Session 4: WCF Chapter I Of the Holy Scripture, Sections 4 and 5

CHAPTER I - Of the Holy Scripture 4. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or Church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.

CHAPTER I - Of the Holy Scripture 5. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverend esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man’s salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.

- the heavenliness of the matter (a structure that could only be the - the heavenliness of the matter (a structure that could only be the product of a supernatural source and a perfect moral system) - the efficacy of the doctrine (the knowledge of human nature under a vast range of relations and conditions) - the majesty of the style (the subject matter spanning from the beginning to the end of mankind and from Hell to Heaven) - the consent of all the parts (66 books, 40 authors over 16 centuries in agreement with each other, only self-referential) - the scope of the whole (Soli Deo Gloria) - the full discovery it makes of the only way of man’s salvation (a luminous solution to man’s most profound problem)

Controversy of the Week!

Does the Bible Contain Mistakes?

1 Kings 7:23 – This passage deals with Solomon's Temple and the products of Hiram the Bronzeworker: “Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.”

A Spelling Lesson The common Hebrew word for circumference is “qav.” Here, however, the spelling of the word for circumference, qaveh, adds a heh (h). In the Hebrew Bible, the scribes did not alter any text which they felt had been copied incorrectly. Rather, they noted in the margin what they thought the written text should be. The written variation is called a “kethiv;” and the marginal annotation is called the “qere.” To the ancient scribes, this was also regarded as a “remez,” a hint of something deeper. This appears to be the clue to treat the word as a mathematical formula.

Numerical Values The Hebrew alphabet is alphanumeric: each Hebrew letter also has a numerical value and can be used as a number. The q has a value of 100; the v has a value of 6; thus, the normal spelling would yield a numerical value of 106. The addition of the h, with a value of 5, increases the numerical value to 111. This indicates an adjustment of the ratio 111/106, or 31.41509433962 cubits. Assuming that a cubit was 1.5 ft., this 15-foot-wide bowl would have had a circumference of 47.12388980385 feet. 47.12264150943 feet results in an error of less than 15 thousandths of an inch! (15 times better than the 22/7 estimate that we were accustomed to using in school!) http://www.khouse.org/articles/1998/158/#notes

Personal Personal Focus Focus

How has the Holy Spirit worked in your Bible study over the course of your life?