Iron Works Foundations

What is Scripture? Brief Recap Lesson 2:

I. The big question: "What is the Bible?" The Bible is a library of 66 "books" (different kinds of writings) breathed out by God, that speaks truly on all that it teaches on all of reality and cannot and does not err. It is needed to reveal essential knowledge of God and what duties He requires of us; is sufficient for everything we need for faith and godly living; is clear and understandable in its overall teaching and its message of salvation; and is the sole infallible rule for faith and life.

II. The Inspiration of Scripture: All the words in all of Scripture are God words breathed out through human writers in harmony with their minds, personalities, cultural situation, and vocabulary.

A. All the words in all of Scripture are God's words.1. Verbal: every word (jot/tittle!)–Matt 5:18; 1 Cor 2:132. Plenary: every part (Gen-Rev)–2Tm 3:16

B. Opposing views: liberal, neo-orthodox

What is Scripture? Lesson 3:

Infallibility and Inerrancy

WCF 1.8 The Old Testament in Hebrew…and the New Testament in Greek…being immediately inspired by God, and, by his singular care and providence, kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical; so as, in all controversies of religion, the church is finally to appeal unto them.

I. Infallibility: Scripture cannot err

A. Some modern scholars: infallibility only applies to matters of faith/morals, not history and science—it can and does err in those matters.

B. Discuss/Responses? 1. History:

a. Archaeology: confirms biblical record to critics: verifies people/places/events thought as myth.

b. Qualifications: 1) Doesn't "prove" Bible inspired. 2) Bible authoritative, not archaeology

c. The Cylinder of Cyrus (536BC): - Speaks of Cyrus taking control of Babylon in 539 BC (Daniel). - Speaks of return of exiles (Ezra 1:1-4)

d. Pilate Inscription (26-29AD):"To the Divine Augusti [this] Tiberieum...Pontius Pilate...prefect of Judea...has dedicated [this]"

e. Sir William Ramsey, archaeologist, tried to refute historicity of Bible (Luke-Acts). Reversed beliefs:"Luke is an historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy, he is possessed of the true historic sense…this author should be placed along with the greatest of historians."f. Historian A.N. Sherwin-White:"For Acts the confirmation of historicity is overwhelming…Any attempt to reject its basic historicity must now appear absurd. Roman historians have long taken it for granted."

2. Science: a. Scripture uses "phenomenological"

(way things appear) language: sun set/sun rise, etc. (Gen 28:11; Dan 6:14)

b. Scripture uses anthropomorphic(man conformed) language: assigns human characteristics to God/things.

(Ex 3:20; Isa 55:12)c. "Truth…does not always demand the kind of

precision that we find in modern science…"

d. Scripture is not a science text book,however, it speaks truthfully about what we find in nature, and provides the proper inter-pretation of nature (ex: creation of man, etc).

II. Inerrancy: Scripture does not err. It is true in all it teaches.

A. The Scriptures claim for itself:

Psalm 19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

Psalm 119:160 All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

B. Infallibility/inerrancy rooted in God's nature.

C. WWJV:John 10:35 - …Scripture cannot be broken…John 17:17 - Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. Matt 5:18 - …not iota, not dot, will pass from the Law…Matt 12:40 - For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Discuss: thoughts/significance of this.

C. Original Autographs vs. Manuscript Copies1. Inerrancy refers only to the original auto-

graphs, not manuscript (ms) copies.2. MS copies contain differences

(word order) and spelling mistakes, etc.

a. Rarely changes meaning of a text. No doctrine is affected.

b. Variants/mistakes easy to identify, original reading thus able to be discerned.

3. Original text can be preserved in ms copies: The more mss = better ability to access original text:

"Providentially, when it comes to the quantity ofmanuscripts, the NT is in a class all its own…we possess more than 5,500 manuscripts of the NT Greek alone. No other document from ancienthistory even comes close.: - Dr. Michael Kruger

Manuscript Comparison

Date Earliest Author Written Copy # Copies Time Gap

Aristotle 343BC 900AD 5 1,250 yrsPlato 400BC 900AD 7 1,300 yrsGallic Wars 100-44BC 900AD 10 1,000 yrs(Caesar)

NT 50-100AD 114-325AD 5,500 50-300 yrs

4. Original text, not original autograph is needed. This is preserved through the abundance of manuscripts we possess.

5. Early Church Fathers (95-400 AD): “Even if we lost all the Greek manuscriptsand early translations, we could still repro-duce the contents of the NT from the…quotations in commentaries, sermons,letters, and so forth from the early church fathers.”– Bruce Metzger

Thoughts/questions?

D. What about alleged contradictions/errors?

1. Inexact quotes from OT (Isa 40:3/Matt 3:):Isa 40:3 A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Contrast: Mat 3:3 "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare theway of the Lord; make his paths straight.'"

Answer: "The requirement is not verbal exactitude in citation, but truth without error. The same truth can be stated in a variety of forms while retaining the full veracity of the original." – Dr. M. James Sawyer

2. Different details/contradictions in accountsa. Historical method

1) Author records what is important to him2) Details may vary.

b. Details on Jesus' resurrection accounts (1 or 2 angels, etc.):

1) More detail is not contradiction. 2) Differing details not evidence of

contradiction, but of no collusion. It is what you would expect when multiple witnesses provide their testimony.

3. Two illustrations:a. Blind men/elephant: 1 touches trunk and describes as a snake. Another feelsits torso and likens it to a great wall. Each provides description from his perspective, however, to one who never heard of an elephant, they would not think that descriptions fit the same animal.

b. One report says a person died in car accident. Another says a heart attack. Which is it? More details reveal he had a heart attack at the time of the accident. Undetermined if heart attack or accident was cause of death.

Dr. Gleason Archer, Biblical manuscript expert: "…My confidence in the trustworthiness of Scripture has been repeatedly verified…by the discovery that almost every problem in Scripture that has ever been discovered…has been dealt with in a completely satisfactory manner..."

"..during the last twenty years [I] have examined dozens of these "problem texts" that have been brought to [my] attention in the context of the inerrancy debate. In every one of those cases, upon close inspection of the text a plausible solution has become evident." – Wayne Grudem

E. How do we know this is God's Word? 1. Evidences:

a. WCF 1.5. "…And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (…to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God…"

b. MAPS

c. WWJV

d. Only the Holy Spirit gives confirmation: WCF 1.5 cont'd: "…yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts."

Why is this important to keep in mind?