November 12th Class Notes

Sorry this has taken so long to post. I'm going to be posting versions that aren't highly formatted in order to reduce some of the strangeness I've encountered in the past with Blogger.

Lesson 2: The Bible

The Bible
We believe that the books of the Old and New Testament, comprising the Holy Bible, are the inspired Word of God. We believe that the Holy Spirit supervised the writers of the Scriptures in what they wrote so that, using their own peculiar personalities, the very words recorded in the original manuscripts are the true revelation of God. We believe the Bible not only contains the Word of God but actually is God's Word and, therefore, is the complete and final authority for belief and behavior. We believe that this inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts of Scripture: historically, poetically, doctrinally, and prophetically. (II Tim. 3:16; II Peter 1:21; I Cor. 2:13; John 17:17)

General vs. Special Revelation
General Revelation – Primary texts Rom. 1:18-21; 2:12-15
The “Roman Road” of need:
Rom. 1:18-21, 2:12-15 -> Rom. 3:10-12 -> Rom. 10:12-15
Special Revelation provides the foundation for saving faith:

• Knowledge (notitia)
• Assent (assensus)
• Trust (fiducia)

Inspiration
We believe that the books of the Old and New Testament, comprising the Holy Bible, are the inspired Word of God.
Primary texts 2 Tim. 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:20-21
Reasons (besides Scripture itself) for believing in inspiration

1. Prophetic fulfillment
2. Historical accuracy
3. Internally consistent
4. Influential

Holy Spirit
We believe that the books of the Old and New Testament, comprising the Holy Bible, are the inspired Word of God. We believe that the Holy Spirit supervised the writers of the Scriptures in what they wrote.

• John 14:26 - Teach all things and bring to remembrance the teachings of Jesus
• John 15:26-27 - Testifies of Jesus
• John 16:8 - Convinces of sin, righteousness, and judgment
• John 16:13 - Guide into all truth

Perspicacity
We believe that the books of the Old and New Testament, comprising the Holy Bible, are the inspired Word of God. We believe that the Holy Spirit supervised the writers of the Scriptures in what they wrote so that, using their own peculiar personalities, the very words recorded in the original manuscripts are the true revelation of God.

• 5,000 ancient manuscript fragments
• None agree in every detail but no discrepancy touches on an area of doctrinal importance and all substantial variants would only fill ½ a page of printed text

Criteria for Evaluating Variants

1. External Evidence: Date of manuscript, geographical distribution of variant
2. Internal Evidence: More difficult reading preferred, shorter preferred, verbal dissidence to near texts preferred
3. Intrinsic Evidence: Author style, Aramaic basis (in Jesus’ sayings), priority of Mark (for Gospel evaluations)

Inerrancy 1
We believe that the books of the Old and New Testament, comprising the Holy Bible, are the inspired Word of God. We believe that the Holy Spirit supervised the writers of the Scriptures in what they wrote so that, using their own peculiar personalities, the very words recorded in the original manuscripts are the true revelation of God. We believe the Bible not only contains the Word of God but actually is God's Word and, therefore, is the complete and final authority for belief and behavior. We believe that this inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts of Scripture: historically, poetically, doctrinally, and prophetically. (II Tim. 3:16; II Peter 1:21; I Cor. 2:13; John 17:17)

Inerrancy 2

1. Absolute
2. Full
3. Partial (Doctrine & Practice)
4. Infallibility
5. Accomodated
6. Neo-Orthodox

(these are ordered by decreasing strength/view of reliability)