Biblical%20Inerrancy - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Title: Biblical%20Inerrancy


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Biblical Inerrancy
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The Meaning of Inerrancy

• The inerrancy of Scripture means that Scripture
  in the original manuscripts does not affirm
  anything that is contrary to fact.
• from Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem
• (as are most of the following notes)

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Inerrancy

• Four Questions
• Can the Scriptures err and Christianity still be
  true?
• Can the Scriptures err and still be inspired?
• Do the Scriptures contain inconsistencies?
• How do we explain the apparent contradictions?

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The Meaning of Inerrancy

• The Bible always tells the truth
• concerning everything it talks about (science,
  history, etc.)
• Psalm 126
• The words of the Lord are pure words,
  like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
  purified seven times.

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Three Considerations

• 1. The Bible Can be Inerrant and Still Speak in
  the Ordinary Language of Everyday Speech
• The sun can rise and the rain can fall
• Precision is not always important
• 8,000 fell in battle (not 7,823 or 8,242)
• 1 mile (not 1.27 mile)
• A container 10 cubits in diameter can have a
  circumference of 30 cubits

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Three Considerations

• 2. The Bible Can Be Inerrant and Still Include
  Loose or Free Quotations
• Elliot said, I will come to the house to eat in
  two minutes.
• Elliot said that he would return home for supper
  right away.

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Three Considerations

• 3. It Is Consistent With Inerrancy to Have
  Unusual or Uncommon Grammatical Constructions in
  the Bible
• It aint so can be a true statement
• Some language is elegant, some is rough-hewn

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Common Challenges to Inerrancy

• 1. Is it misleading to speak of an inerrant
  Bible if we have no inerrant manuscripts?
• For over 95 of the Bible we know what the
  original autograph said.
• For the few exceptions, the general sense of the
  sentence is usually quite clear from the context.
• Our modern Bibles identify variants in marginal
  notes.

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Common Challenges to Inerrancy

• 2. Is the Bible Only Authoritative for Faith
  and Practice?
• Does it sometimes err on other issues such as
  science and history?
• Some who would claim that the Bible is infallible
  (meaning in faith and practice) would hesitate
  to use the word inerrant.
• How do we decide which parts are faith and
  practice?

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The Bible Is True in All Things

• 2 Timothy 316 declares that Scripture is
  God-breathed.
• Proverbs 305
• Every word of God proves true he is a shield
  to those who take refuge in him.
• Acts 2414
• But this I confess to you, that according to
  the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the
  God of our fathers, believing everything laid
  down by the Law and written in the Prophets

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• Or, is it as Rudolf Bultmann wrote
• Mans knowledge and mastery of the world have
  advanced to such an extent through science and
  technology that it is no longer possible for
  anyone seriously to hold the New Testament view
  of the worldin fact, there is no one who does.
  What meaning, for instance, can we attach to such
  phrases in the creed as descended into hell or
  ascended into heaven? It is impossible to use
  electric light and the wireless and to avail
  ourselves of modern medical and surgical
  discoveries, and at the same time to believe in
  the New Testament world of spirits and miracles.

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The Bible Is True in All Things

• Matthew 1240, Christ speaking
• For just as Jonah was three days and three
  nights in the belly of the great fish, so will
  the Son of Man be three days and three nights in
  the heart of the earth.
• Luke 427, Christ speaking
• And there were many lepers in Israel in the
  time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was
  cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."

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• Luke 1729, 32 Christ speaking -
• but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom,
  fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed
  them all Remember Lots wife.

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Alleged Errors in the Bible
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Inerrancy

• Alleged Error 1
• 2 Samuel 1018
• versus
• 1 Chronicles 1918

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Inerrancy
2 Samuel 1018 But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed 700 charioteers of the Arameans and 40,000 horsemen and struck down Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there. 1 Chronicles 1918 The Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed of the Arameans 7,000 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers, and put to death Shophach the commander of the army.
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Inerrancy

• Alleged Error 1 Solution
• Error in transcription

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Inerrancy

• Alleged Error 2
• Matthew 275
• versus
• Acts 118

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Inerrancy
Matthew 275 So Judas threw the silver coins into the temple and left. Then he went out and hanged himself. Acts 118 Now this man Judas acquired a field with the reward of his unjust deed, and falling headfirst he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.
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Inerrancy

• Alleged Error 2 Solution
• Faulty Assumption
• Two writers can include different details of the
  same event for their own purposes. Judas could
  have hanged himself and then fallen. Peter was
  emphasizing the fulfillment of prophecy through
  the death of Judas, while this was not a concern
  of Matthew.

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Inerrancy

• Alleged Error 3
• Matthew 2634, 7475
• versus
• Mark 1430, 72

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Inerrancy
Matthew 2634 Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." Mark 1430 And Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you, that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.
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Inerrancy

• Alleged Error 3 Solution
• Faulty Assumption
• One writer can be more detailed than another.

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Inerrancy

• Alleged Error 4
• The Bible claims that the moon is a light. But
  we know that the moon simply reflects light, but
  is not a light itself.

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Inerrancy

• Isaiah 1310
• For the stars of heaven and their constellations
  will not flash forth their light The sun will be
  dark when it rises and the moon will not shed its
  light.

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Inerrancy

• Alleged Error 4 Solution
• Over-emphasis on scientific preciseness does not
  take into account phenomenological language
  (i.e., language that speaks from the perspective
  of the subject).

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Inerrancy

• Alleged Error 5
• Proverbs 1221
• versus
• Luke 161922

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Inerrancy
Prov. 1221 The righteous do not encounter any harm, but the wicked are filled with calamity. Lk. 161922 The unrighteous rich man is without harm, while the righteous poor man is experiencing calamity.
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Inerrancy

• Alleged Error 5 Solution
• Faulty understanding concerning the nature of a
  Proverb. A proverb is a general truth that does
  not necessarily apply in every situation. And a
  misunderstanding of the ultimate end of both men.
  The poor man, Lazarus, was the one who ultimately
  experienced peace, while the rich man experienced
  calamity after death.

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Common Challenges to Inerrancy

• 1. Is the Bible Only Authoritative for Faith
  and Practice?
• NO!

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If we deny inerrancy

• may we imitate God and intentionally lie in
  small matters also?
• we begin to wonder if we can really trust God in
  anything he says.
• we make our own human minds a higher standard of
  truth than Gods Word.
• we must also say that the Bible is wrong not
  only in minor details but in some of its
  doctrines as well.

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For Further Study

• The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
  (adopted at a meeting of 200 evangelical leaders
  in October 1978)
• R. C. Sproul provides a 72-page exposition on the
  Chicago Statement in his book, Scripture Alone.

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The Authority of Scripture
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Authority

• Four Questions
• What does Sola Scriptura mean?
• What is the Roman Catholic understanding of
  Tradition?
• What does Eastern Orthodoxy believe concerning
  Tradition?
• What is the difference between Sola Scriptura and
  Solo Scriptura?

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• Martin Luther
• Unless I am convinced by the testimony from
  scripture or by evident reasonfor I confide
  neither in the Pope nor in a Council alone, since
  it is certain they have often erred and
  contradicted themselvesI am held fast by the
  scriptures adduced by me, and my conscience is
  held captive by Gods Word, and I neither can nor
  will revoke anything, seeing it is not safe or
  right to act against conscience. God help me.
  Amen.

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Authority

• Five Primary Views
• Sola Ecclesia
• Prima Scriptura
• Regula Fidei
• Sola Scriptura
• Solo Scriptura

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Authority

• What Is Tradition?
• American Heritage Dictionary (4 Definitions)
• The passing down of elements of a culture from
  generation to generation, especially by oral
  communication.
• A mode of thought or behavior followed by a
  people continuously from generation to
  generation a custom or usage.
• A body of unwritten religious precepts.
• A time-honored practice or set of such practices.

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Authority

• Two Types of Tradition in Ecclesiastical History
• Tradition 1
• Tradition 2

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• 2 Thessalonians 214-15
• To this he called you through our gospel, so
  that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus
  Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold
  to the traditions that you were taught by us,
  either by our spoken word or by our letter.
• 2 Thessalonians 36
• Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our
  Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any
  brother who is walking in idleness and not in
  accord with the tradition that you received from
  us.

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Authority

• Tradition 1
• A summary of Christian orthodoxy that has been
  held by the Church since its inception. It is
  infallible only because it accurately represents
  Scripture. If it does not accurately represent
  Scripture, it is not true Tradition. Therefore,
  it is subject to the Scripture. Often referred
  to as the regula fidei or Rule of Faith.

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Regula Fidei
Rule of Faith
This is a Greek phrase used often in the early
Church to refer to the summation of the Christian
faith. The regula fidei was seen as the faith
which was held always, everywhere, and by all.
It was seen as being inherited and passed on, not
through an avenue of inspired or infallible
information distinct from that of Scripture, but
as representative of the essential doctrinal and
moral elements of the faith contained in
Scripture.
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Authority

• Tradition 2
• An infallible unwritten body of material that
  contains information beyond that which is
  contained in Scripture (e.g. Marian dogmas,
  infallibility of the pope). This Tradition began
  with the Apostles teaching and is passed on
  through a succession of bishops. It is only
  revealed when issues arise that make it necessary
  for a pope or a council to speak authoritatively
  from this deposit of information. Often
  referred to as living Tradition.

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Authority

• Five Primary Views
• Sola Ecclesia
• Prima Scriptura
• Regula Fidei
• Sola Scriptura
• Solo Scriptura

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Authority

• Sola Ecclesia Belief that Tradition,
  represented by the magisterial authority of the
  Roman Catholic Church, is infallible and equal to
  Scripture as a basis for doctrine it is the
  final authority in all matters of faith and
  practice since it must define and interpret
  Scripture.
• Adherents Roman Catholics
• Tradition Tradition 2
• Alternate name Dual-source theory

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Sola Ecclesia
. . . contend earnestly for the faith that was
once for all entrusted to the saints. Jude 13
Responsible for defining and interpretation
Deposit of Faith
400 AD
1000 AD
Age of the Apostles
Age of the Church
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Authority
Back
Experience
Emotions
General Revelation
Reason
Scripture
Tradition
Front
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Trend in Roman Catholic Church

• The two-source theory was eventually made
  official church dogma at the Council of Trent
  (1545-1563).
• Rome is gradually moving toward a one-source
  concept of revelation
• but the one source of revelation is the Roman
  magisterium.

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• Keith Mathison (After Darkness, Light)
• What these churches do not seem to understand is
  that a claim to greater authority than that of
  Scripture is a claim to greater authority than
  that of God. Such a claim is nothing short of
  blasphemy. If Scripture truly is the word of
  almighty God, then the issue of final authority
  is settled.

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Authority

• Five Primary Views
• Sola Ecclesia
• Prima Scriptura
• Regula Fidei
• Sola Scriptura
• Solo Scriptura

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Authority

• Prima Scriptura Belief that the Body of Christ
  has two separate sources of authority for faith
  and practice 1) the Scriptures and 2)
  Tradition. Scripture is the primary source for
  authority, but by itself it is insufficient for
  all matters of faith and practice. Tradition also
  contains essential elements needed for the
  productive Christian life.
• Adherents Some Roman Catholics, some Eastern
  Orthodox, some Protestants.
• Tradition Tradition 2

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Prima Scriptura
. . . contend earnestly for the faith that was
once for all entrusted to the saints. Jude 13
Deposit of Faith
400 AD
1000 AD
Age of the Apostles
Age of the Church
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Authority
Back
Experience
Emotions
General Revelation
Reason
Tradition
Scripture
Front
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Authority

• Five Primary Views
• Sola Ecclesia
• Prima Scriptura
• Regula Fidei
• Sola Scriptura
• Solo Scriptura

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Authority

• Regula fidei Lit. Rule of faith. Belief that
  tradition is an infallible summary of Scripture
  passed on through apostolic succession.
  Ultimately, there is only one source of
  revelation, but two sources of authority. In
  other words, Tradition is Scripture.
• Adherents Eastern Orthodoxy, early Church, some
  evangelicals.
• Tradition Tradition 1

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Regula Fidei
. . . contend earnestly for the faith that was
once for all entrusted to the saints. Jude 13
Deposit of Faith
400 AD
1000 AD
Age of the Apostles
Age of the Church
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Authority
Back
Experience
Emotions
General Revelation
Reason
Scripture
Tradition
Front
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• Any disjunction between Scripture and Tradition
  such as would treat them as two separate sources
  of revelation must be rejected. The two are
  correlative. We affirm
• (1) that Scripture is the main criterion whereby
  the church tests traditions to determine whether
  they are truly part of the Holy Tradition or not
  (2) that Holy Tradition completes Holy
  Scriptures in the sense that it safeguards the
  integrity of the biblical message.
• Anglican-Orthodox Dialogue
  The Dublin Agreed Statement 1984
• (Crestwood, NY St. Vladimirs Seminary Press,
  1985), 5051

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• Regarding the relation of Scripture and
  Tradition, for centuries there seemed to have
  been a deep difference between Orthodox and
  Lutheran teaching. Orthodox hear with
  satisfaction the affirmation of the Lutheran
  theologians that the formula sola Scriptura was
  always intended to point to Gods revelation,
  Gods saving act through Christ in the power of
  the Holy Spirit, and therefore to the holy
  Tradition of the Church . . . against human
  traditions that darken the authentic teaching in
  the Church.
• Lutheran-Orthodox Dialogue
  The Agreed Statements 1985-1989
• (Geneva Lutheran World Federation, 1992), 11

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Authority

• Five Primary Views
• Sola Ecclesia
• Prima Scriptura
• Regula Fidei
• Sola Scriptura
• Solo Scriptura

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Authority

• Sola Scriptura Belief that Scripture is the
  final and only infallible authority for the
  Christian in all matters of faith and practice.
  (one source)
• Adherents Evangelicals, Reformers
• Tradition Tradition 1

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Sola Scriptura

• Luther and the Reformers did not mean that the
  Bible is the only authority in the church.
  Rather, they meant that the Bible is the only
  infallible authority in the church.
• Example Respect for great councils of Nicea,
  Ephesus, Chalcedon, and Constantinople
• Example Calvins admiration of Augustine

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Sola Scriptura

• Sola fide faith alone, but a faith that is not
  alone.
• Works testify of faith.
• Sola scriptura scripture alone, but scripture
  that is not alone.
• Traditions of Councils, Creeds, and the Fathers
  guide our interpretation.

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• R. C. Sproul
• Protestant churches have tended to be
  confessional in character. Subscription to
  confessions and creeds has been mandatory for the
  clergy and parish of many denominations.
  Confessions have been used as a test of orthodoxy
  and conformity to the faith and practice of the
  church. But the confessions are all regarded as
  reformable. They are considered reformable
  because they are considered fallible.

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• Keith Mathison,
• speaking of the Apostles Creed
• The Creed was essentially a continuation of the
  regula fidei, expressing the same truths in a
  fuller way.
• Michael Horton
• Although the Reformation sought to purge the
  church of medieval superstitions and additions to
  apostolic Christianity, the Reformers staunchly
  defended the Nicene and Apostles Creeds as
  necessary for genuine Christian profession.

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Sola Scriptura
. . . contend earnestly for the faith that was
once for all entrusted to the saints. Jude 13
Deposit of Faith
400 AD
1000 AD
Age of the Apostles
Age of the Church
66
Authority
Back
Experience
Emotions
General Revelation
Tradition
Reason
Scripture
Front
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The Rich Man and LazarusLuke 1619-31

• Luke 1629
• But Abraham said, They have Moses and the
  Prophets let them hear them.
• Everything necessary for their salvation may be
  found in the extant Scriptures. No second source
  of revelation is necessary.

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Authority

• Five Primary Views
• Sola Ecclesia
• Prima Scriptura
• Regula Fidei
• Sola Scriptura
• Solo Scriptura

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Authority

• Solo Scriptura Belief that Scripture is the
  sole basis and authority in the life of the
  Christian. Tradition is useless and misleading,
  and creeds and confessions are the result of
  man-made traditions.
• Adherents Fundamentalism, Restoration Churches
  (radical reformers)
• Tradition None (or Tradition 0)

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Solo Scriptura
. . . contend earnestly for the faith that was
once for all entrusted to the saints. Jude 13
Deposit of Faith
400 AD
1000 AD
Age of the Apostles
Age of the Church
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Authority
Back
Scripture
Front
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• Alexander Campbell,
• Founder of the Disciples of Christ
• I have endeavored to read the Scriptures as
  though no one has read them before me, and I am
  as much on my guard against reading them today,
  through the medium of my own views yesterday, or
  a week ago, as I am against being influenced by
  any foreign name, authority system whatever.

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The astronomy analogy
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Radical Reformers

• The radical Reformers believed that the classical
  Reformers had not gone far enough in their
  application of the principle of sola Scriptura.
  According to the radical Reformers, the classical
  Reformers were making a mistake by continuing to
  adhere to the creedal formulations of the ancient
  church.

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• Keith Mathison -
• Tradition 0 was used during the nineteenth and
  early twentieth centuries to deny every
  fundamental doctrine of Christianity, including
  the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the inspiration
  of Scripture, the Resurrection, and the
  Atonement.
• If we adopt the individualistic doctrine of
  Tradition 0, it is not possible to settle any
  debate because the final authority is each
  individual.

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Summary Conclusions
82

• Keith Mathison,
• The Shape of Sola Scriptura
• Like the Reformers, our battle must be on two
  fronts. Just as they had to combat the Roman
  Catholic position which effectively made the
  Church autonomous and the Radical Anabaptist
  position which effectively made the individual
  autonomous, so we too must combat both of these
  defective views.

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• Mathison
• Each of these views results in autonomy. Each
  results in final authority being placed somewhere
  other than God and His Word.

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• Mathison
• We must continue to stand firm against the
  view which ultimately results in a Church which
  is a law unto itself. But we must also take a
  strong stand against those Protestants whose view
  ultimately results in each man being a law unto
  himself. Both positions are a deadly poison in
  the body of Christ, and both are condemned not
  only by Scripture itself, but also by the witness
  of the communion of saints throughout the history
  of the Church.

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The Down Side of Enlightenment Thought in Early
America

• Anabaptistic individualism
• Enlightenment rationalism
• Democratic populism (belief in the rights and
  wisdom of the common people)

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American Christianity

• Nathan Hatch
• The Democratization of American Christianity
• Above all, the American Revolution dramatically
  expanded the circle of people who considered
  themselves capable of thinking for themselves
  about issues of freedom, equality, sovereignty,
  and representation. Respect for authority,
  tradition, station, and education eroded.

87

• Nathan Hatch
• In a culture that increasingly balked at vested
  interests, symbols of hierarchy, and timeless
  authorities, a remarkable number of people awoke
  one morning to find it self-evident that the
  priesthood of all believers meant just
  thatreligion of, by and for the people.

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• Nathan Hatch
• Taking seriously the mandate of liberty and
  equality, the Christians espoused reform in three
  areas. First, they called for a revolution
  within the church to place laity and clergy on an
  equal footing and to exalt the conscience of the
  individual over the collective will of any
  congregation or church organization.

89

• Second, they rejected the traditions of learned
  theology altogether and called for a new view of
  history that welcomed inquiry and innovation.
• Finally, they called for a populist hermeneutic
  premised on the inalienable right of every person
  to understand the New Testament for him or
  herself.

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American Christianity

• The Unitarian Noah Worchester argued that
  Christians would reject the doctrine of the
  Trinity if they would simply study the Scriptures
  apart from the creeds of the Church.
• Charles Beecher denounced creed power and
  called for the Bible, the whole Bible, and
  nothing but the Bible.
• But not all Americans adopted Tradition 0.
  Charles Hodge (1797 1878).

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Scriptural Problems with Tradition 0

• Acts 151 -
• But some men came down from Judea and were
  teaching the brothers, Unless you are
  circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you
  cannot be saved."
• Response The Council at Jerusalem

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• Mathison
• The Apostles did not tell every individual
  believer to take their Bible and decide by
  themselves and for themselves whether the
  Judaizers were correct. On the contrary, they
  gathered in a council as a body and discerned the
  truth of the matter.

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Hermeneutical Problems with Tradition 0

• Mathison
• The doctrine of solo scriptura, despite its
  claims to uniquely preserve the authority of the
  Word of God, destroys that authority by making
  the meaning of Scripture dependent upon the
  judgment of each individual. Rather than the
  Word of God being the one final court of appeal,
  the court of appeal becomes the multiplied minds
  of each believer.

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Historical Problems with Tradition 0

• Large segments of the Church have been illiterate
  or without a Biblefor centuries.
• For these believers, the practice of solo
  scriptura would have been impossible.
• Solo scriptura requires an anachronistic reading
  of modern conditions back into periods of history
  when those conditions did not exist.

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Theological Problems with Tradition 0

• Adherents to solo scriptura cannot
  authoritatively define the canon.
• The canon was confirmed by church councils.
• Solo scriptura reduces the essential doctrines of
  the church to no more than opinion.
• The Nicene doctrine of the Trinity and the
  Chalcedonian doctrine of Christ are no more
  authoritative than the doctrinal ideas of any
  opinionated Christian.

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Practical Problems with Tradition 0

• Leads to schism and factionalism
• Its the ecclesiastical equivalent of a nation
  with a constitution but no court of law to
  interpret that constitution.
• It negates the duty to submit to those who rule
  over you.

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• Mathison
• Scripture was given to the Church within a
  certain pre-existing doctrinal context that had
  been preached by the Apostles for decades. Solo
  scriptura denies the necessity of that context,
  and it denies the necessity of that Church. In
  doing so it denies Christ who established that
  Church and who taught that doctrine to His
  disciples. It is rebellion in the name of God
  against the authority of God for the sake of
  preserving the authority of man.

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Sola Scriptura and Limited Inerrancy

• Is sola Scriptura compatible with a view of
  Scripture that limits inerrancy to matters of
  faith and practice?
• No, there are problems.

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Problems with Limited Inerrancy

• Results in canon reduction
• What parts of Scripture deal with faith?
• What becomes of history in the Bible?
• How do we escape dehistoricizing the gospel?
• What do we do with John 312?
• Christ to Nicodemus If I have told you earthly
  things and you do not believe, how can you
  believe if I tell you heavenly things?

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Other Canon Reduction

• Subtraction of the Old Testament in general and
  the law of God in particular
• Sproul, Perhaps we are living in the most
  antinomian period in church history. It is a
  time when attention to the law of God is not
  considered all that important. This represents a
  pernicious form of canon reductionism.

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Canon Addition

• There are no serious attempts today to add books
  to the Bible.
• Neopentecostal theology often views messages
  delivered in tongues or the utterance of
  prophecy as new forms of revelation.
• Pat Robertson routinely gets a word of
  knowledge.
• Someone in Topeka is right this moment being
  healed of a goiter.

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Canon Addition

• Oral Roberts told the nation that God had
  revealed to him that his life would be taken if
  he didnt receive a large amount of money in
  donations.
• Some Christian leaders have claimed that God has
  spoken to them.
• Some people say that a message from God has been
  laid on their heart.

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Two Views on the Defense of Inerrancy

• The Presuppositional Method
• The Evidentialist Method

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The Presuppositional Method

• Presupposes (assumes) that inerrancy is true and
  that a rational defense of it ought not to be
  made, even if it could be made
• Argues that the Bible is self-authenticating
• Adherents Cornelius Van Til and Gordon Clark
• Criticized for circular reasoning other books
  claim divine inspiration

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The Presuppositional Method

• Premise A The Bible is the infallible Word of
  God.
• Premise B The Bible attests to its own
  infallibility.
• Premise C The self-attestation of Scripture is
  an infallible attestation.
• Conclusion The Bible is the infallible Word of
  God.

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The Evidentialist Method

• Evidentialists affirm the validity of the
  arguments for the existence of God and the truth
  of the Bible.
• Adherents Thomas Aquinas, Charles Hodge, John
  Gerstner, R. C. Sproul

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The Evidentialist Method

• Premise A The Bible is a basically reliable and
  trustworthy document (the claim of inerrancy is
  not necessary)
• Premise B On the basis of this reliable
  document we have sufficient evidence to believe
  confidently that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
• Premise C Jesus Christ being the Son of God is
  an infallible authority.

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The Evidentialist Method

• Premise D Jesus Christ teaches that the Bible
  is more than generally trustworthy it is the
  very Word of God.
• Premise E That the word, in that it comes from
  God, is utterly trustworthy because God is
  utterly trustworthy.
• Conclusion On the basis of the infallible
  authority of Jesus Christ, the Church believes
  the Bible to be utterly trustworthy.

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Is the Bible Sufficient?

• James Montgomery Boice -
• Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace?
• Today we confess the Bibles authority, but we
  discount its ability to do what is necessary to
  draw unbelievers to Christ, enable us to grow in
  godliness, provide direction for our lives, and
  transform and revitalize society.

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Unworthy Substitutes for the Words Sufficiency

• Captivating music, moving testimonies, emotional
  appeals
• signs and wonders
• healings

113
The Cambridge Declaration

• In practice, the church is guided, far too
  often, by the culture. Therapeutic technique,
  marketing strategies, and the beat of the
  entertainment world often have far more to say
  about what the church wants, how it functions and
  what if offers, than does the Word of God.

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Sufficiency of the Bible

• 2 Timothy 3
• 1 But understand this, that in the last days
  there will come times of difficulty. 2 For
  people will be lovers of self, lovers of money,
  proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their
  parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless,
  unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control,
  brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous,
  reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of
  pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having
  the appearance of godliness, but denying its
  power. Avoid such people.

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Sufficiency of the Bible

• 2 Timothy 3
• 1 But understand this, that in the last days
  there will come times of difficulty. 2 For
  people will be lovers of self, lovers of money,
  proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their
  parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless,
  unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control,
  brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous,
  reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of
  pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having
  the appearance of godliness, but denying its
  power. Avoid such people.

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• 2 Timothy 3
• 14 But as for you, continue in what you have
  learned and have firmly believed, knowing from
  whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood
  you have been acquainted with the sacred
  writings, which are able to make you wise for
  salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16
  All Scripture is breathed out by God and
  profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
  correction, and for training in righteousness,
  17 that the man of God may be competent,
  equipped for every good work.

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• 2 Timothy 3
• 14 But as for you, continue in what you have
  learned and have firmly believed, knowing from
  whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood
  you have been acquainted with the sacred
  writings, which are able to make you wise for
  salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16
  All Scripture is breathed out by God and
  profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
  correction, and for training in righteousness,
  17 that the man of God may be competent,
  equipped for every good work.

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The Bible is Sufficient

• for Evangelism
• for Sanctification
• for Guidance
• for Social Reformation

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The Westminster Confession of Faith

• Completed in 1646

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Westminster Confession of Faith

• Chapter 1, Of the Holy Scripture
• Ten Paragraphs

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Paragraph 1 Explains the Necessity of Scripture

• Although the light of nature, and the works of
  creation and providence do so far manifest the
  goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave
  men unexcusable yet are they not sufficient to
  give that knowledge of God, and of His will,
  which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore, it
  pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers
  manners, to reveal Himself, and to declare that
  His will unto His Church

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• and afterwards, for the better preserving and
  propagating of the truth, and for the more sure
  establishment and comfort of the Church against
  the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of
  Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly
  unto writing which maketh the Holy Scripture to
  be most necessary those former ways of Gods
  revealing His will unto His people being now
  ceased.

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Paragraph 2 Lists the Books of the Canon

• Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of
  God written, are now contained all the books of
  the Old and New Testament, which are these 66
  books listed
• All which are given by inspiration of God to be
  the rule of faith and life.

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Paragraph 3 States the Reformed Understanding of
the Apocrypha

• The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being
  of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon
  of the Scripture, and therefore are of no
  authority in the Church of God, nor to be any
  otherwise approved, or made use of, than other
  human writings.

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Paragraph 4 The Authority of Scripture Depends
upon God and Not upon the Testimony of Men

• The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which
  it ought to be believed, and obeyed, dependeth
  not upon the testimony of any man or Church but
  wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author
  thereof and therefore it is to be received,
  because it is the Word of God.

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Paragraph 5 Authority (cont)

• We may be moved and induced by the testimony of
  the Church to an high and reverent esteem of the
  Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the
  matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty
  of the style, the consent of all the parts, the
  scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory
  to God), the full discovery it makes of the only
  way of mans salvation, the many other
  incomparable excellencies, and the entire
  perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth
  abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God

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• yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and
  assurance of the infallible truth and divine
  authority thereof, is from the inward work of the
  Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word
  in our hearts.

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Paragraph 6 The Sufficiency of Scripture

• The whole counsel of God concerning all things
  necessary for His own glory, mans 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. (continued)

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• 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.

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Paragraph 7 The Perspicuity of Scripture

• All things in Scripture are not alike plain in
  themselves, nor alike clear unto all yet those
  things which are necessary to be known, believed,
  and observed for salvation, are so clearly
  propounded, and opened in some place of Scripture
  or other, that not only the learned, but the
  unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means,
  may attain unto a sufficient understanding of
  them.

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Paragraph 8 Autographs Are Inspired by God

• The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the
  native language of the people of God of old), and
  the New Testament in Greek (which, at the time of
  the writing of it, was most generally known to
  the nations), being immediately inspired by God,
  and, by His singular care and providence, kept
  pure in all ages, are therefore authentical so
  as, in all controversies of religion, the Church
  is finally to appeal unto them. (continued)

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• But, because these original tongues are not
  known to all the people of God, who have right
  unto, and interest in the Scriptures, and are
  commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search
  them, therefore they are to be translated into
  the vulgar language of every nation unto which
  they come, that, the Word of God dwelling
  plentifully in all, they may worship Him in an
  acceptable manner and, through patience and
  comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope.

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Paragraph 9 The Interpretation of Scripture

• The infallible rule of interpretation of
  Scripture is the Scripture itself and
  therefore, when there is a question about the
  true and full sense of any Scripture (which is
  not manifold, but one), it must be searched and
  known by other places that speak more clearly.

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Paragraph 10 The Unique Authority of Scripture

• The supreme judge by which all controversies of
  religion are to be determined, and all decrees of
  councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines
  of men, and private spirits, are to be examined,
  and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no
  other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the
  Scripture.

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Hermeneutics

• The Science of Biblical Interpretation

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Hermeneutics

• In Greek mythology
• Hermes was the messenger of the gods.
• It was his task to interpret the will of the
  gods.
• (Most of the following notes come from Knowing
  Scripture by R. C. Sproul.)

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The Purpose of Hermeneutics

• To establish guidelines and rules for
  interpretation (in this case, Scripture)
• To establish guidelines and rules to safeguard us
  from misunderstanding

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A Hermeneutical Example

• The supreme board of hermeneutics for our land
  is
• the Supreme Court (in regard to the
  Constitution)

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Grammatico-Historical Method

• The Constitution was supposed to be interpreted
  by studying the words of the document itself in
  light of what those words meant when they were
  used at the time of the formulation of the
  document.

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Grammatico-Historical Method

• Acts 18 You shall be my witnesses.
• Is Christ making a prediction of our future
  performance?
• Or is He issuing a command?
• The Greek structure clarifies Its a command.
• (We are thankful for commentaries.)

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The Analogy of Faith

• The primary rule of hermeneutics
• This rule is that Scripture is to interpret
  Scripture
• No part of Scripture can be interpreted in such a
  way as to render it in conflict with what is
  clearly taught elsewhere in Scripture.

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Sensus Literalis

• The second rule of hermeneutics
• The Bible should be interpreted according to its
  literal sense.
• Genre analysis
• Literary forms
• Figures of speech
• Style

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Genre Analysis

• We distinguish between lyric poetry, newspaper
  accounts, and legal briefs.
• Hyperbole exaggeration for effect
• Matthew 935
• And Jesus went throughout all the cities and
  villages, teaching in their synagogues and
  proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing
  every disease and every affliction.

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Genre Analysis

• Personification objects are given human
  characteristics
• Isaiah 5512 -
• For you shall go out in joy and be led forth
  in peace the mountains and the hills before you
  shall break forth into singing, and
  all the trees of the field shall clap their
  hands.
• But what about Balaams ass speaking?

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Genre Analysis

• Metaphor a figure of speech in which a word or
  phrase literally denoting one kind of object or
  idea is used in place of another so to suggest a
  likeness or analogy between them.

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Metaphor

• John 109
• I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he
  will be saved and will go in and out and find
  pasture.
• Sproul Does that mean that where we have skin
  Jesus has mahogany veneer? Where we have arms
  Jesus has hinges? Where we have a navel Jesus
  has a doorknob?

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But what about

• Luke 2219 This is my body

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Ten Practical Rules for Biblical Interpretation
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Rule 1- The Bible Is to Be Read Like Any Other
Book
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Rule 2 Read the Bible Existentially
151
Rule 3 Historical Narratives Are to Be
Interpreted by the Didactic
152
Rule 4 The Implicit Is to Be Interpreted by the
Explicit
153
Rule 5 Determine Carefully the Meaning of Words
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Rule 6 Note the Presence of Parallelisms in the
Bible
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Rule 7 Note the Difference between Proverb and
Law
156
Rule 8 Observe the Difference between the
Spirit and the Letter of the Law
157
Rule 9 Be Careful with Parables
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Rule 10 Be Careful with Predictive Prophecy