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The Doctrine of Scripture
An Introduction to the doctrines of
Revelation andScriptural Inspiration
from the
Protestant Perspective
by
Rev. Allen Vander Pol
MINTS
14401 Old Cutler Road
Miami, FL 33158
Website:
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Doctrine of Scripture
PREFACE
COURSE INTRODUCTION
JUSTIFICATION
OBJECTIVES
REQUIREMENTS
BENEFITS
CLASS RECORD
LESSON ONE: GENERAL AND SPECIAL REVELATION
INTRODUCTION
1.A Story
2.A Tendency
3.This Lesson
A.REAL REVELATION
1.God’s Incomprehensibility
2.Questions about Revelation from God
3.Real Revelation about God
B.TWO KINDS OF REVELATION
C.GENERAL REVELATION
1.Psalm 19:1-4
2.Romans 1:19, 20
3.Romans 2:14, 15
D.SPECIAL REVELATION
1.Special Revelation and the History of Salvation
2.Various Forms of Special Revelation and Us Today
a.Special Revelation in History
b.God’s Appearances
c.God’s Miraculous Works
d.God’s Words
3.A Summary of Special Revelation
a.Definition of Special Revelation
b.Our Need for Special Revelation
c.The Effects of Special Revelation
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
LESSON TWO: THE INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE
INTRODUCTION
A.THE BIBLE’S INSPIRATION
1.2 Peter 1:20, 21
2.2 Timothy 3: 16, 17
3.A Definition of the Inspiration of Scripture
B.DIFFERENT VIEWS OF INSPIRATION
1.The Mechanical View of Inspiration
2.The Dynamic View of Inspiration
3.The Organic View of Inspiration
C.THE EXTENT OF INSPIRATION
1.The “Limited Inspiration” View
2.Our Response to the “Limited Inspiration” View
3.Scripture’s Response to the “Limited Inspiration” View
D.THE RESULTS OF INSPIRATION
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
LESSON THREE:THE STORY OF SCRIPTURE
INTRODUCTION
A.THE SPIRITUAL DECLINE OF THE HUMAN RACE (Genesis 3-11)
B.GOD’S PROMISES OF SALVATION TO THE FOREFATHERS OF HIS PEOPLE (Genesis 12-50)
1.God’s Promises to Abraham
2.The Lives of Abraham’s Immediate Family
C.GOD’S ESTABLISHMENT OF HIS PEOPLE AS A NATION (Exodus – 2 Samuel)
1.Israel’s Establishment through Moses
2.Israel’s King through David
3.Important Developments during the Rule of Kings
D.THE SPIRITUAL DECLINE OF GOD’S PEOPLE (1 & 2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah)
E.GOD’S FULFILLMENT OF HIS PROMISES IN THE COMING OF CHRIST (Matthew – John)
F.GOD’S ESTABLISHMENT OF HIS PEOPLE AS THE CHURCH (Acts – Revelation)
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
LESSON FOUR:THE RELIABILITY OF BIBLICAL MANUSCRIPTS
INTRODUCTION
A.THE MAKING OF ANCIENT BOOKS
1.Ancient Writing Surfaces
2.Ancient Forms of Books
3.Ancient Writing Styles
4.The Production of Ancient Manuscripts
5.Causes of Errors in Copying the Ancient Text
B.THE PRACTICE OF TEXTUAL CRITICISM
C.GENERAL FINDINGS OF TEXTUAL CRITICISM
1.Thesis 1: “We have good reasons to think that the original text is preserved (somewhere) in the overall textual tradition.”
2.Thesis 2: “The vast majority of scribal changes are minor and insignificant.”
3.Thesis 3: “Of the small portion of variations that are significant, our methodology can determine, with a reasonable degree of certainty, which is the original text.”
4.Thesis 4: “The remaining number of truly unresolved variants is very few and not material to the story/teaching of the New Testament.”
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
LESSON FIVE:THE INERRANCY OF SCRIPTURE
INTRODUCTION
A.INERRANCY AND INFALLIBILITY
1.The Meaning of Both Words
2.Our Approach to Defining Inerrancy
B.SUSPECTED ERRORS IN THE BIBLE
1.Suspected Errors in Stories
a.Jesus’ trip through Jericho (Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43)
b.The Order of Events surrounding Jesus’ Calling of the Disciples (Matthew 10:1-5; Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:12-16)
c.The story of the Rich Young Ruler (Matthew 19:16-20; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30)
2.Suspected Errors in Dates
3.Suspected Errors in Citations
a.Mark 1:2-3
b.Acts 15:14-18
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
LESSON SIX:THE PERFECTIONS OF SCRIPTURE
INTRODUCTION
A.THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE
1.The Evangelical View
2.The Traditionalist View
3.The Subjectivist View
4.The Scriptural View
B.THE NECESSITY OF SCRIPTURE
1.Definitions of the Necessity of Scripture
2.Scriptural Proof of the Necessity of Scripture
a.We need the preaching of Scripture to know the gospel of Christ.
b.We need Scripture to maintain the Christian life.
c.We need Scripture to know our future.
C.THE CLARITY OF SCRIPTURE
1.Clarifications on the Clarity of Scripture
2.The Bible’s Teaching concerning its Clarity
3.Historical Evidence of Scripture’s Clarity
D.THE SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
LESSON SEVEN:THE CANON AND THE APOCRYPHA
INTRODUCTION
A.THE MEANING OF CANON
B.THE RECOGNITION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT CANON
C.THE RECOGNITION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON
1.The Dates of the Writing of the New Testament
2.Heretical Attempts to Determine the Canon
3.Orthodox Attempts to Determine the Canon
4.The Spirit’s Guidance in Determining the Canon
D.THE CANON AND THE APOCRYPHA
1.The Contents of the Apocrypha
2.The Roman Catholic Church’s Acceptance of the Apocrypha
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
LESSON EIGHT:BENNY HINN’S VIEW OF THE WORD OF GOD
INTRODUCTION
A.HISTORICAL INFORMATION
1.The Names of the Movement
2.Names within the Movement
3.Origins of the Movement
a.E. W. Kenyon
b.Kenneth Hagin and Kenneth Copeland
B.CENTRAL WORD OF FAITH TEACHINGS
1.The Word of Faith’s Beliefs about God
a.Tritheism
b.Deism
2.The Word of Faith’s Beliefs about Christ
a.Jesus Before His Incarnation
b.Jesus During His Incarnation
c.Jesus in Hell
3.The Word of Faith’s Beliefs about Salvation
4.An Important Misunderstanding
C.THE WORD OF FAITH’S BELIEFS ABOUT REVELATION
1.Word of Faith’s View of Revelation
a.Two Underlining Teachings
b.Revelation and Two Kinds of Knowledge
c.Benny Hinn’s “Use” of Revelation
2.Evaluation of Word of Faith’s View of Revelation.
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
APPENDIX TO LESSON EIGHT
CONCLUSION
SUPPLEMENT TO THE COORDINATOR’S MANUAL
1.HOW TO USE THIS SUPPLEMENT
2.THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS COURSE
3.GENERAL MATERIALS FOR COORDINATORS
4.LESSON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
5.STUDENTS’ EXAM – THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION
6.EXAM ANSWERS
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS CITED
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PREFACE
The Doctrine of Scripture discusses a basic topic of the Christian faith. Throughout the centuries Christ Himself has remained the cornerstone or foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20). Yet, without Scripture we would know nothing reliable about Christ. We might guess who Christ is; we would speculate about what He came to do. But without the Bible we could never know for sure. We know about the way of salvation in Christ only because God inspired this book.
The course begins with a general introductionof God’s revelation. Then it begins to narrow its focus. Lesson One presents the Bible’s teaching about two ways by which God reveals Himself to us. We call the two ways General Revelation and Special Revelation. Lesson Two begins our focus only on Scripture. This lesson presents the Bible’s teaching on the inspiration of Scripture.
Lessons Three through Six present some of the effects of inspiration. First, we possess an inspired presentation of the story of God’s saving work which reaches its highest point in the coming of Christ (Lesson Three). Next, since God inspired the Bible, He has also preserved Scripture over the centuries. We can have confidence that we still read God’s Word today when we read the Bible (Lesson Four). Also, God’s inspired Word possesses the qualities of inerrancy and infallibility (Lesson Five). And a final implication teaches us that God’s complete, inspired Word speaks to us with authority, necessity, clarity, and sufficiency.
The last two lessons compare this teaching of Scripture with views which Protestants do not usually accept. Lesson Seven explains why we do not believethat the books of the Apocrypha belong to the Bible. This topic points to a significant difference between Protestants and Roman Catholics. Lesson Eight describes another opposing view of Scripture. The Word of Faith movement, which includes Benny Hinn, preaches this alternative view. So Lesson Eight presents several important parts of Word of Faith theology to give the context of its view of God’s Word.
We believe that each lesson presents important teaching or clarification about Scripture. We pray that the Lord will use this course to encourage students to preach and teach God’s Word carefully and faithfully.
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COURSE INTRODUCTION
JUSTIFICATION
Most of the students who take this course also present the Scriptures to others. This course on the Doctrine of Scripture teaches students that they must respect the Bible as God’s Word. Therefore they should handle the Bible with the care and urgency which God’s Word requires. But students also need warnings concerning false teachings about Scripture. This course presents historic and contemporary warnings against false views.
OBJECTIVES
1.Students will learn about the two ways by which God reveals Himself to mankind.
2.Students will learn Scripture’s teaching about its inspiration.
3.Students will learn positive results of the doctrine of inspiration.
4.Students will learn about two views of Scripture which Protestants have historically rejected.
REQUIREMENTS
1.Attendance (15%)
Students will attend at least 15 hours of class.
2.Class Homework (15%)
Students will complete the home work at the end of each lesson.
3.Reading (30%)
Students must read 300 pages for BA or 600 pages for MA studies and write a review of the reading. Students must read from the following list of assigned writings. Each student will present in class a written report of one page per 100 pages read. The course gives a form for students to use as they write their reading reports. We recommend the books on top of the list over the books at the bottom of the list.
a.Understanding Scripture: An Overview of the Bible’s Origin, Reliability, and Meaning. Ed. Wayne Grudem, et. al. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012). 190 pages. Available for Kindle.
b.James Montgomery Boice: Standing on the Rock. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994) 180 pages.
c.R. C. Sproul. Knowing Scripture. (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1977). 115 pages. Available for Kindle.
d.Steven J. Nicols and Eric T. Brandt. Ancient Word, Changing Worlds: The Doctrine of Scripture in a Modern Age. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2009) 160 pages. Available for Kindle.
e.Leland Ryken: How to Read the Bible as Literature. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984). 195 pages.
f.Edward J. Young: Thy Word is Truth. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1957). 268 pages.
g.The Infallible Word: A Symposium by the Members of the Faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary. Ed. N. B. Stonehouse and Paul Wooley (Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing, 1946) 301 pages.
h.John Frame: The Doctrine of the Word of God. (Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing, 2010). 640 pages.
i.Audio and Video Recordings on the Internet. Students may listen to the following internet recordings. Students may receive credit for up to 100 pages by listening to and reporting on these recordings. Two minutes of recording equals one page of reading. Students must include the normal information for reading reports when they report on these recordings.
1)Peter Eldersveld: “Commercial Religion.” Audio. 6 September 2012 10 pages.
2)The Agony of the Health and Wealth Gospel Movement. (Sometimes the series uses another name). Video. Pastors from Austin, Texas interview Michael Horton about the Word of Faith movement. Six available interviews. 30 pages for each.
“The Roots.” 6 Sept. 2012.
“Touch Not the Lord’s Anointed gods.” 6 Sept. 2012.
“Scripture Twisting Cult of theTele-Evangelists.” 6 Sept. 2012
“The Word-Faith Heresy”(two parts) 6 Sept. 2012
1: <
2:
“Negating Positive Confession.” 6 Sept. 2012
4.Essay (20%)
Bachelor’s level students must write a 10-page essay. Master’s level students must write a 15-page essay (In addition, include a title page, and bibliography). The project provides students an opportunity to add to the knowledge which they receive in this course. They can also learn more how to apply this knowledge to ministry in the church. The essay should follow this procedure:
1)Choose one of the letters of the New Testament (Romans – Jude).
2)Show how the letter claims that God inspired it (that the author’s words came from God).
3)Show how the author refers to this inspiration when he tells stories, corrects people of error and sin, or encourages Christians in their faith.
5.Final Exam (20%)
Students will take a final exam.
BENEFITS
1.Students will learn about the important doctrine of revelation which Scripture proclaims.
2.Students will learn about how the doctrine of Scripture affects church ministry.
3.Students will perform theological work in which they study in scripture the doctrine of Scripture.
CLASS RECORD
Name of Student / Level of Study / Attendance(15%) / Homework
(15%) / Readings
(30%) / Project
(20%) / Final Exam (20%) / Final Grade
(100%)
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LESSON ONE
GENERAL AND SPECIAL REVELATION
INTRODUCTION
We begin this course with a story. Then we describe a tendency which appears in church history. No theme or idea connects the two. But they help us understand why we need to study the topic of this course.
1.A Story
Pastor and scholar James Montgomery Boice tells the following story that took place when he attended a seminar in California:
Early in the morning, before the meetings were to start, I turned on the radio and heard a program the likes of which I had never heard before. It was a call-in show, which began with church bells. It was called “Have You Had a Spiritual Experience?”
While I listened . . . a girl . . . explained how she had felt a sudden urge to leave her home in the northern part of the state and hitchhike down the coastal road. Halfway to Los Angeles she sensed that “this was the place.” So she had the driver stop the car, got out, and went down the hill to the shore where she found a cave and camped out for a couple days. Then—because she thought God (or something) was leading her to do this—she went down into the water and mingled with the rocks and seaweed as if she were at the dawn of creation. Finally an animal came by, and she took this as a sign that it was time to go. She climbed the bank and hitchhiked back to northern California. This was her “spiritual experience.”[1]
Boice responds to this story by asking: “Is this the way God speaks to people? By feelings? Intuition? . . . Does God’s Spirit lead us apart from the objective standard of his written word?”[2] This story makes us ask how God reveals His commands to us.
2.A Tendency
In church history quite a different tendency in some makes us ask other questions about God’s revelation to us. For centuries some scholars in the Christian church have developed what they call “Natural Theology.” We can define natural theology as, “The body of knowledge about God which may be obtained by human reason alone without the aid of Revelation and hence to be contrasted with ‘Revealed Theology’.”[3] Natural theologians do not agree on whether or not natural theology relies on revelation to study God. But this definition expresses the belief of many that some theology does not need to rely of God’s revelation.
Philosophers who promote natural theology often begin with an idea or assumption that every effect in the world has a cause. Then, by the use of reason, they conclude that the universe in which we live must have a First Cause whom we call God. They reach other conclusions which they believe reason also tells them about God. This development in church history makes us ask, “Do we always need revelation from God to know about God?”
3.This Lesson
This course presents the Doctrine of Scripture. But we begin with this introductory lesson on God’s revelation of Himself. This lesson will not completely answer the questions which we have already raised. However, at the end of this lesson we will have a good idea concerning how to answer them.
That foundation consists of Scripture’s teaching about how God reveals Himself. As we explore God’s Word, we will see how Scripture teaches three truths: 1) God gives us real revelation of Himself; 2) God gives general revelation of Himself; and 3) God gives special revelation of Himself. As we unfold the meaning of these statements, we will get ready to study the basic topic of this course, the Doctrine of Scripture.
A.REAL REVELATION
1.God’s Incomprehensibility
Sometimes the Bible stresses that God’s greatness vastly outdistances what our minds can fathom. Scripture tells us about God’s surpassing greatness and majesty. We present just a few verses which give this teaching:
Such knowledge [of God’s presence everywhere] is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Psalm 139:6
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. Psalm 145:3
Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. Psalm 147:5
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8, 9
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Romans 11:33, 34
Theologians sometimes refer to this divine majesty of God’s thoughts and personality as “the incomprehensibility of God.” The phrase suggests that our human minds will never fully understand (comprehend) God’s thoughts, deeds, character and power. The Westminster Shorter Catechism teaches this truth of God’s divine greatness. It describes Him as “infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.”[4] We can understand human wisdom and power. Yet we cannot comprehend God’s infinite and eternal wisdom and power fully. Theologian Wayne Grudem explains the meaning of God’s incomprehensibility with additional emphasis: “It is not only true that we can never fully understand God; it is also true that we can never fully understand any single thing about God.”[5]