In yesterday's post I suggested that if we understand the inspiration of God as the «whisperings of God» then it makes sense to think that God has been whispering truth not just to
the authors of Scripture, but also to people who wrote the writings of other religions.
I'm also not sure what I think about the idea that
the authors of Scripture were aware of this over-arching story, especially the part about Christ.
I believe that by looking at what
the authors of Scripture say about Scripture, we can arrive a much better position — one where we maintain the accuracy and authority of Scripture, but in such a way that Scripture is not set up as a sacred idol.
Why does God inspire the human
authors of Scripture to write about Him in violent ways?
Most often, when
the authors of Scripture want to write about eternal life, they use the words «eternal life» (or «everlasting life» in some translations).
The general view now would be that the Holy Spirit inspired the human
authors of Scripture, but did not dictate what they wrote.
God Himself, of course, is always loving and just, but sometimes the human
authors of Scripture confused the true God as revealed in Jesus Christ with the actions of Satan in history, and referred to the actions of both as coming from «Yahweh.»
Though it might be true that the ancient Israelites had undeveloped cosmology, this is not true of God, and so for this view to be correct, we must either deny inspiration, or have God inspiring
the authors of Scripture to write about Himself in inaccurate ways.
The problem is that we are told that Jesus was the Son of God by the human
authors of Scripture but with proper human analyses the passages that indicate there is a link have been found to be embellishments.
And
the authors of Scripture are like the moderators in this debate.
Jesus intentionally set His face to the cross so that He might bear the sins of the world, just as God had been intentionally inspiring human
authors of Scripture to write what they did so that He might bear the sins of Israel.
The authors of Scripture do not always speak with one voice, but this is because they are presenting the question of the character of God in different ways.
Personally, I see the ideas in the heads in
the authors of Scripture quite varied.
If modern authors can change in their theology, terminology, goals, focus, vocabulary, verb tense usage, and so on, and be allowed to revise, edit, and redact their own works, why can we not allow the same freedom and flexibility to
the authors of Scripture?
But finally to say that the true
author of scripture (God) didn't understand things as well as we do today, is a pretty arrogant stand.
And no human being could ever come up with a definitive answer — not even an inspired
author of Scripture.
Thus, the fact that God is the ultimate
author of Scripture is downplayed for apologetic reasons, the stress being instead put on the «fallible» human minds and hands that produced the text.
My first thought after reading your review is that his view of the Bible as dialog would seem to deny the Holy Spirit as being
the author of Scripture, and would attack the idea that the Word — a.k.a. Jesus — became flesh and pitched his tent among us.
Since the Bible is an inspired book, God is the primary
author of Scripture, and since He has a view toward the redemption of all humanity from the predicament we find ourselves in, God's primary intended audience is all people throughout time.
Furthermore, since the Holy Spirit is the divine
author of the Scriptures, speaking the One Word of God, the Church has avision of the unity of the Bible.
In turn, the very idea of inspiration, as arising from meditation on the Holy Spirit, is deprived of the enrichment it might receive from those forms of discourse which are less easily interpreted in terms of a voice behind a voice or of a double
author of scripture.
Not exact matches
He also suggests that these songs have stood the test
of time because many
of the
authors were pastors, who held both
Scripture and the struggles
of their congregations in mind.
I hope the
author takes your advice and heeds the warning
of scripture.
It's interesting that the
author of this article left out two very important
scriptures that seem to say Judas was in big trouble.
CNN: My Take: The 5 key American statements on war Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and
author of «The American Bible: How Our Words Unite, Divide, and Define a Nation,» explores five texts that have served as «
scripture»
of sorts in American public life, each
of which contemplate the meaning and ends
of war
It's a cherry - picking
of scripture used to address what's happening right now in popular culture,» says Knust,
author of the recent book «Unprotected Texts: The Bible's Surprising Contradictions on Sex and Desire.»
Of course most NT scholars find good reason to think that Peter did not
author Peter 2, where Peter allegedly deems Paul's works as divine
scripture.
What bothers me most is that so many
of the
Scripture references that are used to support the pledges are taken out
of context and really have little or nothing to do with the
author's theories.I believe God will hold this man and those who abuse God's Word accountable.
I guess you could argue that Jesus is God, God
authored the
scriptures, the
scriptures make out men as a class to be liars... But it's not worth arguing because it's not the point
of the cartoon.
The
authors and writers may not have intended this, but the longings, desires, and ideas that connect most with people, are the longings, desires, and ideas that are found everywhere within the story
of Scripture.
It is, like all
of Calvinism's doctrines, not explicitly taught anywhere in
scripture, but extrapolated by taking a few verses or partial verses out
of context and granting them a meaning never intended by the
authors.
Think about the fact that the Quran has one
author and the Bible has many
authors yet all
of scripture is in perfect alignment explaining the coming
of God's Son Jesus and how this was the plan before the foundation
of the world.
As I read the passages
of scripture in the lectionary for today, I found myself identifying most with the
author of this psalm.
The
author quotes
scripture and closes with the following statement: «Maybe this Christmas season, we can reflect not so much on whether or not Jesus was white and instead consider what it meant for him to be called the «light»
of the world.»
Under his inspiration, several
of the Hindu
scriptures were translated into Persian, and he was himself the
author of many books on religion, including a biography
of Sufis and saints, and a treatise on the technical terms
of Hindu pantheism and their equivalents in Sufi theology.
Its
author lives in another world than the Palestine
of Jesus» days — one can scarcely believe that he ever saw Palestine, or knew Judaism and its sacred
Scriptures intimately and sympathetically.
To this day there is controversy over whether Dante actually wrote the «Letter to Cangrande,» whose
author overtly claims that he wrote the Comedy making use
of the four senses
of Scripture, almost exactly as these are defined by St. Thomas near the beginning
of the Summa (I, i, 10).
But it is also a human word: the human beings who wrote it were also true
authors.8 The
scriptures therefore share to some extent in the nature
of the incarnation: they use human things as the means for God to communicate with us humanly.
Smith reminds readers
of the idea
of divine accommodation, which suggests that «in the process
of divine inspiration, God did not correct every incomplete or mistaken viewpoint
of the biblical
authors in order to communicate through them with their readers... The point
of the inspired
scripture was to communicate its central point, not to straighten out every kink and dent in the views
of all the people involved in biblical inscripturation and reception along the way.»
The
authors were not passive instruments, mechanically recording what God dictated, but the Spirit used their personalities and individuality in the process
of writing
Scripture.
The
author labored to give his words and phrases the quaint, old - fashioned sound and structure
of our King James's translation
of the
Scriptures; and the result is a mongrel — half modern glibness, and half ancient simplicity and gravity.
The
author adds that they did not yet realize from the scriptural prophecies that Jesus must be raised; if they had discerned the truth from
scripture, it may be implied, the sight
of the tomb would have been unnecessary, as it is for Christians now.
Hays also seems narrow when he encourages readers to read the OT principally as narrative and not as a «source
of oracles, prooftexts, or halakhic regulations,» apparently disqualifying many early Christian
authors who cited
Scripture in this way.
The
author, warden
of Greyfriars and lecturer in history and doctrine at Oxford, clearly poses the question
of his title, examines the answers to the question proposed by
Scripture, authoritative tradition, and a wide variety
of contemporary thinkers, and then presents his own conviction, persuasively giving the reasons why.
The Bible, The Qur «an and Science by Dr. Maurice Bucaille THE HOLY
SCRIPTURES EXAMINED IN THE LIGHT
OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE Translated from French by Alastair D. Pannell and The
Author
So where is that approval
of Paul's word as divine
scripture now that most NT scholars believe that Peter did not
author Peter 2?
John P Burgess is associate professor
of systematic theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the
author of Why
Scripture Matters.
Many
of the notes consist
of fussy reminders that a phrase Augustine uses comes from
scripture or from a classical Latin
author.
CNN: My Take: Obama's Newtown remarks show presidents as pastors in chief Stephen Prothero, an
author and Boston University religion scholar, says President Barack Obama was «a pastor among pastors» as he recited
scripture and inspirational quotes to comfort the people
of Newtown at Sunday's interfaith memorial service.
People who do not read
scripture who fall for this I can excuse, the
author however - This is intellectual dishonesty
of the highest degree.