Introduction
This paper is a reflective discussion of Mark Thompson’s view of inerrancy. What is inerrancy? It is the belief that the Bible in its original or current state is free from any error or untruths. This doctrine is highly foundational in Evangelical Christianity. Mark Thompson is one of the many defenders of this position on inerrancy. Thompson (2012:72) makes this clear when he writes “[some Christians] abandoned the faith as they choose between a perfect text and a indisputable evidence of error in Scripture”. This dogma is undergirded by the assumption that the Bible is authoritative because it is undeniably God’s true Word, and therefore, it is authoritative for Christian life. Sadly, however, this is not held by many Christians
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Barth’s view on autographs can be summarized as follows: the prophets and the apostles were capable of errors in spoken and written word. Barth maintained this quite strongly, so much so, that if one was to push this to its logical conclusion; in effect Barth heavily emphasizes man’s imperfections to the point that it almost outweighs God’s infallibility. This is to make it appear that Scripture almost is placed within the realm of man’s efforts or failures, rather than placing the final product of Scripture squarely in the economy of the Lord. To this end Thompson quotes R.C. Sproul when Sproul posits that “The infallibility of Scripture does not rest on the infallibility of human writers but on the integrity of God” (Thompson, 2012:84). Biblical data to support this is not hard to find, one could only turn to a passage such as 2 Peter 1: 20-21 (as seen in the above point), which proves that both human authors as fallen as they might be, and God as the ultimate author are both irrefutably involved in the final product of Scripture, to bring about God’s good purposes (Thompson, 2012: 88-89). This is also in-line with William Lane Graig’s treatment of 2 Peter 1:21 as the foundational text for …show more content…
They did not consider that the whole bible in all its parts was inspired. Rather they believed in partial inspiration. This is to say that some parts of the bible are inspired and others are erroneous. Thompson (2012:74) strongly disagrees with this kind of thinking when he cites Warfield to affirm that the whole bible in all its parts is inspired; Warfield makes it clear that the reason for this is the fact that his confidence for believing this can be summed up in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles, that gave us a truthful and trustworthy compilation of the Scriptures. For both Christ and His apostle had a high regard for the Scriptures, and thought it to be good for teaching righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
The Bible is read and interpreted by many people all over the world. Regardless, no one knows the absolute truth behind scripture. Walter Brueggemann, professor of Old Testament, wrote “Biblical Authority” to help people understand what he describes as six different parts that make up the foundation to ones understanding of scripture. He defines these six features as being: inherency, interpretation, imagination, ideology, inspiration, and importance. As Brueggemann explains each individual part, it is easy to see that they are all interconnected because no one can practice one facet without involuntarily practicing at least one other part.
In The Battle for the Beginning, MacArthur directs believers to recognize the scriptural claim that first three chapters of Genesis concerning creation are the record of a literal and historical event. MacArthur senses a growing shift amongst modern evangelical believers who seek to revise or interpret the events of creation in a non-literal or naturalistic way. Macarthur reasons that a non-literal or naturalistic interpretation discounts what the scriptures says, and ultimately undermines Christian theology. For MacArthur the Bibl...
middle of paper ... ...atism.” Bibliography Arnold, Bill T., and Bryan Beyer. Encountering the Old Testament: a Christian Survey. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008. Elwell, Walter A. Baker Commentary on the Bible.
Finally Placher ends his article with the explanation of the Bible giving the reader a new language and mindset to describe the world around them. When a person uses the language that is present in the Bible instead of the language that is of the world their minds change, for example an “action wasn’t just ‘inappropriate’ or even a ‘crime’ it was ‘sin’” (928). Through such examples Placher proves that “to trust the Bible” is to “let it define our world and provide a language for thinking about the world”
Christians throughout history have always recognized the Scriptures as the inspired word of God, even though they have never agreed to what extent they are inspired. Paul J. Achtemeier, in his book Inspiration and Authority, seeks to define what he believes to be what Christians call inspiration as it relates to the Bible and the authority that it commands in the Christian faith. Achtemeier dives into these topics, exploring what he believes to be the nature and role of Scripture by combining critical study and research with traditional belief, and attempts to define inspiration and authority in a truthful and objective manner.
The book is mean-spirited and vicious in its attacks upon the godly evangelical scholars who labored so hard to produce the modern versions, not to undermine the Word, but to make it more understandable to the average reader.
Writings of historical scholars, Josephus, Aristotle, and Plato, to name a few, are taken as truth and fact, yet the writings of the Scripture are constantly disputed. Why? Perhaps because of the ethical imperatives imposed to which people do not want to adhere. Perhaps because of man’s ego and pride that disallows them to submit to a Higher Authority. Nonetheless, The Bible has been, and still remains, the most widely read and revered book of all
People, specifically in the U.S., have gone from viewing the bible as “The absolute, unchanging word of God,” to, “A collection of guidelines, allegories, myths, and stories useful for good living. Offensive versus must be igno...
Even though humans wrote the text, translating it and passing it down from generations to generations, God’s truth is unchanging. Debates of the inerrancy of the bible cannot usurp God as the King of grace. Instead of focusing on the inerrancy of the Bible, individuals who wish to seek a life of faith should focus on the inspiration God is showing them in his word. These revelations should move them into applicable, daily life changing implications from what they have learned. God shows revelations of himself through the Bible, and his character is revealed time and time again throughout scripture. Any faulty facts or discrepancies in grammar or data, should not take away from the value that scripture holds. When we read scripture we bring new meaning of interpretations of the truths God shows us, since new eras and environmental factors will be influential on how we process information. The bible is not just a fact book, telling humans stories of the past, but instead the bible is inspired instructions for how we can deal with spiritual and ethical encounters we
Harris, Stephen. Understanding The Bible. 6 ed. New York City: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2002. Print.
As a question, ‘who am I?’ poses many complications. Each of us are aware of being someone “with a past, a present and a future…” however, it is the fact that we are not “only aware of inhabiting a distinct personal world, but also…social and cultural…” which leads to confusion. This essay will therefore explore the Psychological foundations behind the question, in regards to evidence provided by the ‘Twenty Statement Test’. Analysis of this study made it apparent that ‘the self’ could be classified into three main groups; social, relational and personal selves, with each of these being readily related to the various theoretical assumptions. This essay will examine how each of these categories seek to answer the question ‘who am I?’, as well as briefly discussing how cultural variation may influence both social and individualistic approaches to the self.
For centuries now Christians have claimed to possess the special revelation of an omnipotent, loving Deity who is sovereign over all of His creation. This special revelation is in written form and is what has come to be known as The Bible which consists of two books. The first book is the Hebrew Scriptures, written by prophets in a time that was before Christ, and the second book is the New Testament, which was written by Apostles and disciples of the risen Lord after His ascension. It is well documented that Christians in the context of the early first century were used to viewing a set of writings as being not only authoritative, but divinely inspired. The fact that there were certain books out in the public that were written by followers of Jesus and recognized as being just as authoritative as the Hebrew Scriptures was never under debate. The disagreement between some groups of Christians and Gnostics centered on which exact group of books were divinely inspired and which were not. The debate also took place over the way we can know for sure what God would have us include in a book of divinely inspired writings. This ultimately led to the formation of the Biblical canon in the next centuries. Some may ask, “Isn’t Jesus really the only thing that we can and should call God’s Word?” and “Isn’t the Bible just a man made collection of writings all centered on the same thing, Jesus Christ?” This paper summarizes some of the evidences for the Old and New Testament canon’s accuracy in choosing God breathed, authoritative writings and then reflects on the wide ranging
Henry, Matthew, and Leslie F. Church. Commentary on the Whole Bible: Genesis to Revelation. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1961. Print.
Thus, an effort is made to highlight how Bible interpretation – through its publication – has developed in the history of Christianity.
Thiselton, A.C. (2005). Can the Bible mean whatever we want it to mean? Chester, U.K.: Chester Acadamic Press, 10-11.