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Theology Survey I Midterm Exam
Guide
Theology Survey I (Liberty University)
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Theology Chapter 5
Ch-5: Preservation of the Revelation
Inspiration
Divine revelation is top-down
Sola scripture-only scripture
preservation of God’s Word
2 Timothy 3:3
Profitable for doctrine
Profitable for reproach
Profitable for correction
Profitable for instruction
God is true, His character is true, therefore His words are true
NB: no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
•Now we [believers] have not received the spirit of the world [speculation], but the Spirit
which is from God, the we might understand [by faith] the things [revelation] freely
given to us [grace] by God (1Cor. 2:11-12)
Outline: Particular Self-disclosure!
God’s Nature Has Built-in… “Laws”
Macro = Creation; Micro = Conscience
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•Definition of “Inspiration”
•The Fact and Five Theories…
•The Extent and Intensiveness
•A Model and the Need for integration
1. The Bible,
every word is God’s word, in the original autographs
-Primarily inspiration has to do with the author
2. By extension, because of
the preservation, the
books are also inspired
-We have a closed cannon-can’t be added to or subtracted from
3.God in communicating truth did not bypass
human nature
4. All we do to get the word of God stand still and remains, timeless truth
5. Inerrancy: the Bible is without errors, otherwise we would call God a liar
God Of The Bible = Infinite One:
Both: (1) Creator And (2) Redeemer
•God takes the initiative (wills/chooses) to reveal Himself to humans, his creatures.
Revelation is Top > down
1. Q: Is the Bible God’s Word? T / F = “breathed out” Inspiration! If so, it naturally follows
that…
2. The Bible is True ! Why? Because (God) the Revealer’s character (True) is consistent to
his words (truth)
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•Inerrancy : the Bible is absolutely trustworthy, without error. If there are errors, we call
God, liar!
•2 Peter 3: 16
•Circular reasoning
•External Verification
1.Consistent
2.Coherant
3.External critique
Divine Revelation= Vertical! Input Action Inspiration= Horizontal Relay Of That Info
-Revelation: God’s communication of truth to humans of what they need to know in order to
properly relate to and share life with Him
- Divine R is unrepeated hence calls for preservation
Inspiration: The relaying of [divinely] revealed truth from the first recipients to others [then /
later]
The former [divine source] necessitates the latter and the latter authenticates the former, for
all time!
The 5 theories (facts) of Inspiration and the Starting
Point ; consistency?
1.Intuition theory: naturally gifted, not special
1. Illumination: author high-degree perception
2. Dynamic: God’s thought; writer’s expressions
3. Verbal: God selected exact words [in original]
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4. Dictation: God to secretary w/ no personality
A Model And Levels Of Specificity
1. Didactic approach: Benjamin Warfield; what the biblical writers say about God’s word
2. Phenomena of Scripture; Dewey Beegle – the report of events compared to parallel ones
An Integrative Approach where God the Spirit providentially led writers to use words
that are particular and precise to convey His intended message with both clarity and
translatability
Chapter 6 : Inerrancy
1. Text-Divine
a. revelation
b. Inspiration
2. Truthfulness
-Is the Bible God’s Word?
c. Inerrancy
-Hebrews 4:12
3. Trustworthiness
-Can we totally trust/believe/obey the Bible?
d. Illumination
e. Authority (virtue of the author)
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4. Accountability
1 Corinthians 3
Matthew 11:36
Homework Assignment
1.Explain what society says about homosexuality 2 Foot notes (sources)per page
2. What the Bible says about it
3. What do I say about it?
Chinese Proverb-
“Put pen to paper, thoughts will flow.”
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR EXAM
FACEBOOK TO TELL THE TRUTH EXAM
3 Levels Bible is inerrant- Exam
1. Absolute Inerrancy
2. Full Inerrancy
3. Limited Inerrancy
Match term-definition on exam
•Explain discrepancies in science, dates, numbers, parallels
1. Dewey: it’s problematic, don’t be dogmatic, abandon idea!
2. B. Warfield: phenomena self-evident, virtually ignore
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3. Louis Gaussen: eliminate issue…harmonize differences
Chapter 7: The Power of God’s Word: Authority
Exam Test Tuesday= Outline portion in books, slides, Dr. G’s notes
Objective for Today:
•The believer’s “defining authority” for faith & life
•God the Spirit’s divine authorship = authority!
•3 Aspects: objective, subjective and collective
•The Bible and Reason versus mere “rationality”
•Historical authority: accurate then & there!
•Normative : to be accepted, applied and to implicitly obey by all believers here &
now!
•4 Different Parts of
Scriptures 1.Creation
2. Fall
3. Redemption
4. Restoration
Objective= literal Bible
Subjective= Internal working of the Holy Spirit
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Collective= All in one
Hebrews 12:2 –“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the
right hand of the throne of God.”
How I know what I know is true?
- Who Determines What I Believe?!
Review: 4 sources of authority: Why believe what we do?
Experience: what we know as real through our 5 senses
Tradition/church: what we have ascertained from history
Reason: what fallen humans assess/judge as true/valid
Revelation: what God has spoken, and is now written!
NB: Reason, Experience, Church culture… are all servants (not masters) through which
we apprehend God’s Word
Why Accept God’s Standard As Final And Binding?
God The Creator Is Also Revealer, Redeemer &… judge!
NB: Inspiration always & only to the Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16); not to human
experiences or interpretations of it!
•Inerrancy pertains only to the original autographs, not copies, Greek manuscripts or
our most reliable English translations!
•Why must we bring our critical reasoning, genuine experiences and valuable traditions
under the Bible’s revealed authority?!
A Brief Argument for the Authority of the Bible.
1. Step 1: God’s existence must be established.
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Out of nothing, Fine-tuned, moral creation.
1. Step 2: Expectations of Divine Revelation.
Personal God – God would want to reveal Himself to creation
1. Step 3: The Bible is God’s Divine Revelation.
Questions of transmission, historicity, and inspiration.
Personal ‘Rights’ Versus Biblical ‘Authority’
Supremacy Of Scripture As the Norming Norm
•“As the expression of God’s will, the Bible possesses the right to define [even
determine and dictate for salvation and godly living] what we are to believe on
religious matters, and how we are to conduct ourselves.” – Erikson, p. 78
The Scriptures’ (1) Authority, (2) Clarity, (3) Necessity, (4) Sufficiency and (5) Beauty
•Holy Scriptures, the Bible is God’s as well as human words. The writer’s “speech”,
enabled by the Spirit at that time, is what is divinely “inspired” and “inerrant” (not
the writers)
•Since the Bible “all Scripture” is God’s words, if we disbelieve or disobey them, we also
do the same with God!
•In the Bible, God is exercising His own authority, although indirectly, by communicating
to us by the means of His Word
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Authority: The Power Of God’s Word
•Revelation: God discloses exactly what He wants us to know
•Inspiration-Inerrancy: Spirit ensures originals remain perfect
•Illumination : enabling believers to understand the Bible as it is …the Word of God!
Assuring the right hermeneutics/meaning!
Gnanakan’s 3rd Eye: Illumination (1cor. 2:14)
God’s Thoughts, Wisdom = the Spirit’s Gifts!
•God, Jesus and the Spirit, all teach! Jn. 14:26; 16:13-14
The “inner working of Holy Spirit” in the believer’s hearts
•Q: So, why do we need the Spirit’s witness, today?
•Transcendence: Infinite Creator needs to relate to me!
•Assurance: the Spirit bears witness with my spirit that..
•Ignorance: need prayer: “open the eyes of my heart!”
•Knowing God: a mystery, gift, providence “grace on grace”
The Bible Revelation Versus Reason
– Legislative Vs. Judicial Authority
•Apologetics is the rational examination and evaluation of the evidence or a belief
system to ascertain if true or not
•The Legislative gives us the content and code of conduct
•The Judiciary helps determine and interpret (makes sense) what the legislative ‘means’!
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•The Supreme Legislative Authority to determine what is binding and normative for all
believers is… the Bible!
What’s The Value and Strength In Each Element within This Statement
•“it seems good to the Holy Spirit, and to us…” (Acts 15:28)
•Objective truth
•I can absolutely trust what God said and wrote!
•Subjective truth
•I’ve experienced this as true, time and again
•Collective truth
•Together we’ve always found this true & reliable
Word & Spirit At Work: With/Out the Other
“the Pattern Of Authority” ~ Bernard Ramm
•Jesus leaving followers assures them, ‘the Spirit of truth will teach, convict, witness,
guide, glorify’ (John 14:16)
•Word = Truth: Nothing new, No Un or Extra-biblical truths
•The Word without the Spirit you dry up!
•The Spirit without the Word you blow up!
•The Word and the Spirit you will grow up!
Chapter 8: Doctrine of God
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Transcendent- out there in the universe
Imminence- With you, near you
“If Your Concept Of God Is Wrong, The More Religion You Get, The More Dangerous
You Become To You And To Others “
– William Temple
•The reality of “God” – What is it? Which one?
•How is God to be described and represented?
•God is incomprehensible, i.e. we as finite humans cannot fully know everything there is
to “God”
•Godliness is a “mystery” that is revealed by God Himself for us to know, and obey! (Dt.
29:29)
•Mystery is truth unveiled
•
Bibliology- Study of the Bible
Theology proper- study of God the Father
: Creator and redeemer
God’s Transcendence Versus Immanence: God Is Altogether Other, Yet So Near To Us!
Maintaining The Biblical Balance
1. Studying the Biblical basis of both/and:
•It’s Implications and affect on us humans
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2. Distinguishing God’s attributes (Godhead) from each of the Person’s distinct properties,
and distinguishing God’s general activities from specific acts
3. Two Classifications of God’s Attributes
•Natural = Greatness
•Moral = Goodness
Trinity- God head threei n one
If your identity is in God, you will never have an identity crisis
God Is ‘ONE’ = Essential, Permanent , Yet God Is Other = Intrinsically Objective And
Inseparable From His ‘Unified’ Being
•Attributes = God’s Qualities [nature]
•God loves you and there’s nothing you can do about it
•Ontological- His being
•Function logical- What He did for you
•Essence: what constitutes God and tells us who He is
•The entire Godhead share [3-in-1: Father/Son/Spirit]
•(Attributes) Properties: each’s distinct characteristics
•Activities: what their role/function is
•Acts (most specific): what each person does (3 A’s)
Two Classifications of God’s Attributes
1. Natural Attributes/Greatness: Non-communicable
2. Moral Attributes/Goodness: Communicable
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1. God Is Present And Active Within His Creation
2. God Is Superior To And Yet Independent Of Everything That He Has
Created Danger: Do Not Overemphasize One Over the Other
•The Shema: the Lord God of Israel is One; therefore you will have “no other before me”
•Creed: “Father Almighty” creator of heaven & earth
•“The God and Father of our Lord Jesus” (2 Cor. 1:3)
•Revealed fully and finally in Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:1-3)
•Christian theology discusses Christ as God!
God Is Self Existent As The Creator, Only Redeemer Mighty To Save, There’s No Other
– Human Beings Are His Creation, In Need Of Him
God is present and active within his creation [immanent] yet he is also transcendent to it,
for he is a totally different type of being. He is divine” – Erikson, p. 87
Isaiah 6: Holy, holy, holy; … ‘Here I am Lord, send me!’
Lk 5 Peter to Jesus: ‘Lord, depart from me, a sinful man!’
Incomprehensible- God can be known but nobody can know everything about God
Infinite- God is infinite, we are finite (True or False question on exam)
God is limited by nothing while we are limited by time, matter….
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Chapter 9: The Greatness of God
God’s Incommunicable And Communicable Attributes
•God’s Incommunicable attributes or His Greatness
•His Natural attributes - infinity, eternity, aseity/self-existence; independence of
will, immutability,.. are not shared with his creatures, even analogically
•God’s Communicable attributes or His Goodness
•His Moral attributes like his love, knowledge, power, righteousness are shared
with us human beings who are created as His “image-bearers”
•God will not and cannot do something
that will contradict His logical being
•God does not have to do anything but if He does promise to do something, He
obliges himself to do it
Spirit
Life
Love
Light
Liberty-2 Corinthians 3:14
John 4:24
Invisible
Intangible
Incomparable
John 1:5
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Life-
John 8:12
Love
Faithful
Image-bearers
Contain God
Control God
•Spirit-uality: God is Spirit, connect/worship Creator! --Worship
•Vitality: God is the Light of Life, the Giver, and Taker!
•Personality: God is Love; attribute makes relational
•Infinity: God is Liberty, sovereign, limitless, totally free
•Constancy: God is faithful, unchanging so, trustworthy
•Spirit uality : God Is ‘Spirit’ reality- Worship
Oh Essentially Holy: separate from his creation/nature
•God has no physicality or geographical limitations
•Invisible, hence make no idols; all other gods false
•Evokes awe, to be worship ped in spirit and truth
•uses anthropo morphism to relate to spiritual beings
Vitality: In Him, Light Of Life! God’s Not Dead, He Is Alive!
•The Bible assumes/affirms God’s existence (doesn’t argue)
•The Only, True, Eternal, Living God ; “there is none beside”
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•He is wholly Other [holy] from all inanimate beings/objects
•The Source, uncaused Cause, “I AM” who sustains all things
•(In)dependence: divine <needs> humans?? Agape in Trinity!
•Whoever comes to God must believe that he IS (Heb. 11:1)
•God does not have to do anything but when He chooses to relate to others He does so
in love
Personality: our ‘Social’ God?! His Nature = Name; Above All Names!
God names Himself
God is self-consciousness with his own distinct ID!
“What’s in a Name?!”; dignity, meaning, relationship
God is not a force, functions: thinks, feels, wills, acts!
The value? We can know, encounter, experience God
The need to revere, relate & develop a relationship
Infinity: God Is Unlimited/Able Unbounded, He Is Omni, We Are Not!
•Space: God’s location (NA) don’t hide, but seek!
•Time: He always is, everlasting, the Alpha+Omega
•Knowledge: fount of all wisdom; needs no “access!”
•Power: El Shaddai with who Impossible is Nothing
•God is free/sovereign; learn to trust; be encouraged
Constancy: Faithful One, Unchanging keeps Covenant; Mutual Commitment!
•The I AM does not change, in quantity (Mal. 3:6)
•Immutabl e, unalterable, for ever You are faithful
•What about “seeming” changes in His ways?
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•Is it our perception of his ways; orientation?
•Is it a new phase in his progressive revelation?
•We can trust God’s character: consistent stable
God’s Freedom vs. His Faithfulness Q: How about ours and how we use it?
•While God is bound to keep his promises, he is not initially under compulsion to make
those promises. On the contrary it is common to attribute his decisions and actions to the
“good pleasure of his will.”
•God’s decision and actions are not determined by consideration of any factors outside
himself. They are simply a matter of his own free choice! - Erickson, p.96
Chapter 10: Goodness of God
God has 2 Attributes: Natural(Incommunicable) and Moral(Communicable)
God Is Good, All The Time And…Who is like unto Thee?.. No one is!
1. Purity : God is holy (Isa 6), righteous, [non] just
-Main central essence of God: Holiness
2. Integrity : God is true, faithful and genuine
-God cannot be divided in half’s or pieces
3. Charity : the love of God in our hearts (a) benevolent (b) gracious versus (c) merciful (d)
persistent…
- 4 Loves by C.S. Lewis
- Agape Love: Commitment love
- 2 Aspects of love: Grace and Mercy
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-Theodicy : how can a God who loves us can be fair or just for doing
something for us?
- He is all justice and all love
•How to reconcile the necessary tension between God’s Love and his Justice [clarify our
“it’s not fair”; theodicy?]
1. God’s Moral… Purity: 1.1. God is “Holy” = Righteous and Just!
•A) Holiness: God’s Otherness; cut off, God is separate…
•1) Majestic: his nature is totally free from any/all evil
•2) Marked off: he is unable to tolerate any form of sin
•God’s holiness revealed requires a response: Isaiah, Peter
•Q: Revelation of God’s holiness, results in moral conviction
•God’s Word will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from God’s Word
1 A. God’s Righteousness: his Holiness Applied his ways in relation to… others (Psalm
1:7-9)
•Holiness is God’s being, Righteousness is how He acts
•God’s righteousness is how he relates to others
1. For… realists, God chooses what is right, because it is right
2. …nominalists: something becomes right since God chose it
3. …Biblicists: what is right is objectively true to God’s nature [not external to it]
hence is his choice & the right standard
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-By what standard is right or wrong? : What is that standard?- God Himself is our
standard
•God’s laws comes from His heart of Love
•Micah 6:8- “Do justice,
love mercy, walk humbly with your God”
•God’s righteous laws is an express his nature = heart of love
Q: Why then is it difficult to keep or delight in God’s laws?
B. Justice: God acting out his holiness administers his law & requires conformity!
•God’s official righteousness is his revealed standard for all
•Sin has definite consequences; it will find us out! Num. 32:23
•A “godly” person will always represent what is right and fair
Q: Why a tension between being just & ‘loving / good’, at once?
- God has shown us what he requires: doing justly,..? Micah 6:8
-A “good” judge must also be a “just” judge, if he is a good one!
2. Integrity :
-God is… genuinely true and faithful
-True/genuine: only God is absolutely real, being self
-Veracity: his nature tells the truth, cannot, will not lie!
-Faithful: proves to be true always, fulfills his will/word
Q: Why is it better not to make a vow, than to make one and not to keep it? [i.e. in
marriage]
3. Charity : God is Love Why is Love the Greatest?
•God’s basic “missional” attribute is his… HESED/agape!
1. Benevolence: deep interest, concern, care for one’s welfare
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2. Persistence: forbearance, longsuffering, repent? (2 Pet. 3:9)
3. Mercy : tender to one’s needs, com-passion, see be moved
4. Grace : undeserved favor; unique gift, goodness, generosity
•C.S. Lewis’s Four Loves: self-sacrificial, implicit obedience?
God is good, all the time… Issue: Reconciling the problem of…
theodicy!
•Love must be tough: sensible, sensitive, not sentimental
•There’s creative tension in divine gifts, paradox & mystery
•How God, in the Bible, is both the Just One and Justifier?!
•God is too good to be unkind; too wise to make any mistake in my life! I can trust him,
obey him and not be afraid
Chapter 13: God’s Originating Work
Ontology- By nature, who God is
Functionality- What God Does
1. Original Work-Creation
2. What He continues to do- providence
Slide 3- Three Principals on Exam
Everything in time and space has a beginning, not everything had a beginning
because that would mean God had a beginning
You need more faith in evolution than in creation
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Things weren’t created before themselves
Monism-everything is on spirit
Dualism- two opposing forces
Pantheism- Everything is God
Gnosticism- something that is pure spirit and knowledge
Secular Humanism
Deism- Divine force, too busy to take care of daily and minute details
Humanism- we will make God in our image
Faith Creationism- God directly made every species particularly
Theistic Evolution
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1. August 29, 2017
a. It's deeply disturbing that for most of our world's history, the majority did not believe in or
follow the One, True Living God! Why study other religions? To: 1) understand human
heart cries and habits 2) effectively relate to and reach out to them 3) appreciate and develop
one's own faith to make a difference in our world! Started teaching RLGN-350 at LU
2. September 3, 2017
a. We humans were created with a God-shaped vacuum in order to worship - to discover and
declare the praises of the One who caused all life. "Christian" worship is uniquely different and
distinctively "trinitarian". We adore God who is our loving Father in heaven, pray in the name
of Jesus who by His grace alone brought us into a fellowship that is a reality through the
empowering Holy Spirit.
b. Christians celebrate the worth-ship of the One true living God who has called out of darkness
into His marvelous light, love and liberty. "Evangelical" Christianity is governed by the Gospel
or good news of salvation and our faith is grounded on 3 foundational truths:
1. Revelation- What the Father has said in His Word
2. Redemption- What the Son has done on the Cross
3. Regeneration- What the Spirit alone does in our hearts!
3. September 7, 2017
a. Understanding Hindu worship, Christian witness and how to effectively communicate to
them the need for 1) repentance from sin as our human estrangement from a personal God, not
an illusion/maya or ignorance/agnana 2) acceptance of God's grace/charis, not our credit
karma/works for salvation 3) obedience to follow Christ, not as a guru or god-man but Lord and
God's only Way/marga to heaven, which is a literal place, not oblivious state of oneness!
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b. For this we need both the cultural intelligence, evangelical passion and strategic missiology
to "know Christ and to make Him known". It's a privilege to serve with Dr. David Wheeler in
our EVAN-101 class; just videotaped on: how to share the Gospel with Hindus, Buddhists and
Sikhs!
4. September 11, 2017
a. "The Storms" of life, literal and emotional, are inevitable yet can be purposeful. They show
us human frailty, teach us to depend on a powerful yet merciful Creator-Redeemer, and give us
opportunity to develop compassion for sufferers! As hurricanes hit many areas, let us pray, love
and serve!
b. There is a "theology of storms" in Mark 4:35-41. Jesus' followers are fighting for their lives
in a boat in which Jesus seems to be careless and sleeping! What becomes evident is that Jesus
not only sees them struggling in the storm, He is able to keep them in it and eventually save
them from it. What's striking is that it was Jesus who sent His own into this storm to teach them
to trust Him and not be afraid.
c. At the end, Jesus stills the storm and the calm brings more fear than the storm did! In all this,
they discover He is Lord of the storms and a powerful Savior whom they must trust & obey.
Though not easy during storms, with Jesus in the boat we can smile at life's storms. PS: He
promised them they'd cross over "to the other side", not drown in the middle!
5. September 11, 2017
a. Religions: superficially different; fundamentally same?! It has been notoriously
hard to define the word “religion” in my RLGN-350 class. Derived from the term “to yoke”,
religious activities or figures are readily recognized yet the subject matter is better caught than
taught. While there are difficulties and limitations, it has some basic or essential features.
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Humans, from time in memorial have been awed by the super-natural and "gods” worshipped
either out of fear or to receive favor or blessings. If we say that religion must do with what
matters most in life, for some that could be football or some sport! So perhaps religion better
engages with the philosophical and prepares us for the afterlife. Its phenomena relate to keeping
moral or social-ethical codes to be good and do right. At times, religion takes on political
ideologies that seeks to change the world. It certainly concerns itself with the “Sacred Other” or
God. We know that a deity is holy or "other than" us and we humans for some reason are profane
or separate from the Sacred. Due to a sense of unworthiness, guilt or shame, we can’t live with,
nor live without a creator-redeemer. Today’s major, living religions can be shown to originally
stem as south, far or middle-eastern faiths. There are organic, structural and regional links
between them. Let’s consider the three South Eastern religions – Hinduism, Buddhism and
Jainism. Hinduism, more recently named after the Hindoo or Indus river, is the oldest, most
diversified and least dogmatic faith. It dates to 3000 BC with no one founder, creed or sacred
text but collection of beliefs and “way of life” of the peoples of that valley characterized by
priests and sacrifice. Buddhism was started about 563 BC by Siddhartha Gautama who became
the Enlightened One or “Buddha”. As a missionary religion it spread all over Asia and today
there are more Buddhists outside India than within. It is the West’s most favorite faith with
Hollywood stars and yoga. Jainism, began around 550 BC by VardhanaMahavira as a stricter
reform that cultivated non-violence as part of a conqueror’s (jina) faith. The three monotheistic
faiths stem from Father Abraham in the Ur of Chaldees. The Jewish nation with Moses their
lawgiver and king David as savior figures was more interested in ethics than theology. Jesus was
a Jews who preached a message of grace that saves apart from keeping the law. Paul the apostle
spread this Gospel to Rome and to the then known world. Christianity as it came to be called
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remains a simple or most easy to believe yet hard to explain faith. Islam followed in AD 570
with the prophet Muhammad’s teaching from the Koran. It is the second largest, most volatile
and the fasted growing geo-politically faith. Along with prophets and angels, a future
resurrection and coming judgment are unique to these faiths. The three far eastern, Chinese
faiths are Daoism started by 580 BC with Laozi’s teachings that promoted harmony with nature
and
a ying-yang faith that valued balance and aesthetics. Confucianism may have begun about 551
BC with the Master Kong or Confucius’ philosophy rather than religion that encouraged proper
ethics within one’s essential relationships. Buddhism spread rapidly to transplant and adapt itself
to Chinese cultures. The other religion that worships kami spirits and shaped by AD 100 is
Shinto and is contained in the island of Japan. It is that nation’s state-religion and maintains the
land’s purity. Sikhism, the youngest of the major religions started by Guru Nanak around 1500
AD intending to unify Hindus and Muslims. It has soldier-saints known for their bhakti devotion
and warrior discipline to serve others equally and lovingly protect one another. A few important
observations: Going from east to west across time, the religions seems to also change from
polytheistic to be monotheistic. Further, the west’s New Age movement seeks to mix, match and
blend these faiths. While all these faiths, seem to be superficially different yet essentially the
same, re-examining their beliefs will prove the opposite to be true. They are fundamentally
different in their truth claims! In any event the best approach to start our study is to first respect
the many faiths. We must be participants-with-a-purpose among them, sharing life and humbly
engaging with them in dialogue. Stay tuned...
6. September 16, 2017
a. Nabeel Qureshi, joined Jesus, his Savior in glory, today! Deeply grieved at his "home going".
We prayed for him in my classes. Our God is able to deliver and heal, but even if He does not,
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He is Lord! At times, death is the ultimate healing! He was "faithful" to the fight, to the faith
and to the finish!!!
7. September 24, 2017
a. God's got a Book out! Have you read it?! You've ever been asked to “prove” that the Bible is
“the Word of God”?! Wondered why not the Koran or Bhagavad-Gita is God’s word? We could
submit facts about the uniqueness and permanence of the Christian Scriptures - It was written
over 1600 years by over 40 human authors and remains the best-selling most-translated piece of
literature! Despite people setting out to damage, destroy or disprove its validity, its coherence
and consistency makes it’s timeless, transformational truths, credible! It can be shown that God
whose character is true, speaks words that are true and persevered making the Bible totally
trustworthy!Postmodern sceptics in our post-truth age use pure human reason or “natural
theology” to challenge the Bible’s authority as absolute truth for faith and life. Note how early
church theologians viewed these Holy Scriptures. Anselm of Canterbury regarded reason as a
lower realm in which we know about God and posited simple faith in God’s grace as the “higher
realm”. Even Aquinas who submitted various philosophical “ways” to understand the Divine,
saw reason as “lower lights”. We now know this was to guide us to the True, Higher Light that
gives eternal life - God’s grace that appeared in Jesus bringing salvation! Hence Calvin, the
Reformation theologian, insisted that we must possess the “spectacles of faith” to further and
fully understand God holy nature with respect to his saving power. The God of the Bible has
taken the initiative to disclose his nature and redeeming ways to us. General revelation displays
his mighty splendor (Psa. 1:1) but does not clarify his specific attributes or will. On a microlevel,
it is also universal in scope. As Paul points out, our consciences bear inner witness to our
Creator’s moral decrees, so much so, all are without excuse and we must turn to God in repentant
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faith (Rom. 1:18-22). The writer to the Hebrews, showed how this “God who speaks”, in past
times did so in many ways. But at last, he revealed his full and final “Word on salvation” and it's
in his Son – Jesus, the world’s only Savior! (1:1-3) This is particular or “special revelation” since
it goes beyond creation, conscience or the commands to Israel. No wonder, Karl Barth with
respect to divine revelation was adamant that “revelation is redemptive”! We have observed that
divine revelation is top-down. The Bible claims to be “inspired” literally "breathed out”! (2Tim.
3:16) Here, critics bounce back saying: “that's circular reasoning!” Well, so is the vicious cycle
that makes the human mind the measure of what's true or right! When examining the Bible’s
“self-attestation” bear in mind the same Spirit of God who authored the Book, sovereignly
preserved its words in the “original autographs”. Apart from external evidences from history and
archaeology, the Bible’s coherent support is convincing. For instance, Peter, referring to Paul’s
recent writings notes that some were "hard" for him to understand. (2Pet. 3:16). Now that’s
unusual for Peter, and so comforting to me! Peter goes on to say that Paul’s inspired writings
were at par with the Old Testament or “other sacred Scriptures!” This bring me to the 3 eyes
(“I”s) that follow believers subscribing to the doctrine of Biblical Inspiration - the breathing-out
of divine truth by the Holy Spirit’s ability for men write it down and its relay meaning
accurately. Evangelicalism stands or falls on two non-negotiable truths (I) God has spoken and…
(II) It is written! Of course (1) Inerrancy must ensue since the words of the One, True God must
be absolutely true and without any mistakes therefore totally trustworthy (2) Infallibility in
inextricably linked with this for since God cannot lie, his word is not capable of any falsehood or
failing! (3) Illumination is that special internal work of the Book’s Author – the Holy Spirit who
promises to enable believers both to accept and understand Scripture as nothing less or other than
God’s Word. Bertrand Ramm saw in this a “pattern of authority” as God’s Word (objective truth)
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and Spirit (subjective truth) work together. So, it is by the same enabling Spirit of God that the
child of God ultimately recognizes the Bible as the Word of God!
