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Notes
for lecture on Grudem, Notes prepared by Richard Spencer, Ph.D. DIFF
KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE | DIFF KINDS OF REVELATION |
BIBLE NECESSARY FOR WHAT? Remember the acrostic that Mr. Roby gave us: SNAP = Sufficiency, Necessity, Authority, Perspicuity. We have now covered Authority and Perspicuity, or clarity. Today we will address the doctrines of the necessity and sufficiency of scripture. I would like to begin by asking; What kinds of knowledge do we have? How do we know what we know? And how do know if it is true, or speculation? I. What are the different kinds of knowledge?One view knowledge is that there are things we know by reason, and things we know by faith. There may, of course, be some overlap. So what do we mean by "reason" and "faith"? Reason is a very complicated word, but one workable definition for our purposes is "The capacity for logical, rational, and analytic thought" (American Heritage Dictionary). In other words, we can make observations, put forth hypotheses, test them and use inductive logic to arrive at general rules we believe to be true. But, as Pascal saw [7], any kind of reasoning we do is based on some formal system of logic. And the rules of logic cannot themselves be supported by the same logic without our being guilty of circular reasoning. So, in and of ourselves, we have no rational basis for making absolute statements about fact and truth. In so doing, we are really expressing faith in the particular logical framework we have used and in our own powers to properly observe and make use of that logic. So we need to be properly skeptical of the 20th century Western obsession with "science" and the popularly-accepted idea that truth is arrived at by reason alone and that information revealed to us and perceived by faith is not factual, but is some lower or less reliable form of information. In fact, theology used to be called the queen of the sciences. In his Introductory Volume to Systematic Theology, Louis Berkhof noted that in the late 19th and early 20th century we redefined the term science to apply only to experimental sciences based on a naturalistic presupposition [3]. Of course, you can argue that his definition is not correct now since there are a number of sciences that don’t allow hypotheses to be empirically tested, so I would modify what Berkhof said and say that our modern idea of science is simply that which is based on a naturalistic set of presuppositions and which exalts human reason as the ultimate authority. Hodge says (pg 1) that science is more than a mere collection and organization of facts but must include an understanding of the laws and relationships governing the facts and must include the ability to predict future events based on our understanding of past experience [4]. By these definitions, theology is certainly a science! Faith, on the other hand, is "Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence" (American Heritage Dictionary). It is not necessarily something that cannot be supported by material evidence and reason, but our belief is not rooted in evidence and reason. Of course, if we have faith in something that is truly contradictory to something we believe to be true based on evidence and reason, we have a problem. Either our faith is wrong, or the evidence is incorrect, or the conclusions we draw from the evidence are wrong. In any case we should not separate faith and reason in our lives and live with the contradiction, we should work to resolve it. It is all right to live with uncertainty, but living with real contradictions is dangerous; they point out to us that we are making an error somewhere. As Hodge says (pg 364); while [the Scriptures] make known truths far above the reach of sense or reason, they reveal nothing which contradicts either. Proper religion makes use of all of our faculties, but it does recognize that revelation is necessary; we cannot simply observe nature and use the laws of logic to arrive at a real and vibrant faith. In Martin Luther’s book Tabletalk [6], in Section XLVIII of the chapter Of God’s Word, he says, God alone, through his Word, instructs the heart, so that it may come to the serious knowledge how wicked it is, and corrupt and hostile to god. Afterwards God brings man to the knowledge of God, and how he may be freed from sin, and how, after this miserable, evanescent world, he may obtain life everlasting. Human reason, with all its wisdom, can bring it no further than to instruct people how to live honestly and decently in the world, how to keep house, build, etc., things learned from philosophy and heathenish books. But how they should learn to know God and his dear Son, Christ Jesus, and to be saved, this the Holy Ghost alone teaches through God’s Word;... [emphasis added] Also, this revelation is, at times, difficult for our reason to accept. Quoting Martin Luther again (Section LVII): I admonish every pious Christian that he take not offense at the plain, unvarnished manner of speech of the Bible. Let him reflect that what may seem trivial and vulgar to him, emanates from the high majesty, power, and wisdom of God. The Bible is the book that makes fools of the wise of this world; it is only understood by the plain and simple hearted. Esteem this book as the precious fountain that can never be exhausted. In it thou findest the swaddling-clothes and the manger whither the angels directed the poor, simple shepherds; they seem poor and mean, but dear and precious is the treasure that lies therein. In his Introductory Volume to Systematic Theology [3], Louis Berkhof wrote: Religion consists in a real, living, and conscious relationship between a man and his God, determined by the self-revelation of God, and expressing itself in a life of worship, fellowship and service. It presupposes that God exists, that He has revealed Himself, and that He has enabled man to appropriate this revelation. And where man does appropriate the revealed knowledge of God, reflects on it and unifies it, there the structure of theology arises on the basis of God’s revelation. [emphasis added] These passages point out that we need this truth to be revealed. It also gets us past the discussions of "emotional faith", "volitional faith", "intellectual faith (or assent)" and "heart faith" and gets us to the first and greatest commandment as given by Christ in Matthew 22:37 (all scripture references are from [1] unless noted otherwise): "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." So, we need God to reveal truth to us and we need to use our minds, along with the rest of our being, to properly understand and apply that revelation to our lives. We deny that we can somehow separate mind, will and emotion in our obedience to God; but each plays a different role. One description I really like came from the "Answers" CD I got from Reasons to Believe (Hugh Ross’ organization) [7]. It likens us to the starship Enterprise from Star Trek and says that the intellect is the navigator, Mr. Spock, while the will is Captain Kirk. The emotions are Dr. McCoy. The will can command the intellect to think, but the intellect cannot command the will, it can only inform it as a navigator informs a captain. Yet the will cannot command belief. It cannot tell the intellect to accept something which the intellect determines to be wrong, nor it can it tell the intellect to stop believing something that the intellect holds to be true. Similarly, the will can’t command the emotions what to feel, but the intellect and the will acting together can, over time, bring the emotions into line. True faith requires a cooperation between the intellect, the will and the emotions. Now we know that we need revealed truth, but what kinds of revelation are there? II. What are the different kinds of revelation?Historically, theologians talked about natural and supernatural revelation (Berkhof [3] pg 126). The ultimate source of all revelation is, of course, God and is, therefore, supernatural. What is referred to here is the mode of revelation. Knowledge was divided into that which could be obtained by observation and reason based on the normal operation of nature, and that which was based on God intervening in the natural course of events. From about the time of the reformation, theologians began to divide revelation into general and special revelation. General revelation is, essentially, the created universe, including history and our own hearts. It is available to all, hence it is general. It is also general in the sense that it only provides general information about God; His existence and something of His nature are evident, but not the plan of redemption. Special revelation is the Bible and the witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. It is special in the sense that it is only given to some and it deals specifically with God’s plan of redemption [5]. I add the witness of the Holy Spirit to this, rather than just saying the Bible, because without the Holy Spirit, the scriptures are foolishness. 1 John 2:20 says "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth." The Bible is the power of salvation only for those whom God has chosen. While unregenerate people may read the Bible, it is foolishness to them. As it says in 1 Corinthians 1:18 "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." There has been dispute about what the unregenerate person can receive from general revelation. Some have held that sin has so corrupted the mind that the unbeliever is unable to properly understand general revelation at all. I don’t think that view can be reconciled with the tremendous successes of modern science and engineering, so I hold to the idea that the unregenerate man is unable to interpret general revelation well enough to send him to God on his knees seeking forgiveness. General revelation is clearly sufficient to cause the unregenerate to know of God’s existence, as Paul writes in Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities —his eternal power and divine nature —have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Setting the disputes aside though, it is recognized by virtually all theologians that general revelation is insufficient to bring the unregenerate to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. III. For what is the Bible necessary and sufficient?So, we have the first, and most important, purpose of special revelation. It is necessary and sufficient for saving faith. As Paul says in Romans 10:14 and following:
So, special revelation is necessary for salvation. Also, Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:14-15:
And, in James 1:17-18 we read;
Similarly, 1 Peter 1:23 tells us; "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." [emphasis added] So we see that special revelation is sufficient. Berkhof goes further than to say that special revelation is necessary and sufficient for salvation. He states (pg 137 of Introductory Volume to Systematic Theology [3]) that special revelation has both a "final end" and a "proximate aim". The final end is our glorification and coming into the presence of God to glorify Him and enjoy him forever; in other words, the ultimate fulfillment of salvation. The proximate aim is "found in the complete renewal of sinners, in order that they may mirror the virtues and perfections of God." In other words, the proximate aim is our sanctification in this life. Therefore, we can state that the secondary purpose of special revelation is to teach us how to be holy and glorify God in this life, and it is necessary and sufficient for this purpose. In the Old Testament we find Moses saying to the people of Israel, in Deuteronomy 32:46-47:
And in the New Testament Paul writes in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Also, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3 in Matthew 4:4; "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." So, special revelation is necessary to enable to us be holy and glorify God in this life. We can also see that it is sufficient for this purpose. In Numbers 11:23, God answer’s a doubting Moses by saying "Is the LORD’s arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you." And, in Isaiah 55, we learn that God’s word "will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Paul writes, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." [emphasis added] Quoting Berkhof again ([3] pg. 138) [special revelation] seeks to deliver from the power of sin, of the devil, and of death, the entire man, body and soul, with all his talents and powers, and to renew him spiritually, morally, and ultimately also physically, to the glory of God; and not only the individual man, but mankind as an organic whole; and mankind not apart from the rest of creation, but in connection with that whole creation, of which it forms an organic part. In Isaiah 55:13 it
says: "Instead of the thornbush will grow the
pine tree, So not only will we be made perfect, but all of creation will be. Finally, we might ask why the scriptures are necessary in written form. The obvious answer of course is the difficulty of disseminating so much information by word of mouth. Berkhof points out that the Old Testament was in oral form prior to the time of Moses but was then written down to keep a record for later generations. Similarly, he says [3] the New Testament did not come into existence apart from the spoken word of Jesus and the apostles. As long as these witnesses of the facts of redemption lived, there was little need of a written word, but when they fell away, this changed at once. The historical character of God’s revelation, the history of redemption, and the redemptive facts which did not admit of repetition, and were yet of the greatest significance for all coming generations, made it necessary to commit God’s special revelation to writing. In the beginning of his Gospel, Luke writes:
The first chapter of the Westminster confession of faith is a great summary of the points we have made so far. I’d like to read a few excerpts from it.... IV. What benefits do we derive from the doctrines of the necessity & sufficiency of scripture?Turn with me to Psalm 1 and let’s read it together: This psalm says that we are blessed and righteous in God’s sight if we meditate on His law day and night. In other words, if we pay careful enough attention to God’s Word, we can learn everything necessary for a Godly life and we will be blessed. In Proverbs 28:9 we read, "If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable." And, in Proverbs 28:26, "He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe." As a final proverb, look at Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law." Also, in 2 Peter 1:19 we read, "And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." [emphasis added] Clearly, then, there is great benefit to be gained from properly studying and applying God’s law to our lives. And God’s law is given to us through special revelation, which is both necessary and sufficient to give us those benefits. During last year’s retreat we looked at Ephesians. Turn there with me now and let’s look at Ephesians 4:11-23,
So, by properly understanding special revelation, we gain stability in our lives and an ability to avoid false teaching and deceptive people. Paul goes on starting at verse 15:
We see from this passage that Paul is admonishing all of us to think! It is not enough to have some experience of God, or to have read the Bible once, or maybe only parts of it once. We are called to assuage our ignorance, to not harden our hearts, to think clearly about the Word of God. And we are warned that a darkened understanding leads to separation from the life of God. Going on starting from verse 19:
So, again we see that our minds are involved. If the Christian faith were meant to be all feeling and the inner witness of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives, we would not need the written Word. But, we are called to be spiritual engineers. And as every good engineer knows, we must continue to study and learn and review that which we have already studied and learned. If we fail to do that, then we can’t do our jobs very well and our work becomes ineffectual. The things that we build fall down. In 1 Corinthians 3:11-14 Paul writes:
Finally, in addition to thinking about our ultimate fate, we gain freedom and joy in this life from special revelation. In Psalm 119:45 the psalmist writes: "I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts." None of these benefits come to us unless special revelation is both necessary and sufficient. V. Summary
VII. References
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