Systematic Theology Part 11

The four characteristics of Scripture:  Clarity (Pages 105 -115)

Some parts of the Bible are easy to understand....and some are not.


"So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters.  there are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures."  2 Peter 3:15-16

But most things are clear and easy to understand in the Bible.



As lay Christians, we should obey what Moses says of the scriptures, and "teach them diligently to your children, talk of them when you sit in your house," Deutoronomy 6:6-7

It was never assumed that Christians should just listen to or memorize scripture, but rather that they should delve into scripture!

"The clarity of Scripture means that the Bible is written in such a way that its teachings are able to be understood by all who will read it seeking God's help and being willing to follow it."

Why do people misunderstand scripture?

"There were also times when this was due to their own lack of faith or hardness of heart."

IN order to help people avoid making mistakes in interpreting Scripture, many Bible teachers have developed "principles of interpretation" or guidelines to encourage growth in the skill of proper interpretation.  (i.e. hermeneutics and exegesis)



We believers will not agree on all the teachings of Scripture, but keep in mind:

"THE PROBLEM always lies not with Scripture but with ourselves."

Sometimes, "we are seeking to make affirmations where Scripture itself is silent."

And on the other hand, "it is possible that we have made mistakes in our interpretation of Scripture."

Despite our disagreements, "we must not forget that there has been an amazing amount of doctrinal agreement on the most central truths of Scripture throughout the history of the church."

Closing questions from Wayne Grudem:
1. If the scripture has so much clarity, why does there seem to be so much disagreement among Christians about the teaching of the Bible?
2.  What would happen to the church if most people gave up reading the bible for themselves and only listened to teachers?  Do we already do this?

Drop in Baptism?

Does this ring any alarm bells in your head?  Anyone can come and get baptized.  Free priest, music, and coffee afterwards. 

 What about Matthew 7 that says you should know a person by their fruit.  How is that priest able to verify someone's belief that they are planning to take pastoral responsibility for in baptism?

Way to go, Ullared

Generally speaking, I like Gekås, Ullared.  It's like a huge super walmart in Sweden, really one of it's kind. 

But a while ago they published this picture of a shirt that they are selling.  What is this supposed to mean??

Was it some Chinese factory that accidentally mixed and matched some words and symbols, and do the Swedes buying it even think about any symbolism in this shirt?

Systematic Theology part 10

The Inerrancy of Scripture: (pages 90-104)

What does it mean that scripture is inerrant?

"The inerrancy of Scripture means that Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact."

i.e. the Bible always tells the truth. 

When we say we live about a mile from our school, we are telling the truth even if we actually live precisely 1.284 miles away.  The same goes for the Bible in terms of preciseness.

Inerrancy has to do with truthfulness, not with the degree of precision with which events are reported.

People often retort that the Bible is only authoritative for "Faith and Practice," and not for scientific facts or historical details.

However, that is a slippery slope of saying that we humans know better than God and he is wrong in this and that issue. 



The Bible repeats a lot that all scripture is true, pure, perfect, etc.  (2 Tim 3:16, Psalm 12:6, Psalm 119:96, Proverbs 30:5)

The Disciples in the New Testament were quick to believe so many details historically from the Old Testament, which should lead us to also not just believe what is useful for "faith and practice" but also everything written in the scriptures.

"It is better to say that the whole purpose of Scripture is to say everything it does say, on whatever subject.  Every one of God's words in Scripture was deemed by him to be important for us."

"Everything in scripture is there because God intended it to be there: God does not say anything unintentionally!"



Next argument: 
"We have no Inerrant manuscripts, therefore talk about an inerrant Bible is misleading." 

But in 99 percent of the time, even if we don't have the original letters written by Moses, Paul, or Peter, we have confidence in what they said.  And if there was some variation in manuscripts, that is clearly written in Bibles.

"If we have mistakes in the copies, (as we do), then these are only the mistakes of men. But if we have mistakes in the original manuscripts, then we are forced to say not only that men have made mistakes, but that God himself made a mistake and spoke falsely. This we cannot do."

Another argument: "The Biblical writers "accomodated" their messages in minor details to to the false ideas current in their day, and affirmed or taught those ideas in an incidental way." 

i.e. the argument says that probably the disciples or old testament prophets made some cultural lies as they were writing because otherwise their message wouldn't be accepted.

This would mean that God is acting contrary to his character as an "unlying God." And hello, God is the Lord of the human language, he can surely find a way to speak to people over the span of time in a way that is truthful.  Truth always rings true...always.

"THIS OBJECTION, thus at root misunderstands the purity and unity of God as they affect all of his words and deeds."  Wow.

Paul says we should put away falsehood and speak the truth with one another.  If indeed God had intentionally allowed falsehoods in order to enhance communication, then we have a big problem.  Should we then do that too in our daily lives?

Next argument:  There are some clear errors in the Bible. 

Please show me where such errors are.  IF we believe that the Bible is indeed inerrant, we should be eager and certainly not afraid to inspect these texts in minute detail.   Read the text in context, read commentaries on the issue, and often in turns out that there is a solution to the difficulty.

Often we don't have the tools to read the text and understand it to see that indeed it is not an inerrancy but a misunderstanding on our part.

If we deny inerrancy:

1. we have a serious moral problem: may we imitate God and intentionally lie in small matters also?

2.  Can we really trust God in anything he says?

3.  we make our own human minds a higher standard of truth than God's word itself.

4.  If we deny inerrancy, then we must also say the Bible is wrong not only in minor details but also in some of it's doctrines as well. (i.e. reliability of God's word and his truthfulness.)

Some interesting closing questions: 
1. How can Jehovah's witnesses say that the Bible is inerrant while they themselves have so many false teachings?
2. Should belief in inerrancy be a requirement for holding church office, membership, teaching?