A Boomer in the Pew

The Bible as a Historical Document

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem - This post is part of my year-long journey through Dr. Wayne Grudem's world-renowned Systematic Theology.  I welcome and hope for your interaction.

Interpretation of Scripture (Part 2 of 7)

The Bible is a historical document.  Think about that statement.  Do you look at the Bible with this understanding?

One of the greatest testaments to the scoffer is that the Bible contains real people, in real places, in real times in history past.

Most religions require that we believe something that a single person has proclaimed with absolutely no historical authority.

In today's lecture from Dr. Wayne Grudem's Sunday school class, he wants us to understand four "big picture" approaches that we should have as we seek to interpret the Bible:

1. The Bible is a historical document
2. The original authors wanted the original readers to respond in some way
3. The whole Bible is about God
4. The center of the whole Bible is Jesus Christ.  The entire Old Testament leadus up to him, points to him, and the entire New Testament flow from him.

Listen as Dr. Grudem explains:

Grudem - How to Interpret the Bible (pt 2 of 7)

Notes - Download Grudem's How to Interpret the Bible (pt 2 of 7)

The Profound Danger of Saying "This is What the Bible Means to Me"

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem - This post is part of my year-long journey through Dr. Wayne Grudem's world-renowned Systematic Theology.  I welcome and hope for your interaction.

Interpretation of Scripture (Part 1 of 7)

I wasn't in Dr. Grudem's class back in 2005.  But, for some reason he jumped out of his text and spent seven weeks instructing his class on how to properly interpret Scripture.

Dr. Grudem spent four years going through his Systematic Theology in his Scottsdale Bible Church Sunday school class.

I hope to accomplish this task in this calendar year.  Therefore, rather than ignore his seven week out of text teaching on this subject, I am going to pick up my pace over the next few days on these seven lectures.

When it comes to matters of faith, our post-modern culture seems to be completely satisfied with a relativistic philosophy.  This viewpoint would contend that there is no absolute truth.  Truth, this viewpoint contends, is relative and subjective to each individual.

This is how a post-modern culture can contend that a Buddhist and a Christian, both holding completely different worldviews, can both be right.  Our society tends to believe that truth is whatever you believe it to be, and at the same time, truth is whatever I believe it to be.

Although this seems preposterous, I have often seen this relativism brought into the church as a group of people are seeking to understand a particular passage of scripture.

Sitting around a table you might hear, "this is what this passage means to me", and then someone else will chime in, "nice, and this is what it means to me".  These two views might be completely contradictory, but the group will generally go away giving no heed to where the actual truth might lie, but were pleased to hear the contradictory truths all in the spirit of sharing.

Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the healthy sharing of thoughts and ideas.  The danger lies in allowing a sneaky relativism into our belief system.

The Buddhist and the Christian cannot both be right.  One of them is wrong.  Let's be honest and have a healthy disagreement instead of the nonsense that both can be right.

The writers of the Westminster Confession of Faith dealt with this very issue back in the 17th century.  They wrote:

"The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself: and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly."

In other words, there is only one meaning for each text.

Therefore, we should amend our understanding, and our subsequent speech to, "I wonder if this is what God is saying to us", rather than reporting our individual, many times spur of the moment beliefs.

What are your thoughts on this subject?

Here's the audio and notes from Dr. Wayne Grudem's class:

Interpretation of Scripture (Pt 1 of 7)

Download Interpretation of Scripture (Pt 1 of 7)

Note:  hover your mouse over the above audio player to find the start button.

Is the Bible Only Understandable by Those With Seminary Degrees?

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem - This post is part of my year-long journey through Dr. Wayne Grudem's world-renowned Systematic Theology.  I welcome and hope for your interaction.

Chapter 6 

The Four Characteristics of Scripture: (2) Clarity

There is a school of thought that suggests that the world made a significant change once the Bible was translated so that the common man could for himself read and understand the Bible.

Prior to the Reformation, the Bible was only available in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.  Therefore, it was nearly impossible for the common man to consider reading the Bible for himself.

John Wycliffe (c. 1328 – 31 December 1384), an early dissodent of the Roman Catholic Church, opposed this harboring of the Bible and in 1382 translated the Bible into English in what is now known as the Wycliffe Bible.

Carol and I attended a traveling museum, a few years back, called From the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Bible in America.  The museum's collection includes hundreds of Bibles.  It was here that I was able to photograph scores of important Bibles in history including Wycliffe's Poor Man's Bible (pictured above).

In the sixth chapter of Grudem's text, we come upon the the doctrine of clarity which he defines as:

"The clarity of Scripture means that the Bible is written in such a way that its teachings are able to be understood by all who will read it seeking God’s help and being willing to follow it."

As Grudem points out in his lecture (see audio below), the Bible itself makes it clear that it is understandable with God's help and obedience.  Further, the Bible instructs that we should become students of God's words protrayed in the Bible.

But here is an important fact for all of us to consider:  if the people in the pews are not reading the Bible for themselves, then they are certain to come under the spell of hucksters seeking their own personal gain.

I remember reading of Martin Luther's humiliation as he witnessed people crawling on their bloody knees giving alms to the Roman Catholic Church hoping to buy their way into heaven.

It was this very scene that birthed the Reformation in Luther's heart and brought about his ninety-five theses that he nailed to the church door in Wittenberg.

I have read the Bible through, cover to cover, twice now in the last two years.  I can personally attest that a great deal of the Bible is easily understandable.  Certainly there are things difficult to understand, and further, there are things in the Bible that are complete mysteries to us.

But, these few things shouldn't prevent us from the blessings of the whole.  As Paul told Timothy:

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." (Timothy 3:16-17)

I desire to be competent and equipped for every good work.  How about you?

Grudem - The Four Characteristics of Scripture - (2) Clarity

Download Grudem's Notes - The Four Characteristics of Scripture - (2) Clarity

The Inerrancy of Scripture: Are There Any Errors in the Bible?

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem - This post is part of my year-long journey through Dr. Wayne Grudem's world-renowned Systematic Theology.  I welcome and hope for your interaction.

Chapter 5 - The Inerrancy of Scripture

We are spending the first eight weeks of our study seeking to understand the nature of this Bible that we have in our hands.

You see, as we delve into what the Bible actually says over the course of the year, we are going to come upon doctrines that are very, very difficult to understand with our natural minds.

When this occurs, a natural tendancy might be to allow a crack in our belief about the nature of the Bible itself.  Can we trust the Bible?  Are there errors in the Bible?  How do we know we have the right books in the Bible?  Was anything left out?

Therefore, the seven weeks that we will spend considering the many claims about the Bible, and further understanding the objections of the scoffers is time well spent.

There are quite a few people that would dismiss the whole of the Bible because they believe that the Bible contains errors.  Because of this belief, they dismiss or greatly reduce the Bible's authority for our lives.

On the contrary, there are those who contend that the Bible is inerrant, with every single word therein being absolutely true, literal, and worthy of our complete trust.

Those holding to the Bible's inerrancy, for example, contend that Jonah was literally in the belly of a whale for three days, while some might contend that this story is merely allegory.

Here is Dr. Wayne Grudem's definintion of inerrancy:

"The inerrancy of Scripture means that Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact."

In 1978, a collection of nearly 300 noted evangelical scholars, including James Boice, Norman L. Geisler, John Gerstner, Carl F. H. Henry, Kenneth Kantzer, Harold Lindsell, John Warwick Montgomery, Roger Nicole, J. I. Packer, Robert Preus, Earl Radmacher, Francis Schaeffer, R. C. Sproul, and John Wenham, gathered to produce a document called the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy.

This document contains 19 affirmations about the inerrancy of the Bible along with a brief exposition giving readers the foundation for these beliefs.

Furthermore, the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerracy contains a "short statement" which compresses the work into five succinct statements:

1. God, who is Himself Truth and speaks truth only, has inspired Holy Scripture in order thereby to reveal Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge. Holy Scripture is God's witness to Himself.

2. Holy Scripture, being God's own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God's instruction, in all that it affirms: obeyed, as God's command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God's pledge, in all that it promises.

3. The Holy Spirit, Scripture's divine Author, both authenticates it to us by His inward witness and opens our minds to understand its meaning.

4. Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God's acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God's saving grace in individual lives.

5. The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if this total divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible's own; and such lapses bring serious loss to both the individual and the Church.

Personally, I don't struggle with this issue.  I believe in the inerrancy of the Bible.  For me to think anything else would put my human understanding above God's infinite and perfect understanding.  I just don't see myself in heaven someday questioning God about what He wrote for us in the Bible.

What about you?  Do you believe in the Bible's inerrancy?

If you would like to give further study to the issue of the Bible's inerrancy, Dr. Grudem spent three weeks on this in his Sunday school class at Scottsdale Bible Church. 

Please find below audio from Grudem's three classes and his lecture notes:

Grudem - The Inerrancy of Scripture (Pt. 1 of 3)

Grudem - The Inerrancy of Scripture (Pt. 2 of 3)

Grudem - The Inerrancy of Scripture (Pt. 3 of 3)

Download Grudem's Notes - The Inerrancy of Scripture

Are All the Words in the Bible God's Words? All of Them? Really?

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem - This post is part of my year-long journey through Dr. Wayne Grudem's world-renowned Systematic Theology.  I welcome and hope for your interaction.

Chapter 4 - The Four Characteristics of Scripture: (1) Authority

Dr. Grudem mentions in his audio that this particular topic is the absolute bedrock for the serious student of the Bible. 

The Bible itself, the prophets, and the apostles all make claim that every single word in the Scriptures are God's and it is the Christian's job to understand this and to accordingly obey them.

Hear it from Dr. Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology:

"The authority of Scripture means that all the words in Scripture are God's words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God."

The Apostle Paul is one of Dr. Grudem's sources for such a statement:

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness," (2 Timothy 3:16)

As we journey through the doctrines of the Bible, we are absolutely certain to encounter teachings that are completely adrift from our natural sensibilities. 

When we encounter them, what will be our response?  Take them out of the Bible like Thomas Jefferson?  Ignore them?  Believe that some things in the Scriptures are true, and some things are not true?  If so, who is the judge of such things?  Ourselves?  Individually?  Really?  You think God would leave that up to us?

If we don't first come to grips with the authority of Scripture, then we are certain to find ourselves shipwrecked in our thinking as we attempt to understand God's infinite mind with our finite minds.

So...what say you?  Every single word in the Bible from God?  Every one?

Resource materials from Dr. Grudem's Sunday school class:

Grudem, Four Characteristics of Scripture, Part 1

Grudem, Four Characteristics of Scripture, Part 2

Note:  hover your mouse over the above players to find the start buttons.

Download Dr. Grudem's Notes on Scriptural Authority

How Do We Know That We Have the Right Books in the Bible?

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem - This post is part of my year-long journey through Dr. Wayne Grudem's world-renowned Systematic Theology.  I welcome and hope for your interaction.

Chapter 3 - The Canon of Scripture

Audio and notes from Dr. Wayne Grudem's Sunday school class:

Wayne Grudem - The Old Testament Canon

Wayne Grudem - The New Testament Canon

Note:  hover your mouse over the above player to find the start button.

Download Wayne Grudem's Notes - The Canon of Scripture

We ended last week's article with the conclusion that God's written words in the Bible are the most reliable place for us to know God, and to understand his desires.

However, if we are going to base our lives on the words in this book, how can we know that we have the right books in the Bible?

A very important question, right?

Here's the "Reader's Digest" version of Grudem's answer:

• God began the canon of Scripture with his writing of the 10 Commandments.
• God instructed Moses to write down everything from Mount Sinai, and Moses continued his writings throughout his life.
• Joshua, and those who filled the office of prophet continued writing the words of God until God quite speaking around 435 BC with the book of Malachi.
• Although Jewish history continued to be written by historians, these same historians lamented the fact that God has not spoken since Malachi.
• God then came speaking in the person of Jesus Christ.
• The recorded words of Jesus, in the Gospels, and the Holy Spririt inspired words of the apostles were now God's design to communicate to his people.
• God's divine word to his people ended with the book of Revelation and the canon of Scripture is now closed.  

A foundational belief that we have the actual words of God in our Bibles in critical.  We are certain to come upon rough theological waters as we continue, and without this belief, we are certain to struggle even more.

I believe that the words contained in my ESV Study Bible are the actual words of God.

How about you?  What are your beliefs?  Actual words of God?

Homework:  Next week we move to chapter four:  The Four Characteristics of Scripture. 

Would You Pay More Attention if God Spoke to You Personally From Heaven Than Through the Bible?

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem - This post is part of my year-long journey through Dr. Wayne Grudem's world-renowned Systematic Theology.  I welcome and hope for your interaction.

Chapter 2 - The Word of God

Before we can now begin our year-long journey, we must first make two assumptions:

1. That the Bible is true and that it is, in fact, our only absolute standard of truth.
2. That the God which is spoken of in the Bible exists, and that he is who the Bible says he is: the Creator of heaven and earth and all things in them.

Of course, these are enormous assumptions for some, and we will certainly be exploring these very assumptions as we move along. 

As we place our gaze upon the whole of the Bible, we find that God has spoken to us in primarily two ways:

1. "The word of God" as a person: Jesus Christ (John 1:1)
2. "The word of God" as speech by God.

As we consider God's word as speech, it has come to us in a number of ways:

• God's decrees.  For example, God said, "Let there be light".  God's decrees cause something to happen which we can then witness.
• God's words of personal address.  The Bible is full of examples of this.  Think of God speaking to Adam and Eve, or God speaking from heaven during the baptism of Christ.
• God's words as speech through human lips.  Think of prophets like Moses, Elijah, or Jeremiah.
• God's words in written form (The Bible). 

Grudem goes on to say that it is this fourth way where the student of systematic theology will spend his/her time.  Although the other three ways are possible, it seems that God has chosen today to let us find him primarily through the written word: the Bible.

Dr. Grudem left this chapter with a very good question for us to consider:  Do you think you would pay more attention if God spoke to you from heaven or through the voice of a living prophet than if he spoke to you from the written words of Scripture?

My answer to this, right or wrong, is yes. 

If God were to appear in my home office right now, it would significantly change my life.  Yet, I don't seem to give his words in the Bible the same respect. 

I suppose some of this is only natural and I should give myself a break?  Or, I need to significantly deepen my understanding of the way God personally communicates to me today.

What say you?

Homework:  Next week we will explore chapter three and discuss what belongs in the Bible and what does not.  See you then!

Can We Believe in the Bible, God, Jesus Christ as Messiah, Sin, Heaven, Hell, Satan, Angels? Systematic Theology Addresses These Questions.

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem - This post is part of my year-long journey through Dr. Wayne Grudem's world-renowned Systematic Theology.  I welcome and hope for your interaction.

If you followed my year-long journey through the ESV Study Bible last year,  you witnessed a considerable amount of whinning from me as we whisked past very important revelations worthy of our attention.

As I considered my year-long project for this year, I decided to go back and do some deep-sea diving in some of the most critical of the Bible's revelations.

Dr. Grudem defines systematic theology:

"Systematic theology is any study that answers the question, "What does the whole Bible teach us today?" about any given topic"

The folks over at the Pew Forum tell us that a large majority of Americans profess a belief in God, yet, it would seem, most can not intelligently put forth any reason beyond a simple belief in some eternal being or universal spirit.

A study of systematic theology will help us put meat into our beliefs, will help to shape our worldview, and in the end will likely have significant effect on our choices and behaviors in the world.

Here are the broad topics the we will cover in this study over the course of the year:

• The Bible - is it really God's word?  Are there errors in it?  Why these 66 books and not others?  Are the stories in the Bible literally true? 
  
• God - how do we know that God really exists? Can we know him?  How is God different from us?  What is all this "God in Three Persons" about?  Does God really hear our prayers?  What about miracles?  Creation, really?  Is there a devil?  Are there angels? 
  
• Man - were we really created by God?  Do I have a soul, a spirit?  Why did God make two sexes?  What is this sin thing all about?
• Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit - who are these guys?  Is Jesus the Jewish Messiah? Was Jesus really God in flesh?  I've heard that Jesus died for my sins, what is that all about?  Jesus died and rose from the dead?  Really?  Who is the Holy Spirit and does he exist?
• Redemption - I've heard that I must be born again, what is that all about?  How can I be born twice?  Isn't my belief in God and my good behavior enough to get me into heaven?
• The Church - why do we even have this thing called church?  What is it?  Why are there so many different churches?  Don't these people just want to control my life?  Can't I just believe in God and forget the whole church thing?
• Heaven - really?  Is there such a place?  How do I get into heaven?  Hell?  Come on, really?  Eternal damnation?  Burning in hell forever?  Really? Come on!  Earth will someday be destroyed and we'll live with God forever?  Really?  Come on!

Let's ask a few questions of ourselves:

• Do we have cogent beliefs in all of these areas that we can intelligently profess?
• Are these not some of the most important questions of life?
• Are these not things that you would like to know more about?

Bingo!  This is why we should all be students of systematic theology. 

I'm looking forward to this year-long journey, want to come along?

A Year-Long Journey through Systematic Theology by Dr. Wayne Grudem

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem - This post is to announce my year-long journey through Dr. Wayne Grudem's world-renowned Systematic Theology.

I will be taking a chapter from the text each week, adding the audio of Dr. Grudem's Sunday school class lectures at Scottsdale Bible Church (my home church), and creating a weekly post for online discussion.

To aid in finding the posts throughout the course of the year, I have created a special Systematic Theology category where all of these posts will be cataloged.

If you would like to purchase a copy of the text, you can do it at our Amazon Affiliate link here: Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine.

Even if you don't have a copy of the text, you are welcome to jump into the discussion at anywhere along the line.

To keep abreast of my posts each day, you will want to subscribe to my blog.  You can do that by RSS Feed, Twitter, or an e-mail subscription.  Here are the links to subscribe:

• Subscribe by RSS Feed
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Welcome to the journey, and I look forward to making your acquaintance in the comments section of each day's post.

Note:  I am not a Biblical scholar, but more an armchair theologian.  Therefore, please think of me more as being your tour guide, or your discussion leader.  If we start to drown in the deep end of the theological pool, we will call for help from a Biblical expert.