The Nature of Scripture

HCC Sunday School, June 19, 2011, Taught by Minister Jason Tarn

What is the Bible? Im going to assume that most of you are familiar with the Bible. You probably own a copy, perhaps multiple copies. So to begin with the question, What is the Bible? might seem a bit elementary to you. But even those who have been students of the Bible for years can still benefit from returning to the fundamentals. o But Im also assuming that some of you did not grow up in a Christian home or in a church. Some of you grew up in an environment or society that was far more skeptical and hostile towards the Bible than most of us born in the States. So perhaps youve only recently opened a Bible to see for yourself what it has to say. To you, answering the question, What is the Bible? will help you lay a foundation upon which you can have confidence in the scriptures as the very Word of God. Last Sunday, I introduced people to Charles Templeton, the popular preacher and mass evangelist who was a friend and ministry partner with Billy Graham back in the 40s. Sadly, he eventually deserted the faith and his friend Billy, and became a staunch agnostic. o One of the many reversals in his religious convictions had to do with the nature of Scripture. He once believed the Bible to be the very Word of God, but not anymore. In his biography, Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith, he writes, The agnostic asserts that, rather than the Word of God, the Holy Bible is only one of many holy books in which various peoples at various times in human history have set down their beliefs about the source of being and the meaning and purpose of life. The agnostic asserts further that the Old Testament is simply the compilation of various attempts by a Middle Eastern Semitic people (the Jews) to preserve in written form their beliefs about the nature of God, his creation of the world, and his dealings with his Chosen People. He asserts that the New Testament is essentially the collected record of the conclusions of a number of Palestinian Jews concerning Jesus of Nazareth, including their belief that he was the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. In other words, if you were to ask Templeton, What is the Bible?, he would probably say it is a human book that contains the human effort of an ancient people to wrestle with and answer humanitys deepest questions. But if that is all the Bible is, then it would contain no inherent authority. It would not (and cannot) make any demands of us. It can only offer ancient wisdom that we are free to apply to our modern context or just ignore altogether if it doesnt fit our modern values. o But is that it? Is the Bible merely a product of human wisdom and creativity? If so, then why read it, and why would any submit themselves to obey what it says? That would be foolish if it was just a human product. But Im convinced that while the Bible is a product of human hands -- the Bible is far more.

Gods Special Revelation to Humanity What is the Bible? I would start by saying: The Bible is revelation. That word refers to the revealing or unveiling of something hidden so that it may be seen and known. In our case, what is hidden is God and revelation is making him known. If you think about it, Christianity is a religion of revelation. Unlike other faiths, you dont come to know the divine through introspection and self-discovery. No, you need God to come to you and disclose himself through revelation. In other words, if we are ever to know God, he needs to act first. He needs to reveal. o Unlike some other religions, Christianity makes a clear distinction between Creator and creature. Now as Creator, Gods knowledge includes our self-knowledge, that is he knows our thoughts better than we do. But as creatures, our self-knowledge does not include Gods self-knowledge. That means we cant read his mind. We would not know who God is and what he wants of us unless he reveals it. And thankfully our God has. Now we can also distinguish between the two forms of divine revelation, general vs. special. General revelation can be defined as the active manifestation of God to the perception and consciousness of all human beings. (Berkhof) In other words, it is Gods way of revealing Himself through what we see and feel, and its called general because this form of revelation is general both in content and audience. o The content is general in that it reveals the knowledge of Gods existence and creative power. It discloses God to be our Creator. But this revelation is general in the sense that it is not revealed how one can be in relationship to this Creator. The key text is Romans 1:20, For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. And notice that the audience of this revelation is general, meaning this knowledge of a Creator is universal. But Pauls argument is that because of our unrighteousness, we suppress that truth. Yet at the end of the day, we are without excuse because Gods invisible attributes are clearly perceived. Now there is also a distinction made between mediate general revelation and immediate general revelation. In mediate general revelation, God uses the medium of creation to reveal Himself. Romans 1 says Gods invisible attributes are clearly seen in the things that have been made. Psalm 19:1, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies proclaim his handiwork. So the heavens, with its vast expanses and celestial beauty, are the medium through which God communicates something of his vastness and his own beauty. o Then there is immediate general revelation where God communicates directly to our inner consciences without use of a medium. This is the idea that every single person has the law of God written on their hearts.

Romans 2:14-15a, [14] For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. [15] They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. o Since we are all made in the image of God, even people who do have access to the written law of God, are still conscious of the law because it is written on their hearts. And being conscious of the law makes you inherently conscious of a Law-Giver. Yet again, general revelation is sufficient to reveal that there exists both a Creator and a LawGiver AND sufficient to hold us accountable to this truth, BUT because we live in a Genesis 3 world with fallen, depraved minds, we naturally suppress this truth. o Therefore, general revelation is insufficient to save. It is insufficient to make us wise for salvation (2 Tim. 3:15). For that we need Gods special revelation of Himself. Special revelation is Gods revelation of Himself that far surpasses general revelation in clarity and fullness. Now we normally associate special revelation with written scripture, but it can assume more than one form. o In the Bible, we encounter special revelations of God in the form of theophanies, visions, miracles, direct divine speaking and writing, prophetic speaking and writing, and apostolic speaking and writing. But the apex of Gods special revelation took form in the incarnation of the Son of God. Hebrews 1:1-2a, Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. Through the Son, we have the clearest and fullest revelation of the Father. Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature (Heb. 1:3). He is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). Jesus said, Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. (Jn. 14:9) Therefore, to know God and to be in relationship with Him, we must know Jesus and be in relationship with Jesus. But Jesus, the Incarnate Word, is only known through what we read in the Written Word. Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God, but Jesus is only accessible to us through the scriptures, the Bible. o So what is the Bible? We can answer this way: The Bible is Gods special revelation of Himself to humankind in written form. Or in other words, the Bible is the written word of God about God to Man. And as we said, special revelation is superior to general revelation in that general can only lead you to the knowledge of a Creator and Law-Giver, but special revelation can reveal the Redeemer (his name is Jesus) and how you can be in relationship with him. o Also general revelation has no power to transform our depraved minds that naturally suppress the truth. It can only convict of our need for salvation. But special revelation is sufficient to make wise for salvation through faith in Christ (2 Tim. 3:15), and more so it is able to transform and open our blind eyes to see and savor the truth.

Two Testaments, One Storyline So the Bible is special revelation from and about God in written form. More specifically it is a unified book made up of a collection of writings that span over 1600 years. There are 66 books in total, which are divided between two larger sections that we call testaments. o The word testament comes from the Latin for covenant or agreement. In other words, the basic division in the Bible is between two covenantal relationships that God established between Himself and humanity. The first covenant was ratified at Mt. Sinai between God and the nation of Israel. It was certainly centered around the Law of Moses but it was still rooted in grace, for remember, God had already redeemed Israel from slavery, out of sheer mercy, before giving the Law. But though the Law written on stone was a good gift, it was powerless to change their sinful hearts. That is why even within the old covenant it pointed forward to a promised new covenant where God would draw a people to himself from all nations and write the law on their hearts, joyfully constraining them to obedience (Jer. 31:31). So it makes sense that all the books containing the Gods dealings with his chosen covenant people would be called the Old Covenant or Testament. o Well this promised new covenant was ratified on the night our Lord was betrayed when he took the cup that symbolized the new covenant in his blood (Lk. 22:20). So because Jesus death and resurrection established Gods promised new covenant with his people, it only makes sense for the books that witness to and explain this covenant to be collectively called the New Testament. The Old Testament (covenant) contains 39 books of various literary genres (i.e. historical narratives, poetry, proverbs, prophesy, etc.). And the New Testament is made up of 27 books of varying genre (i.e. historical narrative, letters, parables, etc.). o Considering all 66 books, we are talking about 40 different authors spanning over 60 different generations. And granted some of them were kings and poets and wise men, many of the authors were of humble profession, shepherds and fishermen. Some wrote their books in lofty palaces but others from lowly dungeons. And these 66 books were written in different languages. Hebrew with a little Aramaic in the Old and Greek in the New. So with such vast diversity between the various authors and their times and places, you would think that a compilation of their writings into a unified book would produce a hodgepodge of literature with no real flow or connection between the books. You would expect mass chaos and contradiction, but surprisingly, instead we find continuity and an overarching storyline.

The Bible not only explains the origin of the universe (God made everything). It also explains the origin of sin, suffering, disease and death (a result of human rebellion and sins curse on creation). But the Bible also contains great promises of God to rescue humanity along with all of creation from the grips of sin, death and decay. o The Old Testament contains these great promises, which are to be fulfilled by a Messiah, a Christ, who would defeat sin and Satan and ultimately renew all things. And the New Testament discloses the person and work of this Messiah whose name is Jesus. Were told that all the promises of God find their Yes in him (2 Cor. 1:20). The Organization of the Bible Now lets consider the organization of the Bible. If it consists of 66 books, how are they complied together? Whats the method to the madness? o The first three-fourths of the Bible was written roughly between 1400BC and 430BC, and this is section is Old Testament. The last one-fourth was written roughly between AD45 to AD90. Now the Old Testament is broken down into 5 categories. o Law/Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy) - These five are commonly called the Books of Moses or the Pentateuch (Greek for five books). o History (Joshua to Esther) - These twelve books recount Gods dealing with Israel once they enter the Promised Land. o Wisdom Literature (Job to Song of Solomon) - These five books include a range of genres that all fit under the classification of ancient wisdom literature. o Major Prophets (Isaiah to Daniel) - These five books are called major not because they are of greater importance but simply because they are longer in length. o Minor Prophets (Hosea to Malachi) - These twelve books are shorter. If you visited a synagogue today and picked up their Hebrew Bible, youll notice the order is completely different. The Jewish Bible is organized under three divisions: Law, Prophets, and Writings. So it begins with Genesis but the last book in the Hebrew Bible is 2 Chronicles. o Note Jesus reference to the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah in Luke. 11:49-51. He also alluded to this threefold division when he spoke of the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms in Luke 24:44 (sometimes the Writings was referred to by its longest book Psalms). The change in order that is reflected in our English Bibles happened when the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek and Latin. Now the New Testament can be broken down into three main categories. o Gospels and Acts of the Apostles (Matthew to Acts) - Following Jesus resurrection and ascension, the stories of Jesus acts and teaching was passed along as oral tradition, which was safeguarded by eyewitnesses, most importantly the apostles. As the apostles began dying off, the oral tradition was preserved in authoritative writings that we call the Gospels written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Luke also wrote a

second volume called the Acts of the Apostles which explains how the Holy Spirit came and propelled the early church to the ends of the earth. o Pauline Letters (Romans to Philemon) - Among Pauls letters the first nine are written to churches and the last four are to individuals. o General Letters and Revelation (Hebrews to Revelation) - The last category covers letters written by other Apostles and the Revelation to John, which is a mixed genre including letters, prophecy and apocalyptic literature. Since it points to the end of this age, it is fitting to be the last book. Who Wrote the Bible? So we considered the nature of the Bible as the written Word of God about God, and we considered its overall purpose and organization. Now the last question is this: Who wrote the Bible - human authors or a divine author? How did the Word of God go from the mind of God to ink on papyrus? And how can we trust that it is Gods words and not just mans? o Well a related term to revelation is inspiration. You may have heard it said that the Bible is the inspired Word of God or that the Bible was given to us by divine inspiration. Inspiration refers to the process by which Gods self-revelation has been consigned to the written words of the Bible. As one theologian puts it, It is that activity of the Spirit of God whereby he superintended the human authors of Scripture so that their writings became normative expression in human language of Gods Word to humanity. Now everyone who professes to be a Christian would agree that the Bible is inspired and would call it the Word of God. But there would differ when defining exactly what that means. There are five main theories of inspiration: o The Intuition Theory: This view sees the biblical authors as great thinkers who exhibit a natural religious intuition much like other religious thinkers and philosophers. So when we read the Bible we find it inspiring. So someone can say they love their Bibles, but since they dont attribute anything supernatural to it, it holds as much authority over them as the writings of Confucius. o The Illumination Theory: This view suggest that the Spirit of God in some way objectively impressed knowledge of Himself upon the biblical authors, but not in a way that is essentially different from how God communicates with all humanity. Its a difference of degree and not kind. o The Dynamic Theory: This view teaches that God gave definite concepts to the biblical authors but gave them the freedom to communicate those concepts in their own words. In other words, the main idea of the passage is determined by the divine author but the exact wording is up to the human author.

o The Dictation Theory: This view assumes that God dictated the whole Bible for the human authors to copy down like court stenographers. This would imply that the human authors had no choice in the wording or phrasing of what they wrote down. o The Verbal Plenary Theory: This view affirms a dual authorship of Scripture. That means while the Scriptures have a human element because the biblical authors were fully engaged in the writing process, incorporating their own personalities and styles, God superintended the process so that every word recorded was the word he intended to record AND every meaning intended by the human author he intended to mean. We call it verbal because we mean that the actual words are inspired not just the ideas of Scripture or its intent. And plenary means that all the words are inspired not just the words or passages deemed important for salvation. This last theory is considered the biblical view because of passages like 2 Timothy 3:16, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. Where it says breathed out, that is the word theopneustos, which literally means God breathed. Well in Latin the word for to breath or blow into is inspire, so we get inspiration. But a better word would be aspiration. o You see, inspiration can give the wrong impression that God breathed into human writings to grant them divine authorization. That the Scriptures were first the words of man but then God breathes into it (inspires it) and it becomes the words of God. Rather, 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all Scripture is a divine produce breathed out from God without specifically explaining how. But again this is no way rules out the human authorship of Scripture. To explain how there could be dual authors, we have to consider 2 Peter 1:21, For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. o So the authors of Scripture wrote down what they were thinking but they were not just thinking their own thoughts. They were carried along by the Holy Spirit as they wrote. In other words, the human authors were the divine instruments God used to reveal his Word. But we must be careful to never stress the divine authorship of Scripture over against its human authorship. We have to keep a balanced view of dual authorship. As an example look at Mark 12:36. Here Jesus quotes Psalm 110, which was written by David, and note how he says, David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared. When David wrote Psalm 110 he himself wrote the quoted verse but it was done in the Holy Spirit, another way of saying being carried along by the Holy Spirit.

One helpful analogy is to compare the Incarnate Word with the Written Word. Just as the Incarnate Word has two natures, one divine and one human, perfectly contained in one person. In similar fashion, the Written Word has two authorships, one divine and one human, perfectly contained in one book. o Think about it. Mary delivered Jesus through a natural birth, so the casual observer might think Jesus is simply human, but he was actually divine having been conceived by the Spirit. Similarly, the biblical writers wrote down their thoughts, so the casual observer might think the Bible is simply human words, but it is also Gods words having been superintended by the Spirit. And just as Mary had other children after Jesus who were merely human. The biblical writers wrote other things that were merely human words, not inspired. o So just as you cannot parse between Jesus humanity and his divinity, you cannot parse between a purely human thought in Scripture and a purely divine thought. All of Scripture is a human product and all of Scripture is a divine product. Implications There will always be an element of mystery as to the precise way the Bible was produced by dual authorship. But that is to be expected for mystery always accompanies Gods dealings with creatures. Just as we cannot fully comprehend how God became incarnate in a Man, but still believe it. We can believe that the Bible, though written by over 40 human hands, has one, ultimate author who is weaving his message of redemption in Christ through every page of scripture. o That means there is a very distinct and clear purpose of the Bible. It is to make a person wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 3:15). It is a book to be loved, cherished and poured over in careful study and heart-felt worship. But the Bible is never an end in itself. Jesus condemned the bible scholars of his day for diligently studying the Scriptures because they think that in them you have eternal life, when it is they that bear witness about Him (Jn. 5:39). So the whole goal of the Bible is to bring us to Christ, to know Him and trust Him for the forgiveness of our sins and the possession of eternal life in relationship with the Triune God. If the Bible is Gods very own words, then youd expect to find mysteries in it. Why are we so surprised to discover things that are hard to harmonize or truth claims that challenge our modern sensibilities? If the Infinite, All-Wise God of the Universe spoke to you, dont you think there will a few things you dont quite understand? If the Bible is Gods very own words, then everything it teaches must be carefully affirmed and obeyed even if it is unpopular. There are a number of issues that the Bible addresses where it comes out in direct opposition to the values of our contemporary culture. Where will you stand? Above the inspired Word, in judgment over it? Or under the inspired Word, in submission to its goodness and truthfulness.