Doctrine and Confessions Unit #7

The Bible can be summarized by:

• People learning how to live with God

• God made promises to one man, and is about God keeping these promises

• A story of 3 different tribulations

• Keeping God's commands and living a holy life

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness". This shows us that the Scriptures are:

• Man wrote down what they thought God would be like

• Scripture came from man's will to serve God

• All Scripture is inspired by God

• People can know the truth about God by listening to their conscience

How does Scripture testify that it is divinely inspired?

• People have done scientific studies on the Words of the Bible that show they are divine

• Because Scripture fulfills itself. Old prophecies come true and prove that the words are factual

• Because there is a lot of science to back it up

• Because many humans believe it to be true

What is meant when we say the authors were compelled to write Scripture?

• Moses and David commanded scribes to record what happened in the Old Testament

• People in the church funded and hired people to write the Bible

• God commanded the authors to write and they felt like they had to speak/write God’s Word.

• God chose people to investigate different religions and come up with new Scriptures

What is textual criticism?

• Criticizing the authenticity of the Bible and its authors

• A way of reading the BIble so that its controversies are ignored

• A method of interpreting and translating the Old Testament

• A method that compares the different copies of the earliest manuscripts to find the correct translation

When scholars look at the different copies of ancient Scripture, they find that:

• Copies were made many times and it shows many errors

• The newer scriptures are very different the older scriptures

• The newer and older copies of Scripture are very much the same

• The oldest copies are more inaccurate than the newer copies

Match the following translations to their correct

• New International Version (NIV)

• Try to stay as close to the original language, and still keep some of the awkwardness

• English Standard Version (ESV)

• Try to rephrase Scripture and give it a new “twist” or modern way of phrasing it.

• The Message (MSG)

• Communicate the same message, but translate using smoother English sentences.

In Matthew 22:31, Jesus said, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God". Jesus showed us that:

• As long as people read the Scriptures, their interpretation shouldn't matter

• There is a right and wrong way to interpret the Scriptures

• People can interpret the Scriptures in a way that is most meaningful to them

• People should find their own meanings in Scripture

If someone denies the divine inspiration of Scripture, we... (select more than one)

• Make the Bible into just another book

• Deny God's promises: like daily bread, salvation, and the resurrection

• Reaffirm that the Scriptures were written for man

• Show that inspiration comes from man and God

• Show that what God says is true

When we say that the Scriptures are the "formal principle of theology", we mean that:

• The Bible speaks better history than any other book

• We read the BIble in a formal way, not an informal way

• The Scriptures are the only source and norm of our theology

• The Bible is one of many sources of inspiration and authority