errors.
What is the “concept inspiration” view and how does it defect from the Biblical doctrine of inspiration?
In this view the Biblical concepts are inspired but not actual words. The fallacy, however, is that concepts must be expressed in words. Change the words and you change the concepts.
What is “Barthian inspiration” and how does it defect from the Biblical doctrine of inspiration?
Karl Barth preached like an evangelical but his views were liberal. In the Barthian view, the important parts of Scripture are those that witness about Christ, though they are not accurate. The Bible is a human product full of errors that only becomes God’s Word to us through an existential encounter.
