Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from “The Adult Sabbath School Guide” is titled “The Origin and Nature of the Bible”. In my opinion, this lesson is a moderately thorough presentation of the topic. It delves into revelation and inspiration, the two means by which scripture is communicated to the writers. “Revelation” is God directly speaking and dictating, while the writers transcribe. “Inspiration” is the Holy Spirit’s special urging of a messenger to speak or write.
Revelation happens in visions, dreams, a voice from heaven, a wet/dry fleece, words chiseled by the finger of God, ultimately God in the person of Jesus Christ. When Scripture says, “The word of the Lord came to me…” or “I saw” we can know that we are dealing with revelation. But the idea that all Scripture came by way of special revelation is a misconception. It’s correct to say, as the Bible so states, “All Scripture is given by inspiration…” (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible does not say that all Scripture is given by revelation. Inspiration is not synonymous with revelation. The Bible writer is almost always not a passive transcriber through which Divine words flow. “Not everything in the Bible was directly or supernaturally revealed. Sometimes God used Biblical writers who carefully investigated things or used other existing documents… to communicate His message” (Quarterly for Monday, April 6).
As EGW so succinctly tells us, it is the Bible writer that is inspired. That the Bible “is not God’s mode of thought,” and that “God has not put Himself in words, in logic, in rhetoric, on trial in the Bible” (Selected Messages Book 1, Chapter 1… read all of that chapter). In this chapter of “Selected Messages” she clears-up so much for us.
“The writers of the Bible were God's penmen, not His pen. Look at the different writers.
It is not the words of the Bible that are inspired, but the men that were inspired. Inspiration acts not on the man's words or his expressions but on the man himself, who, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, is imbued with thoughts. But the words receive the impress of the individual mind. The divine mind is diffused. The divine mind and will is combined with the human mind and will; thus the utterances of the man are the word of God.”
This last quote says so much for us, and is the reason to even discuss the differences between revelation and inspiration. God could’ve spoken directly from Heaven everything he wanted to say… by direct revelation. But He did not. He did this rarely and only very selectively. Instead, He inspired sinful humans who then spoke as they were moved. As Jeremiah says, “His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.” (Jeremiah 20:9). This is inspiration. This is how almost the entire Bible was written. By inspired persons who could not hold it back. So they spoke… and they wrote.
This is important. When God speaks directly, we can be afraid… scared… like the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai. Yet this level of response is ineffectual. As EGW says,
”Were it possible to force upon you with a hundredfold greater intensity the influence of the Spirit of God, it would not make you a Christian, a fit subject for heaven. The stronghold of Satan would not be broken. The will must be placed on the side of God's will. You are not able, of yourself, to bring your purposes and desires and inclinations into submission to the will of God; but if you are "willing to be made willing," God will accomplish the work for you, even "casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5.” (Mount of Blessing pg. 142).
Fear and love are incompatible. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). God knows that fear and force are ineffectual to break the stronghold of Satan… your will. He must persuade you and me to change our minds. So that we voluntarily submit. Therefore, He uses the human instrumentality.
“As Christ is the channel for the revelation of the Father, so we are to be the channel for the revelation of Christ. While our Savior is the great source of illumination, forget not, O Christian, that He is revealed through humanity. God's blessings are bestowed through human instrumentality. Christ Himself came to the world as the Son of man. Humanity, united to the divine nature, must touch humanity. The church of Christ, every individual disciple of the Master, is heaven's appointed channel for the revelation of God to men. Angels of glory wait to communicate through you heaven's light and power to souls that are ready to perish.” (Mount of Blessing pg. 40).
That’s right. You and I are His “word” to a fallen world. As the “Written Word” is the revelation of God to man through man; the “Living Word” is the revelation of God to man through “the Man” Christ Jesus; so you and I can be God’s “word” to man through our own humanity. This is why God’s Bible is given through man’s “mode of thought”, through man’s “…words… logic, and… rhetoric”. So that mankind can understand and be convinced… not frightened. So that in seeing what God has done for others, He can do for any. The Bible Story is told about God’s dealing with mankind, by mankind to mankind… the only way to reach mankind. And so with us. We, today, are His chosen “word” to mankind. What we say, yes. But more important, how we live. May we be His “word” today… and every day.
With brotherly love,
Jim
P.S. The Quarterly does not bring-up how the books of the Bible were chosen to be a part of the “canon”, (“canon” meaning “rule” or “measure”). Which writings “measure-up” to be included in the Bible, in the canon? Who decided? What “measure” did they use to determine which books to include and which to exclude? This is an argument, a contention, brought-up by skeptics who deride the Bible’s validity. That the Bible is just a lot of nomadic old men writing from their own ancient out-of-date perspective. And that later, the “church” officials included only those writings that served their own purposes and excluded those that did not. Often, we cite the Bible as an authority to those who do not recognize its authority. So how to answer this? How to handle this contention from skeptics? We need information. We need help with this. Help that the Quarterly has not addressed in the limited context of 3 months.
The best treatise I’ve read on the topic of the books included in the “canon” is from A. Graham Maxwell. His “You Can Trust the Bible”, written in 1967, is still one of the best. It is out-of-print. But a copy or two can still be purchased from “Amazon”. I would encourage you to do so. At first, seeing who chose the books and how they were chosen may give you some consternation. That Spirit-led men, communities of believers, chose the books to include. But remember this week’s lesson. That of necessity, God’s “Word” needs to be this curious blend of the Divine and the human…. men making Spirit-led decisions. It is God’s chosen method for showing Himself to His children.
As EGW states so well, “Brethren, cling to your Bible, as it reads, and stop your criticisms in regard to its validity, and obey the Word, and not one of you will be lost” (1 Selected Messages, pg. 18). Your Bible that is in your hands, whatever version or translation, is God’s love letter to you. If we would but treasure it for what it is and obey it… and not merely debate it… all will be well.