The Holy Word of God (part II)

Articles

Lance Byers
02/07/25 - Theology

Which came first? The chicken or the egg? ~Plutarch (Greek Philosopher c.100AD)

Last week, we discussed how we got to the books of the bible which we have today. The men who came together to form this text into a single volume at Hippo were not the first to try and agree upon the scriptures (the earliest known listing of scripture is the Muratorian Fragment written from 155-200AD), but it was the authority which finalized the making of our “modern” bible. There is a critical issue that needs to be addressed this week, though, to finalize from where the bible comes.

On May 22, 33AD, the day of Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection, Peter preached, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,” “and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:38, 41) The church was formed with this miraculous event, but nobody was writing it down. Arguably the first scripture penned to parchment was James sometime in the late 40s, over a decade after the formation of the church. There are some in the world who would say that it is not scripture which defines the church, but the Church who defines scripture.

“Those divinely revealed realities which are contained and presented in Sacred Scripture have been committed to writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For holy mother Church, relying on the belief of the, holds that the books of both the Old and New Testaments in their entirety, with all their parts, are sacred and canonical because written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author and have been handed on as such to the Church herself. In composing the sacred books, God chose men and while employed by Him they made use of their powers and abilities, so that with Him acting in them and through them, they, as true authors, consigned to writing everything and only those things which He wanted.” (Dei verbum 11)

One might read this text and agree initially, but it is important to note that the “Church” is referring to an institution. In this interpretation, therefore, the bible is a product of the Church as dictated by God and is subject to the Church as dictated by God. By interpretating the scriptures this way, the Church has the authority to authorize, deauthorize, interpret and reinterpret scripture as it sees fit as it believes to be by the direction of God.

The problem with this interpretation is that “All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” (II Timothy 3:16) While it is true that the scriptures were written by members of the church, by the admission of even those who hold the Church in higher authority, those scriptures were written by inspiration; a direct communication from the Holy Spirit of God through these individuals. God decided it important to write the Word down for a reason stated by one inspired man. Luke writes at the beginning of his gospel:

“Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.”

Just as the scriptures tells us in Timothy, the eyewitnesses and ministers delivered the Word, and as those ministers are not going to always be there, the Word would be preserved and we can use it to measure and test our actions and to learn and understand what God wants us to know for our life and salvation. While the church did produce the writings through its inspired members, the authority simply ran through it like water in a pipe, not from it.

Lance Byers

2/8/2025