Lesson 4 Flashcards
How is God’s Word supremely authoritative?
By virtue of his being and works, the triune God rightfully exercises sovereign authory over his creatures (Ps 95:1-7a). The triune king exercises sovereign authory over rational creatures in His Word.
In the gospel, the triune God exercises his sovereign authority for our saving, sanctifying, and perfecting good (Mark 2:5-12) and for his glory (Rev 5:9-12).
Because it is the Word of God the triune king, the Bible has supreme authority for faith and life.
Because it is the Word of God the triune king, The Bible’s authority is supreme over all other sources of authority
Due to its supremacy, the Bible’s authority is self-authenticating
What does it mean for the Bible to be trustworthy?
Because it is the Word of God, the bible is wholly true and trustworthy, neither deceived nor deceiving.
The truth of Holy Scripture is consistent with its content and aims as well as with our capacity for understanding.
Because it is wholly true and trustworthy, the Holy Scripture is a sure foundation for faith and life to the glory of God (1 Tim 1:15; 4:9)
What are the objections to the trustworthyness of the Bible?
- Origen: intentional, superficial errors drive us to deeper, spiritual truth
- Apparent internal contradictions: Gospels, citation of OT in NT
- Andrew McGowan: inerrancy is a rationalistic deduction. It is not in scripture but derived from Scripture by Prodistant.
- Inerrancy undermines the humanity (intrinsic fallibility) of Scripture
What are responses to objections of the trustworthyness of Scripture?
- I think it is extremely dangerous to admit that anything in the Sacred Books should be a lie; that is, that the men who have composed and written the Scriptures for us should have lied in their books. . . If we once admit in that supreme authority even one well-intentioned lie, there will be nothing left of those books, because, whenever anyone finds something difficult to practice or hard to believe, he will follow this most dangerous precedent and explain it as the idea or practice of a lying author. Augustine
- wiser to acknowledge our own ignorance than to suppose any contradiction - Turretin
- ii. Every philosophical, historical, and scientific discipline has its own ambiguities and contradictions (Augustine on science; Bavinck more broadly). Thus, in the case of every supposed external contradiction with Scripture, we face the question of our supreme allegiance to our supreme authority. In facing this question, it is important to remember that in determining which authority we trust, we are also determining whose authority we trust. The personal authority of Jesus and the trustworthiness of Scripture go hand in hand. (Plato’s third form of atheism.)
- h. Debates regarding biblical inerrancy are never merely about the phenomena of Scripture. They are ultimately also spiritual in nature. “If Scripture is the account of the revelation of God in Christ, it is bound to arouse the same opposition as Christ himself who came into the world for judgment . . . and is ‘set for the fall and rising of many’ [Luke 2:34]” (Bavinck).
What is the difference between material sufficiency and formal sufficiency?
Material Sufficiency:
Scripture is sufficient for salvation and godliness. Scripture does not teach us everything about everything.
God’s Word through his Son, ministered by the prophetic and apostolic writings, is his final and foundational Word for salvation and godliness short of the beatific vision: Heb 1:1-4, 2:1-4; Eph 2:20; 2 Pet 1:19
Formal Sufficiency:
Scripture is “self-interpreting,” its own final context for determining its meaning.
The sufficiency of Scripture does not entail the self-sufficiency of the individual reader independent of the failthful teaching ministry of the church or of the illuminating work of the spirit.
How does the Holy Spirit cause the reception of Scripture?
1 Cor 2:14-16; 1 Thess 1:5-6; 2:13; WCF 1.4-5
**Q: In what does the internal testimony of the Spirit Consist? **
A: The Spirit’s work in persuading us to receive God’s own testimony on Holy Scripture as true and trustworthy.
God's testimonly in Scripture is God's personal mode of communication.
Faith is our personal mode of receiving God's testimony in Scriputure.
Q. How does the interal testimony of the Spirit Work?
A. The Spirit effectually converts the human mind and will by means of God’s testimony in Holy Scripture.
The internal testimony of the Spirit does not execlude the servant role of proofs.
No does the internal testimony of the Spirit exclude a servant role for divinely ordained means of transmitting the Bible and biblical teaching (e.g. reading and interpretation, preaching, teaching, and tradition)
Nertheless, the interanl testimony of the Spirit does not rely upon proofs or upon the ordinances of the church for its efficacy.
What is the Clarity of Scripture?
- Because God is light, his Word is radiant and clear (Ps 19:8). Consequently, the Bible’s basic message of salvation and its basic requirements for life in God’s presence are sufficiently clear that, under the Spirit’s tutelage, and by means of the ordinary practices of reading, all regenerate saints may perceive, receive, and respond to its teaching
a. The clarity of Scripture is an expression of God’s fatherly goodness (Deut 30:11-14; 29:29).
b. Because the clarity of Scripture pertains to a book, it is clear message is appropriated through (someone’s) ordinary practices (public and private) of reading (Matt 13:52; 2 Tim 2:7, 15).
c. The clarity of Scripture does not entail that the first, most “self-evident” reading of Scripture is the true meaning of Scripture.
What is meant by The Sufficiency of Scripture?
The God who gives us our daily bread to sustain our mortal lives has also given us in his authoritative, trustworthy, and clear Word all the wisdom we need for salvation, doctrine, and godliness as we make our pilgrimage to his eternal kingdom (Deut 8:3; 2 Pet 1:3; 2 Tim 3:15, 16-17).
The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the word; and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the word, which are always to be observed.” (WCF 1.6)
