{"id":4335,"date":"2019-02-27T14:18:22","date_gmt":"2019-02-27T20:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nafwb.org\/?p=4335"},"modified":"2019-02-27T14:18:22","modified_gmt":"2019-02-27T20:18:22","slug":"the-bible-and-church-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/the-bible-and-church-history\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bible and Church History"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Paul Harrison<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every Sunday we all attend various\u00a0church services during\u00a0which Holy Scriptures are\u00a0opened and presented to us\u00a0for God’s glory and our benefit.\u00a0Sunday after Sunday, year after year\u00a0and century after century this has\u00a0been the case.In fact, this practice is\u00a0attested to by a second-century\u00a0church attender named Justin.<\/p>\n

We know him as Justin Martyr, for\u00a0about the year 165, because of his\u00a0faith in Christ, he was scourged and\u00a0beheaded. About 15 years before his\u00a0martyrdom, Justin wrote a letter defending\u00a0true Christian faith to the Roman\u00a0Emperor. In this letter he described\u00a0the church services of his day.<\/p>\n

He wrote: “And on the day called\u00a0Sunday, all who live in cities or in the\u00a0country gather together to one place,\u00a0and the memoirs of the apostles or\u00a0the writings of the prophets are read,\u00a0as long as time permits; then, when\u00a0the reader has ceased, the president\u00a0verbally instructs, and exhorts to the\u00a0imitation of these good things” (First\u00a0Apology, ANF 1:186).<\/p>\n

Now I ask you: Why is it that a\u00a0book should hold such a place of\u00a0reverence among so many people\u00a0over so many years? The answer is\u00a0that this book, the Bible, has been\u00a0recognized to be a special book, unlike any other. It has been recognized\u00a0as a message from God.<\/p>\n

Amazing Unity<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bible is special in its unity, its\u00a0oneness. Now this is an interesting assertion,\u00a0for the Bible is a compilation\u00a0of 66 segments\u00a0diversity. Its first five sections were\u00a0penned by Moses around 1450 BC. Its\u00a0final section was written by the apostle\u00a0John, probably around AD 90.<\/p>\n

Many Writers<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This makes the Bible a document\u00a0composed over the course of approximately\u00a0a millennium and a half.\u00a0Over the centuries some 40 individuals\u00a0contributed to the collection.\u00a0Some writers were schooled in the\u00a0world’s great educational institutions,\u00a0some were humble shepherds.\u00a0Some held positions in the\u00a0royal palace, and some were fishermen,\u00a0considered “unlearned.”<\/p>\n

Farmers, businessmen, soldiers,\u00a0kings, a physician, a rabbi\u2014all these\u00a0and more contributed to what we\u00a0call the Bible. This document truly\u00a0was given to us over “many times\u00a0and various ways” as Hebrews 1:1\u00a0puts it. So you see that when the\u00a0Bible is referred to as a unified\u00a0whole, this is a bold assertion.<\/p>\n

One Doctrine<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But a unified whole it is. It teaches\u00a0one triune God, one way to Heaven,\u00a0one standard of holiness, one body\u00a0of Christ. It is many books and yet\u00a0one book. Recall that the Books of\u00a0Moses were dubbed “the Law.” Remember\u00a0that when Jesus gathered\u00a0the multitudes, He taught them “the\u00a0word.” And this unity has been consistently\u00a0recognized by the church.<\/p>\n

After the various segments of\u00a0scripture were collected, the fourth century\u00a0church father Jerome referred\u00a0to them as “the divine library.”\u00a0And eventually, the plural term biblia<\/em>,\u00a0books, came to be viewed as a singular,\u00a0the Bible, the book.<\/p>\n

The great scholar B. F. Westcott\u00a0noted in 1885 that it is amazing that\u00a0“annals and prophecies and letters,\u00a0thus (apparently) casual in their origin,\u00a0should combine into a whole\u00a0marvelously complete and symmetrical\u00a0in its spiritual teaching . . . \u201c (p.5).<\/p>\n

But I most like the way J. Gresham\u00a0Machen, the renowned\u00a0Presbyterian theologian referred to\u00a0the Bible’s unity and harmony.<\/p>\n

He wrote: “l am tempted to think of\u00a0the writers of these 66 books as though\u00a0they were a great orchestra, not composed\u00a0of poor mechanical strummers\u00a0but of true musicians, carefully chosen, carefully trained, individual, different,\u00a0yet contributing by their very differences\u00a0to the unity of some glorious\u00a0symphony under a great Director’s\u00a0wand. In that marvelous harmony of\u00a0Holy Scripture even the least considered\u00a0parts of the Bible have their place.\u00a0None could be lacking without offending\u00a0the great Musician’s ear” (The\u00a0Christian Faith<\/em>, p. 53).<\/p>\n

Enduring Relevance <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bible also displays an enduring\u00a0practicality. It is important to note\u00a0this for we might admit to the unity of\u00a0the scriptures, but think of them as\u00a0merely addressing unimportant, irrelevant\u00a0themes. Or we might think\u00a0of it as being of value in the olden\u00a0days, but no longer relevant to today.<\/p>\n

The church over the centuries,\u00a0however, has recognized the enduring,\u00a0practical relevance of the Bible.\u00a0Generation after generation the Bible\u00a0addresses the important issues of life.<\/p>\n

The scriptures have something for\u00a0everyone. They provide complexities\u00a0for deep theological investigations\u00a0and simple truth that children can\u00a0grasp. Augustine said it this way: The\u00a0scriptures are deep enough for an\u00a0elephant to swim in and shallow\u00a0enough for a lamb to wade.<\/p>\n

Salvation Message<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The scriptures have shown themselves\u00a0relevant in that they provide\u00a0the message that leads to salvation.\u00a0Paul told young Timothy that the\u00a0scriptures are “able to make you\u00a0wise unto salvation.”<\/p>\n

Every person who has ever been\u00a0converted has been saved through\u00a0the message of the Bible. Chapter\u00a0and verse may not have been cited,\u00a0but it is only the truth of the scriptures\u00a0that saves sinners. As has been stated:\u00a0“The only Jesus we know is the\u00a0Jesus clothed in words of scripture.”<\/p>\n

Origen of Alexandria who lived\u00a0from 185-254 spoke of the scripture’s\u00a0converting power: “As in the case of\u00a0the fishes that fall into the net, some\u00a0are found in one part of the net and\u00a0some in another part, and each at\u00a0the part at which it was caught, so in\u00a0the case of those who have come into\u00a0the net of the Scriptures you would\u00a0find some caught in the prophetic\u00a0net; for example, of Isaiah, . . . or of\u00a0Jeremiah or of Daniel; and others in\u00a0the net of the law, and others in the\u00a0gospel net, and some in the apostolic\u00a0net; for when one is first captured by\u00a0the Word or seems to be captured,\u00a0he is taken from some part of the\u00a0whole net” (ANF 9:420).<\/p>\n

Strength for Difficulties<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bible has shown itself relevant\u00a0in that it provides strength to endure\u00a0the difficulties of life. In Constantinople\u00a0in the fifth century, when a theological\u00a0fuss sprang up, the sentence of banishment\u00a0was passed upon Chrysostom,\u00a0that city’s bishop and preacher. It was\u00a0agreed to by the Empress Eudoxia,\u00a0who was the power behind the throne.<\/p>\n

The great preacher was forcibly\u00a0escorted from the city to a waiting\u00a0boat which took him away. He wrote\u00a0to a friend of this occasion and revealed\u00a0what it was that sustained\u00a0and encouraged him:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was driven from the city,\u00a0I felt no anxiety, but said to myself: If\u00a0the empress wishes to banish me, let\u00a0her do so; ‘the earth is the Lord’s.’ If\u00a0she wants to have me sawn asunder,\u00a0I have Isaiah for an example. If she\u00a0wants me to be drowned in the\u00a0ocean, I think of Jonah. If I am to be\u00a0thrown into the fire, the three men in\u00a0the furnace suffered the same.<\/p>\n

lf cast before wild beasts, I remember\u00a0Daniel in the lion’s den. If\u00a0she wants me to be stoned, I have before\u00a0me Stephen, the first martyr. If\u00a0she demands my head, let her do so;\u00a0John the Baptist shines before me.\u00a0Naked I came from my mother’s\u00a0womb, naked shall I leave this world.”<\/p>\n

Behavior Guide<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bible is relevant in that it offers\u00a0guidance on appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Is it OK to go to movies\u00a0and if so, which ones? Is it OK to listen\u00a0to rock music? And the list goes on and\u00a0changes with the changing times.\u00a0These questions are to be answered,\u00a0not by our family or denominational\u00a0tradition, but by scripture.<\/p>\n

But how can scripture answer\u00a0such questions when movies didn’t\u00a0even exist in Bible days? We’ve probably\u00a0all bumped into the argument\u00a0that goes like this: “But smoking isn’t\u00a0specifically mentioned in the Bible.”<\/p>\n

I was amused to find in a document\u00a0written around the year 200, a\u00a0reference to this “it’s not mentioned\u00a0in scripture” argument. Tertullian, a\u00a0kind of second-century ultra-fundamentalist,\u00a0wrote a Latin piece titled\u00a0De Spectaculis<\/em>which translates into\u00a0English as About the Shows<\/em>. It addressed\u00a0the question of Christians attending the plays, circuses and gladiatorial\u00a0combats.<\/p>\n

Tertullian wrote:<\/p>\n

“. . . the faith of\u00a0some . . . demands direct authority\u00a0from scripture for giving up the\u00a0shows, and holds out that the matter\u00a0is a doubtful one, because such abstinence is not clearly and in words\u00a0imposed upon God’s servants. Well,\u00a0we never find it expressed with the\u00a0same precision, ‘Thou shalt not enter\u00a0circus or theatre, thou shalt not look\u00a0on combat or show;’ as it is plainly\u00a0laid down, ‘Thou shalt not kill; thou\u00a0shalt not commit adultery or fraud.’<\/p>\n

But we find that that first word of\u00a0David bears on this very sort of thing:\u00a0‘Blessed,’ he says, ‘is the man who\u00a0has not gone into the assembly of the\u00a0impious, nor stood in the way of sinners,\u00a0nor sat in the seat of scorners,”‘\u00a0(ANF 3:80-81).<\/p>\n

Life Principles<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The church has also found that the\u00a0Bible is relevant for life in general. It\u00a0teaches us how to live: How to date,\u00a0how to marry and how to conduct a\u00a0marriage. How to earn money, how to\u00a0spend money and how to give money.\u00a0How to be friendly, how to make\u00a0friends and how to keep friends.<\/p>\n

The Bible addresses the whole of\u00a0life with principles which work. The\u00a0founding fathers of our land knew\u00a0this, and that’s one of the reasons they\u00a0established thoroughly Christian institutions\u00a0such as Harvard, William and\u00a0Mary, Yale, Princeton and Dartmouth.<\/p>\n

Remember, John Harvard was a\u00a0minister. Remember, Jonathan Edwards,\u00a0America’s greatest theologian,\u00a0was an early student at Yale and\u00a0later president of Princeton. Remember,\u00a0upon the seal of Dartmouth are\u00a0the words “Vox Clamantis in Deserto<\/em>,”\u00a0“The voice of one crying in the\u00a0wilderness.” Our founding fathers\u00a0knew that the Bible teaches every\u00a0generation how to live.<\/p>\n

Absolute Reliability <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Christian church has honored\u00a0the Bible because of its unity, its\u00a0practicality or relevance to life, and\u00a0because of its reliability. The church\u00a0over the centuries has recognized\u00a0that the Bible is “God-breathed,” to\u00a0use Paul’s term. To honor the Bible is\u00a0to honor the God of the Bible. Conversely,\u00a0to dishonor the Bible is to dishonor\u00a0God.<\/p>\n

In the last couple of centuries, it\u00a0has become common for the reliability\u00a0of the scriptures to be assailed.\u00a0 “The scripture-writers,” some say,\u00a0“were trapped in their respective\u00a0ages. They were ill-informed, living in\u00a0prescientific days. Their errors are\u00a0therefore to be excused, and we are\u00a0to dig through and behind their deficiencies\u00a0and find the ethical kernels\u00a0of truth which they espoused.”<\/p>\n

Such thinking may have become\u00a0popular in some circles, but it represents\u00a0a radical departure from Christian\u00a0teaching over the centuries. Listen\u00a0to these testimonies of trust in\u00a0the scriptures:<\/p>\n

Confidence in Scripture<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Clement of Rome, writing to Christians\u00a0in Corinth at the close of the first\u00a0century urged them to “Look carefully\u00a0into the scriptures, which are the\u00a0true utterances of the Holy Spirit.”<\/p>\n

Polycarp, the disciple of the Apostle\u00a0John and second-century martyr,\u00a0wrote a letter around AD 150 to the\u00a0church at Philippi. In this letter he\u00a0made several statements revealing\u00a0his attitude toward the scriptures.\u00a0“For neither I, nor any other such\u00a0one, can come up to the wisdom of\u00a0the blessed and glorified Paul.”<\/p>\n

He charged these Philippian Christians:\u00a0“Wherefore, forsaking the vanity\u00a0of many, and their false doctrines,\u00a0let us return to the word which has\u00a0been handed down to us from the beginning.”<\/p>\n

Again he writes: “For I trust that ye\u00a0are well versed in the Sacred Scriptures.”<\/p>\n

Theophilus, the sixth bishop of Antioch,\u00a0wrote the following around 170:\u00a0“But men of God carrying in them a\u00a0holy spirit and becoming Prophets,\u00a0being inspired and made wise by\u00a0God, became God-taught, and holy,\u00a0and righteous” (ANF 2:97).<\/p>\n

Also about the year 170 Athenagoras,\u00a0in his A Plea for the Christians<\/em>written to the Roman Emperor Marcus\u00a0Aurelius, asserted that the pagan\u00a0poets and philosophers, sought “each\u00a0one by his own soul, to try whether he\u00a0could find out and apprehend the\u00a0truth. . . . But we have . . . Prophets,\u00a0men . . . guided by the Spirit of God.”<\/p>\n

Athenagoras maintained that God\u00a0“moved the mouths of the prophets\u00a0like musical instruments.” Continuing\u00a0his musical analogy, a favorite of\u00a0his, he explained that the prophets\u00a0were “lifted in ecstasy above the natural\u00a0operations of their minds by the\u00a0impulses of the Divine Spirit,” and\u00a0they “uttered the things with which\u00a0they were inspired, the Spirit making\u00a0use of them as a flute player breathes\u00a0into a flute” (ANF 2: 132-33).<\/p>\n

Beyond the Struggles <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

From this consistent, steadfast belief\u00a0in the scriptures which the Fathers maintained, we are not to conclude\u00a0that they were without their\u00a0struggles. Augustine illustrates this\u00a0point. He lived from 354-430 and was\u00a0perhaps the greatest post-biblical\u00a0thinker Christianity has known. Yet\u00a0he wrestled with apparent inconsistencies\u00a0in the scriptures.<\/p>\n

But listen to the conclusion to\u00a0which years of study led him: “l have\u00a0learned to yield such respect and\u00a0honor only to the canonical books of\u00a0scripture; of these do I most firmly believe that the authors were completely\u00a0free from error. And if in these writings\u00a0I am perplexed by anything\u00a0which appears to me opposed to\u00a0truth, I do not hesitate to suppose that\u00a0either the manuscript is faulty, or the\u00a0translator has not caught the meaning\u00a0of what was said, or I myself have\u00a0failed to understand it” (quoted in The\u00a0Proceedings of the Conference on Biblical Inerrancy: 1987<\/em>, p. 33).<\/p>\n

Now don’t think that I’m merely selecting\u00a0quotations which prove my\u00a0point and avoiding those which don’t.\u00a0In surveying church history one struggles\u00a0to find those within the church\u00a0who speak disparagingly of the scriptures.\u00a0Those who from an alleged\u00a0Christian position reject the inspiration of the Bible are the new kids on\u00a0the block. That point is well made by\u00a0Kirsop Lake, noted Harvard professor.<\/p>\n

Fundamental Facts<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Lake is no friend to conservative\u00a0theology, but listen to his admission:<\/p>\n

“lt is a mistake often made by educated\u00a0persons who happen to have but\u00a0little knowledge of historical theology\u00a0to suppose that fundamentalism is a\u00a0new and strange form of thought. It is\u00a0nothing of the kind; it is a partial and\u00a0uneducated survival of a theology\u00a0which was once universally held by\u00a0all Christians. How many were there,\u00a0for instance, in Christian churches in\u00a0the 18th century who doubted the infallible\u00a0inspiration of all scripture? A\u00a0few perhaps, but very few.<\/p>\n

No, the fundamentalist may be\u00a0wrong; I think that he is. But it is we\u00a0who have departed from the tradition\u00a0not he, and I am sorry for the\u00a0fate of anyone who tries to argue\u00a0with a fundamentalist on the basis of\u00a0authority. The Bible and the corpus\u00a0theologicum<\/em>of the Church is on the\u00a0fundamentalist side” (quoted in\u00a0Conf. On Bib. Inerrancy<\/em>, pp. 33-34).<\/p>\n

Mark Noll put it succinctly: “Most\u00a0Christians in most churches since\u00a0the founding of Christianity have believed\u00a0in the inerrancy of the Bible”\u00a0(in Conf. On Bib. Inerrancy<\/em>, p. 9).<\/p>\n

And I should add that an emphasis\u00a0upon the reliability of the scripture\u00a0is critical for the Christian enterprise.\u00a0To undermine God’s Word is to undermine\u00a0His work.<\/p>\n

Listen to Mark Noll once again: “lt\u00a0simply is beyond dispute that denominations\u00a0or other Christian institutions\u00a0which have denied the full truthfulness\u00a0of the Bible also have become\u00a0less concerned about spreading the\u00a0gospel to the lost, have wavered on\u00a0the application of God’s law to contemporary\u00a0life, and have temporized\u00a0on the nature of God, the nature of\u00a0Christ, and the nature of salvation”\u00a0(Conf. On Bib. Inerrancy<\/em>,p.22).<\/p>\n

As Christians we must be careful\u00a0to honor God through our honoring\u00a0of His Word. We must teach others to\u00a0do the same. We must not allow anything\u00a0to supplant the authority of\u00a0God’s Word. We must not make it\u00a0our goal to preserve our tradition nor\u00a0to engender loyalty to our tradition,\u00a0for to do so is to undermine the foundation\u00a0upon which we seek to build.<\/p>\n

We must rather allow the unified,\u00a0relevant and reliable message of the\u00a0Bible to sit in judgment upon our tradition.\u00a0We must do as the theologians\u00a0who attended the Council of\u00a0Nicea in 325 did. As they wrestled\u00a0with difficult issues, “a copy of the\u00a0Gospels was placed at the front of\u00a0the room as a symbol that God\u00a0speaking through the written Word\u00a0was to be the final arbiter” (Volz,\u00a0Faith and Practice<\/em>, p. 23).<\/p>\n

Article adapted from Contact <\/em>magazine, March 1999.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Paul Harrison Every Sunday we all attend various\u00a0church services during\u00a0which Holy Scriptures are\u00a0opened and presented to us\u00a0for God’s glory and our benefit.\u00a0Sunday after Sunday, year after year\u00a0and century after century this has\u00a0been the case.In fact, this practice is\u00a0attested to by a second-century\u00a0church attender named Justin. We know him as Justin Martyr, for\u00a0about the year 165, because of his\u00a0faith in Christ, he was scourged and\u00a0beheaded. About 15 years before his\u00a0martyrdom, Justin wrote a letter defending\u00a0true Christian faith to the Roman\u00a0Emperor. In this letter he described\u00a0the church services of his day. He wrote: “And on the day called\u00a0Sunday, all who live in cities or in the\u00a0country gather together to one place,\u00a0and the memoirs of the apostles or\u00a0the writings of the prophets are read,\u00a0as long as time permits; then, when\u00a0the reader has ceased, the president\u00a0verbally instructs, and exhorts to the\u00a0imitation of these good things” (First\u00a0Apology, ANF 1:186). Now I ask you: Why is it that a\u00a0book should hold such a place of\u00a0reverence among so many people\u00a0over so many years? The answer is\u00a0that this book, the Bible, has been\u00a0recognized to be a special book, unlike any other. It has been recognized\u00a0as a message from God. Amazing Unity The Bible is special in its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4336,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4335\/revisions\/4336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}