The Doctrine of the Bible: Bibliology Part 2

Summary of Various Views of the Bible (from Willmington p.793--795)

1. The Position of Israel.

The Israelites in the OT Times believed that the Thirty-nine Books were indeed the very Word of God.

Deu 6:4  Listen, Israel: The LORD is our God. The LORD is the only God.

Deu 6:5  Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Deu 6:6  Take to heart these words that I give you today.

Deu 6:7  Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you're at home or away, when you lie down or get up.

Deu 6:8  Write them down, and tie them around your wrist, and wear them as headbands as a reminder.

Deu 6:9  Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates.

2. The Position of the Early Church.

During the Third to the Fifth Centuries, the Early church held 184 Councils just to deal heresies which would dare to tamper with the Word of God.

the Council of Nicea

3. The View of Agnosticism.

They do not think it is the Divinely Inspired Word of God. It’s early history is mere legend, and no more inspired than Homer. It’s moral teaching is sometimes good, but sometimes very bad. For example God ordered Saul the King to kil every human male and female and every animal. Saul was condemned for leaving the Sheep and cattle live.

4. The View of Liberalism.

H.E. Fosdick that 20th Century Liberal, did not believe in the miraculous and thus most of the Bible was irrelevant.

5.The Position of the Cults.

They mostly give lip service to the Bible as the Word of God. They look upon the writings of various founders as equal if not superior to the Scriptures.

A. Christian Science founded by Mary Baker Eddy (1821- 1910)

George Channing, an international Christian Science Lecturer and practitioner writes:

“Each person, of any religion, can find what is satisfying to him as the spiritual meaning in the Bible. But Christian Scientists  feel that Mrs. Mary Baker eddy’s Book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. offers the complete spiritual meaning of the Bible. This would not be available to them without this Book of Baker Eddy’s.

B. Jehovah’s Witnesses (founded by Charles Taze Russell 1851-1916)

Mr. Russell calmly announces in the opening pages of His Studies in the Scriptures  that it would be far better to leave the Bible unread but read his comments on the Scriptures.

Charles Taze Russell

C Mormonism (founded by joseph Smith 1805 - 1844)

This cult teaches that the Book of Mormon, printed in 1830 must be regarded on an equal basis as the Bible.
Mormonism is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity. This movement was founded byJoseph Smith, Jr., in the 1820s. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself from traditional Protestantism. Mormonism today represents the new, non-Protestant faith taught by Smith in the 1840s. After Smith's death, most Mormons followed Brigham Young west, calling themselves The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).Wikipedia.com

Bingham Young.

D. The Position of Romanism.

Rome believes that the church is the divinely appointed custodian of the Bible and has the final word on what it means in any specific passage. It accepts the Apocryphal books as a part of the inspired Scriptures. Rome’s position on the Bible could be diagrammed as a triangle, with the Pope at the top,the Bible and the Church Traditions at the Bottom

6. The Position of Mysticism.

Those holding this view lean upon the “Divine inner light” to reveal and lead them into all truth.

Thus personal experiences are looked upon as vital to discovering divine truth along with the Word of god itself.

7. The Position of Neo-Orthodoxy. ( popularized by Karl Barth) in the Epistle to the Romans first published in 1918.

Karl Barth

This position holds that the Bible may well contain the Word of God, but that, until it becomes such, it is as dead and uninspired as any other ancient or modern historical book might be. Thus the Bible not to be viewed as objective, but subjective in nature. It is the Word of God, as it becomes the Word of God to me. Neo- Orthodoxy would thus view the first eleven chapters of Genesis as “religious myth”.

8. The Position of Neo-Evangelicalism.

The Neo-Evangelicalism is the latest dress of orthodoxy, or neo-Orthodoxy This Theological liberalism is the expression neo-orthodoxy today. There need to be no dichotomy between a personal Gospel and a Social Gospel. The new Evangelicalism differs from Fundamentalism in its willingness to handle the social - problems which Fundamentalism evaded.

The New Evangelicalism has changed its strategy from on of separation to one of infiltration.

They believe that Christianity is intellectually defensible but cannot be obscurantist in scientific questions concerning Creation, the age of man, the Universality of the flood and other Biblical Questions.

9. The Position of Orthodoxy.

This view holds that the Bible alone is the Inspired Revelation of God and is therefore the sole ground of authority in faith and Practice.

Orthodoxy claims the Bible is objective in nature and proclaims not a social Gospel, but a Sinner Gospel. According to this view, whenever there is a clear contradiction between the Bible and any assumed ‘fact” of history or science, it is that ‘fact’ which must give way to the Bible, and not the reverse.

A. This is the View of the Old Testament writers concerning the Old Testament.

1.Moses Exo 4:10  Moses said to the LORD, "Please, Lord, I'm not a good speaker. I've never been a good speaker, and I'm not now, even though you've spoken to me. I speak slowly, and I become tongue-tied easily."
Exo 4:11  The LORD asked him, "Who gave humans their mouths? Who makes humans unable to talk or hear? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? It is I, the LORD!
Exo 4:12  Now go, and I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

Moses at the Burning Bush

2. Samuel. 1Sa 8:10  Then Samuel told the people who had asked him for a king everything the LORD had said.

3. Joshua Jos 23:14  "Pay attention, because I will soon die like everyone else. You know with all your heart and soul that not one single promise which the LORD your God has given you has ever failed to come true. Every single word has come true.

Joshua speaks with the Children of Israel

4. David 2Sa 23:2  "The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me. His words were on my tongue.

2Sa 23:3  The God of Israel spoke to them. The rock of Israel told me, 'The one who rules humans with justice rules with the fear of God.

Remember that the Old Testament refers to itself 3,808 times as the Word of God.

B. the View of the New Testament Writers concerning the Old Testament.

They spoke of 161 OT events and 246 OT Passages.

a. Creation Genesis 1:1 and Hebrews 11:3  Through faith we understand that the worlds came into being, and still exist, at the command of God, so that what is seen does not owe its existence to that which is visible. WNT

b. Man made in God’s image. Gen 1:26;1Co 11:7  For a man ought not to have a veil on his head, since he is the image and glory of God; while woman is the glory of man.

c. the Institution of marriage. Gen 2:24; Mat 19:4  "Have you not read," He replied, "that He who made them 'MADE THEM' from the beginning 'MALE AND FEMALE,

Mat 19:5  AND SAID, FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE UNITED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BE ONE'?

Mat 19:6  Thus they are no longer two, but 'one'! What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."

d. God resting. Gen 2:2;3; Heb 4:4  For, as we know, when speaking of the seventh day He has used the words, "AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS;"

e. Noah’s Arch. Gen 6:14-16; 7:1-12; Luk 17:26  "And as it was in the time of Noah, so will it also be in the time of the Son of Man. 2Pe 3:5  For they are wilfully blind to the fact that there were heavens which existed of old, and an earth, the latter arising out of water and extending continuously through water, by the command of God;

2Pe 3:6  and that, by means of these, the then existing race of men was overwhelmed with water and perished.

2Pe 3:7  But the present heavens and the present earth are, by the command of the same God, kept stored up, reserved for fire in preparation for a day of judgement and of destruction for the ungodly.

C. Some Old Testament Passages referred to by the New Testament writers.

a. Be ye Holy for I am Holy. Lev 11:44; 1Pe 1:14  And, since you delight in obedience, do not shape your lives by the cravings which used to dominate you in the time of your ignorance,

1Pe 1:15  but--in imitation of the holy One who has called you--you also must be holy in all your habits of life.

1Pe 1:16  Because it stands written, "YOU ARE TO BE HOLY, BECAUSE I AM HOLY."

b. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Joshua 1:5; Heb 13:5  Your lives should be untainted by love for money. Be content with what you have; for God Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER, NEVER LET GO YOUR HAND: I WILL NEVER NEVER FORSAKE YOU." WNT.

c. Be ye angry and sin not. Psa 4:4  Tremble, (  Be angry,G3710 ) and sin not; speak within your own heart on your bed and be still. Selah. Eph 4:26  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

d. There is none righteous, no not one. Ps 14:1; Rom 3:10  as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one;

[and there are many more such passages. (246 of them)

D. The View of the New Testament writers concerning  the New Testament

1. Peter :

2Pe 3:1  This is now, beloved, the second epistle that I write unto you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance;

2Pe 3:2  that ye should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles:

2. Paul. 1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

1Th 2:13  And for this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when ye received from us the word of the message, even the word of God, ye accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also worketh in you that believe.

3.  James. Jas 1:21  Wherefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Jas 4:5  Or think ye that the scripture speaketh in vain? Doth the spirit which he made to dwell in us long unto envying?

4. Jude. Jud 1:3  Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.

D. The View of Jesus concerning the Whole Bible.

1. He began His ministry by quoting from the Old Testament. Matthew 4:4,7,10

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Mat 4:7  Jesus said unto him, Again it is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Mat 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

compare Deut. 8:3; 6:13;16

2. Five of the last seven statements on the Cross were from our Lord were from the Old Testament.

a. Luke 23 :34 with Isaiah 53:12  Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

b. Luke 23:43 with Isaiah 53:10-11

Isa 53:10  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Isa 53:11  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many: and he shall bear their iniquities.

c. Matt 27:46 with Psalms 22:1

Psa 22:1  <For the Chief Musician; set to Aijeleth hash–Shahar. A Psalm of David.> My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

d. Jn 19:28 with Psa 69:21

Psa 69:21  They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

e. Luke 23 :46 with Psa 31:5  Into thine hand I commend my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD, thou God of truth.

3. Our Lord Believed in the History of the Old Testament.

a. Creation. Mar 10:6  But from the beginning of the creation, Male and female made he them.

b. Noah’s Ark. Mat 24:38  For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,

Mat 24:39  and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man.

c. Lot’s Wife. Luk 17:32  Remember Lot's wife.

d. The Destruction of Sodom. Luk 17:28  Likewise even as it came to pass in the days of Lot; they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

Luk 17:29  but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all:

e. Jonah and the Great Fish.Mat 12:40  for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

f. The Queen of Sheba and Solomon. Mat 12:42  The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

g. The Repentance of Ninevah. Mat 12:41  The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.

h. Naaman the Leper. Luk 4:27  And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.

i. Elijah and the Widow. Luk 4:25  But of a truth I say unto you, There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land;

Luk 4:26  and unto none of them was Elijah sent, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.

j.Moses and the Serpent. Joh 3:14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

k. The first Marriage. Mat 19:5  and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the twain shall become one flesh?

Mat 19:6  So that they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Mat 19:7  They say unto him, Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorcement, and to put her away?

l. The Blood of Abel. Luk 11:51  from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary: yea, I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation.

m. Abraham Isaac and Jacob.Mat 22:31  But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,

Mat 22:32  I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

n. The Burning Bush. Luk 20:37  But that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed, in the place concerning the Bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

o. The Wilderness Manna Joh 6:31  Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.

p. The Murder of Zacharias. Mat 23:35  that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar.

It has been estimated that over one tenth of Jesus Recorded New Testament Words were taken from the Old Testament.  In the four Gospels 180 of the 1,800 verses which report His discourses are either Old testament Quotes or Old Testament Allusions.

Every single OT Book is Directly or indirectly referred to in the New Testament.(with the possible exception of the Song of Solomon).