Biblicke stretnutia

The Authority of Scripture

1. The Bible proclaims its own authority
   1. Scripture is inspired by God
      (II Timothy 3:14-17)
   2. Belief in Scripture is necessary and commanded
      (I Corinthians 14:36-38, John 5:46-47, I John 4:1-6)
   3. God has promised to preserve His word for His people in all generations
      (Matthew 5:17-18, John 10:35, Isaiah 59:21)
   4. The New Testament writers all referred to the Old Testament as authoritative
   5. The New Testament claims the same authority for itself as the Old Testament
      (2 Peter 3:14-16)
   6. "As Christians we receive the Bible as the Word of God which cannot be judged by any higher standard. The Word of God speaks for itself; it is not verified by any other than the self-verifying Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."
2. The External World cannot prove that the Bible is incorrect when it speaks of the world
   1. There has never been a proven contradiction between what the Bible says and the reality of the world
   2. There has never been a proven contradiction between the historical accountscontained in the Bible and in other recorded histories.
3. Personal Experience proclaims the Bible
   1. Christians accept the Word of God because of the Holy Spirit's testimony to their hearts that the Bible's own claim is true.
   2. Christians are allowed to believe in the Authority of the Scripture because of the spirit of discernment granted by the Holy Spirit, and because the Christian does not presuppose that he himself has the authority which God possesses to render something authoritative or not.

• Note: Points B and C are taken nearly verbatim from Every Though Captive by Richard Pratt.

Again, however, it is necessary to note that points A,B, and C can only be valid in the context of Christianity. It is God Who speaks to Christians through the Bible and Who allows the devil to make the Bible seem foolish to non-Christians: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (I Corinthians 1:18, NIV) and "...by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age [Satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (II Corinthians 4:2-4, NIV

http://www.reformed.org/bible/bible-intro.html