the word - preconditons for studying the bible handout

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The WordPreconditions for Studying God‟s Word

The Word – Preconditions to Studying God‟s Word

To Properly approach and study the Bible, there are a number of preconditions

that we must agree to…


Preconditions for Studying God‟s Word

I. GodII. MiraclesIII. RevelationIV. TruthV. Logic

VI. LanguageVII. MeaningVIII. InterpretationIX. HistoryX. Exclusivism

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GodThe Metaphysical Precondition

Obviously, there can be no Word of God unless God exists. With respect to existence,

metaphysics (beyond the physical) concerns itself with the study of being or reality.

Christianity believes in Theism, which says one God created all of reality as we know it and that this God transcends everything. Many things

may have being, but only one thing can be Being.

And what is “being”? Being is “that which is”. Or as God said in Exodus: "God said to

Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, „I AM has sent me to you.‟ ”"(Exodus 3:14). Literally,

the verse says “I be that I be”.



"...people say to me continually,

'Where is your God?'" (Psalm 42:3)



I. Something existsII. You don‟t get something from nothingIII. Therefore, a necessary and eternal Being

exists.IV. The only two rational options are an eternal

universe or an eternal CreatorV. Science has concluded the universe had a

beginning and therefore is not eternalVI. Therefore, God exists , is the eternal

Being, and created all that we know

" In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

(Genesis 1:1)

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MiraclesThe Supernatural Precondition

The Bible is filled with miracles. Skeptics claim that miracles cannot occur, but if you have a transcendent Creator God, miracles become possible.

“But if we admit God, must we admit a miracle? Indeed, indeed, you have no security against it. That is the bargain.”

- C. S. Lewis



The Purpose of Miracles:

1. To glorify God (John 2:11)2. To validate God‟s prophets/spokesmen (Acts 2:22)3. Provide evidence for belief in God (John 6:2)



Argument against miracles from Benjamin Spinoza

1. Miracles are violations of natural laws2. Natural laws are immutable3. It is impossible to violate immutable laws4. Therefore , miracles are impossible

Premise two is flawed. No proof natural laws

are immutable; God transcends the natural

order.

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RevelationThe Revelational Precondition

Three Prerequisites for Divine Revelation

1. A Being capable of giving a revelation2. A being capable of receiving a revelation3. A medium through which a revelation can be given


RevelationThree Mediums used by God

OntologicalRevelation

" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word

was God….And the Word became flesh, and dwelt

among us."(John 1:1,14)

General Revelation

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal

power and divine nature, have been clearly seen,

being understood through what has been made, so

that they are without excuse.“ (Romans 1:20)

SpecialRevelation

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in

righteousness; so that the man of God may be

adequate, equipped for every good work.“

(2 Timothy 3:16-17)


RevelationAll Denied by Fallen Man

General Revelation

“For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed

forever. Amen.”(Romans 1:25)

SpecialRevelation

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound

doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to

their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.“

(2 Timothy 4:3-4)

OntologicalRevelation

"the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has

understood; for if they had understood it they would

not have crucified the Lord of glory;“

(1 Corinthians 2:8)

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RevelationDifferences in General and Special Revelation

General Revelation Special RevelationGod as Creator God as RedeemerNorm for Society Norm for ChurchMeans of Condemnation Means of SalvationIn Nature In Scripture

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they

are without excuse."(Romans 1:20)

"and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."(2 Timothy 3:15)


RevelationA God Who Reveals and Hides

" At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them

to infants. “Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the

Son wills to reveal Him."(Matthew 11:25-27)

"Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did

not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven."(Matthew 16:16-17)


TruthThe Epistemological Precondition

The Bible purports to tell the truth about incredibly important things such as God, reality, ethics, Jesus,

eternal life, judgment, and more. Moreover, the Bible claims that its truth is absolute, that is, it applies to all

people, in all places, for all time.

The source of truth is God. Just as with being, many things can have the truth, but only one thing can be the truth. And the Bible is plain on who and what

truth is:

"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through

Me."(John 14:6)

"“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth."(John 17:17)

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Enemies of absolute truth include:

I. RelativismII. AgnosticismIII. SkepticismIV.PostmodernismV. Pluralism

Each one of these philosophies is self-defeating – they cannot live up to their own truth claim. For example, the relativist says, “all truth is

relative…” Does that include their own statement? If so, then why believe it? If not,

then absolute truth exists.



If anyone ever tells you there is no such thing as truth, they are asking you not to

believe them…

… So don‟t!


LogicThe Rational Precondition

Logic is the study of right reason or valid inferences, with the rejection of arguments that contain fallacious thought. Throughout all of

Scripture, you find logical and universal propositions and arguments being put forth

about matters.

"And according to Paul‟s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with

them from the Scriptures,"(Acts 17:2)

Literally, Theology is a logos about the theos –the “logic of God”.

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LogicThe Rational Precondition

There are four laws that serve as the foundation of logic:

I. Law of non-contradiction – something cannot be “A” and “non-A” at the same time and in the same sense.

II. Law of the excluded middle – something is either “A” or “non-A”.

III. Law of identity – “A” is really “A”.IV. Law of rational inference – e.g. All men are

mortal, John is a man, therefore John is mortal.

"Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God,

follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” (1 Kings 18:21)


LanguageThe Linguistic Precondition

If the Bible is God‟s Word in human words, then we must acknowledge that finite human language is capable of meaningfully expressing thoughts

about an infinite Being – God.

“God-Talk” can only occur in one of three ways:

I. Equivocally – totally different than God isII. Univocally – exactly as God isIII. Analogically – similar to the way God is

The Bible‟s language affirms the analogical method of “God-Talk”



"The Christian faith is mysterious to the core. It is about things and beings that ultimately can't be put into words. Language fails. And if we do definitively put God into

words, we have at that very moment made God something God is not"

-Rob Bell, Emergent Church LeaderVelvet Elvis, p. 32

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Equivocal talk leaves us completely in the dark about God and assails the concept of special revelation.

Univocal talk isn‟t possible as the finite cannot adequately describe the infinite: "“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher

than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts."(Isaiah 55:8-9)

The Analogical method is the only form of God-Talk left to us. As an example, God is called “good”, but is His “good” the same “good”

as that which might be applied to a human being such as Mother Teresa?



"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human

wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words."

(1 Corinthians 2:12-13)

Here, the Apostle Paul makes clear that God‟s thoughts can indeed by communicated via finite human language.

"They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us

make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth. . . .

“Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one

another‟s speech.”“(Genesis 11:4,7)

" When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire

distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to

speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance."

(Acts 2:1-4)

Regarding language – what was done at Babel was undone at Pentecost to unite all under God‟s Name…


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MeaningThe Semantical Precondition

If we accept that the Bible is God‟s Word written in a language we can understand, then

our next step to claim that it has meaning. Further, it has objective meaning, which equates to a meaning that applies to all people, equally,

everywhere, regardless of what language is used to convey the truths contained in Scripture.

This objective meaning can be conveyed regardless of the language used to convey it

(English, German, Aramaic, etc.) so it is transcendent from a linguistic perspective and is

not dependent upon particular signs and symbols.



“To get rid of God, we must get rid of

Grammar.”- Frederick Nietzsche



Opponents of objective meaning include philosophers such as Saussure, Ludwig

Wittgenstein, and others. Philosophers such as Hume and Ayer say that all talk about God is

meaningless as only statements that (a) are tautologies or (b) speak about empirical facts

can be meaningful; all God-talk to them is nonsense.

However, such a position is self-defeating as their claim is neither a tautology nor an

empirically verifiable statement. Unfortunately, this is still the stance of many Postmodern‟s

today – relativistic meaning .

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If you don‟t think relativistic or postmodern views of meaning have entered the Church, ask yourself

if you‟ve ever been in a Bible study where a leader has asked:

What does this passage mean to you…?


InterpretationThe Hermeneutical Precondition

Because there is absolute truth and objective meaning in the text of Scripture that has been

revealed by God about Himself to rational finite beings, the next question is if we are capable of deriving the objective meaning from His word –can we properly interpret what the text actually

says?

Even if everything else is true – God exists, He has revealed His Word to us, a Word written in human language that contains truth, rationality, meaning, we must still accurately interpret the text to discover the true meaning behind what

God is saying.



Some philosophers (such as postmodernist Jacque Derrida) hold to a private interpretative

position – that any text must be interpreted subjectively by reading, deconstructing, and

reconstructing the text so that the interpretation and ultimate meaning fits with what the reader

believes it to be. The proper interpretation and ultimate meaning does not lie with the author but

with the reader. There is no one correct interpretation.

Yet, this view becomes self-defeating for postmodernists such as Derrida who write books

and expect their writings to be properly interpreted and followed in the manner they – the

author – intend and desire.

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The science of Biblical interpretation consists of a number of guidelines that should be

followed, including the following:

I. The author determines the meaning, not the reader.

II. The author‟s what is more important than their why in writing.

III. The meaning is in the text, not outside it.IV.There is one correct interpretation – one

objective meaning in a text

An author is the efficient cause of meaning – the goal of interpretation is to determine that

meaning.


HistoryThe Historical Precondition

Christianity is inseparably tied to historical events. The knowability of history is key to

Christian theology, but also apologetically as well because the life of Christ as we know it

depends on the historicity of the New Testament documents.

How do we anything from history actually occurred? We rely on written eyewitness

accounts from individuals whose testimony can be trusted (preferably multiple sources that agree). And using this standard, there is not

another historical document from antiquity that has proven to be more reliable than the Bible.



Some argue that we cannot really know anything from history and put forth the following

arguments:

I. The past cannot be directly observed. II. Our knowledge of history is fragmentary.III. Selective inclusions/exclusions can skew

understanding. IV. History depends upon selective and proper

arrangement. V. Value judgments enter into recording of

history.VI. Worldviews enter into the recording of

history.VII. Miracles are super-historical.

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Each objection to history being knowable is easily answered:

I. Forensic science is very highly regarded and used to understand what happened in the past. Many crimes solved with this discipline.

II. As long as you have the key pieces of evidence, you can understand what happened. You don‟t need 100% of the evidence to make a decision. Rarely does a jury have 100% knowledge when they render a judgment.

III. There is a difference between condensing an account and excluding material that produces a different understanding

IV. There is no reason to conclude that a historian cannot properly arrange events.

V. Value judgments are needed to properly do the work of a historian.VI. Concluding that worldviews cloud the recording of history is like saying a

Holocaust victim couldn‟t record events of the Holocaust. VII. The evidence for the rare (miracles) can exceed that for the regular.


ExclusivismThe Oppositional Precondition

The Bible is a book that makes many exclusive claims such as:

"“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of

slavery. “You shall have no other gods before Me."(Exodus 20:2-3)

"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but

through Me."(John 14:6)

As such, these claims exclude any and all challengers to them. Any other religion is

deemed invalid.


ExclusivismThe Oppositional Precondition

The challenger to an exclusivistic stance is the philosophy of pluralism, which makes the claim

that all religions are equal and basically teach the same thing. This, however, runs against logically thinking as all religions teach radically different things about major religious doctrines (e.g. the

nature of God).

In short, pluralism may be fine in matters of opinion but not reality:

“Pluralism is desirable and tolerable only in those areas that are matters of taste rather than

matters of truth.”- Mortimer Adler, Truth in Religion

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I. God – He existsII. Miracles – Are possible because God existsIII. Revelation – God has revealed Himself in creation, His

Word, and Jesus ChristIV. Truth – Is absolute and knowable V. Logic – Is used by a rational God and His rational creatures

to decide things



VI. Language – Analogical language is used to express ideas about God to finite human beings

VII. Meaning – Objective meaning is available in the BibleVIII. Interpretation – Can be used to discover the true meaning in

the text of Scripture as placed there by the authorIX. History – We can trust and believe historical accounts by

applying criteria that ensures its validity X. Exclusivism – Must be used in matters of truth and is used

throughout the Bible


But there is one last precondition for Studying the Bible…

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SalvationThe Regenerative Precondition

"But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are

foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are

spiritually appraised."(1 Corinthians 2:14)

" For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the

power of God.”(1 Corinthians 1:18)


“The Bible is not addressed to just anybody. Its message is directed to a

chosen few.” – A. W. Tozer, Why People find the Bible Difficult


"Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that

he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; and again, “The

Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.”“

(1 Corinthians 3:18-20)

"Professing to be wise, they became fools,"(Romans 1:22)

Philosophy without God…

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"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the

tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ."

(Colossians 2:8)

“We have educated ourselves into imbecility”- Malcolm Muggeridge

A Warning to All…

Lit. “Rob”; “Spoil” (as one would a young girl)

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