...of GOD. According to the Biblical Argument we should believe in inerrancy because the Bible teaches it own inerrancy. We should accept the Bible’s claim about itself. So the Bible’s authority comes from the inspiration of GOD, because God is the author of the Bible. Biblical Authority must begin with God himself. For in him all authority is located. God is his own authority, for there is nothing outside of Him on which his authority was founded. So the Bible is GOD’s word and if there was nothing before GOD to base the Bible on then GOD is his own authority as well as His word. When it comes to the Bible inspiration is the guidance or influence of the Holy Spirit on human writers of Scripture so that GOD controlled them in such a way that what they wrote was exactly what GOD wanted to say without error. Whatever GOD wanted to say in the scripture, His Holy Spirit inspired the writer of the scripture to write exactly what GOD wanted, how GOD wanted it, and the way GOD wanted it written without error or human flaw. Isaiah 55:8 says “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” This is why the Bible is without error. If we say that there is not inerrancy of the Bible, then we are saying GOD is a liar, and that He and his Word are not perfect. My definition of inerrancy according to the Bible is that the word of GOD has not errors. The Biblical Argument for Inerrancy states that we must believe inerrancy because the Bible teaches...
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...three topics that I found to be the most intriguing. The topics that will be discussed are; does the Bible have authority? If a person is a Christian, does it matter how they live their life? And what can your local church do to better communicate God’s love to your community? As you read this paper rely on your mind to indulge on the importance of God and how all three topics are surrounded by his will. II. Section One (Does the Bible have authority?) The B-I-B-L-E yes that is the book for me……A lot of people say the Bible is the authority, but you have to keep in mind that God ordained the holy men to write as they was moved by the holy spirit, and yet to remind his people of his love. Often people make the Bible their god instead of God, in other words the real authority is God; He just often shows us what to do or how to live through the Bible.Authority can be described as power to influence or command thought, opinion, behavior, or convincing force (Webster, 2002); it is illustrated in the with a good deal of elasticity. The bible is a collection of sixty-six books written by man. The bible is one book but sharing one life changing message. According to the video that was presented by Dr.Elmer Towns he stated all scriptures are given by inspiration which means God breathe upon his books, every word is accurate. The Bible teaches that all authority comes from God. The bible has...
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...Institute for Christian Teaching THE BIBLE: REVELATION AND AUTHORITY Richard M. Davidson 402-00 Institute for Christian Teaching 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 USA Symposium on the Bible and Adventist Scholarship Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic March 19-26, 2000 Page 1 of 33THE BIBLE: REVELATION AND AUTHORITY 3/2/2014http://fae.adventist.org/essays/26Bcc_017 -055.htm Introduction I have not always held the view of Scriptural revelation and authority that I now maintain. Having journeyed through a different perspective on the revelation/authority of Scripture and then returning to the position that I now hold, I am convinced that this issue is basic to all other issues in the church. The destiny of our church depends on how its members regard the revelation and authority of the Bible. In the following pages I have summarized the biblical self-testimony on its revelation and authority. The major focus of the paper is biblical authority, but a short statement concerning revelation-inspiration-illumination introduces the subject, and other biblical testimony on the nature of revelation is subsumed under the discussion of biblical authority. The paper also includes a brief historical treatment of the Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment understandings of biblical revelation/authority and an analysis and critique of their basic presuppositions in light of Scripture. Following the conclusion, a selected bibliography of sources cited and other...
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...their lives upon- to be able to explain why they study the word and how they can believe it to be authoritative. In 1 Peter 3:15, Christians learn the necessity of being able to defend ones faith. The ability to do so lies in having a solid understanding of foundational topics such as biblical authority, inspiration, and inerrancy. This essay will deal with such topics and give implications for how a Christian is to live their life based on these concepts. To begin, biblical authority must be defined. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, “Authority is the right and power to command, enforce laws, exact obedience, determine,...
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...The Bible, in all its entirety, represents complete truth because it is God-breathed, it is impossible for God to speak falsely on any matter, it is certain that no fact will ever contradict the Word that has been spoken by God, and God, being the ultimate authority, has total knowledge of any subject or question. I came to this conclusion by reading Bible Doctrine, by Wayne Grudem, reading selected texts from the Bible itself, and through group discussions had in class. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (English Standard Version 2 Tim 3:16). In 2 Timothy 3:16 we can clearly read that the Scripture is, in fact, given directly from God, from His own mouth. According to Wayne Grudem, author or Bible Doctrine, “to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God” (Grudem 39). Faith in God relies on complete trust and submission by His people, and to accomplish that, we must believe the entirety of Scripture. “So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the...
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...Although, contrary to some who believe otherwise, the Bible is an all-authoritative book. As Christians we believe, that scripture is God breathed and because it is from God, it is accurate and authoritative. The Bible is directly from God, written through his disciples. Since the authority belongs to God, our command as Christ followers is to follow Jesus’ example of how he lived in the Bible. According to the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, “Authority is the right and power to command, enforce laws, exact obedience, determine or judge.” In respect to the Bible, this means that because it is authoritative, we must follow the laws given by its word. This empowerment belongs to God, and to God alone. Matthew 21:23-24 states, that Jesus’ authority came from God his Father, the one who sent him to Earth. The Bible’s authority, comes from God, but was not written by God, or Jesus themselves. The people chosen to write the books of the Bible were chosen specifically by God, and were inspired through the work of the Holy Spirit. Along with authority and inspiration, comes the discussion of inerrancy. Inerrancy is the view that the entire Bible is completely accurate and true. There are four arguments for inerrancy, including The Biblical Argument. This argument states that if God has authority over the Bible, then it has to be inerrant because God is truth. The Bible is the word of God; therefore, it is without error. The Bible indicates divine communication. Prophets were given...
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...THEO 201 D27 Short Essay on Inspiration and Inerrancy It was a routine morning; I woke up to the buzz of my alarm, had breakfast, and was on my way to the park where I have my daily Bible study. However, on this day, my time at the park did not go according to routine as normal. A jogger that regularly runs through the park suddenly approached me. He told me his name, but the next words that came out of his mouth were: “How do you sit there morning after morning and read that Bible. What drives you to do it, and what do Christians find so authoritative about it?” I didn’t respond right away, but after taking a few seconds, I concluded: The term ‘authority,’ when applied to the Bible, also has an application to words spoken or written whose accuracy has been established and whose information can consequently be trusted (McDonald). To say the Bible has authority means that these words have the power and right to command. This authority comes from God and we are meant to give our lives over to this supreme authority. Hence, we worship the God of these words, and not the words themselves. John 5:23 states, “He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” This evidences that Jesus and God are equal. Since Jesus and God are one, this means that Jesus has this authority as well. Biblical inspiration is a super-natural influence of the Holy Spirit upon divinely chosen agents in consequence of which their writings became trustworthy and authoritative. In...
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...We live in a time of forceful resistance to authority; this is an era that question every authority from the authority of the government, law enforcement, parents, teachers and the list goes on. Consequently though, this resistance do not limit itself to earthly authority but leant itself to spiritual authority as well. In a time like this, it is vital that those that bears the name Christian must define the central doctrines of their faith and without equivocation embrace the authority of God's word for what it is. The eternal battle as to the inerrancy and infallibility between orthodoxy and orthopraxy demands significant attention and largely determines the positions on which a person will side. In my view, biblical inerrancy of the Bible is at the core of the Christian Doctrine is, and rightfully so. The attestation of the authority of the Bible as the Word of God requires an understanding of the belief in its inspiration, inerrancy, and authority of the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 calls the Bible is the "breath of God" and that all scripture was given under the inspiration of God. The Christian doctrine is like every other religion without the truth that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible, authoritative Word of God.” The close central biblical doctrine to inspiration and inerrancy of scripture is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 3:15 refers to the church as the pillar of truth because of the inspired and inerrant word of God, "if I delay, you may know how...
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...Course and Section Number: THEO 201 Essay on Topic Short Essay on Inerrancy and Inspiration As a Christian I read the bible to grow closer to God, to understand who he is and what he is about. But understanding what the bible says is not the only thing that is important for a Christian, we must understand why we believe it. Understanding why we believe it comes from understanding its authority, its inerrancy, and its inspiration. First we must understand what gives the bible its authority. According to Merriam-Webster authority is the power to give orders or make decisions: the power or right to direct or control someone or something. The bible receives its authority because it is the revelation of God to us. “The authority of the Bible is established by its own claims. It is the word of God.” (Elwell, 2001). The Bible receives its authority because it is the word of God. Second we must understand the inspiration of the Bible. The Bible was written by many different men so we must see how this fits together. I believe that while the Bible was written by multiple men the ideas were all from God. I believe this because of the scriptures and what they say. For example 2 Peter 3:15-16 And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him. The Bible tells us that the scriptures inspiration is God, and while it was written by multiple men the one inspiration is the same. Third...
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...Theo 201 01/26/2013 Many dispute the claims that the Bible makes for itself in that is the inspired, inerrant, and authoritive Word of God. We know this to be true of God, that in Him and in Him alone we find authority, and that there is no higher authority outside of Him. H D McDonald wrote, “Authority of God is, the authority of what God is, which is made known in His self-disclosure, since only in His revelation can God be known. Revelation is therefore the key to God’s authority, so that the two, revelation and authority, may be regarded as two sides of the same reality. In revelation God declares His authority”. (McDonald 2001) Now that the question of authority has been answered it is important to understand and essentially clarify the meaning of inspiration. Inspiration is the process by which God chose to reveal Himself, apart from general revelation, through his written word. By his word, we mean being Gods own word written by men and superintended by His Holy Spirit as the divine author, it is whole and was verbally given with the incorporation of the writer’s personality without any error or fault. The Bible itself also testifies that it is the Word of God. Dr Elmer Towns states, “Over 3,000 times in the Scripture the authors claim their message is from God. Expressions like ‘”thus saith the Lord”’ appears approximately 500 times in the Pentateuch and over 1200 times in the prophets.” (Towns 2008) Now if that evidence alone is not enough we cannot deny the empirical...
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...and Inerrancy of the Bible “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) The Gospel, according to John, starts with one of the most important ideas of the inerrancy and authority of the Bible. The Bible is inspired by God and is from God, because it is a part of God as we can clearly find in the first part of John. Many today argue the inerrancy of the Bible, even though scripture says, “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to them that put their trust in him”. (Proverbs 30:5) We must trust the infallible Word of the Lord. The Bible’s authority comes directly from God, and His revelation is used to understand that authority. He is the founder and maker of all, and as such, his Word has the right and power to command just as God does. Paul declares that, “every scripture” is God breathed. He was aware that he was being guided by the Holy Spirit and the words that he transcribed had power and authority. Among other writers of scripture, Paul was merely chosen to translate into human form, the revelation of God. Since the Holy scriptures retain the power of God, It, as a result, establishes its own inerrancy. It is inerrant because it is pure and true, without fault or error, and cannot be disproven by man. “Human knowledge is limited in two ways. First, because of our finitude and sinfulness, human beings misinterpret the data and…secondly we do not possess all the data that comes to bear on the Bible.” (Elwell, pg. 156)...
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..."No matter how hard we try to transform its message, the message will try harder to transform us." (Brown, 1965, 183) This essay will explore whether or not the bible should serve as an ultimate authority for Christian ethics and discover how synonymous Biblical ethics are with the ethics of Christianity. This piece will also look at what it is about the Bible that recommends it as such a major authority of morality and ethical practice. The bible is seen as a ‘guidebook’ for a Christian, giving details on how they should live according to God’s law; however, questions negating the validity of this belief in God’s law often come to the forefront. The Bible permits the stoning to death of adulterers. Something which in contemporary society seems atrocious. A point to be aware of is the huge cultural difference between the bible and contemporary life. If we focus on the difference between the Old Testament and modern day life the cultural difference is one of the chief factors behind the difficulty of using the bible in ethics today. The bible is written in a culturally conditioned format. Language, racial attitudes and the different emphasis on aspects of life including holiness and purity, all count towards the invisible barrier when discussing how synonymous biblical ethics are with the ethics of Christianity. (Rodd, 1995, 89). An issue that arises more than often when discussing biblical and Christian ethics is sexuality. Different churches hold different values and...
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...Institute for Christian Teaching THE BIBLE: REVELATION AND AUTHORITY Richard M. Davidson 402-00 Institute for Christian Teaching 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 USA Symposium on the Bible and Adventist Scholarship Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic March 19-26, 2000 Introduction I have not always held the view of Scriptural revelation and authority that I now maintain. Having journeyed through a different perspective on the revelation/authority of Scripture and then returning to the position that I now hold, I am convinced that this issue is basic to all other issues in the church. The destiny of our church depends on how its members regard the revelation and authority of the Bible. In the following pages I have summarized the biblical self-testimony on its revelation and authority. The major focus of the paper is biblical authority, but a short statement concerning revelation-inspiration-illumination introduces the subject, and other biblical testimony on the nature of revelation is subsumed under the discussion of biblical authority. The paper also includes a brief historical treatment of the Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment understandings of biblical revelation/authority and an analysis and critique of their basic presuppositions in light of Scripture. Following the conclusion, a selected bibliography of sources cited and other useful books and articles on the subject is provided. Appendices include: (1) a chart schematizing the two major...
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...INTRODUCTION This paper was written based on the faith of Christians. Furthermore, the research referenced the Holy Bible as it is the sole basis of Christians for their doctrines and faith. The progression of the essays was written in accordance on how I think the doctrines of Christians were regarded. Section one: Did Jesus claim to be God?, discloses the dissimilar stand for Christians on the true state of Jesus Christ whether His is God or is He a man or is He God and a man at the Same time. Section two: Does the Bible Have Authority, discusses how the Christians were made to accept as true that the Bible is the sole basis for the words of God. Section three: How can we be confident that Jesus is returning?, opens the notion on where we are heading after our journey in this world. DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE GOD? The confusion on the true state of Jesus Christ often disrupts the mind of the believers on choosing their stand. However, the Holy Scriptures have the apparent stand on the issue on how to recognize Jesus Christ. Believers were divided to three groups on their belief on Christ’s true status such as: Jesus Christ is God, Jesus Christ is a man and last of all, Jesus Christ is God and a man at the same time. According to Apostle Paul, Jesus Christ is a man however a man that serves as the lone mediator of man to God (I Timothy 2:5). According to Apostle Peter, Jesus Christ is man approved of God by miracles and wonders and signs (Acts 2:22). Moreover, Apostle...
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...faith is about trusting in God and God’s mercy and does not require promoting justice. Also, he insists that justice is a socialist idea, not a Christian one. Overall, making a bold observation that faith has nothing to do with justice. Although, this host has strong opinions, he needs consider more factors before making such bold points. Everyone has their own opinion and not all Christians understand faith in the same manner. According to one of Avery Dulles’s writings, The Assurance of Things Hoped For, faith has multiple understandings throughout both Testaments of the Bible. Faith can be defined as an acceptance of God’s promises and demands. “In the Old Testament faith is depicted as the appropriate response to God’s faithfulness to his covenant promises” (Dulles 17). Overall, faith is tested by obedience and fidelity. In the New Testament, it refers to faith as Pistic which is a Greek word that means faith and further, a truth in God. Moreover, faith means personal trust in Jesus as the bearer of the kingdom (Dulles 17). According to Dulles, faith can be clustered into small identifiable groups which represent the different types of approaches. Dulles discusses seven different models that describe how Christians understand faith. There is the Praxis, Affective-Experiential, Personalist, Propositional, Transcendental, Obediential and Fiducial Model. The Praxis model suggests that faith is doing justice like working with the poor and...
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