You made it!
First, thanks for sticking with this. I know it's a different type of series / writings than I've done before. Second, I so believe in the importance of knowing and understanding certain things that fall under the theological umbrella and these topics are some of them. That's why I wanted to do a mini series or crash course, if you will, on some of these terms and communicate the importance of them to our Christian faith. Third, we don't believe blindly. Our faith is not a blind faith friends. Theology helps us understand things about God and the Bible so that we can know Him and place our trust in Him; not just for salvation but for everyday life.
We have to know what we believe and why we believe it.
So, the last in our series...
Authority, sufficiency, and canonicity. These are, of course, interconnected. Are you sensing a theme here?!
The authority, sufficiency, and canonicity are a huge part of both the inspiration and inerrancy of the Scriptures. They are the inner workings of the bigger issues we are facing with those who do not follow Jesus and His teachings. Questions such as: why is this book any more special than any other religious book; and why should we place our trust in the teachings of this book, will often result in the conversation pointing back to the inspiration and inerrancy of the Scriptures.
If the Bible is both inspired and inerrant, it means that it is fully authoritative, fully sufficient, and fully canonical. You cannot have the Scriptures be fully authoritative if they are not also fully canonical; and you cannot have them be fully sufficient if they are not also fully authoritative. To claim the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture means you also claim the authority, sufficiency, and canonicity. So, let's define these terms shall we?
Authority
The term "authority" means the Bible is fully authoritative because every word is breathed out by the mouth of God which automatically makes it contain the authoritative power necessary to submit to, live under, and obey. That is if you claim to be a follower of Christ.
The external evidences we have that the Bible is authoritative is that the Scripture affirms the words of the Lord, and all of the words are self-attesting. [1] No one can persuade an individual that all of the Bible is fully true and authoritative, except the Holy Spirit. In John 14:16, Jesus is telling us that God the Father will give us another Helper (the Holy Spirit) who will be with us forever, and whose job is to guide us into all of Truth, teach, convict, discipline, train, and equip us. Only He can speak in and through the words of the Scriptures to our hearts.[2]
Not only is the role of the Holy Spirit important when it comes to the authority of the Scriptures, but the fact that it is the highest and most absolute of authorities is another component. Self-attesting means that the Scriptures speak for themselves; it needs no other book to come alongside it, otherwise it would not be fully authoritative.
All of Scripture is from God
According to 2 Timothy 3:16, all Scripture is breathed out by God which makes it authoritative; words that are spoken from a source that can be trusted makes what they are communicating authoritative.[4] The authority that the words contain coming out of the mouth of someone can only be as authoritative as the person speaking the words. We can completely trust the authority of Scripture because of the person who spoke them into existence.
All or Nothing
Either all of Scripture is authoritative or none of Scripture is authoritative. We cannot take the parts we like and submit to its authority, and reject the parts we do not like, and still claim that the whole of Scripture is authoritative. It is all or nothing.[5] There are parts of Scripture that we can most definitely wrestle with, have deep conversations over, and struggle with; sometimes we read things that are just plain hard to digest. What I am saying is that in the grand scheme of things we are still seeing Scripture as fully authoritative in all that it communicates whether we like something or not. There's a difference in saying you do not like a portion of Scripture versus choosing to not obey and live out that portion, because to disobey the Word, coincides with disobeying God Himself.[6]
Sufficiency
The term "sufficiency" means the Bible is fully sufficient in that it contains every word, sentence, part and figure of speech, God intends for us to know from history, and for us to know today, in order that His creation comes to a saving faith and knowledge in Jesus. Those in Christ have all the words they need to live and walk with Christ daily. What has been communicated to us is enough for those who live according to His authoritative Word.[7]
Because we trust in the authority of the Scriptures, we can trust in the sufficiency of the Scriptures; we know the source of where the words come from.
Life Questions we Have can be Answered
Not only do we have all we need to know through the words of the Scriptures, we also have sufficient answers to the life questions we wrestle with today. The Bible doesn't answer EVERY single specific issue directly (i.e. how to spend your money, what to do with your time, when to help a family member in need or when to set boundaries) but because Scripture is sufficient, we know everything we need to know about the issues that God does directly address (i.e. money/finances in general, living wisely/with wisdom, serving others, forgiveness, restitution, healthy conflict, sex, and marriage are just some examples).
What I am NOT saying: the Bible doesn't have all the answers.
What I am saying: we have the Holy Spirit who serves as our guide (conscience) when it comes to the issues that are not clearly laid out in Scripture.
Knowing that the Scriptures are sufficient means we can have confidence that God has given us the words to know the things He intends for us to know regarding specific areas of life.[8]
Nothing to Add and Nothing to Take Away
The sufficiency of Scripture also means that there is nothing else that needs to be added or can be added; this is where the term "canonicity" comes in (below). Because God has given us everything we need to know, anything else that is added or claims to be part of the canon, can be refuted. The Bible is the sole authority in the life of anyone who professes to be a follower of Jesus.
It is not the Bible plus the Book of Mormon, or the Bible plus the Qur’an; it is just the Bible. If nothing can be added into the already existing Scriptures then nothing can be taken away. It’s all or nothing. All of the parts of Scripture are clothed in the authority of the Lord which means if it has not come from Him it cannot be added; if it is not already not included, it cannot be taken away.[9]
Canonicity
The term "canonicity" means that the entire Bible is the canon. That means that everything that is supposed to be in Scripture is, and whatever is not supposed to be was not included. The canon is the standard or rule in which Christ followers live by because of the full sufficiency and authority it has.
There are so many different theories about how the canon came about or how we can know for sure we have the “correct” canon. What was meant to be given to us for knowledge, was given to us. Nothing can be added to it or taken away. The Lord used the people He needed to, to fulfill the canonicity of Scripture. It can be traced back to the study of hermeneutics and the ancient writings that were interpreted and either put in or left out.[10] With the study of hermeneutics also comes textual criticism; resting in the security that the texts of Scripture were copied with biblical accuracy, no errors, and their original meanings where copied and preserved.
The Canon of the Old Testament
The Old Testament came from a predominantly Jewish background and was widely accepted as canonical. The canonicity of the Old Testament goes back to the sufficiency and authority of the Scriptures. We are given everything we need to know and because we know the one who has given us those things, we trust that the canon of the Old Testament is completely sufficient for us today. The writings that are not in this canon are not authoritative.
The Canon of the New Testament
The canon of the New Testament was not accepted right away because the thought of adding any books to the already existing Law or Torah, was unheard of. With the view of sufficiency and not adding or taking away anything to Scripture, the Jews surprised those who thought they weren't going to add anything.[12] Jesus being the complete fulfillment of the Old Testament Law and prophecies was looked at with more importance because they believed they had already paved the way for this Gospel.[13]
The canonicity of the New Testament can be trusted because of the inspiration and workings of the Holy Spirit upon those who were faithfully copying texts, stories, and manuscripts by hand. The interpretations we have today were preserved and are inerrant because of the who is in authority over the Scriptures, and spoke them into being.
The authority of the Bible comes from the one who breathed it out; the sufficiency comes from trusting the character of the one who breathed it out, believing He does not withhold good from us and has given us everything we need for life and godliness; and the canonicity comes from those who were appointed by a sovereign God to be inspired by the Holy Spirit in preserving the meaning of the words we trust in and live by today.
The theological terms we've looked at in this entire three-part series are all important to know and understand when it comes to defending the Scriptures. We have to know what we believe and why. And that can start here.
On a blogging website of someone who is really passionate about communicating both biblical and theological truth. I hope the theology invigorated you. I hope it created a spark in you of wanting to know more. Keep learning. I'm cheering you on as you do and I'm continuing to learn alongside you.
Bibliography
The Holy Bible ESV. Wheaton: Crossway Publishers, 2005.
Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic,
2001.
Geisler, Norman L. Inerrancy. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1980.
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology, An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 1994.
Klein, William W., Blomberg, Craig L., and Hubbard Jr., Robert L. Introduction to Biblical
Interpretation. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004.
_________________________
[1] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Wayne Grudem. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 77-78. [2] Ibid., 77. [3] Ibid., 78. [4] Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Walter A. Elwell, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House Company, 2001), 153. [5] Ibid., 81. [6] Ibid., 81. [7] Ibid., 127. [8] Ibid., 129. [9] Norman L. Geisler, Inerrancy, Normal L. Geisler. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1980), 418. [10] William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard Jr. Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard Jr. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004), 103. [11] Ibid., 104. [12] Ibid., 110. [13] Ibid., 110.
Yorumlar