Thus Saith the Lord

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Thus Saith the Lord
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Thus Saith the Lord

• We believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of
  God, complete and without error in the original
  autographs.
• What do we mean by inspired? importance of
  Symantics

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What does Inspired Mean?

• Often the word inspired is used denote pieces of
  great art or great literature. It challenges
  the human heart to reach new heights.
• This definition, however, does not make the Bible
  unique.
• The same could be said of the poems of Robert
  Frost, the plays of Shakespeare, the music of
  Beethoven and the art of Monet
• Others use the word inspired to denote that the
  Bible contains the Word of Godalong with several
  myths, legends. The part that I am inspired by
  is from God.

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What does the Bible say about itself?

• 2 Timothy 316 All scripture is given by
  inspiration of God, and is profitable for
  doctrine, for reproof, for correction , for
  instruction in righteousness
• Greek word for inspiration is theopneustos
  theh-op-nyoo-stos divinely breathed in
• Greek word of all pas means all, any, every,
  the whole, always
• The scripture does not allow you to pick and
  choose what is inspirational and what is not.

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How detailed is it inspired?

• In Galatians 316 Paul cites Genesis 1315 and
  178 by saying Now to Abraham and his seed were
  the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds,
  as of many but as of one, And to thy seed which
  is Christ.
• Paul makes his entire argument based on the
  inspiration of the word seed being plural and
  not singular.

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What is considered Scripture?

• Pauls use of the word scripture does not just
  refer to the Old Testament. In 1 Timothy 518
  Pauls says For the scripture saith, though shalt
  not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn.
  And, the labourer is worthy of his reward --
  quoting both Deut 254 and Luke 107

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What is considered Scripture?

• 2 Peter 3 15, 16 And account that the
  longsuffering of our Lord is salvation even as
  our beloved brother Paul also according to the
  wisdom given unto him hath written unto you As
  also in all his epistles, speaking in them of
  these things in which are some things hard to be
  understood, which they that are unlearned and
  unstable wrest, as they do also the other
  scriptures, unto their own destruction.

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Gods words or Mans words

• 2 Peter 120-21 Knowing this first, that no
  prophecy of the scripture is of any private
  interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old
  time by the will of man but by holy men of God
  spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost.
• God used different personalities and different
  literary styles but the message is Gods

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Gods words or Mans words

• 2 Samuel 23 1, 2 Now these be the last words of
  David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man
  who was raised up on high, the anointed of the
  God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel,
  said, The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his
  word was in my tongue.

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Circular Reasoning

• We did not start by assuming the Bible was the
  Word of God but rather established the historical
  reliability of the scriptures through by applying
  historical criticism (Bibliographical, Internal
  Evidence, External Evidence)
• Once establishing the historical accuracy of the
  Bible we then focused on the Person of Jesus
  Christ establishing that he claimed to be the
  Christ, the Son of the living God

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Testimony of Jesus

• His claims where proven out through his physical
  Resurrection. (The miracle that authenticates the
  message.)
• If he is indeed God then he would speaks with
  authority on all matters.
• It was he that who confirmed the inspiration of
  the and canonization of the Hebrew scriptures
• It is he who promised that the Holy Spirit would
  direct the apostles into all truth (John
  1613)

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Jesus Testimony of the O.T.

• Matthew 517-18 Think not that I am come to
  destroy the law, or the prophets I am not come
  to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto
  you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
  tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till
  all be fulfilled. (Jotsmallest Hebrew letter
  which looks like an apostrophe, tittle, a very
  small extension or protrusion on several Hebrew
  letters, which distinguish these letters from
  similar ones)

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Jesus Testimony of the O.T.

• John 1035 The scripture cannot be broken
• Jesus used the term it is written or it was
  written 33 times in the Gospels

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Regarding the scriptures to come

• John 14 26, But the Comforter, which is the
  Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name,
  he shall teach you all things, and bring all
  things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have
  said unto you.
• John 1612-13 I have yet many things to say unto
  you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when
  he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide
  you into all truth for he shall not speak of
  himself but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall
  he speak and he will shew you things to come.

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Prophesy used to Authenticate the Message

• Isaiah 4121-23
• Produce your cause, saith the LORD bring forth
  your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let
  them bring them forth, and shew us what shall
  happen let them shew the former things, what
  they be, that we may consider them, and know the
  latter end of them or declare us things for to
  come. Shew the things that are to come hereafter,
  that we may know that ye are gods

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Messianic Prophesies

• Over 300 prophesies regarding the coming of
  Christ including the exact time of his triumphal
  entry into Jerusalem

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Non-Messianic Prophesies

• Isaiah 4428 that saith of Cyrus, He is my
  shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure even
  saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built and to
  the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
• This was written around 700 B.C. naming Cyrus as
  the king who will authorize the rebuilding of the
  temple

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Non-Messianic Prophesies

• At the time of this writing the 1st temple still
  existed. It was not until more then 100 years
  later, in 586 B.C., that Nebuchadnezzar would
  destroy Jerusalem.
• In 539 B.C. the Persians conquered Jerusalem and
  a Persian king named Cyrus gave the decree to
  rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem

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City of Tyre

• Ezekiel 26 7-9
• Ezekiel 26 12-14
• Nebuchadnezzar will destroy the mainland city of
  Tyre
• Debris will be thrown into the water
• make thee like the top of a Rock
• Fisherman will spread nets over the site

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City of Tyre

• After a 13 year siege 585 -573 B.C. Tyre made
  terms and with Nebuchadnezzar and surrendered the
  city. When Nebuchadnezzar broke the city gates
  down he found the city almost empty.
• Most of the inhabitants had been moved by ship to
  an island on-half mile off the coast and
  fortified a city there.
• The mainland city was destroyed in 573
  (prediction 1) but the city of Tyre on the
  island remain a powerful city.

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City of Tyre

• In his war with the Persians Alexander the Great
  after defeating Darius II at the Battle of Issus
  marched southward toward Egypt asking the
  Phoenician cities to deny the use of their ports
  to the Persian fleet. (322 B.C.)
• The citizens of Tyre refused to do so Alexander
  laid siege and destroyed the mainland city and
  used the debris of the city to begin the building
  of a causeway to the island (prediction 2).
• After the causeway was completed Alexander the
  Great destroyed the city killed 8000 of the
  inhabitants and sold another 30,000 into
  slavery.

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Tyre

• The Secular historian Philip Myers writes that
  Alexander the Greatreduced Tyre to ruins.
  She recovered in a measure from this blow, but
  never regained the place she had previously held
  in the world. The larger part of the site of the
  once great city is now bare as the top of a rock
  (prediction 3) a place where the fishermen
  that still frequent the spot spread their nets to
  dry (prediction 4)

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Prophesies referring to other Cities

• Sidon (Ezekiel 2822-23)
• Petra and Edom (Isaiah 3413, Jeremiah 4918,
  Ezekiel 2514, Isaiah 3410)

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Rise of Empires

• Rise of Nations (Daniel 236-42)
• Babylon (Gold) -- head
• Medo-Persia (silver) chest, arms
• Greece (Bronze) stomach thighs
• Rome (Iron) -- legs
• Rome divided (clay, iron) -- feet

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A Prophesy for Today

• Isaiah 1111 And it shall come to pass in that
  day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the
  second time to recover the remnant of his people,
  which shall be left, from Assyria, and from
  Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from
  Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from
  the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an
  ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the
  outcasts of Israel, and gather together the
  dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the
  earth.

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From the four Corners of the Earth

• Assyria (Syria, Iraq)
• Egypt
• Pathros (upper Egypt)
• Cush (Ethiopia, Somolia)
• Elam, Iran
• Shinar (Babylon) Iraq
• Hamath (Syria)
• Islands of the Mediterranean (Cyprus)
• From the four corners of the earth

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What about Non Biblical Prophecies?

• Deuteronomy 18 20-22 But the prophet, which
  shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I
  have not commanded him to speak, or that shall
  speak in the name of other gods, even that
  prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine
  heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD
  hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the
  name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor
  come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD
  hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it
  presumptuously thou shalt not be afraid of him.

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What about Non Biblical Prophecies?

• Nostradamus
• Other Religions
• Psychics
• Charismatic / Pentecostal Prophesy

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Inerrancy without error

• Inerrancy simply means that when all the facts
  are known the scriptures will be seen without
  error in their original autographs.

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God cannot err

• John 1717 Sanctify them through thy truth thy
  word is truth.
• Titus 112 In hope of eternal life, which God,
  that cannot lie, promised before the world
  began
• Psalm 119160 Thy word is true from the
  beginning and every one of thy righteous
  judgments endureth for ever.

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Inerrancy of the scriptures based on the logic

• God cannot err
• The scriptures are from God
• The scriptures are inerrant

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Criticism of Inerrancy

• Claim Inerrancy is not taught in the Bible
• This is as incorrect as to say the concept of
  Trinity is not is the Bible. Yet we are taught
• There are three persons who are called God
  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
• There is only one God

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Criticism of Inerrancy

• Claim Inerrancy is a recent invention.
• B.B. Warfield at Princeton traces inerrancy to
  the late 1800s.
• Jack Rogers of Fuller trace it to Lutheran
  theologian Turretin just after the Reformation

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History of Inerrancy

• The doctrine of inerrancy, however, was clearly
  laid out by the early Church Fathers.
• Augustine (354-430) I have teamed to yield this
  respect and honor only to the canonical books of
  Scripture. Of these alone do I most firmly
  believe that the authors were completely free
  from error.
• Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Nothing false can
  underlie the literal sense of Scripture

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History of Inerrancy

• Martin Luther repeated many times The Scriptures
  have never erred
• John Wesley Nay, if there be any mistakes in the
  Bible there my as well be a thousand. If there
  is one falsehood in that book it did not come
  from the God of truth

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Limited Scope Claim

• Assumes that the inspiration covers only
  doctrinal or moral areas of Scripture but not
  necessarily the historical and scientific areas
• Does not distinguish between doctrinal and
  historical matters

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Limited Scope Claim

• In many teachings there is no way to separate the
  historical from the spiritual. How can one
  separate the spiritual and the historical in the
  cross or the resurrection? Historical events that
  have spiritual repercussions.
• John 312, If I have told you earthy things, and
  ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell
  you of heavenly things.

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Claim There are errors in the Bible

• Matthew 1240 For as Jonas was three days and
  three nights in the whale's belly so shall the
  Son of man be three days and three nights in the
  heart of the earth.
• Jewish expression onan meaning any part of any
  day or night. 3 onans meaning some part of 3
  days

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Contradiction about Pauls Conversion?

• Acts 97 The men which journeyed with him stood
  speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man
• Acts 229 And they that were with me saw indeed
  the light, and were afraid but they heard not
  the voice of him that spake me.

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Contradiction about Pauls Conversion?

• This is a translational issue of the verb to
  hear which is not the same in both accounts.
• The way it is used in 97 indicates that there
  was sound but not understanding. (verb followed
  by a genitive)
• The way it is used in 229 means that they could
  not understand the sound but does not indicate
  that they did not hear the sound. (verb followed
  by accusative)

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Error in King Ahaziahs age

• 2 Chronicles 222Forty and two years old was
  Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned
  one year in Jerusalem.
• 2 Kings 826Two and twenty years old was
  Ahaziah when he began to reign and he reigned
  one year in Jerusalem.

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Concern with the Nonexistent Originals

• The inerrancy claim is based on the original
  autographs. Since the original manuscripts are
  not existent today there is no way to determine
  what errors there may be in the originals
• The Bibliographical Evidence shows that we do
  have highly accurate copies (Over 25,000
  manuscripts in which to compare!)

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Bibliographical Evidence

• There is very little when comparing the
  manuscripts that would be considered in error
  based on copy mistakes and no church doctrines
  are in jeopardy over the discrepancies.
• Although the Inerrancy Doctrine does apply to the
  original manuscripts the vast amount of
  Bibliographical evidence that we have point to
  there being very little in the way of
  discrepancies introduced through the transmission
  and translation of the Bible.

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Conclusions

• The Bible is very clear on its claim of itself 2
  Timothy 316
• Often signs (prophesy and miracles) were used
  to authenticate the text as being the Word of God
• The testimony of Jesus authenticates the Old
  Testament (John 1035) and his promise of the
  coming of Holy Spirit ensured the inspiration of
  the New Testament.
• How do we know the Church Fathers Choose the
  right scriptures.