Reflection Paper

But the Bible delves so much deeper than that. The Bible is in itself, a translation of history and humankind, showing how people, as individuals or groups, have either been blessed or disciplined by God for their demeanor towards Him and His holy laws. It is this unique account of the moral and spiritual factors behind the historical narrative, that continues to make the Bible so relevant to modern day society today. God’s word reveals the will of God in each of our lives through showing His divine nature as depicted in hundreds of real-life illustrations throughout the Bible.

Firstly, scripture has an essential role in the revelation of the doctrine of God, as it is an important part of one of the two methods by which he reveals himself to us, these two methods are general and special revelation. To begin, general revelation is the way in which God evokes his work and light in the nature of man, so that we may acknowledge his worth, as well as the beauty of his traits. This innate trait to recognize the beauty and order of nature is prearranged, so that no man can be excused for an ignorance of the Lord and his existence. In the word of God, it is affirmed, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). We are told that God has intentionally left a mark on us and the world, leaving a signature on all of his creations, so that we persistently ask questions about our creator and his plausible existence. The Lord deliberately created such a divine and natural order of the world,

Charles: Even though, much of what you said is true because many men were inspired by God and wrote down some of their thoughts that makes up Scripture. A good example is in John’s Gospel, who is one of the Twelve Apostles stated, “But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”(John 22:25). This shows that not all Jesus taught is contained in Sacred Scripture, as well as acknowledging that all they wrote came from His inspiration and not His command for the apostles to write it down. Therefore, showing that would have been impossible to write everything in the Bible.

I strongly believe that the Bible is God’s living Word, and the truth of His ways not being the same as mine (Isaiah 55:8-9) and how I am finite while He is infinite, I know only in part, and He is all knowing, nevertheless, I trust His Word even with my limited understanding while depending on Him completely and I am only fully persuaded that the entire creation account took place, but cannot determine if it was literal. (Word Count 214)

In Core Christianity, Elmer Towns states, “Books of other religious were written by their founders in their attempt to find God” (Towns, 2007). Therefore, religious texts written and inspired by human thought only provide conclusions. “But the Bible is not a search for God; the Bible is God’s book to reveal Himself to the human race” (Towns, 2007). The dual authorship of the Scripture provides words with “convicting, convincing, converting power to all who honestly accept its message and believe in Jesus Christ” (Towns, 2007). Therefore, the credibility and reliability of the Word of God can only be known by applying it to one’s life and watching how its words and teachings

Considering that this view overcomes the apparent contradictions in the Bible by, for example, claiming that the account of God sending the Israelites to fight is intended to portray his desire for justice, it holds strong. Nevertheless, it fails to account for the fact that teaching within the Bible itself asserts that Biblical text is the word of God. Interpreters must be wary before referring to 'the teaching of the Bible,' for as John Locke asserts, [3]"the scripture serves but,

2. Jesus reinforced the accuracy of scriptures right down to the smallest detail in Matthew 5: 17-18: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished”. 3.

The Bible says that it was inspired by God itself in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is God- breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”(NIV) There are a few Christians who believe that scripture was written verbatim from the mouth of God on to paper by men. I have trouble believing this because of a few different reasons. One is that the way some of the authors wrote the scriptures were to vary differently than the others. If the scriptures were all completely God’s words verbatim than they would all be written in the same manner and the personalities and intelligence of the writers would not be shown in the text. Also that some of the Bible are just people speaking of their problems or issues or just records of historical events instead of God Speaking these words directly. I am not saying the authors were not inspired to write these things but that they were not the exact words of

1] We teach that the Bible is God's divinely inspired written supernatural revelation of Himself and His ways and purposes in relation to His elect children and mankind in his current Adamic condition of sin and depravity in need of redeemption. Therefore the inspired (i.e. the out breathed word of Jehovah) was given to His chosen servants, in times past, in a progressive manner, by various methods direct communication, visions and dreams etc (Heb.1:1-2 with Numbers 12:8, Genesis 15:1; Matthew 1:20). Henceforth, the sixty six books of the Bible constitute the plenary (inspired equally in all parts)living and powerful written Word of the Lord God (cf. Hebrews 4:12; 1 Corinthians

To begin teaching Biblical Faith a teacher must first understand how as an individual they define what the Bible is to them. It is in this definition that as educators our beliefs and bias are acknowledged. The Bible, for me, is a story of the evolution of God’s relationship with mankind as told in two books. The Old Testament narrated by God’s chosen people, those of the Jewish faith and the New Testament, the story of Jesus as told by his Disciples and followers of His word. It is my belief that the stories told in the Bible are human interpretations of their experiences with God. These interpretations are strongly influenced by the circumstances of the writers emotional, physical,

We know that the New Testament did not emerge as a single collection of texts immediately, but that different groups of early Christians had different collections of sacred books. For not only did different Christians communities have their own perspective collections, but they had different versions of the same books. Looking at the bible from a historical point of view, it has been translated over and

(More to come on prophecy later.) The third way to know that the Bible is true is because of the so many attacks that have gone on the Bible, yet the Bible is still the most sold book, the most translated book, and the most popular book that most people have purchased. The Bible has gone through many attacks as it has been translated through 400 different languages. One well known person is named William Tyndale and he was burned at the stake for translating the Bible to english, but ultimately he was the one who helped the Bible to be translated into english. (CITE WEBSITE) These three things prove that the Bible is true and that whatever is in the Bible, is true. Therefore, if everything in the Bible is true that whatever that Bible says is true. A popular name for the Bible is God’s Word. If it is named God’s Word, then obviously it is written by God and it is his very own

F.F. Bruce, a Bible historian, contends, “There is no body of ancient literature in the world which enjoys such a wealth of good textual attestation as the New Testament” (Niles). The Bible is a historical document with an abundance of reasons why it can be supported as one. One explanation would be the consistency of the documents that were

I believe that the 66 books of the Bible are God’s word revealed to us, written by God’s apostles and prophets. In its original manuscripts it contains truth without error as it unfolds the story of God – his creation, our fall, his redemption and restoration; therefore it is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union. The Scriptures are the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried.

Throughout history Christian’s belief is that the Holy Spirit, who controlled the writing of the individual books, also controlled their selection and compilation, thus continuing to fulfill our Lord’s promise that He would guide his disciples into all reality. This however, is something that is to be discerned by spiritual insight, and not by historical