UNIT I - Introduction
Ground Rules of the Class
The Real Meaning of Life
Where Can Answers be Found to the Basic Questions of Life?
The Holy Scriptures - The Word of God
The Characteristics of the Word of God
Biblical Interpretation
What Is the Key to the Correct Understanding of the Bible?
Basic Principles of Biblical Interpretation
Scripture Interprets Scripture
The Canon of the Bible
The Reliability of the Biblical Text
1. The Bible is our basic textbook; it is our only reliable guide. You don't have to accept anyone's opinion or tradition without Biblical support. But if it can be demonstrated that a doctrine has a firm base in Scripture, then it must be accepted by all.
2. Class discussion and questions are encouraged. The benefit you derive from the class will be directly proportionate to your level of participation. Regular involvement in Sunday morning worship and Bible study are also strongly encouraged.
3.The printed notes will include additional material not covered during the class sessions which you are encouraged to study on your own. Time for discussion of your questions will be included at the beginning of each class session.
4.The basic doctrines of the Christian faith will be presented in a brief summary fashion. Our study is in no way comprehensive or complete. It is only the beginning of a lifelong process.
5. This class involves more than the simple transfer of information. It is intended to strengthen and renew your Life With God.
To be truly alive, that is, to experience the overflowing richness of the abundant, eternal life for which human beings were created, one must be in relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ.
John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full."
John 17:2,3 "For you have granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
John 11:25,26 "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'"
WHERE CAN ANSWERS BE FOUND TO THE BASIC QUESTIONS OF LIFE?
Since man's fall into sin, human beings have sought the answers to basic questions about the meaning of life within themselves. Historically this quest has followed one of three paths:
1. Philosophy - seeking answers in the intellect and rationality of man.
2. Mysticism - seeking answers in the feelings and emotions of man.
3. Moralism - seeking answers in the self-control and discipline of man's moral will.
The Bible teaches that all of man's attempts to find meaning for his life within himself are doomed to failure. This is inevitable because man is by nature:
1. Spiritually Blind - II Corinthians 4:1-4; I Corinthians 2:14.
2. Spiritually Dead - Ephesians 2:1-5.
3. An Enemy of God - Romans 5:6-10.
If answers are to be provided they must come from outside of man, from God Himself. That's why God has spoken to man in His Word.
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES - THE WORD OF GOD
Each and every word of the Bible is the Word of God. (Plenary Verbal Inspiration) -
II Timothy 3:14-16 - "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 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." cf. Genesis 2:7; Isaiah 6:1-8; Jeremiah 1:4-10; Ezekial 2:1-3:1
II Peter 1:19-21 - "And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand, that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophets 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."
The Characteristics of the Word of God
Because the Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God it possesses certain divine characteristics. These characteristics include:
1. Inerrancy - The Bible contains no errors. cf. Numbers 23:19; John 10:35; 17:17; Romans 3:4; Titus 1:2.
"Since the Holy Scriptures are the Word of God, it goes without saying that they contain no errors or contradictions, but that they are in all their parts and words the infallible truth, also in those parts which treat of historical, geographical, and other secular matters...We reject the doctrine which under the name of science has gained wide popularity in the church of our day that the Holy Scripture is not in all its parts the Word of God, but in part the Word of God and in part the word of man and hence does, at least, might, contain error. We reject this erroneous doctrine as horrible and blasphemous, since it flatly contradicts Christ and his holy apostles, sets up men as judges over the Word of God, and thus overthrows the foundation of the Christian Church and its faith." (Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod, CPH, St. Louis:1932. Used By Permission)
2. Authority - The authority of the Bible is the authority of God Himself who stands behind every statement, doctrine, promise, and command of Scripture. This authority cannot be superseded by any other. It is supreme. God said it: that settles it. "My conscience is captive to the Word of God." (M. Luther, 1529) Whoever ignores, disregards, rejects, alters, or criticizes Holy Scripture, insults the majesty of God and rebels against His divine authority. cf. texts cited above, Ephesians 2:20.
"We believe, teach, and confess that the prophetic and apostolic writings of the Old and New Testaments are the only rule and norm according to which all doctrines and teachers alike must be appraised and judged...Other writings of ancient and modern teachers, whatever their names, should not be put on a par with Holy Scripture. Every single one of them should be subordinated to the Scriptures. The distinction between the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is maintained, and Holy Scripture remains the only judge, rule, and norm according to which as the only touchstone all doctrines should and must be understood and judged as good or evil, right or wrong." (Formula of Concord, 1577)
3. Clarity - The Bible clearly reveals the will of God, setting forth all we need know to be saved. The Bible does not require the interpretation of others. cf. Deuteronomy 30:11-14; Psalm 119:105; II Peter 1:19; 3:15-16.
4. Sufficiency - Everything a believer must know to be saved and everything he must do to live a life pleasing to God is contained in Scripture. No additional revelation is necessary or to be expected. What is not clearly revealed in Scripture is not necessary for salvation. The Canon of Scripture is closed. cf. Deuteronomy 4:2; Matthew 15:9; John 20:31; 21:25; I Corinthians 13:8-12; II Timothy 3:16-17; 4:3,4; Jude 3; Revelation 22:18-19.
Why are there so many different interpretations of the Bible?
As a result of sin, natural man resists and suppresses the truth of God. In his defiance he refuses to submit to the authority of God's Word.
Romans 1:18-19 "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them." (This text continues - vs.20-32 - to provide Scripture's most powerful description of the destructive effects of sin on the quality of human life.)
I Corinthians 2:14 "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them for they are spiritually discerned."
II Corinthians 10:5 "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
II Peter 2:19-21 "They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity-for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred commandment that was passed on to them." (cf. also II Peter 3:15-16)
WHAT IS THE KEY TO THE CORRECT UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIBLE?
Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, is the heart and center of the Scripture and therefore the key to its true meaning.
John 5:39-40 "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life."
Luke 24:27 "Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself." (cf. also vs. 13-26)
John 20:31 "These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name."
Ephesians 2:20 "You are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone."
Hebrews 1:1-2 "In the past God spoke to our forefather through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son."
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION (HERMENEUTICS)
1. The Bible must be interpreted according to its own claims that it is the inspired Word of God.
2. The content of the sixty-six books of the Biblical canon is unified and consistent. The Bible cannot contradict itself. The existence of apparent contradictions in the Biblical text is the result of the inadequacy of our reason or the limitations of our knowledge.
3. Since God has chosen to reveal His Word in human language its meaning must be determined in accordance with the rules of language, grammar, and logic. Our reasons, however, must always function as a servant of the inspired text; never presuming to be its master.
4. The study of Scripture is never an end in itself, a mere process of intellectual gratification. The purpose of Bible study must always be the glorification of God and the salvation of sinful men.
5. The guidance of the Holy Spirit is essential for a proper understanding of the Biblical text.
6. We are bound to the bare words (nuda verba) of Scripture in their normal, literal, sense unless the Scriptural text itself indicates that a figurative sense is intended.
7. The interpretation of every word and passage of Holy Scripture must be in agreement with its context.
8. No interpretation is correct unless it is grammatically correct, that is, according to the grammar and syntax of the language in which it was originally written.
9. Every interpretation of Scripture must be historically correct, that is, the Bible must be understood in the historical circumstances of the world in which it was written.
10. There is only one intended meaning for any given Biblical text.
11. All Biblical interpretation must have Christ as its center, teach Christ, and glorify Him as Savior and Lord.
12. Scripture interprets Scripture. The Scripture is its own light.
Scripture Interprets Scripture!
It's the only way to ever get beyond an endless variety of conflicting opinions
The Principle in Practice
John 1:1-14 ----------------------- Genesis 1:1-27
Genesis 3:1-7 ----------------------- Revelation 12:7-9
"It is indeed true that some passage of Scripture are dark; however, they contain nothing but precisely that which is found in other places in clear open passages...Be sure and do not doubt that nothing brighter exists than the sun, that is, the Scripture. But if a cloud has drifted before it, there, after all, is nothing else behind it than the same bright sun. Therefore, if you come upon a dark passage in Scripture, do not doubt that it surely contains the same truth that is clearly expressed at other places; and whoever cannot understand the dark passages should stay with the clear ones." (M. Luther, 1521, From What Luther Says, Vol. I, Ewald Plass, Editor & Translator. Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, 1959. Used by Permission.)
The term "canon" refers to those books in the Jewish and Christian Bible considered to be divinely inspired Scripture. The word is derived from a Greek and Hebrew term which means "rule", "measuring rod", or "standard". Thus the Biblical Canon is the collection of books which met the standard of divine inspiration and are recognized as the Word of God.
The Hebrew Old Testament, called the "Tanak" (Torah-Naviim-Kethubim), was divided by the Jews into three sections, the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. (cf. Luke 24:44) These three sections were subdivided into 24 books which included all 39 books of the modern Old Testament. The standard of canonicity for the books of the Old Testament was prophetic authorship. That is to say, for a book to be included it must indisputably have been written by a forth-teller who spoke the Word of God, a prophet. The canon of the Old Testament was formalized by a rabbinical council in the palestinian village of Jamnia in 90 AD.
The Old Testament Apocrypha (Greek - "hidden things") is a collection of 15 books written during the four centuries between the end of the Old Testament and the coming of Christ. These books were never accepted as Scripture within Judaism. St. Jerome, translator of the official Latin Bible, the Vulgate, included the Apocrypha because of the widespread popularity of these books but noted that they could be read for edification but "not for confirming the authority of church dogmas". Luther also included them in his German Bible version with the note: "Apocrypha - These books are not held equal to the Sacred Scriptures and yet are good and useful for reading.". The Roman Catholic Church at its Council of Trent in 1546 broke with both Jewish and early Christian precedent and declared the Apocrypha to be an official part of the canon of Scripture. The Catholic Church remains the only denomination which considers the Apocrypha to be a part of the Bible.
The Canon of the New Testament includes 27 books. The standard of canonicity for the books of the New Testament was apostolic authorship. For a book to be included in the New Testament Canon it must be recognized throughout the church as having been written by one of the apostles, the 14 men directly chosen by Christ to represent him as leaders of the church. By the end of the second century (200 AD) there was general agreement within Christendom as to which books should be included. There remained on the margin a number of books whose canonicity, while affirmed by the majority, was still in dispute. This group included Hebrews, James, II and III John, Jude, and Revelation. By the end of the fourth century, general agreement had also been reached in regard to these disputed books. In 367 AD, St. Athanasius published the final list of 27 books universally recognized throughout the Christian Church.
In the final analysis the books of the Bible are self-authenticating. They convey the power and authority of God who inspired them The process of canonization is merely the record of God's people's formal recognition of that authority. Thus the church did not create the Bible; the Bible creates the church.
The Reliability of the Biblical Text
From Ancient Manuscripts to Modern Translations
The text of the Bible was originally written in Hebrew (OT) and Greek (NT). The original copies (autographs) of the 66 books of the Bible are no longer in existence. The Hebrew and Greek texts of Scripture today are the result of meticulous comparison of thousands of manuscripts (hand written copies) and manuscript fragments (Textual Criticism).
The oldest Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament in existence today are the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered by accident at Wadi Qumram in 1947. The collection of 400 scrolls found in the Dead Sea Caves included texts from every book in the Old Testament except the Book of Esther. The scrolls, dating from before the time of Christ, were more than 1,000 years older that any previously discovered OT manuscripts. This amazing discovery demonstrated the accuracy of the 60 basic copies of the traditional "Masoretic" text (AD 500-900) which had been the basis for the Hebrew text used in modern times.
The Greek text of the New Testament is preserved in no less than 5,366 manuscript sources. These include papyri (88), uncials (247)-manuscripts written on animal skins in capital letters-, minuscules (2,795)-manuscripts written on animal skins in flowing cursive letters-, and lectionaries (2,209)-manuscripts arranged for reading according to the sequence of the liturgical calendar. 59 of these manuscripts are copies of the entire New Testament. The "Codex Sinaiticus", found in a waste basket at the Monastery of St. Catherine in 1844 by Constantin von Tischendorf dates from the early 4th century. Its counterpart at the Vatican Library in Rome, the "Codex Vaticanus" includes the whole Greek Bible from the same time period.
The careful study of this host of manuscript material indicates that the Hebrew and Greek texts on which our modern translations are based are accurate and reliable. There is not one instance in which the doctrinal differences between Christian denominations result from a textual variant. The process of the preservation and transmission of the Biblical text is historical fulfillment of our Lord's promise: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away." (Matthew 24:35).
"What the church lacks in our day is not a reliable text of the Bible, but faith in the sufficiently reliable text." (F. Pieper, 1936)