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This morning we began studying the Protestant Reformation.
I tried to give a brief historical background and also look at one of the pillars of the reformation - “sola fide”
Many religions of the world include the Bible as one of their “holy” books.
But is the Bible simple one among many?
Christianity has the Bible as it’s sole source are we being narrow minded?
This morning we began studying the Protestant Reformation.
I tried to give a brief historical background and also look at one of the pillars of the reformation - “sola fide”
Tonight I want to begin our evening series where we will look at “sola scriptura” (by scripture alone).
It was through the careful study of God’s word that the reformers saw the corruption and abuse of the Catholic Church.
It was also through their study of the Scriptures they saw their own need of salvation and the hope of the Gospel found in Jesus Christ.
The Bible had been pushed aside in the church of the middle ages.
The question was not what does the Bible say or what does God say but what does the church say or more specifically what does the pope say.
Papal authority was what mattered, not the Bible.
This resulted in the preaching of God’s word taking a back seat to things like the sacraments and mass.
It was more important to belong to the church than to Christ.
What the reformers preached and lived was that it was more important to follow God’s word than the church or the pope.
It was this belief and the proclamation of this belief that so threatened Rome.
If the Bible was the authority then it meant they no longer were.
The pope and church cared far more about human power, financial riches, and political influence than it did about the souls of man.
Thus any threat to this power, riches and influence would have to be stamped out even if it meant God and His word.
Sola scriptura ("by Scripture alone")
The reformers all started by wanting to reform the church not leave it.
They wanted to bring the Church once again under God’s authority, the Bible.
It was only once it became clear the church would not be reformed that they broke.
Sola fide ("by faith alone")
One of the reformers greatest accomplishments if not the greatest was the translation of God’s word into the common language of the people.
To this point the Bible was only available in Latin, which no one but the clergy spoke.
The common people were defendant on their Priests to tell them what God said.
To translate the Bible into the language of the common people meant that the church was no longer the gate keeper for God’s word.
The common man could read the Bible for himself.
Sola gratia ("by grace alone")
This was the greatest threat to Rome because now people could see for themselves the corruption and abuse the church had foisted upon them.
The reformation fires began to spread quickly once people could read the Bible for themselves.
Sola Christus or Solo Christo ("Christ alone" or "through Christ alone")
Luther translated the Bible in German, Calvin assisted in translating into French, Tyndale into English.
These translations become the standards of their respective languages.
What drove these men to place such weight on the Bible?
What was their reasoning for asserting the Bible’s authority over Rome’s authority?
What fueled their desire to study and preach the Bible? - These are some of the questions we want to answer in our evening services.
Sola Deo gloria ("glory to God alone")
I am going to begin tonight with one of the foundation doctrines of the word of God.
The Inspiration of Scripture!
Inspired is used in many ways in our culture - musicians, artists, poets, chefs...
The inspiration of the scriptures means that we believe the Bible is God’s word.
Because it is God’s word it is infallible, sufficient, necessary and the absolute authority.
There are many passages in the Bible that teach this foundation doctrine.
All scripture is inspired by God or God-breathed.
The Greek word here is “theopneutos”
“Theo” - God and “Pneutos” - to breathes - All scripture is literally the breath of God or from God’s mouth.
Rightly do we call the Bible God’s word for it is not man’s word but God’s.
When we read the Bible we are reading what God has said.
When theologians talk about the inspiration of the Bible they talk about it in two ways - verbal and plenary
Verbal Inspiration
This means every word of scripture was inspired.
God did not just communicate the ideas or themes but the very words of scripture.
Jesus quoting
The words of the text are very important for we believe they are given to us by God Himself.
Plenary Inspiration
This means that all the words of scripture are God’s words.
All of scripture is equally and fully inspired by God ().
God used men to record His words.
There are approx.
40 human authors God used but it is all still God’s word.
These men lived at different times, on different continents and spoke different languages and yet the scriptures are unified in what they say.
How is that possible?
It is the same God who spoke through them.
God did this while at the same time allowing for the different styles of the authors to be seen.
Linguists can study the Bible text and see commonalities in letters written by the same human author.
The picture in 2 Pet. is that of a ship being carried by the wind.
The men were merely the sails and the Spirit of God was the wind that moved and directed them.
Every word of scripture is inspired
Every part of the Bible is equally inspired – all 66 books - It’s all God’s word
o God communicated exactly what He wanted to be written – “thus says the Lord”
· Yet the Bible still bears the stylistic marks of each individual author
o The Spirit of God spoke through the human scribes or authors
· Every part of the Bible is equally inspired – all 66 books
o It’s all God’s word
Can we trust that what we possess is God’s Word?
God inspired these authors some 3500 - 200 years ago.
Can we trust that the Bible we have today is the Bible that God gave to the original authors?
The Bible was written in Hebrew (OT) and Greek (NT) and Aramaic (Daniel) - We do not possess the originals
We do not possess the original manuscripts
The copying was done by hand for the first 1500 years after the Bible was completed
Can we trust that what we possess is God’s Word?
When determining the reliability of an ancient document there are a couple of important factors
How close is the date of the manuscript to the writing of the original - the greater the time period the greater the likelihood for mistakes
Number of manuscripts - the more you have the more you can compare and cross reference
Annuals of Imperial Rome - by Tacitus
Annuals of Imperial Rome - by Tacitus
Originally written - 116 AD
by Tacitus
Earliest manuscript - 850 AD (Difference of 700+ years)
Manuscripts in existence - 1
The Jewish War - by Josephus
The Jewish War
Originally written - 1st Century
Earliest manuscript - 10th Century (Difference of 1000 years)
by Josephus
Manuscripts in existence - 9
Iliad - by Homer
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