Bible Doctrine Unit 1-3a Review Questions and Essays
Yes, people can know anything about God apart from the Bible. "People can obtain knowledge that God exists and a knowledge of some of his attributes simply from observations of themselves and the world around them." Through looking "at the sky is to see evidence of the infinite power, wisdom, and even beauty of God; it is to observe a majestic witness to the glory of God" We can see Him through the creation of all Humanity and the World we live in.
Can people know anything about God apart from the Bible? If so, what can they know about him?
The term inerrancy means "that Scripture in the original manuscript does not affirm anything which is contrary to fact" and " that the Bible always tells the truth and that it always tells the truth concerning everything it talks about." This idea can be consistent with the Bible's use of the language of ordinary and everyday speech by "the Bible speaking of the sun rising and the rain falling because from the the perspective of the speaker this is what exactly happens" or estimately counting every man that dies to use " ordinary language to describe natural phenomena or to give approximations or round numbers."
Define the term inerrancy and discuss how inerrancy can be consistent with the Bible's use of ordinary language and everyday speech
Mercy: God's goodness toward those in misery or distress Grace: God's goodness toward those who deserve only punishment Patience: God always chooses the best goals and the best means toward those goals
Differentiate between God's attributes of mercy, grace, and patience
he hates everything that is opposed to his moral character, sin. No, if he was only love he wouldn't care about sin and also it would go against his other attributes.
Is God's wrath inconsistent with his love? Explain.
No, there isn't anything required of us by God or forbidden to us by God that is not commanded or forbidden in Scripture. For example, there is a warning to us not to add or take anything away from God's Word because it is sufficient of Scripture. We also have "to consider no other writing are of equal value to Scripture", "no modern revelations from God are to be placed on a level equal to Scripture in authority", and " nothing is sin that is not forbidden by Scripture either explicitly or implication". God has Written all we need to know and obey in the Bible.
Is there anything required of us by God of forbidden to us by God that is not commanded or forbidden in Scripture? Explain.
spirituality: God is spirit and is in no way limited to a spatial location invisibility: God's total essence will never be able to be seen by us, yet God still shows himself through created things
Name and differentiate between the two attributes that describe God's being
By denying Biblical inerrancy, it may result in moral problems confronting us, we would start to wonder if we can truly trust God, we could make our minds a "higher standard of truth than God's Word itself", and if the Bible is wrong in the minor details it is also wrong in other doctrines also.
Name four possible problems that may result from a denial of biblical inerrancy
Yes, the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture applies to the people in the Old Testament who had only portions of what we now call the Bible. "God considers what he has told us in the Bible to be enough for us." This means that God gave us all that is written in the Bible that He requires us to believe and obey.
Since God added to the words of Scripture over a long period of time, did the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture apply to people in the Old Testament who had only portions of what we now call the Bible? Why or why not?
People sometimes misunderstand Scripture because some aren't willing to receive its teachings, the lack of faith they have, or the hardness of their own heart.
Why do people sometimes misunderstand Scripture?
He deserves it fully, he created creation for that purpose "God deserves all honor and glory from his creation, and that it is right for Him to seek this honor." He alone is infinite and worthy of being praised."
Why is it appropriate for God to be jealous for his own honor?
Omnipotence means all-powerful, nothing is too hard for God, all things are possible, however God cannot act out of harmony with his will. He will not act out of his character/harmony because of his will is his only limitations.
Are there any limitations to God's power? Explain, using the definition of his attribute or omnipotence
To defend the following statement "All the words in scripture are God's words", the prophets back then would say " Thus says the Lord," to claim that they were messengers and that their words they spoke are the absolute authoritative words of God. Furthermore, "Thus says the Lord" is written all throughout the Old testament to demonstrate that the words written are said to be "God's own words." The Holy Spirit also took action in the prophet's life to write prophecies and this indicate that all of the prophecies in the Old Testament are spoken "from God." The prophecies spoken were later on fulfilled and claimed many times to be God's word. Ultimately, we can know that the Bible is from God by the Holy Spirit "speaking in and through the words of the Bible to our hearts" and finally giving us assurance.
Defend the following statement: All words in scripture are God's words
God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of creation glorify Him and bring him joy. These two parts can be reconciled because even though God does not need creation...He determines that we are meaningful to Him because he created us. There is no greater significance in life than to be meaningful to God.
Define God's "independence." How can the two parts of this definition be reconciled?
"Clarity of Scripture" means " the Bible is written in such a way that its teachings are able to be understood by all who will read it seeking God's help and being willing to follow it."We can say that Scripture is clear because " we affirm that all teachings of scripture are clear and able to be understood". The problem of scripture not being clear isn't Scriptures fault but our own fault when we read and by our own shortcomings misunderstand what is "clearly written in Scripture. Eventually we will be able to understand Scripture through spending time studying it. "Scripture is able to be understood, not that all understand it equally."
Define clarity of scripture and why we can say that scripture is clear
. To defend the following statement "All the words in scripture are God's words", the prophets back then would say " Thus says the Lord," to claim that they were messengers and that their words they spoke are the absolute authoritative words of God. Furthermore, "Thus says the Lord" is written all throughout the Old testament to demonstrate that the words written are said to be "God's own words." The Holy Spirit also took action in the prophet's life to write prophecies and this indicate that all of the prophecies in the Old Testament are spoken "from God." The prophecies spoken were later on fulfilled and claimed many times to be God's word. Ultimately, we can know that the Bible is from God by the Holy Spirit "speaking in and through the words of the Bible to our hearts" and finally giving us assurance. 2. BIBLE REFERENCE- 2 timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." 1. all the words that were part of the 'book of the covenant' were considered God's words 2. the whole Old Testament claims this kind of authority 3. Paul's epistles were God's words too since Peter quotes them as being scriptures - Luke quotes Jesus, which Paul labels as scripture 4. the Holy Spirit speaks in and through the words of the bible to our hearts and gives us inner assurance that they are God's words 5. the Bible is historically accurate, internally consistent, contains prophecies that were fulfilled hundreds of years later, and claims hundreds of times to be God's words
Essay Question: Defend the following statement: "All the words of Scripture are God's Words"
1. enables us to obey Jesus' command to observe all he commands Mt 28:19-20 2. helps us overcome our wrong ideas as we resist or refuse to accept certain teachings 3. helps us make better decisions on new questions of doctrine that arise 4. will help us grow and mature as Christians
Essay Question: Give four reasons why Christians should study systematic theology
We can know that God's words are truthful by knowing that by lying it would go against His nature ("Oaths and promises") meaning He can not lie, therefore we can trust God wholeheartedly. Also, since God cannot lie we can trust all of Scripture to be true and accurate. Since God knows all the facts about the past, present, and future, nothing will contradict God in Scripture because He took it all into account when He wrote Scripture.
How can we know that God's words are truthful?
I would reconcile the incomprehensibility of God and the fact we can know God truly by knowing that since God is infinite and we are finite, we can't fully understand God. He is too big and great for all of us to know everything about Him fully, but we can know some parts of Him like His love and mercy. There is an endless amount of the knowledge we can obtain about God, and yet we can still know Him not fully, but enough for us to acknowledge that He is everywhere and that He exist. We are able to speak to God through prayer and He is able to speak to us through Scripture, and by doing so we can form a personal bond with Him that can further our knowledge and love for Him. He is throughout Scripture and (Jeremiah 9:23-24) states "that the source of our joy and sense of importance out to come not from our own abilities or possessions, but from the fact that we know him" "The fact we do know God himself is further demonstrated by the realization that the richness of the Christian life includes personals relationship with God" "This personal relationship with God the Father, with God the Son, and with God the Holy Spirit may be said to be the greatest of all blessings of the Christian life."
How would you reconcile the incomprehensibility of God and the fact that we can know God truly?
In addition to the Bible, We can know the existence of God through "Humanity's inner sense of God." Everyone has a deeper sense of the existence of God, that we are his creation, and He is the one who created us all. God's existence can be seen throughout the natural world and we are also evidence of His existence. He created us and everything around us. Believing the evidence in scripture and nature.
In addition to the Bible what evidence do we have that God exists?
Incommunicable attributes of God is "the attributes that God does not share or communicate to others" For example, His eternity, unchangeableness, and omnipresence. While, communicable attributes of God is the attributes "that God shares or communicates with us. For example, love, knowledge, mercy, or justice. "God's love is communicable, but His omnipresence is not"
Incommunicable vs. communicable attributes of God
Firstly, "the Bible is only authoritative for "faith and practice". To respond to this objection, " the Bible repeatedly affirm that all Scripture is profitable for us and that all of it is God breathed." The New Testament also furthers on to affirm" of the reliability of allparts of Scripture." Secondly, "the term inerrancy is a poor term". To respond to this objection, "the term inerrancy is not used in the Bible" and is seen as an "inappropriate term" to insist upon, but it is useful by allowing people to summarize biblical concepts making it easier to discuss biblical teachings. Thirdly, "We have no inerrant manuscripts; therefore, talk about an inerrant Bible is misunderstanding." To respond to this object, If the Bible were ever to be destroyed in a tragic event, we could determine "the original words of the Bible" from the original manuscript that has "over 99 percent of the words of the Bible."
List and respond to three objections to the concept of the inerrancy of Scripture
Firstly, "The Bible is necessary for knowledge of the gospel" when "one must call upon the name of the Lod in order to be saved" and to be saved one must hear the gospel message through the preaching of Christ. "Without hearing the preaching of the gospel of Christ, no one can be saved." Secondly, "The Bible is necessary for maintaining spiritual life" because with the daily nourishment with the Word of God we can maintain our spiritual life just like food maintaining our physical life. Neglecting God's word is the same as neglecting to eat food to physically keep us alive. Thirdly, "The Bible is necessary for certain knowledge of God's will" because without the Word of God, we wouldn't know who God really is or His will. In the Bible, "God has not revealed all things to us, but he has revealed enough for us to know his will." So to have certain knowledge of God, We must obtain it through the study of God's Scripture. "It is appropriate for us to be more certain about the truths we read in Scripture than about any other knowledge we have" in order to know God's will.
Name and describe at least three things for which the Bible is necessary
God fully knows himself even though he is infinite and unlimited. "Actual applies to the entire creation, for God is the one whom "no creation is hidden, but are all open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." God fully knows all things that exist, happen, and could happen "Possible, including events that might happen but do not actually come to pass."
What does it mean that God knows all things "actually and possible"?
The idea that the words of Scripture are "self-attesting" meant that ,firstly, if we used anything to claim that the "Bible is God's Word", we would be putting it "to be a higher authority than God's word......Therefore, the ultimate authority by which Scripture is shown to be God's words must be Scripture itself." Secondly, not all circular argument are invalid because " for all arguments for for an absolute authority must ultimately appeal to that authority for proof." Thirdly, God did not dictate every word in Scripture; He used a "wide variety of processes" to get the final desired results.
What is meant by the idea that the words of Scripture are self-attesting?
Being able to will something secretly and then only later making his will known to others. (Secret Will) God's declared will concerning what we should do or what God commands us to do. (Revealed Will)
What is the difference between God's secret and revealed will?