A407 : by Tony Garland
As you've observed, the Bible records actions and statements which are not from God. It records lies, inaccurate statements, and sinful deeds—sometimes by Biblical heroes themselves. But this has no bearing on whether the Bible is still God’s Word. It accurately records the inaccuracies and ungodly actions and initiatives of the numerous characters whose actions contribute to its account of history.
The Bible Contains God’s Word?
There is one sense in which it can be said that the Bible contains God’s Word. The books within the Protestant Bible (the Protestant canon), and only those books, are inspired by God. Other books which vie for inclusion in the canon have been rejected on various grounds. As such they are not part of the Protestant Bible. In that sense, the Bible serves as a container — differentiating inspired writings (within) from uninspired writings (without).
But this is generally not what is meant by those who promote the idea that the Bible is not actually God’s Word, but only contains His Word.
This distinction is generally intended to distance God’s revelation from the form in which it has been conveyed—the written Scriptures. In other words, to say that God’s revelation is in scripture, but not the same as Scripture.
Different motives may be behind such claims, but generally this claim is one of several ways people attempt to introduce “wiggle-room” for how the contents of the Bible are to be understood. The actual statements and words which make up Scripture are not seen as inspired, but only the meaning they attest to—something to be subjectively unearthed “beneath” the text. Inspiration is seen as only applying to this layer of meaning which is not evident at the “surface” of the written Word.
With such a view, there is less emphasis on analyzing the grammar and original languages to objectively determine the one true meaning of the writer. Instead, there is a willingness to derive meanings or conclusions concerning the “contained message” which are minimally-constrained by the individual words and statements of the text itself. The result is God’s message becomes malleable—able to be stretched to encompass, even promote, ideas and emphases not actually conveyed by the grammar or syntax.
The Bible Is God’s Word
But what does the Bible itself say on this issue?
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16)
Inspiration is θεόπνευστος [theopneustos], “inspired of God . . . God-breathed”1. The Scriptures are inspired because they were ex-spirated by God—their very origin being that which was spoken by the Holy Spirit. This spoken message was recorded in the form of written words.
Scripture is γραφὴ [graphē], “inscribed characters, written text.”2 That which is inspired is the written historical record of what God said. This is one of numerous passage that leads us to conclude that the text is verbally inspired—the very words recorded are those which God intended to be written by the authors of Scripture.
18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. (Matthew 5:18)
Jesus grounds the permanence of the law (and by extension, all of God’s Word) to detailed syntactical elements of written text: the “jot” and “tittle.”
Jot is ἰω̃τα [iōta], the “smallest letter (of the Greek alphabet), also corresponding to the smallest letter in Hebrew and Aramaic, yodh [י]”3
Tittle is κεραία [keraia], “smallest part of a letter . . . in the English alphabet one may illustrate a tittle by the difference between an ‘E’ and an ‘F,’ the bottom horizontal line could be called a tittle”4
In these important passages, the inspiration of God and the permanence of its meaning are tied to the written text. Why is this? Because that is the form God delivered His Word to humanity—through human authors superintended by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21)—who wrote the divinely-intended message.
It is also a reflection of the reality that semantics (meaning) is derived from syntax (the encoded graphical elements—letters and grammatical constructs)—and not the other way around.
Consider the construction of a building: the stability of each subsequent story (floor) of the building depends upon the reliability of the preceding story (floor below), all of which depend—ultimately—on the strength of the foundation. This is one reason why skyscrapers have such elaborate foundations. (If you've ever observed the construction of a skyscraper, you will notice how extensive and time-consuming laying the foundation becomes.)
In a similar way, dismissing the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, as if the words merely form a container within which one must subjectively search for God’s Word, is akin to arguing that the upper-stories of a skyscraper are more stable than the foundation. It would be like saying the source code of a computer program is imprecise, but the resulting program executes exactly as intended by the author. No: it is the syntax (words, grammar) which conveys the semantics (meaning).
In light of the above passages (others could be mustered in support) it is unwise to decouple the meaning of the text from the syntax in which it has been delivered down to us.
Andy Stanley: an example of misplaced authority
I recently heard a presentation by Andy Stanley in which he attempted to separate the reliability and authority of the written text of the Bible from the authority of that which it attests (Jesus). He based his flawed argument on Jesus’ words in Matthew:
18 All authority has been given to Me [Jesus] in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18)
His contention is that emphasizing the reliability and authority of the Biblical text misplaces authority in the Bible instead of Jesus—where it belongs. He attempted to divide the authority of Jesus from the authority of the Bible as God’s Word: it is Jesus Who has all authority rather than the Bible.
In doing so, he makes a substantial logical fallacy.
- How do we know Jesus has all authority?
- Because Jesus, who cannot lie, said so.
- How do we know that Jesus cannot lie and said so?
- Because Matthew tells us.
- How do we actually know Matthew said this?
- On the authority of what Matthew wrote, as recorded in his inspired gospel—within the Bible!
Or to state it in a way a child can understand: the reason I know Jesus has all authority is because the Bible tells me so!
To the degree the words written by Matthew are in question, to the same degree our knowledge of Jesus’ authority is in question. Thus, the authority and accuracy of the claims recorded by Scripture (the upper stories) are only as authoritative as the written text itself (the foundation).
The same text which Stanley argues is un-authoritative, even unreliable, is the same text which conveys a central claim of Jesus on which he founds his argument. Stanley seems oblivious that his own argument assumes that which he attempts to dismiss: the authority of the written text of the Bible.
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancya upholds the verbal (word-based) inspiration of the text, as given in the originals:
- Article III - WE DENY that the Bible is merely a witness to revelation, or only becomes revelation in encounter, or depends on the responses of men for its validity. (emphasis mine)
- Article VI - WE AFFIRM that the whole of Scripture and all its parts, down to the very words of the original, were given by divine inspiration. (emphasis mine)
Attempts to reduce the authority of the written text of Scripture are akin to Satan’s original challenge to Eve, 1 Has God indeed said, . . . (Genesis 3:1). Often, it betrays a desire to erode those things which are clearly written in the Biblical record by substituting other views.
Resources
There are many resources on these issues. I've listed a few I've found helpful below.
- The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy5
- The Canon of Scripture, F.F. Bruce6
- The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture, Rene Paché7
- The Inspiration And Authority Of The Bible, Benjamin Warfield8
- Translating Truth, Wayne Grudem9
- Can I Trust the Bible, R. C. Sproul10
Endnotes:
Sources:
Ref-0060 | Rene Pache, The Inspiration And Authority Of Scripture (Salem, WI: Sheffield Publishing Company, 1969). ISBN=978-1879215115b. | Ref-0073 | F. F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1988). | Ref-0617 | James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Greek (New Testament), electronic ed. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997). | Ref-0786 | Wayne Grudem et. al., Translating Truth (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005). | Ref-1345 | Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield, The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1948). ISBN:0-87552-527Xc. | Ref-1382 | R. C. Sproul, Can I Trust the Bible (Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust, 2009). ISBN=978-1-56769-182-5d. |
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