Grudem on Scripture’s Clarity

From Todd Pruitt:

The Bible is not locked away in esoteric mystery as theological liberals or postmoderns would have us believe. God gave us His Word (yes, I believe it is HIS Word) not to confuse or confound us but to reveal Himself to us. Belief in the clarity or perspicuity of Scripture is often miscast by the pomo/emergent/liberal crowd as arrogant. They assure us that their approach of not really knowing what the Bible means is a “humble apologetic.” But I wonder. Is it truly humble to say of God’s carefully crafted and fully inspired Word, “Who can truly know what it means?”

It leaves me wondering if the opposition to the Bible’sperspicuity has more to do with discomfort over what Scripture has made clear than it is about Scripture being truly indecipherable.

One of the great achievements of the Protestant Reformation was that the common man should have access to the Scriptures because much of what the Bible says is readily understood by the common man. Surely this does not mean that formal training is of no use. Indeed, formal training in the biblical languages, hermeneutics, and theology are extremely helpful in deepening one’s understanding of Scripture. I am deeply grateful for the fact that I was able to be formally trained in seminary. But the common layperson is not dependent upon those who are formally trained to understand those things in the Bible that pertain to salvation and godliness.

The latest issue of Themelios carries a helpful article by Wayne Grudem on Scripture’s clarity. Among the points that Dr. Grudem makes are the following qualifications:

1. Scripture affirms that it is able to be understood but not all at once.

2. Scripture affirms that it is able to be understood but not without effort.

3. Scripture affirms that it is able to be understood but not without ordinary means.

4. Scripture affirms that it is able to be understood but not without the reader’s willingness to obey it.

5. Scripture affirms that it is able to be understood but not without the help of the Holy Spirit.

6. Scripture affirms that it is able to be understood but not without human understanding.

7. Scripture affirms that it is able to be understood but never completely.

Read the entire article HERE.

Filed under: Biblical interpretation, Evangelical, Hermeneutics, Holy Spirit, The Bible, The word of God, Wayne Grudem

Audio and Video for Eschatology Conversation

This is an excellent example of mature debate on a fascinating and difficult subject. I particularly appreciate the effort of the participants to affirm each other and keep the gospel as the central priority. My amillennial views remain intact! Excellent viewing.

From Desiring God:

You can now listen to or watch “An Evening of Eschatology,” a conversation about the end times with John Piper, Doug Wilson, Sam Storms, and Jim Hamilton.

You can also read John Piper’s thoughts on this event for some introduction to the issues being discussed.

Filed under: Amillennialism, Biblical exegesis, Biblical interpretation, Doctrine, Eschatology, John Piper, Sam Storms

Does the Bible fit together?

Dr. Vern Poythress of Westminster Theological Seminary on the unity of the Bible:

How does the Bible as a whole fit together? The events recorded in the Bible took place over a span of thousands of years and in several different cultural settings. What is their unifying thread?One unifying thread in the Bible is its divine authorship. Every book of the Bible is God’s word. The events recorded in the Bible are there because God wanted them recorded, and he had them recorded with his people and their instruction in mind: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4).The Bible also makes it clear that God has a unified plan for all of history. His ultimate purpose, “a plan for the fullness of time,” is “to unite all things in him [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph. 1:10), “to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:12). God had this plan even from the beginning: “remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’ ” (Isa. 46:9–10). “When the fullness of time had come,” when the moment was appropriate in God’s plan, “God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Gal. 4:4–5).The work of Christ on earth, and especially his crucifixion and resurrection, is the climax of history; it is the great turning point at which God actually accomplished the salvation toward which history had been moving throughout the OT. The present era looks back on Christ’s completed work but also looks forward to the consummation of his work when Christ will come again and when there will appear “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13; see Rev. 21:1–22:5).

(HT: Todd Pruitt)

Filed under: Biblical interpretation, Evangelical, Gospel-centred, Jesus Christ, Salvation History, Substitutionary Atonement, The Bible, The Cross, The Gospel, The word of God

Romans: A Rubik’s Cube or Fire Alarm?

“The message of Romans is not just apostolic instruction: it is prophetic outcry and warning. The problem is that it comes dressed in such symmetry, profundity, and intellectual elegance. It has become a Rubik’s Cube for erstwhile expositors instead of a fire alarm to rouse God’s people from their lethargy and shallowness.”

– Robert W. Yarbrough, “The Theology of Romans in Future Tense,” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 11:3 (2007): 57.

(HT: Andy Naselli)

Filed under: Biblical interpretation, Doctrine, Evangelical, The Bible, The word of God

Preaching the Bible

I’m grateful to Adrian Reynolds‘ comments on the Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching,  “…one of the chief editors, Haddon Robinson sets out why we preach the Bible and the convictions of a Bible preacher… helpful stuff for every preacher to be reminded of:

(1) The Bible is the Word of God. Augustine: “When the Bible speaks, God speaks”
(2) The entire Bible is the Word of God. Ephesians and Esther.
(3) The Bible is self authenticating. If people are exposed to the Scriptures regularly “then they do not need arguments about the veracity of Scripture”
(4) This leads to a “thus saith the Lord” approach to preaching – what I call prophetic preaching (which is what all good preaching is).
(5) The student of the Bible must try to get at the intent of the writer. “The Bible cannot mean what it has not meant.”
(6) The Bible is a book about God. It has lots of good advice about marriage, sex and work – but first and foremost “it is a book about who God is and what God thinks and wills.”
(7) We don’t make the Bible relevant, we show its relevance.”

Filed under: Attributes of God, Biblical exposition, Biblical interpretation, Doctrine, Evangelical, Preaching, The Bible, The Church, The word of God