Wednesday 10 February 2010

The Doctrines of Scripture

Authority, Inspiration, Inerrancy, Infallibility, Preservation... etc..
there are dozens of books on each of those doctrines

What i've come to note is that many of them although in theory talk about the Holy Spirit, still are very mechanical in understanding rather than Personal, Relational and Trinitarian

for example, authority
what makes the Bible authoritative?
it has been 'delegated' (their word) authority by God - therefore it is authoritative
God is authoritative because of who He is - i.e. Powerful, and what He does, i.e. Creator, etc

unlike certain other 'holy books' the Bible is not an eternal thing and has no authority in itself per se

But perhaps a better understanding of authority would be this
The Scripture is God-breathed, i.e. It comes out of the mouth of the Father - it is God-Spirited

What gives the Father authority? is it not the Son? The Son declares to the world that my Father is worth listening to... and I'll prove it

Therefore as Romans 8 says - the conviction of the Spirit is not so much the conviction of the authority or inspiration or inerrancy, etc of Scripture - but the conviction of sonship

We now know He is our Father - therefore we listen to Him - and we learn to listen to Him from His Son, and we listen to Him via His Spirit and all that His Spirit has done - whether in history, creation, or Scripture, or within the lives of other Spirit-filled individuals
(hence Paul's claim is sufficient to be authoritative: 1 Corinthians 7:40 Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God. )

When we are attuned to our Father's voice, we know how to deal with Scripture - we believe in it in the way it's meant to be, and we can read it the way it's meant to be read - all through Christ as shown by Christ

these 'mechanical doctrines' (of course some better versions are written in the above manner) may have some use in technical and academic debate
but are they of any use to faith? if not, then by definition they are use-less
and if you follow these 'robotic' doctrines - it inevitably undermines faith, as was very evident from the discussions people are having

Listen to the words of Christ, and He will point you to the Father through the Spirited-Word of God - then you will be able to see the true inspiration of Scripture, recognise its authority rightly, and interpret it in increasing measure - all of benefit to a true and dynamic faith

because you are now convicted that He has said, You are my Son - today I have begotten you - and then you respond - Abba, Father

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