The Scriptures

The Bible, both the Old and New Testament, is God’s revelation to us.

The original writings of the Scriptures are called "autographs”. Written by some 40 authors over a period of fifteen hundred years (1400 B.C. – 100 A.D.), the autographs were written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Because the Bible has a Single Source there is a marvelous unity and connectivity between the sixty-six books and letters.

What is inspiration?

The meanings of words are sometimes tricky. For example, a word in English may often have many meanings. Even the same word can have two meanings that are exactly opposite. Take the word “cleave”. Cleave can mean to “stick together”. It can also mean to “separate”.

Years ago I listened intently to a debate about “inspiration”, and specifically about the “inerrancy of the Bible”. Inerrancy is the belief that the original writings of the Scriptures (the “autographs”) were without error. Two very fine Christian men took opposing positions. A well-known minister did not believe in inerrancy and the seminary professor did. Each debater had one forty-five minute session each on two successive days to present the case for his belief concerning inerrancy.

On the second day, the last to speak was the professor, who believed in inerrancy. The professor stunned the audience when he acknowledged, “What my brother says is true, the word ‘inerrancy’ is not in the Bible”. Then he added, “But then neither is any other English word.” The inerrantists in the audience erupted with laughter and some with applause.

The professor proceeded to demonstrate that the concept of the “inspiration of the Scriptures by the Holy Spirit” is in the Bible. (2 Timothy 3:16) Then he declared, “The word ‘inspiration’ means something.” For him, inspiration of the Holy Spirit meant that God produced the Scriptures through the writers without errors; and that even though we do not have the original manuscripts written by the original authors, those autographs provide a pure source for the Bible we have today.

Jesus declared, “Your word is truth.” (John 17:17) Paul wrote that the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” (Ephesians 2:20-22) Obviously, any book can declare itself to be inerrant or inspired (literally, “God-breathed”). It is up to each person to examine the evidence and then decide whether or not to believe the claim.

Countless books and essays and articles have been written on the subject of inspiration and inerrancy. Very intelligent and highly educated people take opposing views (for example, the professor in the debate above holds a Ph.D. in Theology from Westminster Theological School, Princeton University), just as intelligent and educated people take opposing views on practically every issue, controversial or not.

Eventually, however, all of us will decide for ourselves whether or not we believe the Bible is inerrant. Or put another way, we will decide the Bible is God’s revelation to us, or we will decide that the Bible is simply a collection of the writings of mankind’s search for God, or maybe something in between.

One of my friends expressed his belief about the Bible by saying, “The Bible is not the Word of God, but the Bible contains words of God". That is an interesting position and, I think, demands that a person be very wise as he reads the Bible and makes the determination of what is and what is not the word of God. One would not want to make a mistake making these decisions.

The choice we make concerning the source of the Bible is of utmost importance. If the Bible is from God, this means the Bible is the only authority for faith and practice (theology), and the only authority for morals and ethics.

Two writers summed up the idea that the Bible is NOT God’s revelation to us and therefore cannot be the only authority for theology. They wrote, “Fearing nothing more than outmoded faith, liberals reconstructed Christian theology in order to harmonize it with prevailing currents in philosophy and science.” (“Journey of Faith” by Lester McAllister and William Tucker page 362) Many theologians and other believers consider the Bible to be a good book, but not the only rule for faith and practice and for morals and ethics.

Every person is free to decide for himself what the Bible is. Joshua said as much when he addressed the Israelites for the last time. “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15)

You have a choice to make. Some choose to view the Bible as informative and inspiring, but not as authority for what to believe and practice. Others love the Bible, but do not agree that it is the only authority for faith and practice and morality and ethics. Science, philosophy, psychology, political correctness and personal experience are the authority of their lives and the Bible is only relevant when it agrees with their reconstructed faith.

Based on the evidence and testimony I have, I choose to believe that the Bible is God’s inspired revelation to us. I choose to believe that the Bible, as written by the original writers, was without error and that the New Testament Scriptures are the only authority for faith and practice and morals and ethics.

At the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock . . . But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

It is from this perspective – that the Bible is the only true source of theology and doctrine – that I approach the following subjects. But first we need some ground rules for a study of the Bible.