Bibliology and Hermeneutics

1. Why do you think that there are so many different views of inspiration?

2. How important do you believe it is to get the right view? Explain.

3. How does the fact that C.S. Lewis held to a view of inspiration that most would call un-evangelical at best and unorthodox at worst affect your view of its importance?

4. Further discuss why it might be dangerous to say that inspiration is limited to only those issues that speak on matters of “faith and practice”?

5. Further discuss why it might be dangerous to say that God sometimes speaks in accommodating language and that the “accommodation” might be wrong?

6. If the message of inspiration lies in the mind of the author, how should this affect your hermeneutic (method of interpretation)?

7. Discuss ways in which you have practiced or witnessed Biblical Docetism in action.

8. How has this lesson most challenged your thinking?

1. Discuss again the importance that we have the right canon?

2. Are all books of the canon equally important? Do you think that you would ever have noticed if 3 John did not make “the cut”?

3. Further discuss the importance of the early acceptance of the Gospels and the Pauline corpus.

4. Can you think of any essential doctrine that is not dealt with in the Gospels and the Pauline corpus? How is this significant?

5. Are you more or less confident about the canon of Scripture after this lesson? Explain.

6. How does your view of the providence and sovereignty of God affect this study?

7. How has this lesson most challenged your thinking?

1. Further discuss what the Church should do if we were to find Paul’s real first letter to the Corinthians. Would you include it in your Bible? Why or why not.

2. The canon was defined as in class as being “closed” only to the degree that God is no longer adding to it through verified writings. Do you think that it is possible for God to add to the canon? If so, in what sense is it really “closed”? Discuss.

3. It must also be understood that Scripture is not an exhaustive history book. It is a collection of books that record soteriological history (the history of the fall and redemption) and an “instruction book” on how to live as God intended. Read 2 Tim. 3:15-17 and discuss how this is true.

2 Tim 3:15-17

2 Tim 3:15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

4. Now read Heb. 1:1-1 and discuss how this passage might lead us to the seemingly assured yet somewhat tentative conclusion that there is probably not going to be any more Scripture added to the canon as we know it.

Heb. 1:1-1

Heb. 1:1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways

5. If someone were to say that they wrote a book that is inspired by God and that should be added to the Bible, how should you respond?

6. How did the lesson challenge your view of the canonical status of the Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical books?

Do you think that they should be part of the Bible?

Are you willing to die for your answer? Discuss.

7. How has this lesson most challenged your thinking?

1. Find the copyright date on your Bible, and read it to the group. How does the fact that it was written nearly 2000 years before your copyright date make the study of Bibliology necessary for a Christian?

2. How does knowing that there are over 300,000 textual variants in the NT alone disturb you?

3. Have everyone but one person in your group take ten minutes to handwrite this paragraph, making at least one intentional error without telling the others of your error.

John 1:1-4

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

Once complete, bring all the manuscripts together, and have the person who did not create a manuscript attempt to reconstruct the original. Remember, while this is a passage that you may be familiar with, this is not a translation that you are likely to be familiar with.

How close did you come to reconstructing the original?

4. Knowing that this is about the same situation that text critics find 0themselves in (around one or two variants per verse), how does this exercise give you more confidence in the science of text criticism? Explain.

5. Review the comparison chart of the New Testament with other ancient manuscripts. How does the evidence show how serious God is about protecting His Word? Would you call it miraculous? Explain.

6. In light of the fact that God is serious about protecting His Word for us, how serious should we be about searching it to find Him? Are you?

7. How has this lesson most challenged your thinking?

1. Read Jude 1:3; 1 Cor. 11:2; and 2 Thess. 2:15. Knowing that the traditions spoken of in the New Testament are simply summaries of the Gospel that have been passed on from one person to another, do sermons in evangelistic crusades and Sunday sermons qualify for traditions? Explain.

Jude 1:3

Jude 1:3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

1 Cor. 11:2

1 Cor. 11:2 I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you.

2 Thess. 2:15

2 Thess. 2:15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

2. Why do you think Roman Catholics find it so attractive to have a living authority other than Scripture that authoritatively pronounces on matters of faith and morals?

What is the danger of this?

3. (Advanced question) Roman Catholic apologists often accuse Protestants of holding to the “novel” doctrine of sola Scriptura which was not known until the sixteenth-century. Is this true? Explain.

An “anachronistic fallacy” is when one demands that someone find or enforce a contemporary articulation of an idea, term, or concept upon people of earlier times.

How do Roman Catholics commit this fallacy when they 1) interpret the word “tradition” in Scripture and the early Church fathers and 2) when they demand that Protestants find an articulation of sola Scriptura in Scripture or the early Church fathers?

4. How have you been frustrated by the practical disunity in the Protestant Church today?

5. Do you think that this disunity needs to be solved? If so, how would you suggest the Protestant Church create unity, and how absolute should this unity be?

6. Do you believe that the doctrine of sola Scriptura has been abused in the Protestant church? Give examples.

7. Do you believe that the Bible supports the sola Scriptura theory or the dual-source theory more?

8. How has this lesson most challenged your thinking?

1. It is important to understand what the word “tradition” means in the context which it is spoken. What were the benefits of “Tradition 1” in the history of the Church?

What are the benefits of “Tradition 1” today?

2. The Roman Catholic idea of tradition as a separate avenue through which the “Deposit of Faith” was mediated is essential to their theology. How might “Tradition 2” develop into an over dependence upon tradition (Sola Ecclesia)? Explain.

What are the dangers of Sola Ecclesia?

3. The doctrine of sola Scriptura has been called the formal cause of the Reformation. Do you think that such a doctrine is essential enough to divide the Church the way it has? Explain.

4. Do you think most Evangelical Protestants today follow sola Scriptura or Solo Scriptura? Explain.

5. Solo Scriptura is a reaction against tradition in general. How can Solo Scriptura be thought of as arrogant and actually neglectful of the power of the Holy Spirit? Explain.

6. Which view do you agree with most? Explain.

7. Which view does your local church seem to practice? Explain.

8. How has this lesson most challenged your thinking? Explain.