This fall our Wednesday studies are not of the Word of God so much as about the Word...where did the Bible come from? Is it inspired by God? How should a faithful disciple approach it? Rather than attempt to distill every item discussed, I will simply try to post relevant quotes or insights from our ongoing study.
First and foremost, the believing disciple takes Jesus' own view of Scripture as determinative. As the late John Stott wrote in Evangelical Essentials, "Submission to Scripture is for us evangelicals a sign of our submission to Christ...our incarnate Lord...(who) subordinated Himself to the authority of the Old Testament as he did, regarding them as His Father's written word...in Jesus' temptations...each issue was settled by an apt quotation from Deut. 6 or Deut. 8...'for it stands written' was for Him the conclusive argument. (p. 85)" We studied the profound respect the Jewish people held for the written Word of God, and by analogy we extended the thought that God would desire a similar written witness of His new covenant deeds through Christ.
I also believe it is vital to confess that we are not bibliolators; we do not worship the book, but the God who gave it. Jesus Himself supplies the needed corrective here. He challenged the Pharisees by saying, "You study the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; these are the Scriptures that point to me, yet you refuse to come to me that you might have life!" (John 5:39-40)
Without the illuminating presence of the Spirit of God, and without the living relationship with the Son of God, the Bible itself becomes a dead letter. But this does not change the fact that with the Spirit's light, and to the heart that seeks Christ, the Scriptures are far more than mere human reflections on religious experience; they are revelatory of God's truth. This truth convicts our hearts, which in part explains why so many people hate this book.
Obviously, I have what is called a high view of Scripture. In some circles, such a commitment to Biblical authority places me in a minority. I take courage from the fact that, as Harry Blamires put it, "The doctrine of biblical inspiration and authority is the majority view (if we extend the vote to include the church triumphant). You can never put the traditionalists in the minority. They have a built in majority from the past." (quoted in Evangelical Essentials, p. 84).
Certainly I stand squarely in the center of my own Methodist tradition (and the Protestant tradition) by believing that "all Scripture is God-breathed" (II Tim. 3:16) and that "no prophecy was every the product of human will, but holy people of old spoke as they were carried along by the Spirit of God." (II Peter 1:21)
Does this mean that Scripture is all easy to understand, or that mystery is removed? Does this imply a mechanical dictation theory of inspiration? These are the kinds of straw man arguments which liberals typically toss toward evangelicals, but we are not so naive. Scripture is a love letter from a wondrous God to His beloved people, complex and meaningful. If anything, the Bible carries what some have called a "surplus of meaning," inexhaustible depths. It is shallow enough for lambs to wade, deep enough for elephants to swim. A lifetime of study and prayer will not reach the bottom. It is unlike any other book or writing we have ever seen. I stand before it amazed, eager to hear more of what my Lord would speak to me through it. I have spent years amazed at the snide, dismissive attitude of left wing teachers who set themselves above the Bible to correct it, instead of under it so that God might correct them. They seem unable to see that they are in the presence of greatness. The proper attitude when we approach Scripture must always be, at its root, "speak, Lord...your servants are listening."
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