Authority, Revelation and Scripture

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Authority, Revelation and Scripture

• Survey of Christian Doctrine

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I.AUTHORITY

• If people dont know Jesus they can never have
  any peace at all or know God.
• No, God can be known in a hundred ways.
• God is inside you. You feel the presence of the
  infinite.
• Diverse viewpoints rise from question of authority

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The source of authority

• The creeds
• The historic confessions
• The mind of the church
• Christian experience
• Christian reason
• The inner voice
• Or?

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The ultimate source

• The ultimate source is the triune God himself as
  he is made known to us through the Bible
• 1. God has taken the initiative (REVELATION)
• 2. God has come to us in Jesus. He is the Word
  and Wisdom of God and the mediator all our
  knowledge about God (Jn 11f 146-9 1 Cor 130
  Col 23 Rev 1913
• 3. Our knowledge comes through the Bible when we
  submit to its authority.

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II REVELATION

• Definition
• Significance
• We are creatures (Gen 11,27)
• We are sinners (Rom 118 1 Cor 121 2 Cor 44
  Eph 21f 418)
• And yet

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General revelation

• Creation (Rom 118-32 Acts 1417 1726f)
• Moral Experience (Rom 214f 132) The conflicts
  of conscience are relevant to the issues of Gods
  judgement.
• Consider 1 Tim 37 1 Pet 212
• Rom 321-26 1 Cor 153 imply a continuity
  between universal moral experience and that of
  the believer

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General Revelation

• A universal religious sense
• The dynamic factor (Rom 121-28)
• Its effects a) the goodness of God, b) the
  guiltiness of man.
• Its limitations
• God has not left himself without a witness.

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Special Revelation

• Jesus Christ
• Hoy Scripture
• The relationship of these forms
• A third form?
• Redemptive revelation (Jn 31f 1526 1 Thess
  15 Titus 35

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III SCRIPTURE

• Gods condescension
• The possibility of verbal revelation
• Analogical truth
• Gods purpose durability, dissemination, purity
  and finality

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Grounds for receiving the Bible as Gods written
word

• The Bibles witness, Logos
• Jesus view of the Old Testament
• The apostles view of the Old Testament
• Jesus words and teaching
• The special authority of the apostles
• God addresses us in its words

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Inspiration

• The method of inspiration
• 2 Tim 316 2 Pet 119-21 Jn 1034-36
• The OT Prophets

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Theories of Inspiration

• Dictation
• Accommodation
• Supervision

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Two related terms

• Verbal
• Plenary
• Authority of Scripture
• An element of mystery
• Our doctrine of God

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Canonicity

• Definition of canon
• The OT canon
• The NT canon

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• INFALLIBILITY
• INERRANCY
• As originally given
• Difficulties

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Hermeneutics

• Definition the science of interpreting Scripture
• Scripture must be interpreted through the Holy
  Spirit
• According to the corporate Spirit
• According to the HOLY Spirit
• Scripture must be interpreted by Scripture
• According to the purpose of Scripture
• According to the light of other passages
• According to the later and fuller exposition
• Scripture must be interpreted literally
• According to the original meaning
• According to literary form
• According to context