Haggai: Message, Where Christ is found

Zerubbabel displays a plan of Jerusalem to Cyrus the Great (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Key Message: THE TEMPLE: REBUILD IT! Haggai 1:8, 14; 1 Corinthians 15:58. Get your priorities in line, Haggai says, it is time to “build the house” for God’s pleasure and glory. He encouraged them through God’s promises. (1) God promised success through His presence (Hag. 1:13-14; 2:4-5); (2) He promised to reward their work and dedication to Him with peace (Hag. 2:6-9) and blessing (Hag. 2:18-19); (3) God promised to restore David’s throne on earth through a descendant of Zerubbabel (Hag. 2:20-23). Ezra 6:14 says that Haggai saw the successful achievement of his ministry in the completion of the post-exilic Temple. Haggai and James have much in common: a partnership of faith and works.

Where Christ is found:

THE DESIRED OF ALL NATIONS: Haggai says the Lord will shake Creation and the nations and the One Desired of all nations will come. Then they will come to worship at the New Temple filled with God’s Glory (Hag. 2:6-7). In Luke 2:32, Simeon saw the baby Jesus at His dedication at this same Temple. He called Him a Light for the Gentile nations and for the glory of Israel. Haggai saw a clear vision of Revelation 7:9; 21:22, the Lord Almighty and the Lamb. Our God is a missionary God who fulfills all His promises.

Haggai - Author, Location, Date

Haggai (12thC A.D.), Saint Mark's Basilica, Venice, Italy)

Haggai shows us Jesus Christ, Desire of the Nations

Author: Haggai which means, “My Feast” or “On the Feast.” Haggai might have been born to Godly parents on a feast day in Exile in Babylonia and came to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel in 538 BC (2 Chron. 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4). Haggai is mentioned in Ezra 5:1-2; 6:14 as one of two prophets who encouraged the remnant from Exile to rebuild the Temple in spite of the difficulties. He exalted the LORD instead of himself. He cheered and encouraged, not just rebuked. He practiced what he preached. Haggai and the younger prophet Zechariah worked at the same time. Zechariah was the visionary. Haggai was practical get-the-job-done. These two kinds of people need to walk together.

Seven things sin does to us

Isaiah 64:5-7 teaches several things about the nature of sin and the way it affects us. 

The modern critic says, “How can God judge so brutally? How can he trample men like grapes?” 

But Isaiah counters, “How can we be saved?” These verses contain a complete description of the impact of sin on human beings.

First, sin arouses the anger of God and directs it against us (Isaiah 64:5). "You are indeed angry, . . . And we need to be saved."

Second, sin is habit-forming: We continue to sin against God’s ways (Isaiah 64:5). "for we have sinned—/ In these ways we continue"

Third, sin is defiling, making it impossible for us to approach Him (Isaiah 64:6, 7). "But we are all like an unclean thing, . . . For You have hidden Your face from us"

Fourth, sin so corrupts our character that even the best we can do is fouled by base motives (Isaiah 64:6). "And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;"

Fifth, sin is destructive, shriveling us up from within and creating circumstances that sweep us away (Isaiah 64:6). "We all fade as a leaf, / And our iniquities, like the wind, / Have taken us away."

Sixth, sin alienates us from God, creating a distaste for the Lord that keeps us from calling on His name (Isaiah 64:7). "And there is no one who calls on Your name, / Who stirs himself up to take hold of You"

Seventh, sin causes God to hide His face from us and to judge us (Isaiah 64:7).  "For You have hidden Your face from us, / And have consumed us because of our iniquities."

In view of all that sin has done to us, it is no wonder Isaiah cries out, “How then can we be saved?” 

The answer is in Isaiah 64:8. Check it out.

Chromosome study traces all men to man who lived 135,000 years ago

Noah. Mosaic in Basilica di San Marco, Venice (Wikipedia)

VIDEO: Chromosome Study Traces All Men To a Man Who Lived 135,000 Years Ago

Was he Adam or Noah?
Source: HuffPost Live

Finishing Well

Caleb to Joshua: Give me my mountain

Our challenge is to finish well. Joshua and Caleb did. They were faithful even though the entire Israelite assembly was swayed by the majority of a committee. 

They were the only two of twelve who had the faith that God could take the Promised Land from the giants. Actually, God had already given it to them. They only needed in faith to put the soles of their feet on the land of promises and claim it. 

They believed God could do it. The people failed, and Joshua and Caleb had to wait forty years to see the fulfillment of God's promises.

• Caleb was of the tribe of Judah (which means praise) (Num 13:6; Josh 15:13).

• He was a man of faith and vision (Num 13:30).

• He grieved over the people’s unbelief (Num 14:6).

• Caleb survived the desert to enter the land of promise (Num 14:30; 26:65; Deut 1:36).

• Caleb followed God with a whole-hearted spirit that God blessed  (Num 14:24; 32:12; Deut 1:36; Josh 14:14).

• He fought for what God said was his and drove out giants who contested his promised inheritance (Judg 1:20).

• He saw the fulfillment of all God’s promises to him (Deut 1:36).

• And Caleb was able to give good gifts to his children (Josh. 15:18-19).

At age 80, Caleb asked Joshua to give him his mountain to subdue, his inheritance, and five years later at age 85, he completed the conquest of his lifetime. Ask God to give you a Caleb vision.

The Promise of a Seed

We see in Galatians 3:16, that Paul understood the promise of a Seed was the focus of the Covenant. That singular seed, Paul said, was Christ. But Paul's idea was not original with him. The Seed had been promised from the time of the Fall in the Garden.

Nothing but the Blood of Jesus

Revelation 12:11

From the book of Deuteronomy we hear the truth, “The life is in the blood” (Deut. 12:23). Across the centuries of the church, we have held precious the songs about the Blood of Jesus. The Blood of Jesus stands as evidence of how much we are loved. When we truly come to grips with our unworthiness to take the sinless Sacrifice of our Lord as our atonement, we are overcome as we sing with the hymn writer, “O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow.”

What His Blood Does

• By His Blood Jesus atoned for my sin (Lev 17:11; Rom 3:25; 1 John 4:10)

• By His Blood, I am justified, acquitted of sin and guilt, and exonerated of God’s wrath and judgment (Rom 5:9)

• By His Blood I am forgiven once for all. My guilt is legally remitted (Heb 9:22, 25)

• By His Blood even our sins committed in ignorance are availed (Heb 9:7)

• By His Blood I am redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to me from my forefathers (1 Peter 1:18-19)

• By His Blood sprinkled in the Most Holy Place, atonement is made for us (Lev 16:27)

• By His Blood our redemption and forgiveness were purchased from sin and death by God’s grace, and I forever belong to Him (Eph 1:7; 2:13; Matt 26:28; Col 1:14; Rev 5:9; Acts 20:28)

• By His Blood we have a testimony that the death angel has passed over us (Exod. 12:13, 23)

• By His Blood we have abundant grace and peace  through its cleansing and sanctifying work (1 Peter 1:2; Heb 13:12)

• By His Blood I now have full salvation and reconciliation with joy in Him (Rom 5:10-11)

• By His Blood we are reconciled to God as all His righteous requirements of us are satisfied (Col 1:20)

• By His Blood I have right standing before God as a priest in His Kingdom (1 John 1:7; Rev 1:5-6; 7:14)

• By His Blood we have an unassailable position in our salvation (1 Cor.10:16; John 10:28-29)

• By His Blood I stand clean before God and thankful for his irrevocable covenant (Heb 9:14-15, 24; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25)

• By His Blood the eternal covenant of Jesus binds to me all the transforming power and pleasure of God (Heb 13:20-21)

• By His Blood we have confidence to enter in and draw near to God in full assurance that there is no ground of accusation (Heb. 10:19-22; Eph 2:13)

• By His Blood we have overcoming power over the enemy, and it prevails over the gates of hell (Rev 12:11; Matt 16:18)

• By His Blood we have power over the sins, habits, and hurts of this life (Zech 9:11-12)

• By His Blood Jesus destroyed the works of the devil, and it stands effective between me and the enemy (Heb 2:14)

• By His Blood we celebrate our Redeemer (Matt. 26:28)

Overcome with accusations? Stand on Heb. 9:14; Rev. 12:10-11. Overwhelmed at the warfare? Pray Rev 12:11; 19:11-16. Overtaken by sin and temptation? Run to Psalm 40:12-13; 1 John 1:9. Find your power and your safety in the Blood of the Lamb! It is the confession of overcomers (Rev. 12:11).

Wesley Duewel, the writer on prayer, says the Blood is “the greatest, most powerful, most unanswerable plea of all. There is no more prevailing argument we can bring before God than the sufferings, blood, and death of His Son. We have no merit of our own. We do not prevail in prayer by techniques or past experience. It is only through the blood of Jesus."

Pray till you have assurance of God’s will. Pray till you have been given by the Spirit a vision of what God longs to do, needs to do, wants to do. Pray till you are gripped by the authority of the name of Jesus. Then [call on the covenantal power of] the blood of Jesus. Call on them [the Name and the Blood], stake your all on them, and use them to the glory of God and the routing of Satan.” [1]

Read the truth above. Pray the truths above. Declare the freedom of the truth above.

“There is power, power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb.”

Adapted from Sylvia Gunter, Prayer Essentials for Living in His Presence vol. 1 (Birmingham, AL: The Father's Business, 2000).

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[1]Wesley Duewel, Mighty Prevailing Prayer (Grand Rapids: Francis Asbury Press, 1990), 307.

Urban legends preachers tell

Trevin Wax does a good service by pointing out a few urban legends that preachers tell in the pulpit such as: (Full post here)

1. The “eye of the needle” refers to a gate outside Jerusalem where the camel had to crawl through.

2. The high priest tied a rope around his ankle so that others could drag him out of the Holy of Holies in case God struck him dead.

3. Scribes took baths, discarded their pens, washed their hands, etc. every time they wrote the name of God.

4. There was this saying among the sages: “May you be covered in your rabbi’s dust.”

5. Voltaire’s house is now owned by a Bible-printing publisher.

6. Gehenna was a burning trash dump outside Jerusalem.

7. NASA scientists have discovered a “missing day” which corresponds to the Joshua account of the sun standing still.

Here are a few others from the comments:

• The Secret Service doesn’t train its agents to recognize forged money, it only trains them on what the real thing looks like. The moral of the story is usually something like, “Don’t worry about false teaching; just focus on the truth.” Turns out it’s not true. Roger Olson says he once asked a Secret Service agent in charged of training bank tellers and the guy laughed at the thought (see Olson, The Story of Christian Theology, pp. 20-21).

• Men have one less rib than women because Eve was made from Adam’s rib. Ask a doctor.

• “Abba” in Aramaic means “daddy.” Although it was popularized by the late Joachim Jeremias and his following that the word was child-babble, “abba” is simply the Aramaic word for “father” used by children abd adults alike. If the New Testament authors thought it meant “daddy” they would have translated it “pappas” rather than “pater.”

• The Greek word that we translate as “power” is “dynamis” (pronounced DOO-na-mees) , which is where we get our English “dynamite”. So when Bible refers to the “power of the Holy Spirit” (or anything like that), what we learn is that the Holy Spirit is really the dynamite of God. The problem is obvious: they didn’t have dynamite in the first century. It’s just blatantly anachronistic.

The Outline Bible

Harold L. Wilmington's Outline Bible is a real help in looking at the Scriptures. I had noticed a copy of this book at the local Lifeway. My wife noticed my interest, and when birthday time rolled around I received one. Wilmington does a great job of digesting the Biblical material into an outline for Bible students and teachers. His best work is in the Gospels and Epistles, and he does a fairly good job with outlining the passages from Torah and the histories.

Since I have been preaching through Isaiah, I immediately looked at the outlines he had compiled for the chapters I had recently preached. His approach with the Prophets generally is to rework their messages by reordering them to fit his impressive powers of classification. While there is merit in trying to understand the prophet's message, as an inerrantist, I get a little uncomfortable with reordering Biblical passages for one's own classification. Context is king for understanding the theology and proper teaching of a passage, and when the text is severed from its context, there are red flags. Still, I don't think Dr. Wilmington would want to divorce content from context, and he might defend his work by saying he has classified the passage within its broad context.

Despite the slight differences in looking at the Prophets, I recommend that pastors, teachers, and Bible students take a look at the Outline Bible.

Strongholds in the Church: Control, religiosity, idolatry, pride

1.      Pride. This is a cunning enemy. It leads us to boast of the past, be consumed with appearances, and exalt our buildings and programs. The boastful American individualist pride has infiltrated the churches. God does not visit arrogance (Isaiah 57:15). Pride always leads us away from bowing our knees and repenting (Isaiah 55:6-7). Lack of repentance deadens our ears for hearing from God (Isaiah 6:9-10). We cannot honor pride, because He resists the proud (Proverbs 3:34).

2.      Religiosity. Religious pride was the downfall of the Pharisee who prayed to himself, “I thank you that I am not like other men” (Luke 18:11). Often our good-sounding prayers are simply a platform to puff ourselves up. Self-righteousness is religious snobbery. Having every detail of theology right is less important than a humble heart. Religious tradition, self-righteousness, and legalism are horrible masters that leave you shriveled with nothing but a critical spirit.

3.      Idolatry. Desiring to be worshiped was the downfall of Satan, and when churches or church structures or church leadership desire the worship that is God’s alone, we have a problem. Satan dresses up his most alluring temptations as worship of “good things.” We make idols of our church, our denomination, our success, our accomplishments, our past, our image, or our reputation. We might find ourselves paying homage to great programs, attendance or budget numbers, our superior theological system, our tradition, our seminary degrees, even our pastor. This is rebellion to God’s clear command to have no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:3). What does a church place its faith in? The object of a church’s faith is its god. We need to pray, “Lord, remove every sacred cow we have danced around.” Would you be so bold as to pray, “Ruin everything that is not of you”? Are you willing to let go of everything that is not of Christ Jesus?

4.      Control. Control and power by any other spirit than the Holy Spirit is serious evil, even if it wears a suit and a smiling church face. Control can hide behind a doctrine of male superiority (not male leadership), or it can be matriarchal domination. Control can be obvious and authoritarian or it can be subtle and “lovingly” manipulative. Our churches have borrowed too much from politics and advertising with persuasion and manipulation. Churches are not exempt from the corrupting lust for power. When we are unwilling to let the Lord be the Lord (i.e., in charge), we put ourselves in His place, and that is a serious offense to God (Isaiah 42:8). God does not take lightly the act of usurping his ownership, authority, glory, and praise in His church or our lives. Control leads to a spirit of separation and that leads to division and that leads to defeat.

God calls us to repent (Psalm 51:4). He wants us to love Him with everything we are (Matthew 22:37-38), with all our heart (Psalm 119:2) and nothing else to get in the way.

What the Church is . . .

Previously: What the Church is Not . . . and an introduction to The Church.

The church is primarily a local assembly. It is a gathered group of baptized believers in a certain place who profess faith in Jesus and His atoning work for their salvation from sin (Acts 2:41, 47; 11:20-26; 18:8-11). It is not headquartered in Nashville, TN, or Richmond, VA. The church should be self-governing, self-supporting and self-propagating assemblies of believers.

The church must be a gospel assembly. Proclaiming the gospel is essential to our being. When a church stops doing that, it ceases to be a church. In mission, the church bears witness to the gospel at home (1 Thess. 1:8) and abroad (Acts 8:4; Phil. 4:10-18). In practice, the church must recognize the Lord’s presence (Matt. 18:20), assemble regularly to worship God (Acts 2:47; 13:2; Heb. 10:25), participate in the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:23-26), fellowship together in the study of God’s Word and in prayer (Acts 2:42; 4:23-31), teach new converts (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 16:5; 18:11).

The church is a Holy Spirit-empowered assembly. Under the direction and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, believers in the church should proclaim the Word of God, exercise their spiritual gifts for the edification of one another (Acts 9:31; 13:1; 1 Cor. 12:1-31; 14:23-26), do good works (Acts 11:27-30; Gal. 6:10; Rev. 2:5), and exercise corrective discipline when this is needed (Matt. 18:15-20; 1 Cor. 5:4-5). Augustine said that what the soul is to the body the Spirit is to the churches.

The church is by nature a living and growing assembly. It is not cold and dead. It is growing and vital. It is growing deeper (in discipleship in the Word) and wider (in outreach and people). It is a church where the congregation is leading people to Christ. Shepherds don’t produce sheep. Sheep produce sheep! If a church is not developing and growing, something is wrong somewhere. Numbers are overemphasized in our churches, but we should see increases in Christlikeness and people coming to Christ. Our goal is not to seek growth, but to seek Christ.

The church is God’s organized, purposeful assembly. The organized church is in agreement in major doctrine, policy, and practice (Acts 2:46; Eph. 4:1-6) and is organized with NT church officers – pastor(s) and deacons (Phil. 1:1). We are not free to organize as we want. God has set his order in his Word. Also, it is not a matter for one (a bishop) or a few individuals (ruling elders) to decide, but it is a corporate commitment to organize and follow Christ’s purposes. Messier? Yes. Slower? Yes. But it is attentive to the priesthood of the believer and principles of congregational government.

The church is an expectant assembly. The local church must recognize that it is not the fullness and completion of Christ’s plans. It must live in expectation of Jesus’ imminent return (1 Thess. 1:10; Phil. 3:20; Titus 2:13; 1 Peter 1:3-4; 1 John 3:2-3) and their translation to heaven (1 Thess. 4:13-17).

Sources: On Sunday nights we have been studying the doctrine of the church (ecclesiology) from a Southern Baptist perspective. I have been drawing heavily from John Hammett's Theology III notes and his book, Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches as well as David Hogg's Church History notes, both of them from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary as well as notes on the historical development of the Christian movement from Fuller Seminary's Paul Pierson, and several church history and biography books on my shelf.

Praise and Thanksgiving

Children singing and playing music, illustration of Psalm 150 (Laudate Dominum). Panel decorating the cantoria (singers' gallery), a balcony for the 1438' organ of the Duomo. Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence, Italy. Marble. (Wikipedia)

Isaiah 12:1-6: (1) Praise. (2) Give thanks, call on his name. (3) Sing. Note the missionary nature of this passage related to praise. Praise points out the person, work, and excellence of God (Psalm 48:1; 50:23; 53:6; 148:13; 149:3; Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-14).

With hearts and mouths: Praise is our work as believer priests (1 Peter 2:9) who praise God from our whole, cleansed hearts (Psalm 108:1; 111:1; 119:7; Isaiah 61:11), and out of the depths of our whole being (Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, 31). We praise him with our mouths (Psalm 145:21), with singing lips (Psalm 63:5; Ezra 3:11), with shouts of joy (Luke 19:37), and instruments (Psalm 9:11; 33:2; 98:6; 71:22; 147:7; 149:3; 150:4, 5).

Sound theology leads to great doxology (praise): Romans 11:33-36. No remedy is more effective for a cold heart than the privilege of praise and thanksgiving. Charles Spurgeon said he praised the Lord at two times – when he felt like it and when he didn’t.

The first instance of praise in the Bible is Genesis 14:20. It prefigures Christ and prophesies the spiritual defeat of his enemies. The last instance of praise in the Bible is Revelation 19:1-7. It celebrates Christ and praises him as the victorious Judge and Ruler.

Praise and God’s Presence

• He inhabits praise: Psalm 22:3
• Praise gives access into His presence: Psalm 100:4
• Praise prepares the way of the Lord: Psalm 50:23

Praise and Spiritual Warfare

• God releases power to defeat His enemies: 2 Chronicles 20:20-22
• Praise silences the enemy: Psalm 8:1-2
• Praise executes written judgments against spiritual rulers: Psalm 149:6-9
• There is healing power in praise: Isaiah 61:3

Do you feel spiritually dry, cold, or at a stalemate? Praise! Are you under a heavy cloud? Praise! Are you being squeezed by stress and demands? Praise! Are you under attack? Praise! God’s lovingkindness has not forsaken you. Psalm 63:3-5. Through the miracle of praise God will supply your need (Numbers 21:17).

Sit before the Lord and ask Him how He would like for you to tell Him that there is none like Him, that you love him more dearly than anyone else on earth, that you prize him above all other things in this world, that you are eternally grateful for all He has done for you. Are you under a heavy cloud?

Christ's witness to Biblical inerrancy

Continued from: Biblical inerrancy in church history

Christ’s witness to the Scriptures is plain. Jesus saw God as the source of Scripture and the Holy Spirit as the author (Matt 15:4 “God said”; 22:43).

Jesus emphasized the importance of every word having divine authority (Matt 5:18; Mark 12:24-27: “I am the God of Abraham”; Luke 16:17: “It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law”).

Jesus believed the Scriptures must be fulfilled because God cannot lie (Matt 26:52-54; Luke 24:44; John 10:35).

Jesus placed himself under the Bible’s authority (Matt 4:4, 7, 10; Luke 24:25-26).[1] Christ gave full acceptance to the Old Testament. He himself believed its prophets and prophecies (Matt 5:12; 13:57; 21:34-36; 23:29-37; Mark 6:4 [cf. Luke 4:24; John 4:44]; 12:2-5; Luke 6:23; 11:47-51; 13:34; 20:10-12; including false prophets Luke 6:26) and cited its miracles.

He believed in a real Adam and Eve (Matt 19:4-5; Mark 10:6-8); that Cain killed Abel (Matt 23:35; Luke 11:51); in the worldwide flood at the time of Noah (Matt 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-27); that God spoke to Moses from a burning bush (Luke 20:37) and gave the Law through him (Matt 8:4; 19:8; Mark 1:44; 7:10; 10:5; 12:26; Luke 5:14; 20:37; John 5:46; 7:19); the reality of Abraham (John 8:56); the institution of circumcision (John 7:22; cf. Gen 17:10-12; Lev 12:3); in Sodom and Gomorrah (Matt 10:15; 11:23-24; Luke 10:12); in Lot (Luke 17:28-32); Isaac and Jacob (Matt 8:11; Luke 13:28); in manna (John 6:31, 49, 58); the serpent in the desert (John 3:14); in David eating consecrated bread (Matt 12:3-4; Mark 2:25-26; Luke 6:3-4), that David wrote psalms (Matt 22:43; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42); in Solomon (Matt 6:29; 12:42; Luke 11:31; 12:27; Elijah (Luke 4:25-26); Elisha (Luke 4:27); that Jonah was in a fish three days (Matt 12:39-40; Luke 11:29-30, 32); and that Daniel’s predictions were accurate (Matt 24:15); and in Zechariah the prophet (Luke 11:51).

But what about Jesus use of story as illustrations?

It is argued that Jesus may have used these OT stories not as history but as legends to teach a lesson, but a careful reading of the Lord’s manner of using these stories clearly leaves no room except that He considered them historical.[2] Some say Jesus was accommodating the culture, but Abraham Kuyper has shown that such a view of Christ is untenable for any Christian who accepts Jesus’ moral integrity, much more his deity.[3]

Further, Jesus was a pretty unaccommodating person on anything he considered in error, such as the Pharisees’ teaching. Some say that since Jesus was human, he too was subject to error, but that suggests a problem with one’s Christology, one’s understanding of the person and work of Christ. If you correct your Lord, who is Lord?

Even if you take the Gospels as halfway credible, it is plain how Jesus viewed Scripture. Kuyper concludes, “Either Jesus’ view of the Scripture is the true one, and then we would kneel in His presence; or Jesus’ view of the Scripture is an enormous mistake, in which case the Rabbi of Nazareth can no longer be the absolute guide along the way of faith.”[4]

What we know of Christ is that he believed in the inerrancy of Scripture. In order to be logically consistent, one must believe in both Christ and biblical inerrancy or neither one.

For the Christian the choice is plain.[5] While technically speaking one can be saved and be a noninerrantist, intellectually speaking one cannot be a follower of Jesus Christ and at the same time disbelieve inerrancy. Jesus Christ himself has laid that choice before us, “If you believe not his writings, how shall you believe my words?” (John 5:47). If Christ is your Lord, then how can your view differ from His and be intellectually honest?

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[1] John S. Hammett, THE6110 Christian Theology I Class Lecture Notes, (Wake Forest, NC: Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fall 2008), 29.

[2] John Wenham, “Christ’s View of Scripture,” in Inerrancy, ed. Norm Geisler (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979), 3-12.

[3] Harris, 16.

[4] Abraham Kuyper, Encyclopedia of Sacred Theology: Its Principles, trans. J. Hendrick de Vries (New York: Scribners, 1898), 459.

[5] Harris, 17.

Also on Sunday in the South: Biblical inerrancy in church history
Objections to Biblical Inerrancy #1 & #2, #3 & #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12

Biblical inerrancy in church history

Continued from: Objection to Biblical Inerrancy #12

Laird Harris says that the historic Protestant tradition has been obvious in its belief in the Bible as true and without error in its entirety. [1] Among Catholics, the Council of Trent was as clear on the subject of biblical inerrancy as any Protestant would wish. In the ancient church, the Nicene Fathers expressed faith in the whole and entire nature of Scripture and its lack of contradiction.

Even earlier, Irenaeus said that “the Scriptures are indeed perfect since they were spoken by the Word of God and his Spirit.”[2] Justin Martyr about A.D. 150 wrote, “I am entirely convinced that no Scripture contradicts another.”[3] Harris says that those who knew the Apostles made similar statements, men like Polycarp, Ignatius, and Clement.

The idea of inerrancy is ancient and widespread. Why? Something powerful about the Scripture must have persuaded them. Where we have seen the earnest believers in Jesus Christ down through history, we have found in them confidence in the Scriptures. Where we have found a distancing and skepticism for the Bible, we have seen either a movement toward denial of Christ or conversely a renewal and a drawing again to a more complete faith in Christianity’s book. While one must not believe in the Bible to be saved, throughout history we have seen that Christian faith has difficulty maintaining itself without it.[4]

Martin Luther in his characteristic diplomacy wrote, “It is impossible for the Scripture to contradict itself except at the hands of senseless and hardened hypocrites. At the hands of those who are godly and understanding, it gives testimony to its Lord.”[5] John Calvin declared in his Institutes that there are plenty of proofs to convince any reasonable person of the Bible’s divine authority and truth, but all the arguments of men will never convince a single skeptic without the “internal persuasion of the Holy Spirit.” He says that the conviction that the Bible is the Word of God “cannot be known without faith.”[6] He and the Westminster Confession leave it right there. The Scripture is self-authenticating through the inward work of the Holy Spirit. While it may not at first seem like an intellectually satisfying answer, perhaps there is more wisdom in the statement than is apparent.

Irenaeus based the authority of Scripture on the authority and person of Christ. “When I heard some saying, ‘If I do not find it in the ancient Scriptures I will not believe the Gospel,’ on my saying to them, it is written, they answered me, ‘That remains to be proved.’ But to me Jesus is in the place of all that is ancient. His cross, and death, and resurrection and the faith which is by Him are undefiled monuments of antiquity.”[7]

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[1] R. Laird Harris, “The Basis for our Belief in Inerrancy,” Bulletin of the Evangelical Theological Society 9/1 (1966): 13.

[2] Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 2:28:2.

[3] Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 65.

[4] Harris, 14.

[5] Martin Luther, (LW, 26, 295) quoted in Siegbert W. Becker, “Luther and Inerrancy,” Joint Conference of the North and South Metropolitan Circuits of the Southeastern Wisconsin District, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, November 15, 1982. Accessed November 25, 2008; available from here. Becker says that Luther’s rejection of the epistle “of James is actually a consequence of his strong conviction concerning biblical inerrancy. Luther believed firmly that the Bible could not contradict itself. But he also believed that James contradicted Paul.”

[6] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1:8:13. See also the Westminster Confession ch. 1, sec. 5.

[7] Ignatius, To the Philadelphians, ch. 8.

Continue on to: Christ's witness to Biblical Inerrancy

Also on Sunday in the South:
Objections to Biblical Inerrancy #1 & #2, #3 & #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12