Mathers Systematic Theology. Norman W. Mathers

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ textual reading. The Bible was written over a period of 1600 years by different authors from different cultures during different time periods (Chafer). This is a miracle. The writing of the scriptures took place under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

      The concept of errancy is misunderstood by many evangelicals. The concept of errancy is both a philosophical faith and belief. The subjectivity of human authority sitting in judgment on the Word of God must be discarded. This is a philosophical question. Common Sense Philosophy established the fact that by induction both facts and self-evident truths are arrived at. Francis Bacon is remembered for his inductive method to arrive at facts and self-evident truths. Bacon (1561-1626), an English philosopher, popularized the scientific method. His Novum Organum was a departure from Aristotle’s Organon. Bacon observed nature. He recorded his observations. He formulated principles from the data. The final step was to test the experiment (Gillett 1966:130-131). Scottish Common Sense Philosophy was traced to Thomas Reid (Rescher 2005:16). Reid accepted facts rather than the conjecture of the rational school of philosophy. Reid argued that we perceive objects rather than the ideas of these objects (Harris 1998:14). It is not the idea of the past but the past itself that we remember. Scripture points to events themselves rather than the mere ideas of the events. Memory and testimony to past events are both reliable and trustworthy. The subjectivity of modern attempts to destroy the biblical record has been thwarted by Reid’s realistic thought on language, testimony, and events (ibid:14). Reid countered the German thought of both Kant and Hegel that truth was not a rational function of the mind (ibid:14). It might be added that those who believe in the errancy of the Bible have been taken captive by philosophy (Col. 2:8). Scottish Common Sense Philosophy was transported to America in the mid 18^th century. This philosophy prevailed until the middle of the 19^th century (Broadie 1907). Reid used Newton’s idea that thought which contradicted common sense was to be rejected (Harris 1998:118). John Witherspoon (1723-94) brought Scottish Common Sense Philosophy to America in the 18^th century as did McCosh (1811-94) in the 19^th century. America, after the revolution, welcomed the fact that humanity had a new theory of knowledge which became the basis for public morality of a new world order (ibid:126). The Bible and Bacon’s inductive method were brought to America. The Bible, a factual book, became the basis to understand the world. Belief in biblical errancy is both apostasy and blasphemy. Paul predicted such departures from the faith in 1 Timothy 4:1. The inerrancy of the scriptures is a necessary logical deduction based on verbal plenary inspiration. The testimony of eyewitnesses to past events is completely reliable and trustworthy (2 Pet. 1:16-19). The scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35) (Aland & Black 1968:369). The Word of God cannot be abolished or annulled.

      Bible translations have played an important role in the making of the American republic. The Revised Version of the King James Bible was completed in 1881. This was a revision of the New Testament. The Old Testament was not completed until 1885. The American Standard Bible had a number of obsolete words. American Revised Version was published in 1898 (Simms 1936). It was seen as a revision rather than a translation of the Bible (Grant 1961). The fundamentalist and modern controversy was seen now in a battle over Bible translations. J. W. Burgon, an Englishman, argued that the Revised Version had created uncertainty and doubt with millions of Christians (Thuesen 1999). The allegiance to the King James Version was reaffirmed. Those who translated the Revised Version would not affirm that the Bible was trustworthy in all of its teachings (Thuesen 1999). The question of the original autographs became the center of the debates in 19^th and 20^th century America. King James Version was revised in England in 1881-1895. The American Standard Bible also called the American Revised Version was published in 1898 (Simms 1936). It was not received well in America. The American Revised Standard Version was undertaken from 1945 to 1965 (Grant 1961). The Revised Version of the King James and the American Standard Bible (American Revised Version) shaped the world of English speaking Christians (Thuesen 1999). M. F. Unger argued that the Revised Standard Version was unreliable because the translators viewed translation to be a matter of linguistics not theology. The National Association of Evangelicals was formed in 1942. They wanted a new translation of the scriptures (Thuesen 1999). In 1953, the Evangelical Theological Society requested revision in the Revised Standard Version. Negotiations failed. In 1969, the National Association of Evangelicals and the Christian Reformed Church met in Illinois at Trinity College. It was concluded a new translation of the scriptures was needed. The new translation would be called the New International Version (Thuesen 1999). Some evangelical scholars take the limited inerrancy position because they fail to make an allowance for transcriptions of the manuscripts by those who copied them prior to the fourth century. It was during this time that manuscripts were copied by hand (Metzger 1968).

2.8 Chapter Study Questions

      CHAPTER 3

      THEOLOGY PROPER

      3.1 The Spirituality of God

      3.1.1 God is Spirit.

      Charles Hodge’s (1975:1:378-379) presentation on the spirituality of God points to the fact that God can not be understood in terms of a material nature. Jesus said: “God is spirit and those worshipping” (present active participle- Han 1974:185) “Him must worship in spirit and in truth” (Dative of Means – dative case for both words spirit and truth). This is further explained by Jesus earlier in the context in 4:23. The gar (for clause) explains it: “The Father seeks such ones those worshipping Him” (Aland & Black 1966:334). Worship acceptable to the Father must be from the new nature (only those who have believed on Christ have the new nature as indicated by the word teknia-John 4:24, 1 John 2:1, 12, 28) and by means of the truth. True worship to God the Father must be through the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Jesus informed Nicodemus of two realms that which is born of the flesh and that which is born of the Spirit (John 3:6). That which is born of the flesh is the natural realm. That which is born of the spirit is the spiritual realm. That God is spirit is the eternal essence or being of the Father (John 4:23). Walvoord (1974:42) argues that this is an attribute of God. Erickson (2000:294) includes John 1:18, 1 Timothy 1:17, and 6:15-16 as applying to God’s invisibility. His invisibleness means that God is not perceived by our natural senses. The Lord Jesus exegeted (explained) the Father. “No one has seen God at any time only begotten God the one being in the bosom of the Father that one He himself has exegeted” (explained) [Him-brackets mine- Him is undertood] (John 1:18) [author’s translation] (Aland and Black 1968:322). The word begotten is the English translation of the Greek word “monogenes.” The meaning of this word has to do with the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. It has nothing to do with begotten in terms of origin. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. Yes, the doxology on the part of the apostle Paul is addressed to the king, Jesus Christ (I Tim. 1:17) (Locke 1973:17). Further, the apostle Paul writes: “I command you before God the one making alive all things and Christ Jesus the having testified before Pontius Pilate the good confession, you to keep the commandment without spot until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, it will be shown the blessed and only Potentate, the King of the reigning kings and Lord of the lords, the only one having immortality, and dwelling in unapproachable light” (unapproachable is in 2^nd attribute position of the adjective – the emphasis is on the adjective – unapproachable) “whom no man has seen nor able to see. To whom” [be] “honor and eternal might. Amen” (1 Tim. 6:13-16) [author’s translation]. Eternal is in the second attributive position of the adjective to the noun kratos-might. Christ’s eternal might is the reverse of His glory. He has the might (muscle) of the ages (1 Tim. 6:13-16) (Aland & Black 1968:729). John 4:24 explains God’s essence that God is spirit. God is in another realm the realm of the spiritual. He is separate from the material, time, space, and physical realm yet omnipresent. He is present in creation with his whole being at every point in the universe (Hodge 1975:1:376-380). Bernard (1969:150) cites 1 Kings 8:27 and Isaiah 31:3 as two Old Testament references that teach the spirituality of God. It is put in three words by Jesus. Jesus applied this to the description of true worship. Bernard (ibid:150) makes an important point that what is discussed at this point in John’s gospel is the Being of God rather than His personality. Hodge (1975:1:379) adds that the logical deduction is that God is a person and therefore СКАЧАТЬ