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Christian Theology Exam 1
Terms in this set (40)
God's disclosure of himself and his purposes
God reveals himself through nature, history, and humans.
God reveals himself through historical events, divine speech, and Jesus.
The Bible communicates propositional truth about a personal God.
Propositional truth can be inscripturated, i.e., written down.
Later revelation compliments and completes earlier revelation.
The Holy Spirit guided divinely appointed authors to write the Bible.
Clarification of Divine Inspiration
The Bible originated with God and its inscripturation was caused by God.
Divine inspiration was unique to the biblical authors when they wrote Scripture.
God did not bypass human agency in the process of inspiration.
Inspiration does not apply to manuscript copies or translations.
Importance: The doctrine of inspiration determines...
Authoritative list of inspired writings.
Method of interpretation.
Relevance of the Bible for today
The biblical authors had a high degree of religious insight. This insight is not unique to the biblical authors.
The Holy Spirit sensitized the authors. Based upon this heighted awareness, the human authors were able to write Scripture.
Inspiration was a cooperative effort in which God provided the authors with general concepts. The author's literary ability and personality determined the choice of genre, grammar, and words.
Inspiration was a cooperative effort in which God provided human authors with specific words. Prior to inspiration, God prepared the authors to write his word in the Bible.
Inspiration was entirely a divine process in which God verbally dictated specific words, whether audibly or not. The human authors were passive instruments.
Each word is divinely inspired.
All Scripture is divinely inspired.
Implications of Inspiration
Bible has unity.
Bible is reliable.
Bible is authoritative.
Unity of Scripture
The Bible is consistent and coherent.
Forty-four authors wrote sixty-six books over a 1500 year period.
Inspiration implies that God is the ultimate author of the entire Bible.
Implications of the Unity of Scripture
The Bible does not contradict itself.
We can use Scripture to interpret Scripture (analogy of faith).
It is possible to construct a systematic theology from the Bible.
The Bible is truthful and trustworthy.
The Bible is neither misleading nor unfailing in its purpose.
Qualifications of Full Inerrancy
A qualification is a limitation or stipulation. Frequently, qualifications are used to clarify a definition or position. For example, the statement, "murder is wrong," is absolute. When pressed, however, the person who asserts this statement might admit that their definition of murder allows for killing in self-defense, capital punishment, and war. The person still believes that murder is wrong but they have clarified (qualified) what they mean by murder.
-In the same way, many who hold to the doctrine of inerrancy, find it necessary to clarify the definition: The Bible is without error. In particular, they qualify what they mean by an error.
The Bible is true in all that it affirms, whether spiritual matters or matters of history and science. Those who hold to full inerrancy, however, qualify their definition by explaining what constitutes an error. Proponents: Harold O.J. Brown, Harold Hoehner, D. James Kennedy, Charles Ryrie, J.I. Packer, Gleason Archer, James Boice, Walter Kaiser, John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, Roger Nicole, Millard Erickson, Wayne Grudem, Norman Geisler, D.A. Carson.
The Bible is without error. Proponent: Harold Lindsell.
The Bible is without error on matters of faith and practice. Inerrancy, however, does not apply to issues of history and science. Proponents: James Orr, G.C. Berkouwer, Dewey Beegle, Paul Jewett, Daniel Fuller, Stephen Davis, William LaSor, Jack Rogers, Donald McKim.
According to this argument, inerrancy has been the historical position of the church, even if the specific term "inerrancy" was not used. This argument traces the concept of inerrancy from the early church to the Reformers. For example, consider the words of the early church father, Augustine (354-430): "I have learned to yield this respect and honour only to the canonical books of scripture: of these alone do I most firmly believe that the authors were completely free from error. And if in these writings I am perplexed by anything which appears to me opposed to truth, I do not hesitate to suppose that either the manuscript is faulty, or the translator has not caught the meaning of what was said, or I myself have failed to understand it" (Augustine, Letter, 82.3). Challenges to belief in inerrancy, according to this argument, are relatively recent (1920s).
This argument states that it is impossible to distinguish the historical from the theological in Scripture, as required by limited inerrancy. The Bible simply cannot be divided into nice neat categories. For example, is the creation account historical or theological? Is the Exodus account historical or theological? Is Jesus' resurrection historical or theological? The point is that the Bible does not allow itself to be easily divided into the categories of historical and theological.
Slippery Slope Argument
According to this argument, compromise on the doctrine of inerrancy will lead to compromise on other doctrines. For example, if the Bible contains errors, why should we trust the accounts of Jesus' incarnation or resurrection? Why should we trust that the words attributed to Jesus in the gospels are reliable? The history of American denominations provides sufficient support for the slippery slope argument.
The Bible is entirely true in all that it affirms.
According to the biblical argument, the Bible testifies to its own inerrancy. Consider the following verses: "And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times" (Ps. 12:6). "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him" (Pr. 30:5). "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of the pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished" (Mt. 5:18). "[T]he Scripture cannot be broken" (Jn. 10:35). The internal evidence of the Bible suggests that it is to be trusted because it is without error.
This argument uses a syllogism to prove the inerrancy of Scripture. If the two premises are accepted, then the conclusion is necessarily true.
-Proposition 1: God's word is without error.
-Proposition 2: The Bible is God's word.
-Conclusion: The Bible is without error.
The right to prescribe action in others.
Two Types of Authority
Imperial Authority. Right to enforce action (extrinsic).
Veracious Authority. Recognition of authority due to knowledge (intrinsic).
As Creator, God has inherent authority to command belief and obedience.
God has authority even if it is not recognized or acknowledged.
God has bestowed authority on the Bible.
The Bible has delegated (or derivative) authority.
Issues for the Doctrine of Authority
Does authority require inspiration?
Does authority require inerrancy?
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