THE STORIES FOREVER ALIVE!

“SOLA SCRIPTURA”
HOW GOD REVEAL HIMSELF THROUGH HIS WORDS
GENERAL REVELATION

• The insight that God revealed His

character through His creative works,
nature, history, human experience.
• This manifestation is almost always are
available to all and appeals to reason.
SPECIAL REVELATION

• This is the understanding that God make

Himself known through the prophets.
• Then, His ultimate revelation, through the
person of Jesus Christ.
 “For since the creation of the world
His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are
made, even His eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse, because,
although they knew God, they did not
glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but
became futile in their thoughts, and their
foolish hearts were darkened.”
-Romans 1:20-21
 GENERAL REVELATION SPECIAL REVELATION
• God as Creator • God as Redeemer
• Norm for the society • Norm for the Christian church

• Means of condemnation • Means of salvation

Francois–Marie Arouet (1694-1778)

“A hundred years from today there will

not be a Bible on the face of the earth,
except in some dusty museum.”
-Voltaire
 SEVEREST TRIAL ENCOUNTERED BY
THE WORD OF GOD
DIOCLETIAN 303 AD DARK AGES 538-1798
 MARTIN LUTHER’S DEFENSE
95 THESIS ON RIGHTEOUSNES BY FAITH

• The chief material of the 16th century

reformation was on the issue of
“Righteousness by Faith,” but lurking
behind the scene was another issue and
that is the question of authority.
• When Luther was engaged with debate with
the leaders of the church, and he was
prompted to confess publicly that his views
does agree with the church council had
made. He was then questioned regarding
his belief on the authority of the council
and of the popes.
 MARTIN LUTHER’S DEFENSE
95 THESIS ON RIGHTEOUSNES BY FAITH

“Unless I am convinced by sacred

scriptures or by evident reason, I can’t
recant, for my conscience is held captive
by the word of God. Here I stand,
I will not recant, may God have
mercy on my soul ”
-Martin Luther
AUTHORITY AND AUTHORSHIP

• Out of that conflict came out the slogan

“sola scriptura”- the scripture alone.
Luther and the reformers were saying there
is only one authority ultimately that has
absolute right to bind our conscience.
Luther did not demean the council of the
church (ie. Nicene, Chalcedon etc.) but
even those council doesn’t have the same
level of authority that the Bible has.
 “God, who at various times and in
various ways spoke in time past to the fathers
by the prophets, has in these last days
spoken to us by His Son, whom He has
appointed heir of all things, through whom
also He made the worlds.”
-Hebrews 1:1-2
 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth.”
-John 1:14
THE FOCUS OF THE SCRIPTURES

• The Bible reveal God and exposes

humanity.
• It presents us as lost and revealed Jesus
as the only one who finds us and bring us
back to God.
• Jesus is the focus of the Scriptures!
THE AUTHORSHIP
AUTHORITY AND AUTHORSHIP

• The reformers believed that Bible was

written one book at a time by humans, but
nevertheless the primary and ultimate
author is God Himself. That is God
exercising His authority through the writing
of the human authors who were His spokes
person to reveal Himself to the world.
• It is the claim of the prophets that the
message came God Himself;
• VERBUM DEI- The Word of God
VOX DEI- “The Voice of God”
AUTHORITY AND AUTHORSHIP
THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,

and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete,
thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
-II Timothy 3:16-17
• The term “Graphe” or writings for the
Jewish people is the phrase “It is Written,”
it was the technical term that they all
understood that points specifically in
reference to the biblical writings, referring
to the OT books.
AUTHORITY AND AUTHORSHIP
THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE

• The word “Graphe” mentioned by Paul was

the OT. But later Peter recognized Paul’s
writing and the other apostles of the NT.
• Paul described that all the “Graphe” were
given Divine inspiration (II Tim.3:16-17)
However, it needs to be identified how the
used of the word inspiration in this verse
and the way the term was used
theologically by the history of the church.
THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE
“THEOPNEUST”

• Inspiration literally means “God-breath,”

but the term Gk.“THEOPNEUST”
technically the term means “breaths out”
(from God) which is actually “expiration.”
Paul is saying that the ultimate origin of the
scripture is God Himself.
• When we talk about the work of Inspiration,
we are talking about the work of God the
HS who comes to anoints people and
inspires them to write the message of God.
It is the way God superintends the writing
of the scared Scripture.
THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE
“THEOPNEUST”

• The church doesn’t teach mechanical

inspiration nor dictation form of writing of
the scriptures. It contains the personalities
and the vocabularies of human writers, yet
they were written under the supervision of
God and not in their own power.
THE INFALLIBILITY AND THE INERRANCY
OF THE SCRIPTURES

• Infallible means it cannot fail or indefectible,

incapable of making mistake. It is a higher
term compared to the term “inerrancy.”
ie. One can have perfect score in
examination or grocery lists etc. but it
doesn’t make one infallible.
THE INFALLIBILITY AND THE INERRANCY
OF THE SCRIPTURES
• In this sense, the Bible is restricted in its
authority only when it speaks of religious
matters of faith, but anything else they may
talk about may fail such as matters of
history, or in the ancient world.
• In the final analysis, the authority of the
Bible rest in the church for the question of
the authority of Christ– “what was Jesus’
view of the scripture and what Jesus said
about the scriptures?” (Mt.4:4; Jn.3:12;
Jn.17:17; Mt.5:18-19; Jn.14:6). The rule that
Jesus as the head of the church has
instructed.
THE INFALLIBILITY AND THE INERRANCY
OF THE SCRIPTURES

• Basic criticism is necessary, however once

proven wrong, scholars can move
progressively from a basic starting point;
a. From historical openness,
b. To criticism
c. To historical reliability
d. To the historical knowledge of the
teaching of Jesus
e. To the teaching of Jesus who tell us that
the source is not just basically reliable
but absolutely reliable which nothing
else but the word of God.
CANONICITY OF THE BIBLE

• The Bible is a library of 66 books; OT- 39

and NT- 27 written by 40 different men of
different ages and was compiled for 1,600
years.
• “CANON” comes from the Gk. “KANON” It
means “rod,” “a rule” “a standard, “an
authority” as applied the both the Old and
New Testament.
• It indicates that these writings and these
alone, constitutes an exhaustive and
authoritative expression of the mind of God.
An objective standard or rule of faith, a final
court of appeal valid for all time in all
matters pertaining to life and salvation.
 CANON

• The word “canon” as applied to the book of

the Bible indicates that these books are to
be clearly distinguished and definitely
marked off, from all other literature as
being of divine origin and possessing
divine authority (Evans, 2010).
 CANON
AUTHORITY: THE SCOPE

• The gift of the spirit do not supersede the

Bible; indeed, they must be tested by the
Bible and if not in accord with it, they
must be discarded as not genuine.
SCRIPTURAL UNITY

• A superficial reading of the scriptures will

yield a superficial understanding of it.
• The Bible is not monotonously uniform.
rather, it comprises a rich and colorful
diversity of harmonious testimonies of rare
and distinct beauty.
INSPIRATION PROCESS

• The revelation was embodied in human

language with all its limitations and
imperfections, yet they remained God’s
testimonies.
• Inspiration means God inspired the men
(Bible writers)- not the words.
INSPIRATION PROCESS

“The Bible is not God’s mode of thought

and expression… God has not put Himself in
words, logic and rhetoric, on trial in the Bible.
the writers of the Bible were God’s
penmen, not His pen.”
-I Selected Messages p.21
INSPIRATIONAL EXEPTION

• In one instance we had God speaking and

writing the exact words- the ten
commandments.
• They are of divine composition. Yet even
these had to be expressed within the limits
of human language.
INSPIRATION (HUMAN-DIVINE)

• Jesus was God and man combined, so the

Bible is divine and human combined.
• This makes the Bible unique among
literary works.
INSPIRATION (THE WRITERS)

• The Holy Spirit prepared certain person to

communicate the divine truth.
• They were not chosen because of natural
talents nor did divine revelation necessarily
convert the person or assure him of eternal
life.
INSPIRATION AND ILLUMINATION

• The inspiration of the biblical writer's

experience was more than illumination or
divine guidance.
• This comes to all who seek the truth. In
fact, they wrote without understanding the
divine message they communicated.
 “Of this salvation the prophets have
inquired and searched carefully, who
prophesied of the grace that would come to
you, searching what, or what manner of
time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them
was indicating when He testified beforehand
the sufferings of Christ and the glories
that would follow…”
-I Peter 1:10-12
INSPIRATION (CONTENT)

• Spirit revealed events yet to occur (Dan. 2,

7, 8,12,)
• Other writer recorded historical events
(Judges, I Samuel, II Chronicles, the
Gospels, Acts)
INSPIRATION & HISTORY

• Whether the information came from

personal observation, oral or written
sources, or direct revelation, it all came to
the writer through the Holy Spirit’s
guidance.
• This guarantees the Bible’s trustworthiness.
 AUTHORITY:
CLAIMS OF THE SCRIPTURES

• The writer testifies that their message

come directly from God. they claimed it to
be the “word of the Lord”
INSPIRATION & ACCURACY

• The Bible has been preserved with

amazing, even miraculous, accuracy.
• Comparison of the dead sea scroll with
later manuscripts of the OT demonstrates
the carefulness with which it was
transmitted.
INSPIRATION (METHODS)

“And he said, hear now my words: If there

be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make
myself known unto him in a vision, and will
speak unto him in a dream.”
-Numbers 12:6
INSPIRATION (METHODS)

“Surely the Lord God will do nothing,

but he reveal his secret unto his servants
the prophets.”
-Amos 3:7
 AUTHORITY:
JESUS AND THE SCRIPTURES

• Throughout His ministry, Jesus stressed

the authority of the scriptures. He placed
the Bible above human traditions and
opinions.
• Jesus rebuked the Jews for setting aside
the authority of the scriptures.
 AUTHORITY:
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE SCRIPTURES

• Without the Holy Spirit’s illumination of

our minds, we could never correctly
understand the Bible or even acknowledge
it as God’s authoritative will to our lives.
“No one can say that Jesus is Lord except
by the Holy Spirit.”
-I Corinthians 12:3
THE SCRIPTURE VS SCIENCE?

• Contradiction between the scripture and

science are frequently the result of
speculation.
 “An imperfect comprehension of either
science or revelation... but rightly
understood, they are in perfect harmony.”
-Patriarch & Prophets p.114
PROOFS THAT THE BIBLE IS GOD’S WORD

1. Cohesive Unity
2. Inspired by God
3. Evidence from Archeology
EBLA TABLETS
 EBLA TABLETS

• 15,000 clay tablets

• 2,500 BC
 EBLA TABLETS

THE TABLETS CONTAINS

• Creation
• The universal flood
• Bible names and places(Esau, Abraham, Israel,
Sinai and Jerusalem)
• Two “sin cities” of Sodom and Gomorra
DINOSAURS?
• It verifies the Bible
• It verifies the universal
flood story
• It disproves evolution
 “Because of this co-occurrence of men
and dinosaurs…
Evolution would be vanquished.”
(In Quest of the African Dinosaur, p.261)
Fairy
Tale
EVOLUTION!

40 million years…
 How do we know that the
Bible hasn’t been changed?
1947
 “Thy word is true
from the beginning.”
-Psalm 119:160
 EVIDENCE OF ARCHEOLOGY

Sir Frederic Kenyon (1863- 1952)

“The Christian can take the whole Bible in

his hand and say without fear or
hesitation that he holds in his hands the true
Word of God, handed down without
essential loss from generation to generation
throughout the centuries.”
-Sir Frederic Kenyon
 EVIDENCE OF CREATION

Nelson Glueck (1900-1971)

“It may be stated categorically that

no archeological discovery has ever
controverted the Bible.”
-Nelson Glueck
 “Remember the former things of old:
for I am God, and there is none else;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
“Declaring the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times the things that are
not yet done, saying, My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all My pleasure.”
-Isaiah 46:9-10
 BENEFITS OF READING AND STUDYING
THE WORD OF GOD
• You will learn to live a life of privilege and worth (Jn.10:10)
• Your faith will be strengthened (Phil.4:13)
• Your life will be full joy (Jn.15:9-11)
• You will receive confidence in facing life’s trials and
temptations (Jn.16:33)
• You will find wisdom in God’s word (Jas.1:2-6)
• You will experience changes in your life (Jn.3:3-8)
 BENEFITS OF READING AND STUDYING
THE WORD OF GOD

• You will discover that your prayers were answered (Jn.15:7)

• You will be warned from mistakes and evils (Ps.119:11)
• You will experience the true meaning of a prosperity (Jn.10:10)
• You will understand hope (Rom.15:4)
• You will experience freedom (Jn.8:32)
• You will choose to obey God (Jn.14:15; I Jn.2:1)
 BENEFITS OF READING AND STUDYING
THE WORD OF GOD

• You will choose to walk closely to God (Mic. 6:8)

• You will choose a different approach to life (Rom.12:1-2)
• You will grow spiritually (II Pet.3:18)
• You will find obedience to God as awe-inspiring (Ps.40:8)
• You will hear the voice of God (Jos. 3:9)
• You will find virtuosity and humility attractive (Phil. 2:13)
 BENEFITS OF HAVING SPIRITUAL
RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
(Kabit-Zinn, 2003; Shapiro & Walsh, 2007)

ü Improved physical health, including blood pressure

ü Healthier lifestyles and less risky behavior
ü Improved coping ability
ü Less depression
 BENEFITS OF HAVING SPIRITUAL
RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
(Kabit-Zinn, 2003; Shapiro & Walsh, 2007)

ü Faster healing
ü Lower levels of bereavement after the
death of a loved one
ü A decrease in fear of death
ü Higher school achievement
 GROUP DISCUSSION

• Do you have a personal Bible, how did you acquired a

copy?
• How often do you spend time in reading your Bible? Do
you enjoy it?
• Do you think the knowledge you learn from Bible reading
are important? How does it influence your life?

• KINDLY CLOSE THE DISCUSSION IN PRAYER