Ignoble yet Inerrent?

The transmission of the Bible has been a sticky issue for believers for a very long time. Modern scholars, however, would like to say that the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls has changed everything and really given text-critics the foundation for all their speculation and very criterial attacks upon the Word of God.

But I like what John Frame has said concerning Antithesis and Doctrine of Scripture . Basically showing that there is an unbelieving or a believing way that we look at Scripture, always an antithesis! This is especially true or important when thinking about the transmission of scripture. Is it God's Word or not? Is it God's superintendence of fallible man's errors and mistakes roughly keeping the heart of God's redemptive purpose but flexibly bending to culture and time as His need sees fit? Or is the Bible that the church has always received - the very Words of God in spite of the transmission phenomena?

Frankly, our doctrine of Scripture as the principia, rather than our evaluation of the phenomena must determine here, and far to many "conservative" scholars are jumping on the "neutrality" band wagon and insisting that the phenomena can be evaluated properly without the norming influence of the scripture itself. "Oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe"!!

However, I would like to endorse a hearty doctrine of the ignoblity of Scripture. What ?!? Well, simply put - I mean - the Scripture most assuredly does not act the way we would like. It does not conform to our ideas of what is perfect or pristine. We want the book to fall from heaven complete. To be written in one language, and never to have been translated . But alas God does seem to love to frustrate the wise of this world and to exult the lowly - and the history of transmission is no exception.

So what does all this mean for inerrency? It means that God is the author and finisher and His Word will not return to him void! It means that we serve a "God that does as He pleases" and that will not share his glory with anyone. That the exhaustive knowledge of "How" always belongs to Him and the responsibility to believe always belongs to us. And yes, it still means that the Bible contains no mistakes! That it never lies! And that try as hard as he may, neither man nor Satan can contaminate even the smallest part of it - Even if the Dead Sea Scrolls had 15 conflicting copies of Jeremiah!

Let the phenomena come. Let it rise up like the false prophets of old - that even sometimes prophesied truly - and let us stand in belief! with full confidence declare..."Yes, God did really say!!"

Why We Can Know (beyond WASP)

There is a certain movement always underfoot in the presence of the children of God, a movement designed to unsettle the most precious of gift's from God (beside redemption itself) - His Word. This bite in the heal is always subtle, always a sneak attack, and generally comes down to the great prevaricators first strategy - the old 'did God really say' bit.

Since I have Old Testament Introduction this semester - I am going to be taking a little break from the 'book binders' and turn my attention to the post-modern assault on not just the text of scripture - but on the foundations for knowing and understanding such text. I could call this group "the book bumblers" or something similar, but I think for now I'll just leave them at "other's".

At the outset - I want to state clearly that I am a W.A.S.P. steeped in Reformed Presbyterianism, and I believe that in no way impedes my understanding nor forces my logic into some cultural bound system, which I can't break free of, when considering the enormously important topics as canon, inspiration, incarnation, and epistemology. I believe that the scripture, and how we can know and understand it - are at the principial level of knowledge - and should be unaffected by the lasted fads of unbelief. Even if that unbelief is coming from with in the church herself. I believe that we can know - and at least in part, have known, real truths of God's covenantal dealings with and for man, precisely because they are communicated from God (and God knows!)

There is confidence to be found - in spite of the shaky foundations of modernism! There is truth and objectivity - in spite of the speculations of post modernism! This may seem like a rough start, but believe me its necessary. So hold on to your pants - and your Bible - and lets dig in.