GENERAL BIBLICAL INTRODUCTION

Three sections:
- The doctrine of inspiration.
- Canonicity.
- Textual criticism.
The Bible did not fall from heaven. These are extra biblical topics concerning the bible.

The book God breathed

1 Pet. 3:15: an apology for the hope. Can we defend the Bible to the point of death?
Would you die for it?
Inspiration defined:
Revelation is the result from inspiration: the product of what God has inspired. The self-
revelation is the only way to know him. Ps. 19:1 is understandable only because He has
revealed himself.
The bible is a book that comes from the mind of a supreme being, but that takes place in the
real world with real people.
Gen. 2:7: God’s breath is in the message too. What makes man alive is in the message: a
living message and not a dead letter.
Rom. 10:17: saving faith comes by the “sayings” or the “breathed messages”.
Is. 55:11
Christianity is a revealed religion: it starts with the revelation from God: The Bible.
The way we approach the Bible is determined by our attitude.
Ps. 117:2: it says something to every generation. History has proven this to be right. 2 Tim.
3:16-17: The Book is theopnustos: Even in a school context it keeps transforming us.
2 Pet. 1:20-21: the definition of inspiration: The choosing of a man with a vocabulary used
by God to say what He wanted to say. It is not dictated, but a using of his capacities: the
miracle of inspiration. Jer. 1:9.
Ezek. 2:7: A message that is given by God but not accepted by the people. Ezek. 3:26-27.
Geisler (41)
1 Cor. 2:13 Paul claimed inspiration for himself and not just the writings.
Geisler 43: why don’t we have the autographs? The importance is in the message and not in
the manuscripts.
The word Bible was originally the name given to the papyrus paper in Egypt. Christians
began to apply this term to the sacred witings around the 2th century.
Testament means agreement: covenant (Berishit and Diatheke). The OT is organized
topically. The organization of the NT is in an unusual way: probably providentially.
Luke 24:44: The complete TANAKH: Torah: instruction; Nebhiim: Prophets; Kethubhiim:
The writings. John 10:34: a statement of the psalms is considered law by Jesus.
John Mark Hicks
Luke 4:16: The book of the prophet Isiah 61:1; The difference between the Hebrew and the
LXX: the same meaning. Jesus calls this translation Scripture.
John 8:24; John 5:39 (how to read this verse? Mosher: ye think that by possessing the
Scrolls you have eternal life).
The Jewish members of the church held the OT writings as sacred just as the words of
Christ. Rom. 3:2. They started to understand that it was not the whole truth. Col. 2:9. They
held the whole Bible as sacred.
2 Pet. 3:15-16: the other Scripture; the gentiles twisted the Old Testament.
The purpose of the Bible is to let me meet God. John 14: Seeing Christ the Father. God
speaks to us. He wants to meet us.
Neh. 8:8: the work of the preacher is only to give the right meaning to the Scripture.
Ps. 19:1-6: general revelation that comes from nature (natural theology). 19:7: Special
revelation: you need to respect the fact that God spoke to us.

What is being discovered?

What does it mean?

The first introduction to the Bible was written in A. D. 440, in Antioch, Adrianus. For
centuries there was no need to introduce the Scriptures.
1717: Johan David Michaelos: introduction to the Scriptures.
This is the beginning point of the study of Scriptures: questions like why the use of the
divine name is used sometimes and not others, etc. Why are some books in not
chronological order? Etc.

Mosher. P. 32 (Ch. 2).

Heb. 1:1-3: The word Theos implies His very existence. There is no argument about the
existence of God in the Bible, it is a known statement.
Faith in God demands reliable evidence.
Acts 14:17: the most fundamental assertion of the Bible: God is.
“God spoke”: there were different mediums of communication, but now the only wat
God spoke because:
- He loves us: 1 Tim. 4:10;
- He knows what we are: Man was crowned with glory and honor: perfect and sinless.
Ps. 8:5. That is why Jesus was made lower than the angels to be a perfect sacrifice
for all man. Heb. 5:8-9: he learned the consequence of obedience: persecution. John
13:34.
- He has a purpose in us: Rev. 4:11: God takes pleasure in ourselves;
- He wants us to know his will.

Inspiration and revelation.

Inspiration is the process that produces the complete revelation.
Amos 3:7: God has revealed his will and his reasons for what he does. God moved the
prophet’s mouth.
Jer. 7:4: the result of not listening to God; Jer. 8:8: when they denied and change the word
of the scribe they couldn’t say that God was with them.
John 21:25; not everything inspired was written. The men were inspired not only the
writings. In Pentecost there were 12 different NT (?). Job. 19:24.
Ezek. 2:9-10; Zech. 2 Pet. 1:20:
1 Pet. 1:10-12: the prophets wouldn’t fully understand their prophecies.
Revelation: act and word.
The final product of inspiration, inspiration, is both acts and words. Amos 3:7: God has
revealed everything that he has done. God wants us to know what to do and why we should
do it and how to do it.
In the burning bush God showed himself and spoke to Moses: Act and Word. Jesus Christ
is the great example of this. The Lord’s Supper was taken by the Lord, but also left us a
record on how to do it.
Revelation in Hebrew: Galah. Deut. 29:29. Uncovering or unveil: apocalipto.
Twofold necessity of God’s revelation: 1. God is transcendent and far from us. 2. Man has
no internal knowledge of God’s will (Jer. 10:23).
General and specific revelation. Ps. 19:1-12
David started with the general revelation of nature but talking to people that already know
the special revelation. General revelation cannot reveal God without what he has revealed
about himself.
Knowing God through his specific revelation makes his general revelation evident, but not
the other way around. Natural theology cannot bring a knowledge of God himself.
The special revelation tells you how to be saved and makes the general revelation
meaningful. A personal God who chose to speak to us. The Law of the Lord can transform
us in a way that general revelation cannot.
Revelation: propositional.
The revelation is done by means of ordinary words that can be understood. There is one
understanding, one way to understand the Bible. God revealed the complete revelation in
the NT in the fullness of time, the OT was not imperfect, but its purpose was not salvation
itself.
The purpose of revelation is redemptive, not to satisfy human curiosity.
Revelation: “illumination”.
The doctrine that the Holy Spirit has to illuminate us in order to understand the Bible, but
the Scripture talks about our capacity to understand what is written. God can make Himself
known to man.
*Inscripturated: put in writing*
INSPIRATION – VARIOUS THEORIES.
God’s penmen knew that they were being moved by God to write Scripture.
Col. 4:16; 1 Thess. 5:27;
Translations so far as they are faithful they can be the word of God. Jesus used the LXX
and called it Scripture. Neh. 8:9, 14.
The Bible is uniquely inspired
I. 66 books, all with the same purpose and no contradictions: 40 authors in far different
contexts.
II. Only religious book that can be defended logically.
III. A book of superior wisdom.
IV. There is evidence for the historicity of the Bible.
V. Fulfilled prophecy. Ezra 1:1-2
The Bible is the most influential book of history, despite being the most attacked.
Diocletian tried to burn it, but Constantine made it the state book.
1 Pet. 1:25
Protestant views
The corollary of inspiration is inerrancy. The reformers, despite the motto sola scriptura,
sprang many creed books. They usually denied inerrancy and held their creed books more
than to the Bible.
In 20th century the verbal inspiration was denied and the developmental theory was held.
They do not equate Inspiration with authority.
Catholic – Eastern Orthodox
The authority lies in the church, not in the Bible. The interpretation of the priest weighs
more than the text.
They also adopt a developmental view.
Modern views of inspiration.
Traceable to evolutionary teachings in the secular world. Causes of these views:
- Pietism: Doctrine of subjective, personal experience. Arose from the protestant
intellectualism,
- Deism: Natural theology, the denial of a personal God.
- Materialism: The Bible is just a product of man’s thinking.
Neo-Orthodox view of inspiration:
- Presupposes a Christ that is all love and meekness. The word is inspired as long as it
fits this view. However, Jesus was a Judge as much as a Savior.
- Karl Barth: God calling personally: God as the wholly other. The Bible becomes the
Word of God when it addresses you personally, it is just the witness to the absolute
revelation from God in Jesus Christ.
- Bultmann: the demythologization of the historical Jesus. Made out of form-
criticism.
- The right wing liberal position: illumination: illuminated men that wrote about God.
- The left wing version is that they found these by a natural insight.
They denied “super natural revelation”.
2 Pet. 1:20-21
Claims of inspiration in the OT:
- In Gen. there are no explicit claims that the book is inspired. There are claims of
God speaking, though. Also it is in the Torah, which claims inspiration for itself.
- Multiple claims of inspiration in the historical books. 2 Chr. 36:21; 1 King 3:9-10;
o About 3808 references to “thus saith the Lord”.
- Jesus called all of these books in the OT Scripture: Law, Prophets and Writings.
Luke 24:24; John 5:39.
 - The credibility of a book was recognized if it came from a prophet. A prophet was
always a man of God. 1 Kings 14:18: servant of the Lord. * Become a servant: do
not treat people like souls, but as bodies and souls in need for help. A church sign
means that it is responsible for the hungry of the community*. Messenger man. Is.
30:9-10: seer. Hos. 9:7; Micah 3:8: man of the spirit. Ezek. 3:17: watchmen. Amos
3:8. The word navah: to bubble up: to put forth words, to be speaking with a great
emotion. To speak as a prophet is always passive form in Hebrew: being moved by
someone else: never their own message. Num. 11:24-25: the prophet understood
that he was infallible.
- The OT came from mouthpieces of God. Prov. 30:6; Jer. 1:9.
NT references to OT inspiration
1 Tim. 5:18: The first part is Luke (?) and the second part is from Deut. Both are quoted as
Scripture. In 2 Pet. 3:1-18: Paul’s letter as Scripture
Usually the graphe in the NT is a reference to the OT. The did not use the term Scripture in
any other sense than sacred writings.
How to think of the OT? A bad way is in Acts 15:10. The right way is Rom. 15:4. The
principles of God are eternal, but laws are not.
In many places Jesus and the apostles use the OT as Scripture and they consider it as
inspired. John 2:22: They combined Scripture and the words of Jesus as truthful. They are
identified and equated. John 5:39
The NT writers confirmed the OT books: the phrase “it is written”. The books of the OT
points to the Master.
- Synoptic problem:
 Luke-Matt: 250 verses exactly the same.
 Mark-Matt: 500
 Luke-Mark: 380
What is the relationship among them? Before the writing of the gospels there were sayings
(logoi) called Q. Markan priority: Matt. and Luke used it as the source. 1790: this question
was raised.
1st century Matt.? **
Ferrer theory: Luke used Mark and Matt. Augustine believed in the priority of Matt.
Griesbach: the three copy from each other.
Verbal inspiration would solve the problem of the differences of the synoptic gospels.
Matt. 8:27; Mark 4:41; *This is not an example of the differences accounted for in the
theories*
NT claims of inspiration:
2Pet. 3:2: prophets and apostles are equated with the same inspiration. Same description of
Holy writings.
Jesus confirmed the TANAKH and his own words.
2 Cor. 4:7: we are the carriers of this message. God selected us to preach the gospel.