Summer Bible School--2003
From the Ankerberg Theological Research
Institute
The
Bible The Most Unique Book In The World
By Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon
The Bible is not the product of human invention or
ingenuity, nor does it contain a mixture of truth and error. It is not a
hidden book requiring "higher" or "enlightened" consciousness in order
to interpret it properly. Nor is the Bible an incomplete revelation
requiring additional scripture to interpret it or to fulfill God’s
purpose. Biblical claims leave us few options. Either the Bible is what
it claims—the literal inerrant Word of God—or it is not possible to know
if God has revealed Himself to us truthfully.
The facts of the Bible cannot be explained by recourse
to human theories concerning its origin, and the biblical data itself
leave inerrancy as the only option concerning its contents. The God of
Scripture has revealed Himself as a God of truth, so errors in the
autographs (the original writings) would prove that God was not their
author. Indeed, since no other religion offers genuine evidence for
belief in their God, apart from the Bible we are forced to remain
agnostic about God. He might exist, but beyond general revelation we can
know nothing about Him. The following points are necessary for
understanding what the Bible is.
1. Biblical Inspiration
The Bible claims to be the inspired Word of God. "All
Scripture is God-breathed [theopneustos] and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righ-teousness, so that
the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim.
3:16). In what sense is the Bible inspired? Biblical inspiration is (a)
verbal (extending to the very words, not just the ideas, of Scripture),
(b) plenary (extending equally to every part of Scripture) and (c)
perspicuous (sufficiently clear for the average person to understand and
be spiritually nourished without recourse to scholarly or technical
insight). Directly or indirectly, the Bible claims or implies divine
inspiration hundreds of times. For examples:
This word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Take a scroll and write
on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and
all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the
reign of Josiah till now." (Jer. 56:1-2)
Jesus answered, "It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."’ (Matt. 4:4)
For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke
from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Pet. 1:21)
For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me
commanded me what to say and how to say it.... Whatever I say is just
what the Father has told me to say. (John 12:49-50)
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at
many times and in various ways.... (Heb. 1:1)
... you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy
prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your
apostles.... [Our] beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given
him, wrote to you ... letters, speaking in them of these things, in
which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and
unstable distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures. (2 Pet. 3:2,
15, 16 NAS)
2. The Bible Is Authoritative and Powerful
"‘Is not my word like fire,’ declares the LORD, ‘And
like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?’ " (Jer. 23:29). Because the
Bible is the Word of God it is the most important literature in all the
earth. It is important for what it is and what it does. "... My word
that goes out from my mouth... will not return to me empty, but will
accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (Isa.
55:11). "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any
double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,
joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart"
(Heb. 4:12). Because of its divine nature, ignorance of the Bible is
spiritually and otherwise dangerous. As Jesus told the hypocritical
religious leaders of His day, "You are in error because you do not know
the Scriptures or the power of God" (Matt. 22:29).
3. Scriptural Declarations Concerning the Bible’s Own
Authority
The Old Testament
Eternal
Isaiah 40:8—The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of
our God stands forever.
Psalm 119:89—Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the
heavens.
Perfect and Trustworthy
Proverbs 30:5-6—Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to
those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will
rebuke you and prove you a liar.
Psalm 12:6—And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver
refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.
Psalm 18:30— As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD
is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
Psalm 19:7-9— The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul...
the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous
altogether.
True
Psalm 119:43, 142, 151, 16—The word of truth... your law is true…
All your commandments are true…. All your words are true; all your
righteous laws are eternal.
Holy and Righteous
Psalm 105:42— For he remembered his holy promise given to his
servant Abraham.
Psalm 119:125— My eyes fail, looking for your salvation, looking
for your righteous promise.
Good
Jeremiah 33:14— I will fulfill the gracious promise I made....
Vital (and verbal)
Isaiah 59:21—"As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the
Lord. "My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your
mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your
children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on
and forever," says the LORD.
Jesus Christ and the Gospels
Note Jesus’ view of God’s Word:
Eternal
Matthew 24:55— Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will
never pass away.
Trustworthy
Matthew 5:18— I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth
disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen,
will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is
accomplished.
John 5:47—But since you do not believe what he [Moses] wrote, how
are you going to believe what I say?
John 12:49-50—For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father
who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that
his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the
Father has told me to say.
John 17:8—I gave them the words you gave me...
True
John 17:17—Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
Holy
John 7:16— My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent
me. (compare 12:49-50)
Vital (and Verbal)
Matthew 4:4—Jesus answered, "It is written: ‘Man does not live on
bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."’
The Rest of the New Testament
Note the Apostles’ view of God’s Word:
Eternal
1 Peter 1:25—But the word of the Lord stands forever. And this is
the word that was preached to you.
Inspired
2 Timothy 3:16-17— All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that
the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Peter 1:20-21—... no prophecy of Scripture came about by the
prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the
will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the
Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 3:2, 15-16—I want you to recall the words spoken in the
past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior
through your apostles.... Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means
salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the
wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters,
speaking in them of these mailers. His letters contain some things
that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people
distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
(This shows the inspiration of the New Testament.)
Living and Active
Hebrews 4:12—For the word of God is living and active... (compare
Acts 7:38)
1 Peter 1:23—For you have been born again, not of perishable seed,
but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
True
2 Timothy 2:15— Do your best to present yourself to God as one
approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly
handles the word of truth.
Not Human
1 Thessalonians 2:13— And we also thank God continually because,
when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you
accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of
God, which is at work in you who believe.
1 Thessalonians 4:8—…he who rejects this instruction does not
reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit
Holy
2 Timothy 3:15—... from infancy you have known the holy
Scriptures...
Vital (and Verbal)
Revelation 22:18-19—I warn everyone who hears the words of the
prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add
to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words
away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share
in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this
book.
1 Corinthians 2:12-13—We have not received the spirit of the world
but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has
freely given us... in words taught by the Spirit... (See v.14)
Romans 3:2—... they have been entrusted with the very words (logia)
of God.
The Character of God and the Inerrancy and Authority
of Scripture
• Sovereign: A sovereign God is able to preserve the
process of inspiration from error.
• Righteousness: A righteous God is unable to
inspire error.
• Just: A just God could not be untruthful when
asserting that His word is inerrant He would be unjust if He bore
witness to errant Scripture as "holy and true."
• Love: A loving God would adequately provide for
the spiritual health and safety of His people by inspiring an inerrant
word.
• Eternal: An eternal God has had forever to
determine the canon and means of inspiration (verbal, plenary,
perspicuous) for His word.
• Omniscient: An omniscient God knows every
contingency that might arise to inhibit inerrancy.
• Omnipotent: An omnipotent God can effectively
respond to every contingency and also preserve the transmission of His
Word.
• Omnipresent: An omnipresent God can initially
reveal and inspire His word and later illuminate it
• Immutable: An immutable God could never contradict
His word.
• Veracity: A truthful God would not lie when He
testifies about the inerrancy of His word.
• Merciful: A merciful God would not be unmerciful
in inspiring both truth and error and then have His people vainly
attempt to find the parts that are true. He would not leave His people
to subjectivism and uncertainty about His vital word.
• Personal: A personal God can inspire verbally,
with words, to ensure effective communication.
4. The Uniqueness of the Bible
• The Bible is the only book in the world that
offers objective evidence to be the Word of God. Only the Bible gives
real proof of its divine inspiration.
• The Bible is the only religious Scripture in the
world that logically can be considered inerrant in the autographs.
• The Bible is the only ancient book with documented
scientific and medical prevision. No other ancient book is ever
carefully analyzed along scientific lines, but many books have been
written on the theme of the Bible and modern science.
• The Bible is the only religious Scripture that
offers eternal salvation as a free gift entirely by God’s grace and
mercy.
• The Bible is the only major ancient religious
Scripture whose complete textual preservation is established as
virtually autographic.
• The Bible contains the greatest moral standards of
any book.
• Only the Bible begins with the creation of the
universe by divine fiat and contains a continuous, if often brief and
interspersed, historical record of mankind from the first man, Adam,
to the end of history.
• Only the Bible contains detailed prophecies about
the coming Savior of the world and whose prophecies have proven true
in history.
• Only the Bible has the most realistic view of
human nature, the power to convict people of their sin and the ability
to change human nature.
• Only the Bible has unique theological content
including theology proper (the Trinity; God’s attributes); soteriology
(depravity, imputation, grace, propitiation/atonement, reconciliation,
regeneration, union with Christ, justification, adoption,
sanctification, eternal security, election and so on); Christology
(the incarnation; hypostatic union); pneumatology (the Person and work
of the Holy Spirit); eschatology (detailed predictions of the end of
history); ecclesiology (the nature of the church as Christ’s bride and
its organic union with Him); and more. (A good systematic theology,
such as Wayne Grudem’s Bible Doctrine, published by Moody
Press, will be useful in understanding what the Bible teaches on these
and other subjects.)
• Only the Bible offers a realistic and permanent
solution to the problem of human sin and evil.
• Only the Bible has its accuracy confirmed in
history by archeology and other sciences.
• The internal and historical characteristics of the
Bible are unique in its unity and internal consistency despite
production over a 1,500-year period by 40-plus authors in three
languages on three continents discussing scores of controversial
subjects yet having agreement on all issues.
• The Bible is the most translated, purchased,
memorized and persecuted book in history.
• Only the Bible is fully one-quarter prophetic,
containing a total of some 400 complete pages of predictions.
• Only the Bible has withstood 2,000 years of
intense scrutiny by critics, not only surviving the attacks but
prospering and having its credibility strengthened by such criticism.
(Voltaire, and not a few cult leaders, predicted that the Bible would
be extinct within 100 years; within 50 years Voltaire was extinct and
his house was a warehouse of the Geneva Bible Society.)
• The Bible has molded the history of Western
civilization more than any other book. The Bible has had more
influence in the world than any other book.
• Only the Bible has a Person-specific (Christ
centered) nature for each of its 66 books, detailing the Person’s life
in prophecy, type, anti-type and so on 400-1,500 years before the
Person was born.
• Only the Bible proclaims a resurrection of its
central figure that is proven in history.
• Only the Bible provides historic proof that the
one true God loves mankind.
5. Principles for Interpreting the Bible
The Scripture declares that it is our responsibility
to interpret the Bible accurately. "Do your best to present yourself to
God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who
correctly handles the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). The reason that
members of cults misinterpret the Bible is because they have never
studied or properly applied the rules for correctly interpreting a
historical document like the Bible. While it is beyond the scope of this
discussion to offer an adequate treatment of hermeneutical principles,
these may be secured from any good treatment of biblical hermeneutics,
such as McQuilkin’s Interpreting and Applying
the Bible.
In order to approach the Word of God correctly, we
must have familiarity with the basic rules of interpretation, such as
that the Bible is to be interpreted normally or literally. There is no
justification in the text, or anywhere else, for generally interpreting
it mystically, or only symbolically or through the alleged insights of
so-called "higher consciousness" or alleged new divine revelations that
contradict the Bible’s earlier revelation. To interpret the Bible
normally means attention must be paid to what the authors’ intended,
what the words they wrote meant to them in their linguistic and
historical context. The point is to discover the writer’s intent, which
is the only true meaning. This meaning is fixed by the author and not
subject to alteration by anyone else, cultist or Christian. It should
also be noted that while a good English translation is usually reliable,
it may not convey all the nuances or force of the original Greek or
Hebrew.
Biblical verses must be interpreted with due reference
to the original languages of Scripture—Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic—and one
must study word mean-ings and grammar. Comparing corollary or parallel
passages relevant to the particular verse or topic is also important.
Bible verses must be interpreted both in their immediate and larger
context. This may require some understanding of the author, and the
general historical context, such as whether the book is pre-exilic or
post-exilic. Just as no one interprets a single sentence in a magazine
article by itself, but in the context of the entire article, this must
be true with the Bible.
Understanding the literary genre of a passage is also
important. Thus, one would not interpret the parables of Jesus in the
same manner as the historical narrative in, say, the Book of Acts. In
addition, because the Bible is a compilation of progressive revelation,
the Old Testament text when applicable must be interpreted in light of
the greater and final revelation of the New Testament. Also one must
interpret unclear passages in light of clear ones, and, because the
Bible is inerrant revelation, one must assume that problem passages have
a resolution rather than being an error. Time and again history and
archaeological discovery have proven the correctness of this approach.
If we respect the Bible as the Word of God, apply
proper interpretive principles, and depend upon the Holy Spirit to help
us interpret and apply it properly, our reverent study will bring great
rewards.
6. Jesus’ View of Scripture
All cults must somehow undermine the authority of
Scripture. They do this by alleging textual corruption, or a false
interpretation by the church or new revelation that corrects or
completes the Bible. But what all cults fail to do at this point is to
honor the words of Jesus, whom they claim to revere. Jesus said plainly,
without any qualification whatsoever, "Your word is truth" (John 17:17).
He said that heaven and earth would pass away but that His words would
never pass away (Matthew 24:35). In John 14:26 He promised the disciples
that the Holy Spirit would teach them all things and bring to
remembrance the things Jesus had taught them. He taught that the Holy
Spirit, whom He would send, would guide the disciples into all the truth
(John 16:13), thus pre-authenticating the inspiration and inerrancy of
the New Testament. Clearly, Jesus did not believe that the Holy Spirit,
whom He called the Spirit of truth (John 14:17), would corrupt His own
words or inspire error. As the incarnate son of God, Jesus was an
infallible authority. He would hardly teach the infallibility of the Old
Testament and not know that the same condition would apply to the New
Testament. As the only man in history to ever resurrect Himself from the
dead (John 2:19), His view of Scripture holds precedent over everyone
else’s.
Recommended Reading
John Wenham, Christ and the
Bible;
Rene Pache, The Inspiration
and Authority of Scripture;
Norman Geisler, Christ the
Theme of the Bible;
Henry Morris, Modern
Science and the Bible;
Gleason Archer,
Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties;
Norman Geisler, ed.,
Inerrancy;
J. Barton Payne,
Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy
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