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Apr 3, 2024
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Tyler Carney
Bible Doctrines 1
Course Project
2/17/24-2/26/24
The Bible is just the product of many human opinions. The Bible was indeed written by men, but the words and ideas are from God himself. God used revelation in revealing himself and His chosen will for us to learn about
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. God however used the method of inspiration to convey His will to these specific men 1 Corinthians 2:13 Paul dictates that men were taught by the Spirit. This shows that God Himself instructed and inspired human authors to record the very
words of Scripture. They did not add their own opinions. Skeptics assert that because disciples in
the New Testament wrote parts of the Bible, it is a product of human opinions. However, this is not accurate because “God purposely made those men into who He wanted them to be
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.” In other
words, God shaped specific men in specific ways so that they could correctly and effectively record the very words of God. In II Timothy we read: “All scripture is given by the inspiration of
God…” Warfield says: “Inspiration denotes especially the influence of the Holy Spirit in the origination of the sacred Scriptures
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.” Showing us that Scripture was transcribed by men, but the words and ideas are literally breathed out by God. We know the authority of the Scripture is indeed God Himself. Jesus claimed to be God (Matthew 10:40) and thus Scripture and their authority come from Jesus Himself. God’s use of human writers does not make the Bible a product of human opinion since God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit of God guided who wrote it and what was written. The fact that God used human writers does not add any error to the originality of the words that were written. God spoke through them to accurately record God’s words and ideas
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. Wayne Grudem states in his book “Systematic Theology” since Bible is God’s final work,
one way he goes about proving this is by stating “This Does Not Imply Dictation from God as the Sole Means of Communication
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.” What Grudem means by this statement is the fact that God used multiple ways of communication and manifesting his words to these human authors. Thus proving there were many ways that God inspired and conveyed His words and ideas to Human authors, rendering the Bible the infallible and inspired Word of God.
The God of the Bible is a monster who commands and/or approves of many moral evils (genocide, etc.). As one reads the Bible, they must understand certain cultural aspects and traditions that took place in those times that are viewed as culturally inappropriate today. God commanding His people to kill or even extinguishing human life Himself requires a deeper study
of each incident as well as faith in and omnipotent God who always does what is right. It is important that we understand that God hates sin, and his holy hatred requires justice (John 3:36). God has many attributes. One of those traits is jealousy. God is jealous for his people and children. God binds Himself to His people in an immanency spousal way
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. One story everyone is
familiar with is when the children of Israel chose to worship a golden calf. God wanted to wipe them out. It is important to realize that has Christians we are literally “married” to God and his church. When we turn to other forms of worship and sin against God, we are not in a right relationship with God at that time and it is His desire to have us turn back to Him. God has many
attributes love, holiness, faithfulness, justice, mercy, and many more. It is crucial to view God considering all His attributes and not just focus on one. God’s judgement on the people of Israel
and the punishment that he meted out was not done out of evilness or anger. As a holy God, in part, after they sinned and did not repent, He was a wounded husband
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. We must understand how
sib causes God great pain. God in His love (another attribute) was and is constantly wooing us to
come back to Him because He desires to have unbroken fellowship with us. One example that comes to mind is the conquest of Canaan. After Moses passes his leadership to Joshua, he is instructed by God to take the land of Canaan which is the promise land that God has set aside for
His people. One must understand why God allowed this to happened and likewise realize the motivations behind His actions. At first, it may appear that He is commanding genocide, but this cannot be the case. This was not merely a mass killing of the Canaanites, rather in their complete
sinfulness, they were forced out of the land that was not theirs because God decreed it
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. “Only three fortresses were destroyed in total throughout the conquest
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”. This episode was not an act of genocide commanded by God but rather God intentionally moving His chosen people into the land He promised and set aside for them and His future kingdom. The Bible is full of contradictions. As Christians we understand that to many, the Bible is
full of contradictions. Of utmost importance is the absolute authority of the Bible. It is not just another book; it is God’s Holy Word. Understanding that the Bible is inerrant and without error, given as a gift from God, helps Christians realize that even though unbelievers might state there are contradictions in the Bible, this is not the case. God is true and any who disagree are anti-
Christ’s. In Genesis 6 we see that God tells Noah to take two of every animal on the Ark in preparation for the upcoming flood. However, if we fast-forward to Genesis 7, Noah is told to have seven pairs of clean animals. This might seem like God is contradicting Himself to Noah. But when we look at this more in depth. God is not contradicting Himself. He was well within His rights to give Noah specific instructions. The Bible states “the clean animals and birds would
be offered in sacrifice to the Lord
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.” If Noah would have sacrificed animals as offerings after the flood without having additional clean animals, this would have led to animal extinction for some animals. This is not a contraction in the Bible but is a case and point where God used foresight and wisdom. The Bible is clear that God does not change or go back on His words (1 Samuel 15:29). But why then are there certain examples in the Bible that indicate that Jesus repented? To
unbelievers this seems like a contradiction in the Bible. But let’s take a closer look. When God repents, this must be seen as a change “in response to some change on the part of the objects of his action…
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” In the story of Jonah we see where God has commanded Jonah to go and preach to
the people of Nineveh. As the people repented because of Jonah’s preaching, God responds by showing them grace and mercy. This is not a contraction because it is not showing a God who changes His character but is highlighting a God who responds in forgiveness and love.
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Sources:
“How Did God Inspire His Word?” Grace to You
. https://www.gty.org/library/blog/B160713/ (February 17, 2024).
The inspiration and authority of the Bible. (n.d.). http://library.logcollegepress.com/Warfield,
+Benjamin+Breckinridge,+The+Inspiration+and+Authority+of+the+Bible.pdf
Phillips, Richard. “Scripture as a Divine and Human Book.” The Gospel Coalition
. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/scripture-as-a-divine-and-human-book/ (February 17, 2024).
Systematic theology Wayne Grudem. (n.d.-a). https://fbcfairburn.com/app/uploads/2015/04/Systematic_Theology_-_Wayne_Grudem.pdf
Is god a moral monster making sense of The old testament god by Paul Copan : Paul Copan : Free Download, borrow, and streaming
. Internet Archive. (1999a, January 1). https://archive.org/details/is-god-a-moral-monster-making-sense-of-the-old-testament-god-
by-paul-copan
Kaiser, Walter C., ed. 1996. Hard Sayings of the Bible
. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press.
Patton, Andy. 2021. “Why Did God Command the Invasion of Canaan in the Book of Joshua?” Still Point
. https://stillpoint.substack.com/p/conquest-of-canaan (February 25, 2024).
Copan, Paul. 2014. Did God Really Command Genocide? Coming to Terms with the Justice of God
. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. http://cdn.bakerpublishinggroup.com/processed/book-resources/files/
Excerpt_9780801016226.pdf?1416313666