| Second Sunday in Advent , 2001
2 Timothy 3:16 The Dependability of Scripture
Second Chronicles 4 speaks of the temple that King Solomon constructed. In verse two it tells us that Solomon made the Sea of Bronze. The Bronze Sea was a large round basin that sat on the backs of twelve oxen statues. It corresponded to the crystal Sea before God's throne in Heaven (Revelation 4:6). However, there is an apparent error in the text. Second Chronicles 4:2 describes the dimensions of the Molten Sea: it measures ten cubits in diameter while the circumference is thirty cubits. There seems to be a mathematical mistake. As we all know, the circumference of a circle is pi times the diameter. Second Chronicles 4:2 should have put the circumference at 31 cubits, and 4,159 ten thousandths of a cubit, not thirty cubits even. How do we account for the inerrancy of the Bible with such a discrepancy? This and other biblical matters we will probe today.
The Second Sunday in Advent is known in Anglican circles as Bible Sunday. The theme comes from the collect which says, "Blessed Lord, who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them" The Church thus calls us to dedicate ourselves to the Word of God. An examination of the doctrines of the inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility of Scripture, when properly understood, can instill in us joyful confidence, a confidence in the dependability and authority of God's Word. We will begin with the doctrine of verbal inspiration.
Second Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."
From this verse and others we derive the doctrine of the inspiration of Holy Scripture. What did St. Paul mean when he said that God inspired the Scripture? The Greek word for inspired is theopneustos. Theo equals "God"; pneustos means to "breath out." Thus, God is the one who does the breathing out. St. Paul asserts to Timothy that the Scriptures came into being because they were breathed out, or spoken, by God Himself. The point is this: the Holy Trinity is the origin and originator of the Bible. The Almighty Creator desired to reveal Himself to us. The words He spoke emanated from His heart, and were recorded in Scripture.
That is the divine side of the equation. How did those words get on paper? God Himself didn't write the words on a roll of papyrus, He used men. He guided men like Moses and Mark, Luke and Paul to write the things that He wanted them to. How did He do this? What was His method? Here we enter into controversy. The more liberal theologians tend to say that God led the biblical authors to write the uplifting things they wrote just like He led the artists Rembrandt and Van Gogh to paint the extraordinary portraits they painted. The Lord gave them a talent for writing and they crafted good spiritual writings. In this view, Luke and John had a gift for religion like Kobe Bryant has a gift for scoring baskets on the basketball court. God's oversight in the operation was minimal. This theory seems to keep God too aloof from the process.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is another idea. Some scholars have held that God dictated the words to Jeremiah, Matthew, and Jude. According to this view, biblical writers sat down with quill in hand in front of papyrus scrolls. While God spoke audible words, they wrote them down. The authors contributed nothing of their own; it was all from God. They were virtual machines that faithfully wrote what they heard. This posture may explain some passages, but doesn't fully account for the personal style, worldview, and temperament that color the different books of the Bible. The Apostle Paul has one literary style, Solomon has another, and Matthew another. It seems obvious that the Holy Spirit moved the thoughts and words of the authors in such a way that two things occurred: 1.) what they wrote came out precisely the way God wanted it to; 2.) the personality and worldview of the penmen came through as well.
What does the doctrine of inspiration mean for us? Why is it important? It is important because we can be confident in the trustworthiness of God's Word. We can be convinced that this Book is different from all other books. We can be sure that the source of the Bible is our Heavenly Father. What He wants to reveal to us has been accurately recorded. The Bible's words are God's Word, its commands His will, its perspective on life the absolute and unchanging truth. God breathed forth a pure Word and we can stake our life on it.
In His providence, God has preserved His Word and transmitted the original to us through the Church. That brings us to the doctrine of inerrancy. What does it mean?
By the word inerrancy we mean that the Scriptures possess the quality of freedom from error. In all their teachings they are in perfect accord with the truth. Each writer who was born of the Holy Spirit has recorded accurately that which the Spirit desired him to record, and though we do not have the Hebrew and Greek originals, what has been handed down to us by the Holy Spirit's guidance through the Church is nevertheless a true account of those things of which it speaks.
Saint Augustine stated: "I have learned to honor the books of Scripture: of those alone do I most firmly believe that the authors were completely free from error." Similarly, Martin Luther once declared: "The Scriptures have never erred The Scriptures cannot err It is certain that Scripture would not contradict itself; it only appears so to the senseless and obdurate hypocrites."
What about the Second Chronicles' inaccuracy on the circumference of the Bronze Sea? The cynic can find errors if he really wants to. But all those so-called mistakes can be explained as well. Perhaps the Bronze Sea laver had a thick rim. That would mean that the inside of the rim would measure less than the outside of the rim. Hence, a measurement of 30 cubits could very easily have been the correct measurement of the circumference. [Harold Lindsell made this point in his book defending inerrancy.] Bible-believing Christians have made the claim for two thousand years that the Bible is without blemish, and if we depart from belief in the complete trustworthiness of the Bible, we will inevitably and eventually abandon other key doctrines.
How about infallibility? What do we mean by the term infallible as applied to the Bible? We mean simply that the Scripture possesses an indefectible authority. Jesus Himself understood that. In a debate with the Pharisees He appealed to the Bible and declared: "The Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). The Lord assumed the divine authority of Holy Writ. For Him, it was the final court of appeal. It can never fail in its judgments and statements. All that it teaches is of flawless, absolute authority, and cannot be opposed, contradicted, or denied. A sovereign, omnipotent, and omniscient God can speak only an infallible and inerrant word.
More than that, we can say that the Bible is as perfect and infallible as Jesus Christ Himself. Those alive at Christ's First Advent could point to Him and declare Him the Infallible One. Now that Jesus has ascended into Heaven there is only one thing left that we can point to and declare infallible -- it is not the Church, it is not the state, nor is it any other philosophy or ideology, it is God's Word Written, the Bible. The basis for saying this is John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The union between Jesus and the Bible is so close that His infallibility transfers to it. The doctrines of infallibility, inerrancy and the full inspiration of the Bible are all interconnected. One leads to the other, and they either stand together or fall together. On this Bible Sunday the Church calls us to a high view of Scripture. A belief in the complete dependability of the Bible gives joy and vigor.
Does a high view of Scripture leave out tradition. Let's think about a couple of aspects concerning the relation of Bible to Tradition. The English Reformers who fashioned Anglicanism accepted the Reformational doctrine of sola scriptura, the sufficiency of Scripture alone for salvation. But they interpreted it in the sense that there is no authority equal to Scripture. While the Church studies history and antiquity for wisdom and guidance, the Bible is the Church's only infallible standard. As Article XX of the Thirty-Nine Articles says: "The Church hath power to decree Rites or Ceremonies, and authority in Controversies of Faith: and yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God's Word written." Consequently, though the authority of tradition remains subservient to the authority of Scripture, it nevertheless has an important role to play. Antiquity gives us the Fathers of the Early Church, the Creeds and Councils of the undivided Church, the wisdom of the Middle Ages and Reformation. It would be sheer folly to ignore the Holy Spirit's government of the Church down through the centuries. Sadly, we find too many examples of modern anti-historical foolishness.
Take for example the recent popularity of The Prayer of Jabez . The book has sold in the millions and almost everyone gives testimony that the new prayer works. The author urges us to repeat Jabez's words found in 1 Chronicles 4:10. If we do, wonderful blessings will come our way. What do make of this latest fashion? Clearly there is nothing wrong with such a prayer. Asking God to bless us, enlarge our territory, and keep us from evil is excellent. The problem is the expectation that God will mechanically answer such a prayer, and that the prayer is somehow superior to others. Then there is a larger question: the novelty. After two thousand years of Church life, somebody has discovered a brand new way to pray? It's incredible. The novelty should send up a red flag. We are not suspicious of new wrinkles simply because they are new, but because we find it hard to fathom that hundreds of thousands of Bible-saturated saints over the course of twenty centuries would miss such an essential matter. Nowhere in the tradition and antiquity of history do we see this prayer being promoted. In truth, we have an entire Prayer Book chock full of much better prayers. Therefore, how should we respond to theological fads? Ignore them. If they are still useful after ten or twenty years we'll consider them then. The gimmicks will fade and disappear; the true and solid will stand the test of time.
Let's turn to another matter. Christians with a high regard for Scripture are sometimes accused of exchanging Christ for the Bible. It goes like this: "Your exaggerated view of the authority of Scripture sets up an authority other than Christ Himself. You are bibliolaters! You give the Bible a priority that belongs to Christ alone." How do we respond to those charges? Several ways.
Maybe bibliolatry, or turning the Bible into an idol is possible, but were it not for the Bible, we would know little about Christ. Knowledge of our Lord Jesus comes primarily from the Scripture. Besides that, Jesus is the Word of God. We should never forget this link between Christ and the Bible. In Heaven the glorified Savior is called the Word of God (Revelation 19:13). Again, St. John writes in His Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:1, 2, 14). These verses are often used to prove the divinity of Jesus, but they also prove the powerful link between Christ and Scripture.
Lou Tarsitano, Anglican priest and author, has correctly observed: "Because Jesus Christ is the Word of God, the entirety of the Scriptures, both the Old and the New Testaments, is the record of God the Son, as the revelation of the Father, before and after His becoming flesh It is the same Christ we receive when we read the Holy Scriptures in faith that we receive in the Holy Communion."
That is a splendid concept! It explains how reading the Bible is a means of grace to us. The Word is not only about Jesus; it is Jesus. Contact with the Word is contact with the transforming, sanctifying power of the Lord. The collect for today calls us to hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest all holy Scriptures. When we do this, God sanctifies us. As we read and study the Bible, God causes the fruit of the Spirit to ripen in us; He helps us behave in holy ways, think in Christian categories, and follow the self-denial of Christ.
Reading Holy Scriptures in faith, we receive Christ. Partaking of the Eucharist in faith, we receive Christ. Certainly we receive the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist differently than we receive Him in the Word. And we need both on a regular basis in order to progress in holiness.
"How is Christ received in the Holy Communion? In one sense, we don't know. What we do know is that Christ said that we receive His Body and Blood in the Holy Communion. This is all we need to know, although our curiosity makes us want to know more. Queen Elizabeth I is supposed to have said, in response to the theological arguments of her time:
His was the Word that spake it; He took the bread and brake it; and what that Word did make it, I do believe and take it." [From Tarsitano's An Outline of An Anglican Life .]
How is Christ received from Scripture? Many ways. We receive the sanctifying power of Christ by listening to sermons and participating in Bible studies. Our collect tells us to "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest all the Holy Scriptures." This means something deeper than speed-reading. We return daily to the Bible reading and rereading, thinking and rethinking, obeying what we grasp, correcting our earlier readings as new insight is given us, constantly checking our notions of Scripture with other believers and the historic Church. This is the kind of commitment to the Word we need.
Dedicate yourself today to the study of God's Word. Find your joy and vitality in Christ, the Christ received in Word and Sacrament. Make this year one of hearing, reading, marking, learning, and inwardly digesting all holy Scriptures.
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