Bibliology: What is the Bible?
Six Attitudes Toward the Bible
There are primarily six attitudes toward the Bible. Sometimes it is necessary to expose false teaching in light of biblical truth. This post will serve to touch on Rationalism, Mysticism, Romanism, Neo-Orthodoxy, and Cults without going into each one to deep. Remember I wish to answer the questions 1. What is the Bible? 2. How Did We Get the Bible? 3. How Can I Understand the Bible? The sixth attitude I will cover is the Orthodox position and this is the official position of The Earnest Contender.
1. Rationalism is the view that human reason alone is sufficient to solve all the problems relating to man's nature and destiny. According to this view the Bible is a nice book written by purely human authors. Man's reason alone, even apart from the Bible, can decide what is true, and therefore the mind is the final authority.
a) Extreme Rationalism says the mind is supreme; there is no possibility of revelation from God. This produces Secular Humanism, Atheism, Deism, Agnosticism, and it also gives a lift to Darwinism or visa versa.
b) Moderate Rationalism says that while there is revelation from God the mind must still be the judge, this produces: Modernism, Religious Liberalism, and Christian Humanism.
2. Mysticism seeks internal contact with the Divine or spirit world and claims that experience is supreme. C.G. Thorne JR. states,
There are many stages in mystical experience, however, and they are individually determined. Three are common: awareness and confession before God, life lived totally under God, and a most personal experience of God (C.G. Thorne JR. The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, pp.961, 962)
According to this view the Word of God is incomplete therefore human experience is the authority (cf. Pantheism, and Quakerism). Some in the “charismatic movement” unwittingly fall into this camp because many times they determine what truth is according to experience and test or judge the Bible from personal experience. There are also those who claim direct contact with the spirit world. (eg. Kenneth Copland; Oral Roberts; Benny Hin; and others)
There is a true mysticism, but it has to do with the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit (which we will cover latter), but it is the Spirit shedding light on the objective Word of God to the believer.
3. Romanism holds that the Bible with the addition of the Apocrypha (thirteen books added to the Bible in 1546 by the council of Trent) and church tradition are equal in authority. The Bible is the Word of God, says Romanism but it cannot be properly understood apart from the church because it is a product of the church. The church alone has the right to interpret the Sacred Writings, and is therefore the final authority.
Examples of Romanism are: The Roman Catholic Church, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Interestingly many cults fit this pattern as we will soon see.
4. Neo-Orthodoxy stresses a personal encounter with the Divine, the Bible is not the Word of God, but it contains the Word of God.
All Scripture more or less perfectly bears witness to Christ, who is Himself the Word of God. Without a personal encounter with the Divine one is helpless to see anything in the Bible except for paradoxes of the Divine. Once this encounter occurs however then one can begin to determine what parts of the Bible are truth and what parts are not (cf. Karl Barth)
Once one has a Divine encounter parts of the Bible can be seen as revelation as one reads it. I have personally heard a man in this camp say, "The Bible can become the Word of God to you as you read along". Neo-Orthodoxy stresses a personal encounter with God rather than the communication of propositional information. The authority then is experience and sometimes the Bible as it suits you. This approach can be found in many main-line denominations, it is mostly associated with the work of Karl Barth and Emil Brunner, but I am not aware of any one denomination that is strictly Neo-Orthodox. Again it should not be surprising that some charismatics innocently land here.
5. Cults, many times use the Bible to give an appearance of credibility, and to gain acceptance, or approval within their communities, and as a tool to proselytize. Some cults may even claim initially that the Bible is their only authority, but further investigation will prove otherwise. Cults generally claim that the Bible (sometimes their very own translation of it) is authoritative, but cannot be understood apart from some other authority such as other writings (usually written by the founder and or other leaders of the cult), a principle, or the founder of the cult, who is on equal or a higher level than the Bible as God's communicator.
Some examples are: the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Science, Seventh Day Adventism, Unification Church, and the list could go on. These are just some of the cults that claim to be Christian, some have not only sought membership but have also achieved it with the NCCC and WCCC. If you or your church is involved in either of these groups I urge you Get Out! They are apostate and do not adhere to the sound teachings of the Word of God.
6. Orthodoxy is the last view we will consider, this approach is that the Bible and the Bible alone in its entirety is the eternal, inerrant, infallible, plenary and verbally inspired Word and final authority of God to man in every area of which it speaks. The Orthodox view is that the Bible is supreme. Reason, tradition, experience, knowledge, other writings, and human leaders are subject to the Bible. There is no inner light that adds to revelation, and there is no authority given to a church or to men that is equal, above, or goes beyond the Bible.
This is by far the best position, standing head and shoulders above the rest because its premise is found in the Bible and its author is God. Those who hold this position are generally known as Fundamentalist. Baptists have held to this distinctive ever since they have been known as Baptists and have championed this position during the Modernist/Fundamentalist controversy reaching its heights in the 1920's. The GARBC was given birth from this controversy and still champions this precious doctrine of “the faith”. Churches that compromise this position on the side of one or more of the other positions listed above can not be considered Fundamentalists because Sola Scriptura is a fundamental of "the faith" (Jude 3).
These are the six basic attitudes toward the Bible. The Orthodox view of Scripture will be followed in this study and all other studies in this series of Systematic Theology. It is the official position of The Earnest Contender so if something ever comes along and contradicts the Bible; we will go with what the Bible says… every time!
The next post in this series will be about the four wonders of the Bible.
There are primarily six attitudes toward the Bible. Sometimes it is necessary to expose false teaching in light of biblical truth. This post will serve to touch on Rationalism, Mysticism, Romanism, Neo-Orthodoxy, and Cults without going into each one to deep. Remember I wish to answer the questions 1. What is the Bible? 2. How Did We Get the Bible? 3. How Can I Understand the Bible? The sixth attitude I will cover is the Orthodox position and this is the official position of The Earnest Contender.
1. Rationalism is the view that human reason alone is sufficient to solve all the problems relating to man's nature and destiny. According to this view the Bible is a nice book written by purely human authors. Man's reason alone, even apart from the Bible, can decide what is true, and therefore the mind is the final authority.
a) Extreme Rationalism says the mind is supreme; there is no possibility of revelation from God. This produces Secular Humanism, Atheism, Deism, Agnosticism, and it also gives a lift to Darwinism or visa versa.
b) Moderate Rationalism says that while there is revelation from God the mind must still be the judge, this produces: Modernism, Religious Liberalism, and Christian Humanism.
2. Mysticism seeks internal contact with the Divine or spirit world and claims that experience is supreme. C.G. Thorne JR. states,
There are many stages in mystical experience, however, and they are individually determined. Three are common: awareness and confession before God, life lived totally under God, and a most personal experience of God (C.G. Thorne JR. The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, pp.961, 962)
According to this view the Word of God is incomplete therefore human experience is the authority (cf. Pantheism, and Quakerism). Some in the “charismatic movement” unwittingly fall into this camp because many times they determine what truth is according to experience and test or judge the Bible from personal experience. There are also those who claim direct contact with the spirit world. (eg. Kenneth Copland; Oral Roberts; Benny Hin; and others)
There is a true mysticism, but it has to do with the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit (which we will cover latter), but it is the Spirit shedding light on the objective Word of God to the believer.
3. Romanism holds that the Bible with the addition of the Apocrypha (thirteen books added to the Bible in 1546 by the council of Trent) and church tradition are equal in authority. The Bible is the Word of God, says Romanism but it cannot be properly understood apart from the church because it is a product of the church. The church alone has the right to interpret the Sacred Writings, and is therefore the final authority.
Examples of Romanism are: The Roman Catholic Church, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Interestingly many cults fit this pattern as we will soon see.
4. Neo-Orthodoxy stresses a personal encounter with the Divine, the Bible is not the Word of God, but it contains the Word of God.
All Scripture more or less perfectly bears witness to Christ, who is Himself the Word of God. Without a personal encounter with the Divine one is helpless to see anything in the Bible except for paradoxes of the Divine. Once this encounter occurs however then one can begin to determine what parts of the Bible are truth and what parts are not (cf. Karl Barth)
Once one has a Divine encounter parts of the Bible can be seen as revelation as one reads it. I have personally heard a man in this camp say, "The Bible can become the Word of God to you as you read along". Neo-Orthodoxy stresses a personal encounter with God rather than the communication of propositional information. The authority then is experience and sometimes the Bible as it suits you. This approach can be found in many main-line denominations, it is mostly associated with the work of Karl Barth and Emil Brunner, but I am not aware of any one denomination that is strictly Neo-Orthodox. Again it should not be surprising that some charismatics innocently land here.
5. Cults, many times use the Bible to give an appearance of credibility, and to gain acceptance, or approval within their communities, and as a tool to proselytize. Some cults may even claim initially that the Bible is their only authority, but further investigation will prove otherwise. Cults generally claim that the Bible (sometimes their very own translation of it) is authoritative, but cannot be understood apart from some other authority such as other writings (usually written by the founder and or other leaders of the cult), a principle, or the founder of the cult, who is on equal or a higher level than the Bible as God's communicator.
Some examples are: the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Science, Seventh Day Adventism, Unification Church, and the list could go on. These are just some of the cults that claim to be Christian, some have not only sought membership but have also achieved it with the NCCC and WCCC. If you or your church is involved in either of these groups I urge you Get Out! They are apostate and do not adhere to the sound teachings of the Word of God.
6. Orthodoxy is the last view we will consider, this approach is that the Bible and the Bible alone in its entirety is the eternal, inerrant, infallible, plenary and verbally inspired Word and final authority of God to man in every area of which it speaks. The Orthodox view is that the Bible is supreme. Reason, tradition, experience, knowledge, other writings, and human leaders are subject to the Bible. There is no inner light that adds to revelation, and there is no authority given to a church or to men that is equal, above, or goes beyond the Bible.
This is by far the best position, standing head and shoulders above the rest because its premise is found in the Bible and its author is God. Those who hold this position are generally known as Fundamentalist. Baptists have held to this distinctive ever since they have been known as Baptists and have championed this position during the Modernist/Fundamentalist controversy reaching its heights in the 1920's. The GARBC was given birth from this controversy and still champions this precious doctrine of “the faith”. Churches that compromise this position on the side of one or more of the other positions listed above can not be considered Fundamentalists because Sola Scriptura is a fundamental of "the faith" (Jude 3).
These are the six basic attitudes toward the Bible. The Orthodox view of Scripture will be followed in this study and all other studies in this series of Systematic Theology. It is the official position of The Earnest Contender so if something ever comes along and contradicts the Bible; we will go with what the Bible says… every time!
The next post in this series will be about the four wonders of the Bible.
posted by J. Wendell at 6:30 AM
2 Comments:
A preacher preached the same sermon seven services in a row. A deacon asked why he didn't preach another. The preacher answered, "When you start doing what I have taught in this one, I will move on to another one."
I preach the same thing about the Bible all the time. When the universe starts to pay attention, maybe I'll change it.
The Bible is God's revelations of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption.
That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
Does that make me orthodox?
By
Joe, at 12/8/06 12:38 PM
Thanks Mathew,
I thought perhaps someone might take issue with me on a point or two here, but perhaps the Lord caused me to exercise some restraint by not going into too much detail just for now.
Hi Joe,
That does reflect the orthodox position, or visa versa. Preaching the Word consistently over time is a noble task and a high calling. Thanks for preaching it brother.
With my respect,
Brother John
By
J. Wendell, at 13/8/06 7:32 AM
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