Most days are ordinary days, but it is in those days that God uses ordinary to be extraordinary. This is why 1 Peter 3:15 states, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (NIV). Likewise, a Christian should also be prepared to give (i.e.: a curious nosy jogger) a reason for studying the Bible based on its authoritative, inspired, and inerrant message. Therefore, the arguments for and against the Bible will be discussed.
According to Merriam-Webster, authority is defined as “a power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior.” In the New Testament, the Greek word exousia sometimes translated as power means to exercise a power held by right. This ‘right’ has its foundation in God himself for “there is nothing outside him on which his authority is founded.” 2 Timothy 3:16 states, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (ESV). Therefore, Scripture has authority based on God’s chosen approach to reveal himself to man and interrelates with inspiration.
Inspiration of the Bible is not based on a mentally stimulating force, influence, or mood. Rather, biblical inspiration is grounded in God’s authoritative nature found in 2 Timothy 3:16. Moreover, the words “breathed out” affirm God’s creative authorship. Therefore, inspiration refers to the supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit upon the authors of the Bible. These sacred writings, while involve man as an agent, are not based on human initiative. In fact, the prophetic accuracy of Scripture confirms divine initiative because “prophecy never had its origin ...
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...s subjective. While negating inerrancy does not directly link individuals and institutions to abandon clearly orthodox matters of doctrine, numerous cases support the argument. Many who have denied inerrancy have stepped into greater theological errors.
2 Timothy 3:16 upholds that the Bible produces valuable direction in living a Christian life. Living one’s life based on the authority, inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible brings about transformation. Without the Scripture being a God given absolute, truth erodes and man risks becoming god by interpreting the Bible according to his knowledge, which is limited.
Works Cited
Elwell, Walter A., ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. 2nd ed. Baker Reference Library.
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001.
Merriam-Webster Online, s.v. “Authority.” accessed May 16, 2014, http://www.merriam- webster.com/
The Bible, for many centuries, has impacted society, culture, and religion in innumerable ways. Included in the Bible’s impact, is fictional literature (Erickson, 2015). Biblical allusion, defined as an ancillary reference to Scripture ("Definition," 2015), can be a useful tool for fiction writers to draw the attention of the reader to certain biblical truths. Mixed in with the writer’s style and language, biblical allusion, assists in building plot lines, themes, and influence over the reader’s beliefs (Erickson, 2015). Nevertheless, the real magic of biblical allusion lies within the author’s creative genius and ability to infuse biblical themes, metaphors, images, and characters in with the story to allow the audience to reach certain
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.
"Bible Gateway Passage: 1 Timothy 6:17 - New International Version." Bible Gateway. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014. .
When looking at the common theme that Barth develops in God Here and Now, it becomes apparent for the need of congregation to justify, ratify, and promote the Bible as the living word of God. When and where the Bible constitutes its own authority and significance, it mediates the very presence of God through the congregation. Encountering this presence in the Church, among those whose lives presume living through the Bible’s power and meaning. Barth states that the Bible must become God's Word and this occurs only when God wills to address us in and through it. The Christ-event is God's definitive self-disclosure, while Scripture and preaching are made to correspond to him as a faithful witness becomes the perfect statement according to Barth (Barth, 2003, p. 61).
...nature of God, the world, and human beings, the Bible is a source from which a reasonably comprehensive worldview may be constructed. Many narratives or teachings of Scripture speak directly to the various elements of a worldview” (Palmer, pp 93) .
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
Sacred texts and writings are integral to a living and dynamic religious tradition. Such texts are materials that can range from verbally spoken stories to writings. Sacred texts and writings provide followers with information on core ethical behaviour, rituals and ceremonies, as well as beliefs. The idea of the texts and writings being sacred refers to the texts encompassing divine inspiration. Christianity’s sacred texts and writings, such as the bible (conveyed as the word of God), are continually studied/interpreted throughout generations. The teachings of the bible and the ‘Ten Commandments’ provide Christians with morally accepted standards of behaviour to live their lives by and thus directly influence the day-today actions of its adherents. Furthermore, sacred texts and writings provide information on beliefs, which assist adherents in understanding and even answering significant enduring questions of life. For instance, the creation story ...
This paper will discuss five different translations of 2 Timothy. The translations include the New American Standard Bible (NASB), which is a literal translation; the New Living Translation (NLT), which is a dynamic translation that attempts to convey more of a thought for a thought and less word for word; the English Standard Version (ESV), an American literal version; the Douay-Rheims American Edition (DRA), which is a Catholic literal translation of the Latin Vulgate.; and the Message, which is a periphrastic translation. These translations are not drastically different, but may have chosen different wording based on preference, how literal the translation is or preconceived perspective or doctrine. Reading multiple translations can give a better understanding of the meaning of the text.
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
The Bible is without doubt the one of the most powerful books in the world. It has the power to control nations and to create war over a simple verse and so it is not uncommon that this book has been studied in the most detailed way. Upon those scholars who have analyzed the bible lies Julius Wallhausen who came up with what is now known as the “Documentary Hypothesis”. The Documentary Hypothesis states that the first five books of the bible were put together from independent different sources, labeled J(Yawhist), E(Elohist), D(Deuteronomic) and the P(Priestly) source (Coogan, pgs 51-55). This paper will provide a short summary of each source, as well as the importance that this hypothesis might have on a bible reader and how it can change
The bible has teachings that can be applied to any situation in life. The book of Galatians, found in the New Testament, houses just a few of these teachings. Galatians...
This plenary view also covers all subject matter is inspired by God. This is again demonstrated in 2 Timothy 3:16 it says “All scripture”. Every word written is valuable to us not just the sections that deal with religion or rules, but each and every word because it is inspired by
Westphal, M. (2009). Whose Community? Which Interpretation?: Philosophical Hermeneutics for the Church. Baker Academic. 107
In order to understand this paper we are first going to need to take a look at the word authority. Authority means “the power to determine, adjudicate, or otherwise settle issues or disputes; jurisdiction; the right to control, command, or determine.” ("authority.") This authority can come from a teacher, pastor, principle or anyone else that has the ability to control or command someone or something. The Biblical definition, states that authority is “the legal and/or moral right to exercise power, or power that is rightly possessed. In the Bible God is presented as the ultimate, personal authority and the sources of all authority” (“Douglas, J. D., and Merrill C. Tenney.” p.61). In many of the stories such as Metamorphosis, Ivan Ilyich and The Guest there was a clear definition that even though there was authority; the understanding of such authority was not concrete in any fashion.
This fact is supported by the New Testament scriptures. For example in Galatians 4:21 the scripture states “(d)o you not listen to the law?” In this scripture the Apostle Paul is rebuking the Galatians because they were not fully abreast in the Law of Moses, nor were they aware of the moral lessons found in the Law of Moses. As we look at these laws today we should understand and recognize that as believers today we can still benefit from the understanding, of the Old Testament laws. The inability to relate these laws to our lives today could prove to be detrimental to believers as a whole. “If we are to respond to the Old Testament, we must know how to interpret it so we know how to respond, much of the spiritual truth of the Old Testament is evident even through a superficial reading of the text.” What we should recognize is that it is the Bible not just the Old Testament or not just the New Testament that is the written word of God; this has been established over and over by scholars. Any casual reader of the Bible can see its uniqueness claims. These claims are set apart by opening statement such as “God said, or thus says the Lord.” We view this language out of a conscientious view; thereby becoming unsuccessful in our