Biblical Criticism

Catechism

Question: How do we regard the scriptures and Biblical criticism?

Response: The Word of God is divine truth of all things known and unknown, embodied in the coming of Christ. The written Word is truth, as communicated, to God's divinely inspired instruments. It is infallible as communicated. Time, culture, and understanding may introduce fallacies and are a critical driver in the believer's obligation to study scripture fervently. Acknowledging the human influence in translating and interpreting the scriptures is a core component of the believer's discernment. This highlights the need to combine scriptural study with prayerful meditation and divine wisdom.

Bible Study Matters

Let’s start with the easy, crowd-pleasing idea that “Bible good”. We can all agree on that, right?

Consider Paul

Educated Pharisee, turned gospel evangelist

Galatians 1:11–14 CSB

11 For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin. 12 For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it, but it came by a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I intensely persecuted God’s church and tried to destroy it. 14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.

Despite “revelation of Jesus Christ”, he still advocated for scriptural study

2 Timothy 3:14–17 CSB

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, 15 and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Gramma —> Written document, in this case specifically the Septuagint (Greek-translated Old Testament).

You might wonder: is all “word of God” the same? NO!

More Than Written —> “As Communicated”

Logos -> Persistent, enduring truth

John 1:1 CSB

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Rhema -> Directive truth

Luke 5:5 CSB

5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll let down the nets.”

These words are often decomposed by modern, evangelical scholars to make some profound point about Biblical criticism. Those claims are a bit overblown since contemporaries would use these words interchangeably depending on the discussion’s context. However, it does give us a well-rounded picture of “God’s Word” as something that is more than a mere reference; it is truth and it is direction.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Read what Paul says about the written Word (gramma) in 2 Timothy 3:14-17. Then read examples of God’s communicated Word: as a persistent, divine truth in John 1:1 (logos), and as a directive Luke 5:4-6 (rhema). When someone says “the Word of God”, are you more likely to think of a bound book, a specific translation of the Bible, stories, or something else? Describe what that terms means to you. How many different interpretations of that word are in your small group? How many do you think exist across an entire church? Discuss why blending all these interpretations of the phrase “Word of God” together might cause disagreements within the church or among believers.

Truth in the Word, Not of the Word

Unfortunately, some have confused these terms, simply boiling everything down into a monolithic concept in their head known as “The Word”. This usually confuses the divinity of (1) God’s truth, (2) God’s direction, and (3) the written, documented will of God.

Consider Satan’s use of the Bible...

Matthew 4:1–11 CSB

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” 7 Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.

Satan knew the Bible —> “But the Bible is the Word of God! How can the devil wield the Bible like a tool if he is against God?!”

Simple answer: Because the Bible IS A TOOL, not the talent.

Christ’s rebuke —> Speak truth (logos) through the scripture.

This is the image of the Word as we are to regard it. As much as many love to use the Bible as some testament of their authenticity, they forget that it is merely the written record (gramma) of the Divine… not something divine itself

Reverence for the scriptures - What does it mean?

Regard the Bible for God’s truth (Christ is “the Word”)

Regard the Bible God’s relationship (God descended on Mount Sinai to give His people His Word)

The beauty of the Bible isn’t that it is supernatural in itself; it’s that it signifies the faithfulness and dedication God has to His creation, reaching out so that we would know the truth of His love.

So, we DO revere the scriptures and we DO revere its instruction, but we also acknowledge it’s utilitarian state and how that impacts the way we interact with a particular publishing or translation.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Read about Satan’s use of the scriptures in Matthew 4:1-11 and note that Satan clearly “knows the Bible” and is ready to use it. How does this contradict the narratives some like to push that the Bible ITSELF is the thing that is “holy”? What we live for is the Word of God, as Paul said he lives for in Galatians 1:11-14. The Bible is holy because of what it contains, not what it is. How can treating the Bible, itself, as divine cause people to get confused, especially looking across different translations? How can it make it easier to be deceived by “false teachers”, similar to how we saw Satan try tempting Christ in the desert?

Don’t Create a Golden Calf

Last week we discussed the REAL sin of the Golden Calf at the base of Mount Sinai. We discussed how the Hebrew people were creating a “throne” for God that could contain Him.

Some wield the Bible in the same way, seeking to “trap God” in convenient truths that mesh well with their worldview.

Our calling is to live as Paul did, not being enslaved to a particular reading of a book, but constantly seeking to deepen our understand of God who spoke to the prophets, the apostles, and speaks to us today through His scriptures. We revere the Bible… not for Bible’s sake, but because of the awesome God it teaches us about.