Word of god written by man

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for
every good work.

A Bigger Problem Than You Might Think

It truly is a secular age. I had the opportunity to be at a state school a
couple of years ago for a student led club. I began answering some questions
that the students had at the end of the lecture. Even though there was a very
negative tone coming from many of the questioners, I remained courteous in each
response.

Most of the questions were common and fairly easy to answer. The questions
first began with the creation-evolution debate, dealing with dinosaurs and radiometric
dating. After those were answered, the questions became more impassioned and
were directed towards God and the Bible: «Who created God?» and «Isn’t the Bible
full of contradictions?» At the end, one question came up that I did not
have an opportunity to answer. A student asked «Was the Bible written by men?»
The bell rang and out they went. I wished this question would have come
up sooner because it gets closer to the heart of the issue.

I didn’t realize the importance of this question until I saw a statistical
analysis of young people who had walked away from the church. Out of 1,000 young
adults who have left church, 44% of them said that they did not believe the
accounts in the Bible were true and accurate. When asked what made them answer
this way, the most common response (24%) said that the Bible was written
by men (not God, albeit inspiring men). The remaining results are shown below.1

Even though 24% question the accuracy of the Bible because it was written by men, there are other related answers in this study. For example, 11% believe the Bible contains errors. This implies that “God could not have been involved,” since God does not make errors (Psalm 12:6; Deuteronomy 32:4; Hebrews 6:18). Also, 15% claim that the Bible contradicts itself. This implies that God was not involved since God cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13) and, thus, contradict Himself. So at least 50% would, in one way or another, dispute that a perfect God was responsible for the Bible!

So What Is The Answer?

When it comes to authorship of the Bible, of course men were involved. Christians
would be the first to point this out. For example, Paul wrote letters to early
churches that are included in the Scriptures (2 Peter 3:15–16). David wrote
many of the Psalms. Moses wrote the Pentateuch, or the Torah (the first five books
of the Bible). In fact, it is estimated that over 40 different human authors
were involved.2 So, this is not the issue.

The issue is this: did God have any involvement or not? Did God inspire the authors
of the Scriptures?3 When someone claims
that the Bible was written by men and not God, this is an absolute statement
that reveals something extraordinary.

It reveals that the person saying this is claiming to be transcendent! When one claims that God was not inspiring the human authors of the
Bible, that person is claiming to be omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent!

1. Omniscient: they are claiming to be an all-knowing authority
   on the subject of God’s inspiration, to refute God’s claim that Scripture
   was inspired by Him (2 Timothy 3:16).
2. Omnipresent: they are claiming that they were present,
   both spiritually and physically, to observe that God had no part in aiding
   any of the biblical authors.
3. Omnipotent: they are claiming that if God had tried to
   help the biblical authors, then they had the power to stop such an action.

So, the person making the claim that the Bible was written by men is claiming
to be God; but these three attributes belong solely to God. This
is a religious issue of humanism versus Christianity. The person is claiming
(perhaps inadvertently) that they are the ultimate authority over God
and are trying to convince you that God is subservient to them. This
needs to be addressed in responding to them.

What Is A Good Response?

I like to respond in ways that reveal this issue in a question—and there are
several ways to do it. For example, you can address “omnipresence” by asking,
“Do you really believe that you are omnipresent? The only way for you to prove
that God had no involvement in the writing of the Scriptures is for you to be
omnipresent.” Then point out that he/she is claiming to be God when they made
the statement that God had no involvement in the Bible.

Or perhaps respond with the question, “How is it that you are powerful enough
to stop God from inspiring the authors of the Bible?” Or you can direct the
question to the rest of the listeners by simply asking, “Do the rest of you
think that this person is God? The only way to refute that God inspired the
Bible is by claiming attributes of God for yourself, such as omnipresence, omnipotence,
and omniscience.” You may have to explain further at this point so that the listeners
will better understand.

You can always
lead them down the path by first asking an easier question: “How
do you know that God was not involved?” But then you will have to listen to
their response in order to know how to proceed after that.

Since the Bible alone contains detailed predictive and fulfilled prophecy, it alone can qualify as being authenticated by God.

Other methods of responding are to undercut the entire position by pointing
out that any type of reasoning apart from the Bible is merely arbitrary. So,
the person trying to make a logical argument against the claims of the Bible
(i.e., that God inspired the authors) is doing so only because he/she is assuming
the Bible is true—that logic and truth exist! It is helpful to point out these
types of presuppositions and inconsistencies.4

Someone may respond: “What if I claim that Shakespeare was
inspired by God—then you would have to be omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent
to refute it.”

Actually, it is irrelevant for me to be omniscient, omnipresent, and
omnipotent to refute it. God, who is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent,
refutes this claim from what He has already stated in the Bible. Nowhere did
God self-authenticate Shakespeare’s writings as Scripture. However Christ, the
Creator-God (John 1; Colossians 1; Hebrews 1), approved the Old Testament prophetic works and the New Testament
apostolic works. The canon is already
sealed.5

God has repeatedly authenticated the supernatural character of Scripture through
prophecy. In Isaiah 40–46, God states that He is distinguished from the other
so-called gods in many ways (He is the Creator; He is the One who sits above
the circle of the earth; etc.). God alone can tell the future (see especially
Isaiah 41:21–29). Since the Bible alone contains detailed predictive and fulfilled
prophecy, it alone can qualify as being authenticated by God.

Conclusion

Sadly, in today’s society, children (churched or not) are being heavily
exposed to the religion of humanism, which reigns in state schools. So, it is
logical that the next generation would be thinking in terms of humanism and
apply that to the Bible.

The student about whom I previously spoke was applying the religion of humanism
(i.e., man is the authority, not God) to the Bible when he claimed that it was
written merely by men. He viewed himself as the authority and not God. He
further reasoned that there is no God at all, and, therefore, the Bible could
not have had God’s involvement. Therefore, his statement that the Bible was written by men was a religious
claim—he was claiming to be God. Many follow this same thought process but fail to realize its implications and problems.

You shall have no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:3).

If one can expose the false religion of humanism, then others may be more
open to realizing the deception. After all, the person is not the enemy; rather, it
is the false principalities and dark powers that are at work trying to deceive
(Ephesians 6:12) that we must demolish (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Bible Verse:

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.-2 Peter 1:21

One common objective to the Bible being the perfect and divinely inspired word of God is that it was written by the hands of men. Why would God use imperfect people to write his perfect Scriptures? On the surface this seems like a very valid complaint. But if one is to believe in God at all, one must also admit it is God’s normal and regular pattern to use man for most of what he does.

Right from the beginning of creation, God made man to work the garden (Genesis 2:15). God could have worked it himself, but he used Adam to do it. God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). He could have populated the earth by producing people himself as he did with the first man and woman, but instead he chose to use Adam and Eve to produce other people. God could have made the Ark, but God used Noah to do it. He could have struck down Goliath, but he used David to cast the stone. God could have set the infant Jesus in the manger himself, but he used Mary’s body to host the Savior and Joseph’s fatherly care to guide Mary and Jesus along in the early years. Jesus could have stayed to make disciples throughout the earth, but he commissioned the eleven and all of us to do it through his power.

On and on you see that God has ordained man to be used as his tool to accomplish his will. It is a profound mystery how God brings about his will through the free will of man, but he does it nonetheless. Only a real God could produce this feat. In our human minds we cannot imagine how God can be in control and have his will produced by using free agents like us. When faced with this reality, in doubt we begin to question God because we see him in our own image, and we know that no human could use other free will humans to produce exactly what one wants. This, therefore, should not be a reason to doubt God, but rather a reason to believe that the God of the Bible really is God. If God could not do things that surpass our understanding or human ability, such as use imperfect people to produce his perfect word, then this would be cause to doubt God. If you understand the Creator perfectly, this is evidence that he is probably not really the Creator. It is right for the created to not fully comprehend the Creator.

With all that said, it should be no surprise that when God wanted to produce a perfect written record, which we have come to call the Bible, that he used man to do it. God has used man for almost everything, therefore it would be far odder and less believable if I was told God wrote a book with his tangible divine finger and dropped it out of the sky one day. If that was the story of how the Bible came to us, the origins of this divine book would be an outlier compared to the stories contained within this book. When you read the Bible, dropping things from heaven to earth without using human means is not the type of thing we see God doing very often. Again, even with the miracle of the Incarnation, God produces a miracle but he still used a human host.

If you were to read the Bible, and then were to ask yourself, “If God made a divine book, how would you expect him to do it?” The answer would not be that you would expect the God who uses man to suddenly not use man but drop a book from heaven out of the sky. I would expect him to use multiple authors, so no one man would get the glory but only God. I would expect it to explain the beginning and tell the future, to be written in different parts of the world, and be written over a period of time that is longer than any one human life could last. I would expect it to have a human feel written with different styles and genres according to the humans’ preferences, but I would expect its content to never contradict and have consistent themes and truths. I would expect there to be an element of faith in what we have not seen, not having all our questions answered with our own eyes since this book itself states that to love God we will need to put our faith in him. I would expect unbelievers to doubt its perfection, and I would expect the book itself to predict that there would be doubters of its truth.

After honestly reading the Bible, the Bible we have is the one any honest person should expect to have. Surely if God where to drop a book out of the sky, man would worship the book and miss the Creator of it. Is this not the reason the manna which was dropped from the sky would spoil after one day, so that the Israelites would not begin to worship the manna itself but continue to worship and trust the God who provided it? People worship the silliest things. I once saw a news report that an entire restaurant stopped what they were doing because a woman’s pancake had taken the form of what they imagined Mary the mother of Jesus to look like, as though she was manifesting through the pancake. Look through the churches’ history and see how sinful it has been with “relics.” Can you imagine what sinners would do with a tangible book fallen from heaven?

The fact that the Bible claims to be written through human hands by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, amongst other facts, fits perfectly with the rest of reality God has made clear through the Bible. The fact that God used imperfect people to write his perfect words should be cause for more faith in such a powerful God, not less.

(Note: This blog is part of a series of blogs, “Proof the Bible is God’s Word.” Since the Bible claims to be the supreme authority on truth, logically, the Bible must be self-authenticating. If it really is the word of God, it must prove itself true as no other authority could if the Scriptures are the supreme authority on truth. As Charles Spurgeon stated, “Defend the Bible? I would as soon defend a lion! Unchain it and it will defend itself.”)

The Claim of the Bible

Even a casual reader of the Bible will soon discover he is reading a very unusual book. Even though he may not accept its claims, a careful and reflective reading will demonstrate, for most at least, that this book is not only unique, but makes some very unique claims. The following are a number of evidences that support this uniqueness.

Internal Evidence

In hundreds of passages, the Bible declares or takes the position explicitly or implicitly that it is nothing less than the very Word of God.

Some thirty-eight hundred times the Bible declares, “God said,” or “Thus says the Lord” (e.g. Ex. 14:1; 20:1; Lev. 4:1; Num. 4:1; Deut. 4:2; 32:48; Isa. 1:10, 24; Jer. 1:11; Ezek. 1:3; etc.). Paul also recognized that the things he was writing were the Lord’s commandments (1 Cor. 14:37), and they were acknowledged as such by the believers (1 Thess. 2:13). Peter proclaimed the certainty of the Scriptures and the necessity of heeding the unalterable and certain Word of God (2 Pet. 1:16-21). John too recognized that his teaching was from God; to reject his teaching was to reject God (1 John 4:6).¹⁷

For other passages which either declare or assume the Bible as God’s Word see Deuteronomy 6:6-9, 17-18; Joshua 1:8-9; 8:32-35; 2 Samuel 22:31; Ps. 1:2; 12:6; 19:7-11; 93:5; 119:9, 11, 18, 89-93, 130; Prov. 30:5-6; Matthew 5:17-19; 22:29; Mark 13:31; Luke 16:17; John 2:22; 5:24; 10:35; Acts 17:11; Romans 10:17; Colossians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:15-17; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2 Peter 3:15-16; Revelation 1:2; 22:18.

But isn’t this a circular kind of argument, and is that a valid argument? In a court of law, the accused has the right to testify on his own behalf. That testimony should be considered in the light of the evidence. In this case, the evidence, both external and internal, strongly supports the claims of the Bible.

In response to those who would reject the above-mentioned argument, it should be noted that the writers who made those claims for the Scripture were trustworthy men who defended the integrity of the Scripture at great personal sacrifice. Jeremiah received his message directly from the Lord (Jer. 11:1-3), yet because of his defense of the Scripture some attempted to kill him (Jer. 11:21); even his family rejected him (Jer. 12:6). Counterfeit prophets were readily recognized (Jer. 23:21, 32; 28:1-17). However, the Bible’s claims should not be understood as arguing in a circle or by circular reasoning. The testimony of reliable witnesses—particularly of Jesus, but also of others such as Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel, and Nehemiah in the Old Testament, and John and Paul in the New Testament—affirmed the authority and verbal inspiration of the Holy Scriptures.¹⁸

The ever present assumption of the writers of the Bible is that the Bible is the God-breathed Word of God. A good illustration is seen in Psalm 19:7-11 which not only declares the Bible to be the Word of God, but identifies six perfections with corresponding transformations of human character that the Bible will produce in those who study and apply it in faith.

External Evidence

(1) The continuity of the Bible. One of the amazing facts about the Bible is that though it was written by a wide diversity of authors (as many as 40) over a period of 1600 years, from many different locations and under a wide variety of conditions, the Bible is uniquely one book, not merely a collection of sixty-six books. Its authors came from all walks of life. Some were kings, some peasants, still others were philosophers, fishermen, physicians, statesmen, scholars, poets, and farmers. They lived in a variety of cultures, in different experiences and often were quite different in their make up. Regardless of this diversity, as one book, it is:

… bound together by historical sequence, type and antitype, prophecy and fulfillment, and by the anticipation, presentation, realization, and exaltation of the most perfect Person who ever walked on earth and whose glories are manifest in heaven.¹⁹

Enns has an interesting comparison as it pertains to the Bible’s continuity. He writes:

The divine origin of the Bible is further seen in considering the continuity of its teaching despite the unusual nature of its composition. It stands distinct from other religious writings. For example, the Islamic Koran was compiled by an individual, Zaid ibn Thabit, under the guidance of Mohammed’s father-in-law, Abu-Bekr. Additionally, in A.D. 650, a group of Arab scholars produced a unified version and destroyed all variant copies to preserve the unity of the Koran. By contrast, the Bible came from some forty different authors from diverse vocations in life. For instance, among the writers of Scripture were Moses, a political leader; Joshua, a military leader; David, a shepherd; Solomon, a king; Amos, a herdsman and fruit pincher; Daniel, a prime minister; Matthew, a tax collector; Luke, a medical doctor; Paul, a rabbi; and Peter, a fisherman.²⁰

Summing up the significance of the Bible’s continuity, Enns writes,

It is apparent that many of the writers did not know of the other writers of Scripture and were unfamiliar with the other writings, inasmuch as the writers wrote over a period of more than fifteen hundred years, yet the Bible is a marvelous, unified whole. There are no contradictions or inconsistencies within its pages. The Holy Spirit is the unifier of the sixty-six books, determining its harmonious consistency. In unity these books teach the triunity of God, the deity of Jesus Christ, the personality of the Holy Spirit, the fall and depravity of man, as well as salvation by grace. It quickly becomes apparent that no human being(s) could have orchestrated the harmony of the teachings of the Scripture. The divine authorship of the Bible is the only answer.²¹

Speaking of the Bible as “a phenomenon which is explainable in but one way—it is the word of God,” the late Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote, “It is not such a book as man would write if he could, or could write if he would.”²² It is beyond the scope of man’s capacity to write a book like the Bible under the conditions describes above apart from its divine origin.

(2) The Bible’s revelation of God. The Bible’s revelation of God is unique among all the religious writings of either antiquity or of more modern times. While the Bible is a very ethical book, it never divorces its code of morality from a personal relationship with the God of the Bible, teaching that God’s laws are not meant to hinder joy and pleasure, but to enhance man’s capacity to know and love God and people. Morality is to be a product of knowing and loving the God of the Bible (Deut. 4:4-6; Matt. 22:36-40; Mark 12:28-31).

In addition, no other religious writing presents both the absolute holiness of God combined with God’s love, mercy, and grace that reaches out to sinful man who has been separated from God not only because of man’s sin, but because of God’s absolute holiness. One of the great revelations and themes of the Bible is that which is expressed by Isaiah, “holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts” (Isa. 6:3; Hab. 1:13a).

While other contemporary writers were primarily polytheistic, the Bible is monotheistic. It presents a monotheistic concept of God rather than the polytheism which was so flagrant in the days when the Scriptures were written. Furthermore, when later holy books like the Koran and others presented a monotheistic concept of God, the Bible remained unique because it is the only book about God that presents God as one (monotheism) yet one in three persons, the Triunity or Trinity. Indeed, the Bible’s revelation of God is one that is starkly different from the ones depicted in all other holy books whether of antiquity or of modern times.

(3) The nature, condition, and cure for man’s sin. Only the Bible describes man’s condition in sin as it really is and demonstrates the impossibility for man to deal with his sin and sinfulness apart from God’s grace solution in the person and death of His Son. Every other religion in the world, past and present, has man seeking to obtain his own salvation or gain God’s favor by some form of human works or religious activity. Only the Bible presents a solution for man’s sin that is truly life changing, when properly embraced and believed.

(4) The ethics and morals of the Bible. The ethics and morals of the Bible cover all areas of human conduct from the home, the husband/wife relationships, parent/child relationships, to human conduct in society as with employers and employees, neighbors and enemies, and the state and its citizens. It covers morals on all levels as well as business, economic, and social spheres. But as mentioned previously, the ethics and morals of the Bible are unique in that they are always related to one’s belief in the existence of God and one’s relationship with Him; in this way, the motives themselves are judged. Ethics and morals are never simply a matter of outward conformity to the moral standards of Scripture as other religions or religious books do. The emphasis of the Bible is “search me O God, and know my heart.”

(5) Fulfilled prophecy. Another amazing illustration of the divine origin and uniqueness of the Bible is its many fulfilled prophecies.

Throughout Scripture, hundreds of prophecies were made by Old Testament writers concerning the Messiah, the future kingdom on earth, the restoration of Israel as a nation, and their return to their Promised Land. In the New Testament also many predictions are made of events to come. As Scripture unfolds, about half of these prophecies have already been fulfilled, but others, following the same pattern of literal fulfillment, are subject to fulfillment in the future. The perfect precision of prophecy extending to such details as the place of Christ’s birth, the character of His execution, the very words He would speak on the cross testify to the absolute accuracy of the Word of God. In Scripture, prophecy is just as accurate as history.²³

(6) The Bible as Revelation Beyond Human Comprehension.

The extent of Bible revelation is beyond human comprehension. Like a telescope, the Bible reaches beyond the stars and penetrates the heights of heaven and the depths of hell. Like a microscope, it discovers the minutest details of God’s plans and purposes as well as the hidden secrets of the human heart. The Bible deals as freely with things unknown as it does with the known. It can speak with complete freedom and assurance about situations and events outside the realm of human experience. The Bible knows no limits to the infinite knowledge of God who guided its writers. It permits its readers to gaze on events in eternity past as well as in eternity future. The comprehension of divine revelation is utterly beyond the capacity of even the most brilliant men unaided by the Spirit of God.²⁴

Other unique features of the Bible that give evidence of its divine origin are its types and antitypes, its nature as unique literature, its scientific accuracy when compared to true science, its enduring freshness, and its power to change lives.²⁵

The Bible:
God’s Special Revelation

Definition of Revelation

The term revelation comes from the Greek word apokalupsis, which means “a disclosure” or “an unveiling.” It is used in the New Testament of the disclosure of truth in general (Luke 2:32; Rom. 16:25; Eph. 1:17), of the disclosure of a specific area of truth (2 Cor. 12:1; Gal. 1:12; 2:2; Eph. 3:3), of the second coming of Christ (1 Cor. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:7, 13; 4:13), and of the book of Revelation (Rev. 1:1). Theologically, Bible students use this word to signify God’s work of revealing Himself to mankind through the various sources of revelation as in creation (Rom. 1:18-21; Ps. 19), in providential acts (Acts 14:17; Rom. 8:28), in miracles (John 20:30-31), through direct acts of communication (Ex. 3:1-9; Acts 22:17-21), through the person of Christ (John 1:14, 18), and through the Bible.

What then is revelation? Thiessen defines it as:

… that act of God whereby he discloses himself or communicates truth to the mind; whereby he makes manifest to his creatures that which could not be known in any other way. The revelation may occur in a single, instantaneous act, or it may extend over a long period of time; and this communication of himself and his truth may be perceived by the human mind in varying degrees of fullness.²⁶

Erickson defines “revelation” as: “By special revelation we mean God’s manifestation of himself to particular persons at definite times and places, enabling those persons to enter into a redemptive relationship with him.”²⁷

The concept of revelation falls into two principal divisions or areas: (1) general, natural, or original, and (2) special, supernatural, or soteriological. The first pertains to revelation revealed through nature and history, the second to what God has revealed as He intervenes in human history to reveal Himself in supernatural ways.

General or Natural Revelation

By general revelation, we mean revelation that is simply general in its extent. Ryrie explains:

General revelation is exactly that—general. It is general in its scope; that is, it reaches to all people (Matt. 5:45; Acts 14:17). It is general in geography; that is, it encompasses the entire globe (Ps. 19:2). It is general in its methodology; that is, it employs universal means like the heat of the sun (vv. 4-6) and human conscience (Rom. 2:14-15). Simply because it is a revelation that thus affects all people wherever they are and whenever they have lived it can bring light and truth to all, or, if rejected, brings condemnation.²⁸

General revelation comes to mankind in a number of ways (creation, order and design, the nature of man as an intelligent being), but the most obvious and powerful means of general revelation is nature or creation. As powerful and universal as this is, however, it is inadequate or has certain limitations. It cannot tell us about the love and grace of God nor of His perfect holiness. Furthermore, creation does not tell us of God’s plan of salvation nor how man may procure that salvation. Still, general revelation “is nonetheless an important antecedent to salvation. General revelation is God revealing certain truths and aspects about His nature to all humanity, which revelation is essential and preliminary to God’s special revelation.”²⁹

Creation

Creation as a part of God’s general revelation affirms certain facts about God. Two key passages emphasize God’s general revelation in creation:

(1) Psalm 19:1-6 affirms (a) the heavens declare the fact of God’s glory to the human race throughout the earth (vs. 1), (b) that this revelation is constant, occurring “day to day” and “night to night” (vs. 2), that (c) it is a nonverbal revelation, “there is no speech, nor are there words, their voice is not heard,” (v. 3), and (d) its scope is worldwide, “Their line [sound] has gone out through all the earth, And their utterance to the end of the world” (v. 4). “Being unrestricted by the division of languages, natural revelation transcends human communication without the use of speech, words, and sounds. To those who are inclined to hear, revelation comes with no regard for linguistic or geographical barriers.”³⁰

No one is excluded from this revelation of God. Wherever man peers at the universe, there is orderliness. At a distance of ninety-three million miles from the earth, the sun provides exactly the right temperature environment for man to function on earth. Were the sun closer, it would be too hot to survive, and were it further away it would be too cold for man to function. If the moon were closer than two hundred forty thousand miles the gravitational pull of the tides would engulf the earth’s surface with water from the oceans. Wherever man looks in the universe, there is harmony and order. Similarly, God has revealed Himself on earth (v. 1). The magnificence of the human body is perhaps the best evidence of general revelation on earth. The entire human body—its cardiovascular system, the bone structure, the respiratory system, the muscles, the nervous system including its center in the brain—reveals an infinite God.³¹

(2) Romans 1:18-21 develops the truth of general revelation through creation even further. It draws our attention to four vital characteristics of what the revelation of God in creation does. (a) It is a clear testimony, being clearly seen by the things which are made (vss. 19 and 20). (b) The word “understood” (noew, “of rational reflection, inner contemplation, perceive, apprehend, understand …”)³² indicates this general revelation goes beyond mere perception; creation’s revelation is such that it is expected to result in reflection so there is a conclusion drawn about the Creator. (c) As Psalm 19 affirms, this testimony is constant being witnessed “since the creation of the world” (vs. 20). And (d) it is limited in what it reveals; only certain aspects about God’s invisible qualities or nature are revealed, specifically, “his eternal power and divine nature.”

As mentioned previously, to learn of God’s love, grace, and plan of salvation, one must turn to God’s special revelation, the Bible, and the revelation of His Son (John 1:14, 18). Natural revelation, however, is more than sufficient to make mankind responsible and to show he is “without excuse” for his indifference and failure to seek to know God and to be thankful.

Providence and Human Conscience

In addition to creation, God has also revealed Himself to the human race through His providential goodness in the world and through the human conscience.

It is through His providential goodness in supplying people with sunshine and rain that enables them to live and function (Matt. 5:45; Acts 14:15-17). Paul reminds the people at Lystra that God’s providential goodness was a witness to them (Acts 14:17). God’s providential control is also evident in His dealing with the nations. He disciplined His disobedient people Israel (Deut. 28:15-68) but will also restore them (Deut. 30:1-10); He judged Egypt for sinning against Israel (Ex. 7-11); He raised the nations to power and also caused their demise (Dan. 2:21a, 31-43).

Further, God has revealed Himself through conscience. Romans 2:14-15 indicates God has placed intuitional knowledge concerning Himself within the heart of man. “Man intuitively knows not only that God values goodness and abhors evil but also that he is ultimately accountable to such a righteous Power.” (Bruce A. Demarest, General Revelation: Historical Views and Contemporary Issues, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982, p. 231.) While the Jews will be judged according to the written law, Gentiles, who do not have the written Law, will be judged according to an unwritten law, the law of conscience written on their hearts. Moreover, Paul says the conscience acts as a legal prosecutor (v. 15). “Conscience may be regarded as an inner monitor, or the voice of God in the soul, that passes judgment on man’s response to the moral law within” (Ibid., pp. 232-33).³³

While God has revealed Himself in His creation, which gives us general revelation about God, and in the person of Jesus Christ, which gives us revelation of God incarnate, our focus in bibliology is on the revelation of God in the Bible, the written Word of God. As God’s Word the Bible reveals much more about God than can be known from nature or creation or even through the person Christ.

Accordingly, the Bible may be regarded as completing the intended divine revelation of God partially revealed in nature, more fully revealed in Christ, and completely revealed in the written Word.

Special Revelation

The Nature of Special Revelation

This section will examine how God has revealed Himself in special revelation. The nature of this mode of revelation is that it consists primarily of words. The author of Hebrews reminds us that God has made Himself known by speaking long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, and in these last days has spoken to us in His Son (Heb. 1:1-2a). There are three elements to special revelation: specific times, specific modes, and specific persons. Later, still dealing with this special revelation that reveals our “so great salvation,” the author of Hebrews says:

After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will (Heb. 1:1-2).

Again we see the same elements: a specific mode (special revelation embodied in words), at a specific time (during the life of Christ and the apostles), and in specific persons (those who heard the Lord, His apostles whose teaching or words were confirmed by signs and wonders). This was precisely in keeping with Christ’s own words in John 16:12-15.

Special revelation involves a narrower focus than general revelation and is restricted to Jesus Christ and the Scriptures. Of course, all that is known of Christ is through the Scriptures; therefore, it can be said that special revelation is restricted to the Scriptures.³⁴

The Necessity of Special Revelation

Why does man need special revelation? Special revelation is needed because of man’s blind and sinful condition caused by his fall as recorded in Genesis 3, a blindness that is made even stronger by the blinding activity of Satan (cf. Eph. 4:17-19 with 2 Cor. 4:4). This necessitated the need for special revelation so God could reveal Himself and His plan of salvation that man in turn might be reconciled from his condition of alienation and restored to fellowship with God.

God’s special revelation of Himself centers in the Person of Jesus Christ as the only One who fully reveals both God and His plan of salvation; Jesus is the heart and testimony of Scripture in its promises and fulfillment and the means of salvation (John 1:14, 18; 3:16-18; 6:63; 14:6; Heb. 1:3; 2:3; Rev. 19:10).

In addition to the above, man needs special revelation for two more important reasons. First, so he correctly interpret the truths revealed in general revelation, and second, because these general truths are very limited. As is obvious from the many religions of the world, man consistently misinterprets what he can learn from creation or providence. Therefore, man desperately needs God’s special or supernatural revelation.

The Avenues of Special Revelation

Drawing on his knowledge of the Old Testament and the testimony of those who had personally heard the Lord Jesus, the author of Hebrews speaks of the various ways God has spoken to reveal Himself in history through the prophets and then through His Son who is the very outshining of God (Heb. 1:1-2). Ryrie gives us an excellent summary of the various avenues God has used to reveal Himself.

A. The Lot: While today we would not highly regard the use of the lot, it did serve sometimes to communicate the mind of God to man (Prov. 16:33; Acts 1:21-26).

B. The Urim and Thummim: The breastplate which the high priest wore in the Old Testament was a square piece of beautiful material which was folded in half and open at the top like a pouch. It was adorned with twelve precious stones on which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Urim and Thummim possibly were two precious stones placed inside the pouch which were used, like the lot, to determine God’s will (Ex. 28:30, Num. 27:21, Deut. 33:8; 1 Sam. 28:6, Ezra 2:63).

C. Dreams: God apparently used dreams to communicate many times during the Old Testament period, and He will do so again at the time of the second coming of Christ (Gen. 20:3, 6; 31:11-13, 24; 40-41; Joel 2:28). Nonbelievers as well as believers experienced God-given dreams (Gen. 20:3; 31:24). Though a common experience, dreams were used by God in this special way to reveal truth.

D. Visions: In a vision the emphasis seems to be on what is heard, while in a dream, on what is seen. Also the human being involved seems to be more active in receiving a vision (Isa. 1:1; 6:1; Ezek. 1:3).

E. Theophanies: Before the Incarnation, theophanies were associated with the appearance of the Angel of the Lord who communicated the divine message to people (Gen. 16:7-14; Ex. 3:2; 2 Sam. 24:16; Zech. 1:12).

F. Angels: God also uses created angels to carry His message to people (Dan. 9:20-21, Luke 2:10-11, Rev. 1:1). (Notice Rev. 19:17 where God will use an angel to communicate to birds!)

G. The Prophets: Old Testament prophets brought God’s message to mankind (2 Sam. 23:2; Zech. 1:1) as did New Testament prophets (Eph. 3:5). They spoke with authority because they were communicating the Word of the Lord. A preacher or teacher today does not qualify as a prophet since he proclaims or explains God’s Word, previously given and encoded.

H. Events: God’s activity in history also constitutes a channel of revelation. Delivering the people of Israel from Egypt revealed the righteous acts of the Lord, according to Micah 6:5. Acts of judgment reveal who God is (Ezek. 25:7). And, of course, the incarnation of Christ exegeted God (John 1:14). It does not go without saying today that these events have to be historical and factual in order also to be communicative; for today some are putting existential faith before the historical. In other words, they are attempting to create revelation apart from historical facts. Such existential historiography was never a part of the framework of the biblical writers.

Not only must the events be historical, but they also need to be interpreted through divine inspiration if we are to understand accurately their meaning. For example, many people were crucified; how do we know that the crucifixion of one Jesus of Nazareth paid for the sins of the world? The Word of special revelation clarifies and correctly interprets the obscurity of the meaning of events.

I. Jesus Christ: Undebatably the incarnation of Jesus Christ was a major avenue of special revelation. He exegeted the Father (John 1:14), revealing the nature of God (14:9), the power of God (3:2), the wisdom of God (7:46), the glory of God (1:14), the life of God (1 John 1:1-3), and the love of God (Romans 5:8). Our Lord did all this by both His acts (John 2:11) and His words (Matt. 16:17).

J. The Bible: Actually the Bible serves as the most inclusive of all the avenues of special revelation, for it encompasses the record of many aspects of the other avenues. Though God undoubtedly gave other visions, dreams, and prophetic messages that were not recorded in the Bible, we know no details of them. Too, all that we know about the life of Christ appears in the Bible, though, of course, not all that He did or said was recorded in the Scriptures (John 21:25). But the Bible is not simply the record of these other revelations from God; it also contains additional truth not revealed, for example, through the prophets or even during the earthly life of Christ. So the Bible, then, is both the record of aspects of special revelation and revelation itself.

The revelation in the Bible is not only inclusive yet partial, it is also accurate (John 17:17), progressive (Heb. 1:1), and purposeful (2 Tim. 3:15-17).

Two approaches exist as to the credibility of the scriptural revelation. Fideists insist that the Scripture and the revelation it contains is self-authenticating, that is, autopistic. The infallibility of the Bible must be presupposed and can be because the Scripture says it is inspired and the Spirit accredits it. Empiricists, on the other hand, stress the intrinsic credibility of the revelation of the Bible as being worthy of belief, that is, axiopistic. The Bible’s claim to authority is not in itself proof of its authority; rather there exist factual, historical evidences which constitute the Bible’s credentials and validate the truth of its message. My feeling is that there is truth in both approaches so that both can and should be used.³⁵

17 Ibid, p. 154.

18 Ibid.

19 Chafer, p. 52.

20 Enns, pp. 154-155.

21 Enns, p. 155.

22 Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol 1, Kregel, Grand Rapids, 1947-48, p. 22.

23 Lewis Sperry Chafer Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, Abridged Edition, Walvoord, Campbell, Zuck, p. 53.

24 Ibid., p. 51.

25 For further reading on these and the features mentioned above see Chafer’s Systematic Theology, pp. 22-36, or the Abridged Edition of Chafer’s Theology by Walvoord, Zuck, and Campbell, pp. 48-55.

26 Henry Clarence Thiessen, Introductory Lectures in systematic Theology, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, 1949, p. 31.

27 Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1983, p. 175.

28 Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, Victor Books, Wheaton, IL, 1987, electronic media.

29 Enns, p. 156.

30 NIV Bible Commentary, Kenneth Barker & John Kohlenberger III, Consulting Editors, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1994, electronic media.

31 Enns, pp. 156, 158.

32 Walter Bauer, F. Wilbur Gingrich, and Frederick W. Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1979, electronic version.

33 Enns, p. 158.

34 Enns, p. 158.

35 Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, Victor Books, Wheaton, IL, 1987, electronic media.