The study of this topic shows to us that we are entering the very complex problem the professing Christians have in this century. It is sad to note that the vast majority Bible teachers, theologian absolutely deny the infallible and inerrancy of the Scripture in every single word that God wrote. In original autographs, the Lord gave through centuries His Word in Hebrew, Aramic and Greek. Thus what we have now in our hand is the translation of that original language of the Bible. The question usually is asked is that, is the translation that we have in our hand also infallible? Many scholars, theologians have failed to answer this question correctly. What they understand is that the original autograph of the word of God is infallible and innerant but not the translation that we have in our own language. However there is a very important consideration that we need to make on this matter namely that the Bible that we have now in our own hand is the translation of the original language. Thus this translation is also infallible to the extent that if it is translated accurately from the original autographs. Based on this conclusion, we teach with confidence, believe and obey what this translation says. As far as the English Bible is concerned the translation must be accurately transmitted to English what God said in the language that the Holy Spirit used to give the autograph of His revelation in the Scriptures.
In the early 1960s many leading seminaries in America began to question and deny the foundation truth of the infallibility of the Bible, though they still claimed to be Evangelical. Therefore the conservative leaders from various countries have to fight those who question and deny this truth. Up to this day, the fighting never ends till the Lord Jesus comes because many Christian leaders have fallen into the same trap. However to those who truly love the Lord and His word, there will be no doubt in their heart that the Bible is the Word of God, it is infallible and innerrant. The Bible is inspired, not because the Bible said it is inspired as many books and cultic literatures claim so, but if we observe from the beginning of the book of Genesis till the book of Revelation we will convince that the Bible is the Word of God. We notice in the Bible that How the people who love God, love also His word with confidence. Thus the only Book that God ever wrote in the history of this world is the Bible. The Bible is absolutely the Word of God, and God preserves His word for His people from all errors and mistakes.
A. GOD WAS THE AUTHOR OF THE SCRIPTURE
In the study of the Holy Scripture one must believe that the Bible is the Word of God written by God Himself. This is very crucial to everyone who studies the Word of God. Anyone who fails to acknowledge that God authored the Bible he will fail to understand what the Bible said about itself. This is a very vital foundation of Christian’s faith in the study of Christian doctrines. Thus if God was really the author of the Bible then we may conclude that God will preserve His word forever. The Bible will not contain any error despite of its writers were human, but the Lord would preserve His Word without mistake. Therefore the believers in the Lord must not neglect the study of the Holy Scripture but rather we need to spare no effort in searching the truth of the Scriptures.
The churches that do not do her responsibility in studying and searching the Word of God, God purposely will send false teachers to such churches in order to provoke God’s people to search the Scripture. We may see such church in the New Testament namely the church of Corinth. We read in 1 Corinthians 11:19 “For there must be also heresies among you, (why?) that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” Thus it is important that we do not only agree and believe what the Scriptures say but we need to know actually what to believe and why we believe on this vital foundation.
1. According to 2 Timothy
2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” The phrase ‘inspiration of God’ literally means “God-breathed.” This is to say that the word of God is the product of God’s breath. On this matter we need to understand that God does not have hand, head or body that He can breathe from his mouth. But the Jews understood God in such a way that God as if having a complete instrument of human being. In reality God does not have a form of human body. Though we have known this clear the fact is when God speaks the Bible exists.
We may remember the account of the creation in the book of Genesis that God also created the world with His word. The world exists because God spoke. God commanded, it happened and it did not take billion of years in order to exist. How the human being begins, it is exactly at the same way that God breathed in His nostril of breath of life, and man became the living being, and we are not from ape. The clay suddenly became alive. When God spoke everything happened perfectly and instantly. Therefore we can say exactly that every word in the Bible is God-breathed. However having known all these, the question is asked, is every single word in the Bible, not one exception is written by men about 40 men through 2000 years of history from Job to Revelation the Word of God? Although as if there is a contradiction seen here, the answer is definitely, yes, by studying the following passage.
2. According to 2 Peter
Listen what Peter said about the part that man had about the origin and composition of the Bible in 2 Peter 1:21 when he said “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Everything that men wrote by those who wrote the Bible, they wrote as the Holy Spirit moved them. The Greek word that the Holy Spirit used to describe this was the same Greek word that He used to describe what happen in the ship with Paul, Luke and others who were in their way to Rome in Acts 27. All of a sudden as they are leaving the land of Crete to west Rome their ship was carried along by the strong storm of the Mediterranean Sea. The captain and the pilot, all lost controlled and nobody knew where they were going or how fasts toward they were going. They have nothing to say and control to which the ship was going. The same Greek word appeared, “so they have carried along.” Thus we can see now that how the man wrote the Book. None of them had the desire or idea to be added to the Bible.
Supposed one of the writers of the Bible wrote one chapter according to his own desire or if the human community wrote the Bible we will not know what they are saying. There will be a lot of sort of contradiction found in the Bible. Thus we thank God for the Holy Spirit who determined what the man would write.
Then one may say that there is a contradiction here concerning the writer of the Bible. The question is that who then wrote the Word? To answer this question correctly we need to understand that though the Bible shows us the individual personality, style of each writer, but the Author of the Bible is God. We can say David wrote Psalm, or Paul wrote epistles. Each one of them has personality imprinted on the book but all the errors of thinking are removed. So the Holy Spirit did not snap out the individual characteristic of the writers or the situation and circumstances in which they wrote. For example when Paul wrote his letters he was writing out of his heart to those people who really involved them in the real situation. What Paul has written to the churches was not a dictation from the Lord. In the whole Bible there was only one occasion in which God dictated His Word to Moses in Mouth Sinai when God wanted to write on the tablet of stone. Therefore we may conclude that God used the personality of these men in the writing of the Scripture but He removed the errors and put exactly what He wanted at the end product. This final product is the Bible that is the Word of God and the word of men at the same time.
Based on the explanation above the theologians have called the Bible as the result of that discovery. The Bible is called Theanthrapic book, God-man book. The Bible is just like Jesus Christ for He is also Theanthropic, God-Man. Christ is God-Man in one person. He is perfect harmony with himself. He is human 100 % and Divine 100 % and there is no contradiction, no tension, He is one unified person with two natures. This is the miracle of God. Now we have also one unified book that has two natures, it is 100 % Divine, God’s word and human 100% the word of men, showing the personality and the vocabulary, circumstances, and situation in which each writer wrote what he wrote.
No comments:
Post a Comment