Download WAMT Theology 04 The Living Word

The Living Word
Jesus Christ
• John 1:1, 14 “In the beginning was the
Word…” “And the Word became flesh…”
• “Word” = Logos
• Logos in the cultures
• Jesus “speaks” God to us.
• Written Word flows
from the living Word.
The Written Word
The First Christians
• Scripture = “Old Testament,”
the Hebrew Bible
• Oral Tradition
• Apostolic teaching
• Holy Spirit/prophetic activity
The Written Word
Early Christianity
• Decline of Oral Tradition
and Prophetic Revelation
• Rise of Written Scriptures
• Collection was a process of time,
common use, and consensus
• Result was a fixed list of Scripture –
ratified and affirmed
rather than imposed
The Canon
The Canon
Addressed problems
• What should be read in worship?
• What will be translated?
• What about lists like Marcion’s?
• Which books will be protected in
the midst of persecution?
The Canon
Beginnings – “universal acceptance”
• Hebrew Scriptures
used by Jesus and Apostles
• Four Gospels
• Writings of Paul
• Acts
• General epistles and Revelation
The Canon
Dates
• Core accepted by 150 A.D.
• “Muratorian Canon” 170 A.D.
• Origen 240 A.D.
• Athanasius 367 A.D. (complete list)
• Councils of Hippo, Carthage 393 A.D.
The Canon
Criteria
• Apostolic authorship or connection
• Accepted universally in the church
• Used in worship at Lord’s Table
• Consistent theological message
The Canon
The Church did not create the Canon.
By the leading of the Holy Spirit, the
Canon imposed itself upon the Church
in the form of universal
acknowledgement of its authority.
What is Your “Canon?”
To which books of the Bible to you pay
most attention in your own teaching,
preaching, personal study, etc.? To
which do you pay the least attention?
The Middle Ages
Developments
• Latin becomes common, then sacred
language
• Scriptures are preserved by copying
• Art and architecture teach biblical
truths
• Laity generally does not hear Bible in
their own language
Reformation
Protestant changes
• New Scripture translation
• Sola scriptura – by scripture alone
• Response to perception that the
medieval church had elevated
tradition above Scripture
• Printing press
• Eventual outcome was Scripture
in the hands of the laity
Reformation
Protestant Results
• Wider study of the Bible
• Diversity of interpretation
• Elevation of Scripture’s authority
• Individualism in interpretation
• Sometimes subjectivism
Understanding the Bible
Modern Discussions
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Single meaning   Multiple meanings
Simple literal meaning   Symbolic meaning
Individual interpretation   Communal interpretation
Bible apart from tradition   Bible within tradition
Understanding the Bible
Modern Discussions
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•
•
•
•
•
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Objective meaning   Subjective impact
Unity of witness   Diversity of witness
Divine aspect   Human aspect
Bible = Word of God   Bible contains Word of God
Inerrancy   Infallibility
Propositional truth   Personal truth
Universal truth   Contextual truth
Understanding the Bible
Background theology
• Role of Holy Spirit in interpretation
• Understanding of inspiration (where in
the process, different models)
• Understanding of authority
• Theological frameworks = “Lenses”
– Dispensationalism
– Covenant theology
– Law and Grace
The Covenant Stance
• “Where is it written?”
• “What do the Scriptures
say about that?”
• “Do you accept the Holy
Scriptures, the Old and New
Testaments, as the word of God
and the only perfect rule for faith,
doctrine, and conduct?”
The Covenant Stance
• NOTE: what is authoritative is the
Scripture, not our interpretation of it
- the Scriptures must be interpreted to
be authoritative, but individual
interpretations are not in themselves
exclusively authoritative
The Covenant Stance
Seeing the Scriptures as the living,
breathing word of God
• Recognition of the tentative nature of
human interpretations
- Avoiding the danger of bibliolatry
- Avoiding the danger of subjectivism
To believe the Bible is more than believing
everything in it, from cover to cover. One can
do that and yet be a stranger to the Bible’s
message and unmoved by the Bible’s
purposes. A living faith in the Bible as God’s
Word is the same as faith in God. The Bible’s
promises and threats, the whole content of
the Bible becomes real when God becomes
real. It is possible to believe in the Bible
instead of believing in God. That is not only
possible but common in countries which
have the Bible. The holiest objects are the
first to become idols.
Doubtless there are altogether too many in
Protestant Christendom who imagine that they
believe in God because they never doubted the
Bible and have a sure and comprehensive
knowledge of Christianity… But no institutions
and no book, no matter how holy it may be, can
replace a living faith in the living God. And a
man cannot lose his Bible in a more frightening
way than in this way: that it becomes an idol.
David Nyvall