THEO 101 || Chapter 3 || What We Believe about the Bible ||

CHAPTER 3  ·  WEEK 3 What We Believe about the Bible Bibliology — inspiration, inerrancy, canon, and how to read

 

WHAT WE BELIEVE The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the written Word of God — verbally inspired, true in all they affirm, sufficient for faith and life, clear in all that is necessary for salvation, and the church’s only infallible rule. The church did not create the canon; she recognized it.

 

Learning Aims for This Week

By the end of this chapter you should be able to:

· Explain verbal, plenary inspiration from 2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:20–21.

· State what inerrancy does and does not claim.

· Describe how the canon of Scripture was recognized.

· Practice basic grammatical-historical reading of a text.

Key Terms

Term	Meaning in this course
Inspiration	God-breathed. The Spirit so superintended human writers that their words are God’s words.
Verbal	The very words, not merely the ideas, are inspired.
Plenary	All of Scripture is inspired, not only the “religious” parts.
Inerrancy	Scripture, in the original autographs, is without error in all that it affirms.
Infallibility	Scripture cannot fail in its purpose; it will not lead us astray.
Canon	The list of books recognized as inspired and authoritative.
Sufficiency	Scripture contains all we need to know for salvation and godly living.
Perspicuity	Clarity: the saving message of Scripture can be understood by ordinary believers.
Illumination	The Spirit’s present work of helping us grasp and receive the Word.

 

Teaching Notes

1. God-breathed words

“All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16). Peter adds that prophecy never had its origin in human will; men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21). Inspiration is not dictation that erases personality — Luke’s style is not John’s — but it is more than “inspired” in the way a poem is inspired. The product is truly the Word of God.

2. Inerrancy and honesty with the text

Inerrancy means that when Scripture is rightly interpreted, it does not affirm anything that is false. It does not mean that copies never contain scribal slips (they do, and we can usually identify them). It does not mean that the Bible speaks with modern scientific vocabulary. It does not flatten genre: poetry is poetry, parable is parable, chronicle is chronicle. It does mean we do not sit in judgment on the text. The text sits in judgment on us.

3. Canon: recognized, not invented

The Old Testament canon was received by Jesus and the apostles. The New Testament canon is the apostolic witness to Christ — Gospels, Acts, the letters, and the Revelation. The church’s councils in the fourth century did not confer authority on these books. They acknowledged the authority the books already had among the churches: apostolic origin (or close association), consistency with the rule of faith, and widespread use.

We receive sixty-six books. Other ancient writings may be historically interesting. They are not the church’s rule.

4. Four attributes to remember

·  Authority — Scripture binds the conscience because God is its author.

·  Sufficiency — we do not need a second saving book or a secret code.

·  Necessity — without special revelation we would not know the gospel.

·  Clarity — the way of salvation is not locked behind scholars, though hard texts remain.

5. How to read

Grammatical-historical interpretation asks what the human author, in his language and setting, meant to say, and how that meaning stands in the whole canon that finds its center in Christ. Read the sentence, the paragraph, the book, and the Bible. Let clearer texts interpret harder ones. Distinguish meaning (what it says) from application (what it requires of you). Do not skip the first to reach the second.

Memory verses this unit. 2 Timothy 3:16–17 and 2 Peter 1:20–21 belong to this chapter. Learn them now. They will serve you for the rest of your ministry.

 

Key Scriptures

Read these passages slowly before class. Mark what they teach about this week’s doctrine.

· 2 Timothy 3:14–17 — God-breathed Scripture equips the servant of God.

· 2 Peter 1:16–21 — Not cleverly invented stories; men spoke from God.

· Matthew 5:17–18 — Jesus upholds the Law and the Prophets down to the smallest stroke.

· John 10:35 — “Scripture cannot be set aside.”

· Psalm 19:7–11 — The law of the Lord is perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant.

· Acts 17:11 — Examine the Scriptures to see if these things are so.

For Discussion

· What is the difference between “the Bible contains God’s Word” and “the Bible is God’s Word”?

· How would you answer a friend who says, “The Bible was just written by men”?

· Why does genre matter when we talk about inerrancy?

· If Scripture is clear, why do Christians disagree? What kind of disagreement is that?

Personal Application

· Choose one familiar verse you have used as a slogan. Read the whole paragraph. Adjust your use if needed.

· Make a simple reading plan for the rest of the term — not a guilt plan, a sustainable one.

· Thank God specifically for one hard text that has corrected you.

This Week’s Work

· Finish Grudem chapter 1. Note three claims you could explain to a new believer.

· Recite or write 2 Timothy 3:16–17 from memory.

· Begin 2 Peter 1:20–21.

· Doctrine brief #1 (Bibliology or Theology Proper) is coming — start a notes page.

A Prayer to Carry into the Week

Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that I may hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that I may embrace the hope of everlasting life. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THEO 101: Chapter 2 || How God Makes Himself Known ||

 

CHAPTER 2  ·  WEEK 2 How God Makes Himself Known General and special revelation

 

WHAT WE BELIEVE God is not silent. He has made Himself known in creation and conscience (general revelation) and, savingly and clearly, in His mighty acts, in Holy Scripture, and climactically in Jesus Christ (special revelation). Nature shows that God is; Scripture and the Son show who He is and how we may come to Him.

 

Learning Aims for This Week

By the end of this chapter you should be able to:

· Distinguish general revelation from special revelation and give biblical support for each.

· Explain why general revelation leaves all people accountable, yet cannot save.

· Name the proper place of reason, tradition, and experience under the authority of Scripture.

· State why the incarnation is the climax of God’s self-disclosure.

Key Terms

Term	Meaning in this course
Revelation	God’s act of making known what we could not find out on our own.
General revelation	God’s disclosure of Himself to all people through creation and conscience.
Special revelation	God’s particular disclosure through deeds, words, Scripture, and Christ.
Natural theology	What can be known of God from creation by reason — real, but limited and easily distorted.
Inspiration	The Spirit’s work by which the words of Scripture are truly God’s words (developed in Ch. 3).
Illumination	The Spirit’s work of opening the believer’s mind to understand and receive what God has said.

 

Teaching Notes

1. Why revelation matters

If God has not spoken, theology is only autobiography. Christian faith rests on the claim that the living God has made Himself known. We do not climb to God by speculation. He comes down in speech and in the Son.

2. General revelation

Psalm 19:1–6 and Romans 1:18–20 teach that creation broadcasts God’s glory, eternal power, and divine nature. Romans 2:14–15 adds that the work of the law is written on the heart; conscience bears witness. This revelation is universal (it reaches all), constant (it does not wait for a preacher), and sufficient to leave every person “without excuse.” It is not a warm religious feeling. It is God’s public testimony.

General revelation is also limited. It tells us that God is powerful, wise, and morally serious. It does not name the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. It does not preach the cross. Fallen people suppress even what they do know (Rom. 1:18, 21–23) and turn the knowledge of God into idols.

3. Special revelation

God also spoke in particular ways: to Abraham, through Moses and the prophets, in Israel’s history, and “in these last days… by his Son” (Heb. 1:1–2). The high point of special revelation is Jesus Christ — the Word made flesh (John 1:14, 18). Scripture is the Spirit-given, permanent, public record of that revelation, sufficient for salvation, faith, and life (2 Tim. 3:15–17).

Because Christ is the climax, we do not expect a later book, vision, or inner voice to correct or complete what God has said in the Son and in the apostolic gospel. The Spirit still speaks — by illumining the Word He already inspired, applying it to the church, and empowering obedience. That distinction will matter in Chapter 3.

4. Other voices, rightly ordered

·  Tradition can protect us from novelty and isolation. It cannot bind the conscience against Scripture.

·  Reason is a gift for understanding what God has said. It is not an independent source of saving truth.

·  Experience is real and often precious. It must be interpreted by the Word, never used to rewrite it.

A working rule. When tradition, reason, or experience agree with Scripture, receive them as helps. When they conflict with Scripture, repent of them. When they go beyond Scripture on a matter God has not decided for us, hold them loosely.

 

Key Scriptures

Read these passages slowly before class. Mark what they teach about this week’s doctrine.

· Psalm 19:1–11 — The heavens declare; the law of the Lord revives.

· Romans 1:18–25 — What may be known of God is plain; people suppress it.

· Romans 2:14–16 — Conscience and the law written on the heart.

· Hebrews 1:1–3 — God has spoken by His Son.

· John 1:14, 18 — The Word became flesh; the Son makes the Father known.

· John 14:6–9 — To see Jesus is to see the Father.

For Discussion

· What does a sunset actually reveal about God — and what does it not reveal?

· How does Romans 1 shape the way you think about people who have never held a Bible?

· Where have you been tempted to let experience overrule a clear text?

· Why is it good news that God has spoken in a Son and in a book, not only in nature?

Personal Application

· Take a fifteen-minute walk with Psalm 19 open. Thank God for one attribute creation displays.

· Identify one belief you hold mainly because “that’s how I was raised.” Test it this week by Scripture.

· Pray by name for someone who sees creation but does not yet know Christ.

This Week’s Work

· Read Grudem, Christian Beliefs, chapter 1 (the Bible) as assigned.

· Read Psalm 19 and Romans 1:18–32 in one sitting. List what each passage says God has made known.

· Continue memory work on 2 Timothy 3:16–17.

A Prayer to Carry into the Week

Father of lights, thank You that You are not hidden. Open my eyes to Your glory in what You have made, and still more to Your glory in Your Son and in Your Word. Do not let me suppress the truth. Amen.

Prepared by Rev Rolando E Santiago, ThD DPM