Theology: Scripture

Theology for everyday life
Lesson 2: Scripture

What are names we use for the Scriptures?

What is the Bible?
The Christian Bible is divided into two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The Old Testament
The Old Testament is divided into three parts: The Law, The Prophets and the Writings and together make up 39 books.

The New Testament
The New Testament is divided into four parts: Gospels, History, Letters (Pauline and General) and Prophecy. Together they make up 27 books.

Canonization
The process that brought together the books of the Bible is called canonization. Canon is a word that means “Rule”. Some people think that this occurred through church councils hundreds of years after Jesus’ resurrection. This is not necessarily true. While there were church councils and at those councils certain books were listed as being considered Scripture this was not the primary purpose of the councils. The councils were designed to deal with issues of false teachings which at times were the result of erroneous material passing itself off as having been authored by an apostle.
The books of the New Testament were for the most part accepted early on based on the authorship (An apostle or associate of an apostle) and its intended purpose (present the Gospel or instruction). The letters of Paul (often the most controversial) were among to the first to be recognized as Scripture.

The Lost Gospels
Every few years someone claims to have uncovered a Lost Gospel or found a missing book of the Bible. (Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code for example). None of these so called Lost Gospels or missing books were ever lost or missing. They have been known about from their beginning and rejected from the start as being false in their authorship and in their teachings. At no time were any of these thought to be Scripture by the church at large and therefore they were never removed or hidden from the world.

There are three things that make the Scriptures unique.

1. Sole Authority
One of the major attributes that separates Scripture from all other literary material is its authority. It is recognized as the final and sole authority in Christian life. Religious experience, individual conscience, human reason and tradition are all secondary to the Scripture.
The Scripture is not a book of wise sayings or suggestions but is the sole authority by which a Christian must examine their thoughts and actions in life.
When presented with challenges we must respond, “What does the Scriptures say?”

It is able to claim this sole authority because it is the product of Inspiration and Revelation from God.

2. Inspiration
As I shared last week, the Scriptures were written by human beings but they did so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
A modern reading of that statement makes one to assume that God laid an idea on a persons heart but the person wrote as they felt led. That would be an incorrect understand of the word inspired .
When we say inspired we are saying that despite human authorship the Scriptures are of divine origin and supernatural nature.
a. Divine origin
2 Timothy 3:16
Being of divine origin in no way denies that humans were involved in the writings of the Scriptures nor does it suppose that they merely acted a recording devices. Instead, it recognizes that what they wrote (despite their different personalities , cultural bias, or historical placement) was what God wanted recorded. It is for this reason, that God is seen as the true author of the Bible.
b. Supernatural in nature
Because Scripture is due to the inspiration of God and originated from Him the Scriptures hold supernatural qualities.
1. They are the Words of God
John 10: 35
2. They are Infallible and Inerrant
Another way of saying this is, the Bible is without error or contradiction, it does not contain falsehoods or mislead.
There is a circular thinking that goes with this idea. If the Scriptures do have errors or contradictions then it cannot be God’s word, because God does not lie or contradict Himself. If the Scriptures are the Word of God then they must also be free of error and contradiction.

But the infallibility and inerrancy of the Scripture can be defended without appeal to it being God’s word. It has proven to be extremely accurate in its historical references, in prophecies, and in its practice. Many assumed falsehoods or contradictions have later been explained through archeological finds and better translations of the original text.

3. Divine authority
Lastly, being that the Scriptures are divinely inspired (God’s word, Infallible and Inerrant) then they also act with divine authority. What they call us to do and the way we are to conduct our lives are not laws mandated or created by humans but are divinely mandated by God.

3. Revelation
How these authors receive their inspiration is part of a larger question: “How do humans know God?” The answer is revelation
As Christians we believe that God reveals himself to us. This revealing by God is Revelation (I am not talking about the New Testament book).

God does this in two ways: General revelation and Special revelation.
General revelation is how God reveals himself in the concept of order in the universe, beauty in nature, the concept of right and wrong, and even in humans ability to reason.
It is God revealed apart from the Scriptures and it is effective in revealing to humanity its sin nature. It reveals that something has gone very wrong.
Rom 1:20, Rom 2: 14-16
But it is inadequate in providing the solution. To this we must turn to special revelation.

Special revelation is God revealing Himself in supernatural ways. The two most common is that of miracles and that of the Scriptures. The Scriptures are Special Revelation.
Hebrews 1:1
Special revelation is necessary because General revelation does not disclose the means of salvation. Special revelation does, as seen in the Scriptures.
Special revelation is also necessary because we are blinded by sin and therefore it is only through special revelation we are made aware of our situation and the means of salvation.
Col 3: 10

This still begs the question of how exactly does special revelation work, how does God put the right words in a person’s mind, how does he make sure what he wants written is written? The exact means is a mystery. By mystery I do not mean it cannot be understood but, that we do not understand. Our sinful nature blinds us to the understanding. What is clear is that special revelation is supernatural in action. It is God’s intervention into the natural structure of life.

Will there be any new books to the Bible
The question of special revelation presents a very interesting question, “Will there be any new books of the Bible?” The answer is no. While God still acts through special revelation the Scriptures are complete. All we need to know in understanding God’s plan of salvation and our role is found within the Scripture. There is no need to take away and there is no need to add.