It is unbreakable. Another biblical claim for inspiration is that the written word is unbreakable, or infallible. Jesus said to the Jews, to whom He had quoted from Psalm 82, “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). Edward J. Young has put it,
The force of his argument is very clear, and it may be paraphrased as follows: “what is stated in this verse from the psalms is true because this verse belongs to that body of writings known as Scripture, and the Scripture possesses an authority so absolute in character that it cannot be broken.” When Christ here employs the word Scripture, he has in mind, therefore, not a particular verse in the psalms, but rather the entire group of writings of which this one verse is a part.
For Jesus, then, inspiration meant a divinely authoritative and unbreakable writing.
It is irrevocable. Another claim for inspired writings is that their message is irrevocable. The Bible states, “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished” (Matt. 5:18). Again, “But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail” (Luke 16:17). The claim is unequivocal; the message of the written word, including the smallest letters, must be fulfilled. In a similar claim, Jesus included the whole Old Testament, section by section, as He said, “All the things that are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). Peter added these words: “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold” (Acts 1:16).
It has final authority. The biblical writers and Jesus Himself claim that the written word is the final arbitrator in matters of faith and practice. Jesus quoted the Old Testament Scriptures with finality when resisting the tempter (Matt. 4:4, 7, 10). He used the Old Testament decisively to settle the question about the resurrection in His answer to the Pharisees (21:42) and in vindicating His authority to cleanse the Temple (Mark 11:17). Paul used the Scriptures as the basis for his arguments with the Jews (Acts 17:2). Peter declared that “the untaught and unstable distort [Scriptures] . . . to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16). In fact, the finality that is based on the verbal inerrancy of the Old Testament as the word of God “is demonstrated by New Testament arguments which rest on a small historical detail (Heb 7:4-10), a word or phrase (Acts 15:13-17), or even the difference between the singular and the plural (Gal. 3:16).”
It is plenary (full, complete, extending to every part). It is the claim of 2 Timothy 3:16 that all of Scripture (i.e., the whole Old Testament) is inspired, and not just part of it. That inspiration extends universally to all of Scripture is borne out by the use of the inclusive phrases “it is written,” “the Scriptures,” “the law and the prophets,” “the word of God” (cf. Mark 7:13; see chap. 5 for a more complete elaboration of this point). Jesus referred to all sections of the Hebrew canon as predictive of Himself (Luke 24:27, 44), and Peter considered the Old Testament as a whole to be “prophetic writing” (2 Peter 1:20-21) given by the “Spirit of Christ” (1 Peter 1:10-11).
In light of these numerous claims concerning the divinely authoritative nature of Scripture, it is difficult to understand why James Barr asserts that the Bible does not teach its own inspiration and inerrancy. Carl Henry’s “Introduction” discusses this very issue to the contrary of Barr’s thesis, and he expounds it throughout fifteen theses in four volumes entitled God, Revelation and Authority.
It has complete inerrancy. The Bible is wholly true and without error. Jesus said, “Thy Word is truth” (John 17:17). To those who denied the truth of Scripture He said, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures” (Matt. 22:29). The psalmist said, “The law of the Lord is perfect,”and, “The sum of Thy word is truth” (Pss. 19:7; 119:60). The Bible is God’s Word, and God cannot err (Heb 6:18; Titus 1:2). Scriptures are the utterances of the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 3:16), and the Spirit of Truth cannot err. “To err is human,” but the Bible is not a mere human book. It is divinely inspired, and a divinely inspired error is a contradiction in terms.
Technorati Tags: Scripture
No comments:
Post a Comment