Fall 2008 Online Certificate Students:
View all sessions below. Then log all your comments, questions, discussion question answers, criticisms, or thoughts below.
NOTE:
This is not the place for general discussion and questions. Go to the foyer for general discussion and refer to the FAQ on the right for question. Time spent in the comments section will apply toward your one hour of community time per week. To download audio sessions, visit the course homepage on the TTP site. The next session will be posted each Wed.
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What is inspiration? Did God inspire the mind of the author, or the text of Scripture, or both? How does one’s view of inspiration effect his or her interpretation? Upon completion of this session, the student should have come to an understanding of the doctrine of inspiration, able to define what it means and how it is to be distinguished from revelation and illumination. The student will learn the different theories of inspiration that are held by theologians today. The student should understand that how one defines inspiration will determine how they interpret Scripture. Much time will be spent on the commonly held view of inspiration called “Mechanical Dictation.” It will be argued that this view evidences a neglect of the human element of Scripture, what we call “biblical Docetism, and is the primary hindrance to proper interpretation in many evangelical communities today. Most basically stated: without a proper view of inspiration, one cannot have a proper hermeneutic. The goal of this lesson is to provide a detailed defense of what is often called the “Verbal Plenary” doctrine of inspiration.
An introduction to the doctrine of inspiration [22:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download What is the biblical view of inspiration? [12:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download What are the different theories of inspiration? [20:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download How does inspiration occur? [8:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Biblical Docetism: the Evangelical heresy [15:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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October 7th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
1. There are so many different views of inspiration because there are so many different religions, interpretations, and levels of acceptance of the Bible. Some people can’t accept certain parts of the Bible and yet want to still say that It is inspired, so they talk about how man could have made a mistake. Then there are others that can’t accept that man could have been a part of the writing of the Bible at all, so they talk about how God had to put man in a state of hypnosis or something. There are different perspectives.
2. It is very important to get the right view. Believing in inspiration and whether something is inspired or not ultimately shapes our level of acceptance of the Bible. Some of the different views of inspiration put a lot of weight on man. Natural inspiration is 100% on man. I don’t like that. Man is not perfect. Man is too sinful and selfish to come up with the amazing concept of salvation and redemption. But having it only God–mechanical dictation–doesn’t seem right either. It seems so impersonal. God used “mindless man” to write the Word of God. No. I can’t accept that.
3. I would like to read more about CS Lewis’ view first, but it doesn’t matter to me what CS Lewis thinks. I believe in the “verbal, plenary” view of inspiration. I think that the Bible attests to that. CS Lewis’ opinion isn’t going to change that.
4. Limiting inspiration to only matters of “faith and practice” would eliminate all the history and culture. The parts about faith and practice might be taken out of their context. Sometimes the situation does matter. The history of the Israelites is also important to me in seeing God’s hand and plan of Redemption. I think the history of the Bible shows us the character of God. I don’t want to lose any of It. I believe It’s all inspired.
5. It is dangerous to say that God’s words “might be wrong.” God spoke in the way He wanted to speak. He is in control of His Word. I don’t think the apostles wrote without a mistake or without a rough draft. God used “accommodating” language to speak in a way that people would understand. Isn’t that the point?! It is dangerous to question because where would the questioning stop? Would you throw out all the parts you didn’t like as an incorrect “accommodation”? How would you decide? It’s all or nothing for me!
6. I would need to completely understand the mind of the author. I would need to understand his culture, his language, his background–anything that might have effected his word choice.
7. I have opened the Bible, pointed my finger, and taken that as God’s words to me that day. This is not a good method of determining God’s will. The Bible is not a set of tarot cards. Verses are taken totally out of context when we practicing this. I’m not listening to God. 98% of God’s will for my life is in the Bible.
One time in college, my professor said that the Bible had errors. When asked where, he said in Psalms where David says he cried his bed full of tears. He said that was ridiculous and no one could really do that. Taking all the Bible literally isn’t a good method of interpretation.
8. The most challenging thing for me was determing which type of inspiration described my view of inspiration. I was reading through the workbook, and I kept stopping and asking myself why I didn’t agree with the other views. I kept asking myself if I could back up my opinion using Scripture.
October 9th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Marsha Johnson
Case Study #1
B & H, Fall, 2008
I did my case study with our new head Pastor. It was like “old home” night and we both enjoyed the assignment. I gave a brief explanation of The Theology Program and my participation in it. Then I asked him the three questions. 1.) Where do you go for religious authority? He said ‘the Word of God was primary then so an not to to be in a vacuum, he goes the the history of The Church, our own denomination, linguistic sources and tools, nature, and then the inaudible but unmistakable “voice of God.” 2.) How much authority do you give your denomination or tradition? He said we are all subject to earthly authorities. He voluntarily submits to our church government, our country’s government and then within our church the elders. First, though he said all earthly authorities are judged as right to follow unless they order him to do something that is against God’s Word. Otherwise he honors and commits to other authorities as God has commanded us to. 3) Should a person interpret the Bible on their own or do you think that they should seek the guidance of others in authority? He said, Conditionally yes. We have the Holy Spirit to counsel us. But the coals of sin burn below the surface of each of us. I am not God, I am fallible, and I do need to check with others. Then I went though the views of authority and the arguments for Duel-source Theory of authority vs. Sola Scripture theory. Then our time was up (the next group were at the door) and I will come back next Friday for the last question. I appreciate my pastor’s time he gave me an look forward to his answer to the major cause of the split between RC and P.
October 14th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Marsha Johnson, B&H #6
1)There are many different views of inspiration because there are so many different people in the world who adhere to different doctrines, faiths, even religions. Also, C Michael pointed out that even within individual churches, there are people who have different views of inspiration. I began my faith in Jesus Christ by believing in the complete inspiration by God of the Bible. Now after many years I am in the last third of my life believing because of experience that all of Scripture is inspired by God “who utilized man to accomplish his Word. 100% man, 100% God or Verbal Plenary view of inspiration.
2)I believe “the right view” is very important. If someone applies their understanding of a word or group of words to a passage written more that 2000 years ago, in a country or climate different from ours, in a political situation very different from ours, in a language different than ours, then it is very possible they will misinterpret what is said. There are many examples of this, Jim Jones for one.
3) C.S. Lewis. It doesn’t matter to me exactly what he believes. I have read many of his books, and enjoyed them. However that does not mean I believe everything he does. I read many things that I either completely disagree with or only partially disagree. If the question is what should I do about CS Lewis’s belief, well I think God has taken care of it.
4)Why is the belief “inspiration is limited to faith and practice only” dangerous? You cannot pick and choose what you want to believe in the Bible. In my opinion, if you do not believe one part then the whole falls apart. Yet I encounter this practice often. Christians who have never read the Old Testament, or never read the whole Bible are often the ones who say they don’t believe one part. I believe the Old Testament is vital to understand the profound grace given to us in Jesus Christ. The genealogies are an example of the detail God has gone to so that we may believe and know who he is. The letter to Philemon is an example of how we can go about resolving a very difficult situation. Revelation gives us hope. Psalms, comfort. Job teaches us of God’s sovereignty, and so on.
5)Does God accommodate us and so is he wrong? No, by definition, God cannot be wrong,.
6)If message is inspiration and lies in the mind of the author, how does this affect my hermeneutic? In any communication, if I do not know where the speaker/writer is coming from I can quite easily misunderstand him/her. So I need to know what the main point of the communication is, the circumstances surrounding the message, even location, time of day, belief about God, and persons emotions at the time of the communication. Howard G. & William D. Hendricks have written a whole book on understanding a communication. I may even want to do some research before I pass this communication on. An inspired, in the mind communication must follow the above scrutiny before I can understand it.
7)How have I witnessed Biblical Docetism? It used to be common for people within the church to just open the Bible and point to a verse then tell someone that the verse was meant for them. It is still common for Christians to believe that their translation of the Bible is the only correct and accurate Word of God (in a polemetic way.) I also encounter people and even whole denominations that believe in their legalistic interpretation of all kinds of things like, clothes that should be worn, slaves, women’s place in the church, how to baptize, and on and on. I have found that these people also pick and choose their legalities.
8)How have I been most challenged? This class has caused me to make up my mind which issues and doctrines I believe. For example, verbal plenary view of inspiration, the importance of getting all the information available in about Scripture before I jump to a conclusion as to its meaning.
Sorry I added Case Study to worng room ;-(