God and the Bible

Question 1

How can we trust our Bibles as God’s Word? (Internal)

Answer 1

• It claims to be the Word of God (2 Tim. 3:15-17)
  SUUP:
• It’s Self-authenticating: 2 Peter 3:15-16 - Peter considers Paul’s writing as scripture
• It’s Unity. 66 books, over 40 authors but telling one story (Luke 24:27)
• Unique Power and Authority - transformed lives (Hebrews 4:12)
• Prophecy - Not of human origin (2 Peter 1:20-21). Example, Jesus’s virgin birth in Matthew 1:22-23

Question 2

How can we trust our Bibles as God’s Word? (External)

Answer 2

HIIT
- Historical accuracy
- Integrity of Authors - transformed lives and martyrs death
- Indestructibility of the Bible - stood test of time
- Textual Criticism - we can have a lot of confidence in what we have today

Question 3

How can we relate 2 Tim. 3:16-17 to NT?

Answer 3

2 Peter 3:15-16 - Peter called Paul’s writing Scripture
1 Tim. 5:18 - Paul quotes OT and NT (Luke) and calls both Scripture

Question 4

Define Inspiration

Answer 4

God-breathed and comes from one author (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

Question 5

Define General and Special Revelation

Answer 5

General - reveals himself to everyone (Psalm 19:1-6, Rom. 1:19-20)
Special - Uniquely and purposefully through his word (Psalm 19:7-14)

Question 6

Define Inerrancy (verbal and plenary)

Answer 6

inerrancy - w/o error in OG manuscripts
Verbal - every word is inspired (Matt. 5:18 - every jot and tittle)
Plenary - All Scripture, every book (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

Question 7

Define illumination

Answer 7

God helps reader understand Bible and creates conviction that its true through HS (John 16:13 - guides us into truth. 1 Cor. 2:10-16 - Spirit taught words)

Question 8

How did we come up with 66 books?

Answer 8

Canon was determined primarily by affirming what the early church was already using (well-worn paths). OT was promoted by prophets and NT was promoted by apostles (Eph. 2:20)

Question 9

Hermeneutical approach to Scripture

Answer 9

1. Literal - take it literal as possible when it makes sense to do so.
2. Historical - Grammatical - Contextual - We must these things to understand authors original intent before applying to our lives.

Question 10

Arguments for existence of God

Answer 10

COATS
1. Cosmological - There is creation, must be creator (Gen. 1:1)
2. Ontological - we can conceive of an all powerful God, one must exist (Exod. 3:14)
3. Anthropological - we have a sense of objective morality (Rom. 2:15)
4. Teleological - fine tuning of universe and design means intelligence (Rom. 1:18-20)
5. Scriptural - The Bible reveals God to us.

Question 11

Defend (describe) deity of Father

Answer 11

Psalm 139 - omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent
Gen. 1:1 - eternally existing and created everything
Isaiah 55:10-11 - omnipotent
Deut. 6:4 - the one true God.
Luke 3:22 - distinct from Son and Spirit
1 Tim. 6:16 - he alone possesses immortality.

Question 12

Explain Trinity and why its important to our faith

Answer 12

One God (substance) in three persons. (Triangle figure)
Gen. 1:1,2. John 1:1 - All there in Creation.
Luke 3:22 - all there in New creation.
Matt. 28:19 - baptized into Triune relationship

• Gives us a picture of self-giving love for relationships in our community.

Question 13

What is an attribute? What are comm and incomm. attributes of God?

Answer 13

Attribute - essential qualities that belong to God that make him God.
Inc. Psalm 139 - omni’s
Inc. Exod. 34:7 - maintaining love to thousands, forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin
Com. Exod. 34:6 - compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love, faithfulness
Inc./Com. - Holiness Isa. 6:3, 1 Pet. 1:15-16 - holy in behavior.