Article I of the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 The Scriptures Article I of the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 Inspiration, Inerrancy, and Authority of God’s Word

Why the Scriptures? For Baptists, Scripture is the foundation of all Christian teaching. Therefore, we must discuss what we believe about Scripture in order to unpack the rest of Christian doctrine.

“The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.”

“The Holy Bible…” 66 books Some choose to add books to the Bible 39 in the Old Testament 27 in the New Testament Some choose to add books to the Bible Roman Catholic Church 46 in the Old Testament (with additions in Daniel) Neither the Jews nor Early Church recognized these extra books.

Translations of Scripture NASB, ESV, KJV, NKJV, HCSB, NIV, CSB, NLT, NET, RSV, NRSV, The Message Why so many translations? Does it matter which translation we choose?

What sets the Bible apart from other books? “…written by men divinely inspired…” “[The Bible] has God for its author…” Not that man did not write the Bible. But the Bible was written with divine inspiration. The Bible has dual authorship

Inspiration What is the meaning of “inspiration?” Some define inspiration as simply a heightening of mental and writing capabilities. Others suggest that God took control of the author and had him write the exact words He wished.

Spectrum of Views on Inspiration God as Author High View Low View Man as Author

Inspiration (cont.) The act of the Holy Spirit that directed the thoughts and words of the human authors of Scripture to record the exact words God intended in the Bible, yet while not obstructing the human author’s personality or freedom in writing.

Evidence of Inspiration in the Bible 2 Peter 1:20-21 2 Timothy 3:16 Jesus’ view of Scripture Matt 22:43-44 Matt 19:4-5 Other examples: Acts 4:25

Inspiration (cont.) What’s the big deal? God reveals Himself to us through His perfect Word. The Bible is God’s self-disclosure to us. We should treat the Bible as much more important than any other book, because the most important Being wrote it for us.

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

“truth, without any mixture of error…” God is absolutely true. God is the author of the Bible. The Bible—God’s Word—is absolutely true. How does this claim work when human authorship is considered?

Inerrancy Does the Bible contain errors? The human element of authorship introduces the plausibility of error. But if Scripture is untrue, or false, or erroneous, then Scripture could not be from God. The Bible is wholly true to the extent of truth which the author intends.

Common Arguments Against Inerrancy of Scripture Joshua 10:12-13 Do the Gospels present conflicting stories? Why do we have differing stories of the Empty Tomb? Why are Matthew’s and Luke’s Lord’s Prayer different? (Matt 6:9-12) (Luke: 11:2-4) It seems that often the error is on the interpreter’s side.

Inerrancy (cont.) If our Scriptures contain “errors”, no matter how insignificant, a blow is dealt to the authority and purity of God’s Word. But since we have an uncorrupt, perfectly true Word, we have God’s revelation—a timeless, universal standard of truth which is utterly dependable.

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

Authority As Baptists, we understand that the argument ends at what the Bible says. This applies not only to our theology and the way we do church, but also the way we individually conduct our lives.

Authority (cont.) Sola Scriptura The Scriptures are the sole infallible rule of faith and practice. It is not the only authority. But it is the only infallible authority. Fallible authorities: Ministers Church Leaders from Earlier Times Confessions Tradition

Authority (cont.) We can have no authority equal to or above Scripture. The law of the land Our own ethical/moral codes Our confessions and creed The degree of authority that Scripture has over our lives will impact our personal moral code.

Inspiration Authority Inerrancy

“All Scripture testifies to Christ” Just as Christ is the center of our lives, so He is “the focus of divine revelation.” From Genesis to Revelation, we see Jesus as the purpose for every page of God’s Word. And so we, as Baptists, use the Scriptures as the only infallible, authoritative, life-giving, chain-shattering book as a guide into God’s will for our lives.