Word of life books

Probably one of the best books I’ve read on doctrine of Scripture.

Great book over the Doctrine of Scripture.

The most helpful part was the definition the Reformers meant by Scripture Alone, it doesn’t mean Scripture Only. We can still rely in church tradition and history but look to Scripture as the ultimate Authority.

Timothy Ward has written a concise and carefully structured outline of the doctrines of Scripture in his book, Words of Life: Scripture as the Living and Active Word of God (published by IVP Academic, 2009). Rather than rearticulate what evangelicals commonly understand as the doctrines of Scripture and demonstrate the truth of each doctrine by citing textual evidence, he proceeds in a more «organic» fashion by examining how God’s word and revelation have been understood within the Scripture narrative and didactic (prophecy and epistles) writings themselves. For Ward, it is important to understand what God is doing (his actions) through revelation in addition to any propositional truths that might be deduced from Scriptures’ various narrative accounts and communications towards and on behalf of his covenant people. He approaches the construction of his outline in this manner to demonstrate that the doctrines of Scripture (authority, perspicuity, sufficiency, and necessity, along with inerrancy and infallibility as subheadings under authority) are not novel formulations superimposed upon revelation by the Reformers, post-Reformation theologians, or modern evangelicals and fundamentalists. Rather, they are natural implications deduced from reviewing: what the biblical writings communicate about revelation; God’s actions accomplished through revelation or speaking (within the context of covenant); how that revelation is understood in relation to the Christian doctrine of God (particularly in regard to his triunity); and the continuity of these doctrines (although not always explicit) with the universal church’s understanding of Scripture throughout history.

One of the approaches that Ward utilizes to explain the doctrines of Scripture is locating each doctrine within the conversations that occurred within church history at the time of the explicit formulation of the doctrine. As in most theological formulations, the doctrines of Scripture were originally articulated (in their Protestant forms) in response to errors or heresies that threatened Christian faith and practice. Contextualizing the doctrines within their appropriate historical timeframes and discussions helps avoid construing these doctrines in a manner that either overreaches what they actually address and demonstrate or in a way that attempts to reductionistically articulate the doctrines, thus serving as straw men for opponents of the doctrines. For example, one of the common allegations made by some, addressed by Ward, is that too high a view of Scripture, or at least too high a stress on the Protestant doctrines of Scripture, will (or may) lead to treating the Bible as an idol, i.e. bibliolatry.

A very helpful discussion found in Ward’s book is a section dealing with the Reformation slogan of «sola scriptura» (Latin for «by Scripture alone»). He differentiates various views: the Roman Catholic view of Scripture and tradition both having magisterial (master or ruling) roles; the Radical Reformation (or Anabaptist) view of the individual interpretation of Scripture by the Spirits guidance as magisterial; and the Reformation view of Scripture as magisterial with tradition playing a ministerial (servant) role. The last of these views (endorsed by Ward) was held by the church fathers until the late medieval period, when the Roman Catholic view became prominent. While struggling with Rome on the issue of authority, the Reformers’ view was also challenged by the radical Anabaptist view. The Protestant Reformation view posits the interpretation of Scripture within the sphere of the church community (both past and present) and not within the individual while maintaining that Scripture is the final arbiter for faith and practice, with tradition as subservient, rather than a combination of Scripture and tradition as equally authoritative.

The strength and backbone of the book, however, is the biblical and theological outlines of Scripture that serve as the foundation for any formulation of a doctrine of Scripture (these outlines comprise about half of his book). Employing the vocabulary and concepts of speech-act theorists and the insights of theologians and Christian philosophers of language such as Kevin Vanhoozer, Ward describes how God uses revelation to accomplish (not just communicate) his purposes in human history within the context of the covenant community (whether that covenant be Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, or, ultimately, the New Covenant through Christ). Ward correlates God’s words, actions, and person as communicated in the Old Testament and New Testaments (through Christ) and how these correspond to what we now understand as Scripture. By demonstrating how God’s word is an extension of his person and is equivalent to his action in the world (e.g. «let there be…and there was»), Ward further explains how Scripture communicates God’s will, how it is an instrument of his actions, and how it makes him present among his people by the Spirit. Within the theological outline, Ward explains how Scripture is the Father’s word (or as Horton would state it, his «covenant canon») of promise to the covenant community, Christ is the living Word of God who accomplishes the Father’s covenant promises, and the Spirit is the source of the God-breathed (theopneustos) writings that he has providentially recorded and preserved by human means and continues to illuminate to his people by reading and (primarily) preaching of that word.

Ward then proceeds to demonstrate how conclusions formed by such biblical and theological outlines are the foundation for the doctrines of Scripture. As I mentioned previously, it is extremely helpful that Ward delineates what these doctrines do and do not assert to counter claims made by some conservative evangelicals who view the Bible as a collection of principles and other theologians of various stripes (conservative or liberal) who care strictly about the narrative or pragmatic elements without paying attention to the propositional content that ties us to history and reality. The doctrine of the necessity of Scripture explains why a written word provided by God was needed in order to maintain and communicate his covenant promises and to allow us to know his person. The doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture explains that God’s word provides us everything we need for salvation and godly living. Ward warns of those who would turn that sufficiency into either an exhaustive knowledge of God or an all-encompassing sufficiency for other issues not addressed by God’s word. The clarity (or perspicuity) of Scripture explains that the Bible is clear about the central message of salvation through Christ alone. This does not mean that each individual immediately will understand that message upon reading Scripture (although some, by God’s grace, do) but through careful application and guidance from the church, without having to validate that knowledge through an individual (i.e. Spirit-anointed) or an institution (i.e. the authority of the Church, as opposed to learning such things through her guidance), we can come to understand the message of salvation based on the content of Scripture (127). Finally, the authority of Scripture, which encompasses both inerrancy and infallibility (in Ward’s outline). He treats both in a section, situating them historically and in regard to their importance without backing down on their validity. The authority of Scripture is ultimately an acknowledgment of God’s authority and the fact that God has spoken:

To proclaim “the authority of Scripture” does not add anything substantive to all this. It is, rather, one way in which we can usefully talk about the sum of all these parts. It is really a way of summarizing all that this book outlines. It states that we believe that all of this is true, that the sovereign God has indeed authored Scripture this way and chooses to relate to us in this way through Scripture. It commits us to giving the Bible the sovereign place in our lives that must follow from its central place in relation to God and his actions

Ward culminates his work by applying the doctrines to the different spheres of Christian life. In this chapter, one finds the aforementioned discussion on sola scriptura with other discussions relating the role Scripture plays in the Christian community, in preaching, and in the life of the individual believer.

I should note that Ward deals with the ontological and epistemological limitations of human language and knowledge in communicating God’s word by appealing to, what I recall to be, an analogical understanding of revelation, as opposed to an equivocal or univocal understanding. This means that although the Scriptures are not, and indeed cannot be, an exhaustive communication of who God is and how he works, by God’s condescension, what Scripture does communicate is nonetheless true and is what we need to know about redemption and salvation. This is contrasted to the view that nothing positive may be known about God or that the propositions about God have a one-to-one correspondence to truths about God’s essence.

Although it may be received as academic in nature, Ward’s Words of Life is accessible to the common reader who is willing to work his or her mind and would be especially helpful to one who expectantly is looking to have his or her faith in God’s word, that is, in God himself, deepened. At the same time, it challenges superficial treatments and apologetics concerning God’s word and forces the reader to be careful, intentional, and accurate in articulating what the Protestant Reformers taught concerning Scripture, whether that reader be a proponent or opponent of these doctrines.

4.5 stars!

I definitely learned a lot from this book. Three big points that stood out to me were the aspect of Scripture being God’s active speaking in the world today, the doctrine of authority really pointing to God authoritatively speaking through Scripture, and the clarification of what Sola Scriptura actually meant to the Reformers.

If you are looking for a book that is biblically grounded that expands on Scripture and the doctrines surrounding it, I would highly recommend this. It truly focused on Scripture being the words of life for Christians today.

Read this for a seminary course, but it is short and accessibly written, so I’m posting on it here as well.

If ever someone has questions or doubts about why Christians think of Scripture the way that they do, this is a fine resource to help them see how a robust theology of God’s Word undergirds faith and practice. We see Scripture as authoritative and life-giving primarily because it is from God, and all the other reasons support that one.

This book fried my brain a bit, but ultimately helped me to grow in my understanding of the Doctrine of Scripture as rooted in the Doctrine of a Trinitarian God.

4.9 Stars — Top Reads of 2022

“Words of Life” by Timothy Ward is a short book on the doctrine of Scripture that has blown me away! This is a remarkable book, and I am astonished that so few have read it.

In this book, Ward presents to us the doctrine of Scripture. Ward argues that many present formulations of the doctrine of Scripture are lacking because they are often divorced from a doctrine of God. Thus, Ward’s central thesis is that whenever we encounter the words of Scripture, we are encountering God Himself. God’s Words are the primary means by which He presents Himself to us. And His Words are the primary means that he establishes His covenant relationship with us. Ward then explains how the traditional attributes of Scripture (Sufficiency, Clarity, Authority, Necessity) relate to this truth — that the Bible’s reliability, clarity, authority, inerrancy, etc. are all derived from God’s character since it is how he communicates himself. Ward ends his book applying this doctrine to Christian tradition, preaching, and personal Bible reading.

Ward’s approach to the doctrine of Scripture is illuminating. His connection of the doctrine of Scripture to the doctrine of God adds incredible clarity to a teaching that is often confusing but central to the Christian faith. Ward’s book is academically, philosophically, and biblically rigorous but at the same time extremely approachable because of its brevity. It’s hard to find weaknesses in this book that is written so well, so succinct, so pastorally helpful, and so Biblically sound.

Thus, I would say this is my go-to book for the doctrine of Scripture. I haven’t read a single systematic theology volume or individual book that does it as well as this one. And that so few have read this book saddens me, because it’s such a wonderful book that displays the beauty of God’s Word and has compelled me to love it more! I cannot more highly recommend this book!

This book was excellent. Ward begins, not with the doctrine of Scripture, but with the doctrine of God in Scripture. He explores who God is and how God’s revelation of himself informs our doctrine of Scripture. He is the covenant making God and we are to be a covenant keeping people. He makes this covenant through his Word and we keep the covenant through the Word. To read the Bible is to encounter God himself. While the Bible is not God, it is so closely associated with him that to reject it is to reject God. This emphasis was excellent and renewed my appreciation for the Scriptures and their power.

He then moves on to the three persons of the Trinity and the role they play in our doctrine of Scripture. He does a great job of showing how the Bible as God’s Word does not detract from Christ as God’s Word.

The next chapter covers the traditional aspects of the doctrine of Scriptures: necessity, sufficiency, clarity, and authority. He also covers inerrancy in this chapter as subset of authority. He very helpfully places these doctrines in their Reformation and post-reformational contexts.

Finally, he covers the authority of the church, preaching, and individual Bible reading.

The best part about this book is how Ward builds the doctrine of Scripture on other systematic categories, especially our doctrine of God, showing how they are related. It seems that many modern discussions of the doctrine of Scripture are divorced from their theological anchors. He remedies this well.

It was wonderful to read and his dependence on Calvin, Bavinck, and Warfield was refreshing.

Excellent. Ward works to pull the definition of scripture out of polemical contexts in which it has often been confined and seeks to articulate the deeper, richer understanding of scripture as the triune God’s revelation of himself as covenant maker and promise keeper.
This priority places topics of the necessity, sufficiency, clarity, and authority (and by implication, infallibility and inerrancy) of scripture as natural, and true, implications that are found downstream of a robust theology of divine self-revelation, rather than as over-simplified (and often poorly articulated) starting points. In this, he emphasizes that God’s word is not simply an object to be understood, but is God’s means of speaking to and administering his covenant with his people. 4.5.

The author’s goal was to speak about the relationship between God and the Bible and thus articulate a doctrine of Scripture that is integrally related to the great doctrines of God, Christ, and the Spirit, not being added on as an appendix or preface or worse a tangent.

Some notes from my reading…

— Biblical outline: God acts by speaking. He relates by covenant, which is established by means of uttering a promise. Illustrated by the ten words in the ark in the temple, God’s words convey his presence (summary on pg. 36,48).

-Theological outline: «Therefore, when we speak of Scripture as a mode of God’s presence, we are asserting that it is in the speech acts of Scripture that God reveals himself by being semantically present to us as he promises, warns, rebukes, reassures, and so on. And this revelation is happening when the words of Scripture are read: when God is performing again, through the reading of Scripture, the same action he performed through those words when they were first written» (pg 66).
Christ abides in His people through His Words abiding in them (John 15:4-5, 7-8).

Summary on page 78.

Inspiration by the Spirit is about the origin of Scripture being of God. When we think of plenary inspiration we must not think of Scripture atomistically, since the whole of Scripture is inspired and so every part must be interpreted in light of its place in the unfolding history of salvation. Individual words are not the basic unit of meaning, rather speech acts are and so this is what is in view in verbal inspiration. The individual words are inspired to the extent that they come together to express speech acts.

Pg 95 summary.

— Doctrinal outline: «Instead, the Reformers insisted, the Scripture the Holy Spirit authored in the past receives its authority in the present from the fact that God the Holy Spirit continues to speak in and through it the same message he once uttered.»

Internal and external clarity (pg 116).

Clarity of Scripture «as a whole» = things necessary to be known in WCF (pg 125).

The authority of Scripture is shorthand for the authority of God as he speaks through Scripture.

Mark Noll quote about inerrancy in Church History (pg 132).

The conclusion of inerrancy is drawn from what the Scripture says about God and about its relationship to God.

— Applied: Sola Scriptura recognizes the importance of creeds (such as the early emergence of the Rule of Faith).

Tradition I: It is an aid in the faithful interpretation of Scripture, expounding the primary teachings of Scripture, with Scripture remaining the only source of infallible divine revelation, to which tradition is always subject.

Tradition II: Two distinct sources of divine revelation (Trent: Scripture and the unwritten traditions).

Tradition 0: Exalts individual interpretation of Scripture over that of the corporate interpretation of past generations. This idea is SOLO scripture. It leads to increasing sectarianism and usually the elevation of individual teachers who play the role of the tradition for that community.

Turretin’s understanding of the relationship of Church and Scripture (pg 152).

The public reading and preaching of Scripture should give those who hear it both a structure and some tools to help them with their private reading.

Bottom line: Scripture is God’s communicative action. Therefore, to encounter the words of Scripture is to encounter God in action. Scripture is the means by which God presents his covenant to us and therefore the means by which he presents himself to us as the faithful God of the covenant.

I really appreciated this book for providing a fresh formulation of the doctrine of Scripture. The author’s concern is that too often modern evangelical bibliology (typified by Grudem) starts with the attributes of Scripture (i.e., doctrinal points) and doesn’t give a sufficient biblical or theological account for what Scripture is and it’s role in God’s purposes. So the author starts out giving a biblical theology of Scripture and then a theological account of Scripture (chapters 2 and 3). Only then does he get to the doctrinal formulation and eventually life application.

Despite his emphasis on laying a biblical and theological foundation, the author is very well versed and concerned about philosophical and historical matters. So he utilizes speech act theory to help explain what Scripture is and how it’s intended to work. And he very often brings in reformational theologians and debates to highlight an issue or make a historical connection.

The book is very much intended to be a positive assertion about Scripture, so there is not a whole lot of polemical material. But he does discuss the analogy between Christ’s two natures and Scripture’s human/divine aspects, which is a relevant topic in the controversies surrounding Peter Enn’s book “Inspiration and Incarnation.” There is also some good sections on debates between radical reformers, magisterial reformers, and Roman Catholics, which provides polemical material against the radical’s doctrine of “solo scriptura” and against RC’s view of Scripture and tradition. The radical view and the RC view are still live issues today, so there is some helpful material for combatting those views.

I was thinking this book would be pretty accessible, but it is definitely a seminary level text. Maybe I thought it would be more accessible because it’s only 170 pages, but it is not “lay level”. For that kind of book I would look at Kevin DeYoung’s book “Taking God at His Word”.

It is likely not fair for me to rate or review this book because I am not a seminarian nor currently a student. Although, I am a theologian, as are we all whether we realize this or not, and I love reading theological literature, but this book, in which the author explains the doctrine of Scripture, was very difficult to follow for many reasons. The author does repeat his purpose and thesis, with which I agree, over and over and that I found helpful. I appreciated his bibliography and his footnotes.

The content of this book is not the basis of my three-star rating. It is due to the outline, structure, style and organization that makes it difficult to follow.

One of the best single volume books I’ve read on the doctrine of Scripture. It answered key questions, brought up helpful reminders, and continually pointed to love of our covenant making and keeping God.
In addition to its excellent content, this book also shines as an impressively short and clear work of deep theological truth. Every sentence matters. Ward doesn’t waste a syllable. Just like any good teacher, he uses just as many words as he needs and no more.

This book is now my go-to for anyone who asks the question, «what does it mean that the Bible is the Word of God?»

Highly recommended. A profound treatment of Scripture as the living word of God. This book reminded me greatly of John Frame’s “The Doctrine of the Word of God,“ though in a shorter and, perhaps, more accessible form.

Been reading this in my zoom book group. It wasn’t the easiest to read due to the author’s style and love of very long sentences. But I’m glad I persevered, because it yielded some helpful thoughts.

Helpful and humbling perspective on Scripture I can now apply to my own meeting with God through his Word and to conversations with others about my confidence in the Bible.

Especially helpful in its Trinitarian focus on the Word and in its emphasis on “speech acts.”

Uses speech-act theory as a handmaiden. Turretinian. Bavinckian. What more could someone want? Starts a little slow but picks up 50 pages in.

An excellent exposition of the traditional Reformed Protestant doctrine of Scripture. I especially appreciate how Ward begins with a biblical analysis before moving onto a theological and doctrinal one.

“Does the fullness of life which Christ came to bring really have to involve paying such close attention to the Bible? Does our new life in the Spirit really need to be centered around what seems to be comprehension exercises on biblical texts?” (10). These are the questions that energize Ward as he seeks to write a fresh work on that nature and vitality of Scripture as God’s Word. In a nutshell, Ward summarizes, “I am attempting to describe the nature of the relationship between God and Scripture…Why is it the case that, in order to worship God faithfully, we need to pay close attention to the Bible?” (11)

His argument has three basic parts or stages. Part 1 is a biblical outline, which surveys the panoply of Scripture, highlighting how God speaking is an aspect of God acting in the world. Part 2 is a theological exposition of the biblical material surveyed, primarily focused on the relationship of each person of the Trinity to the nature of Scripture itself. Part 3 is a doctrinal outline of the attributes of Scripture: necessity, sufficiency, clarity and authority. An additional chapter is devoted to the application of his doctrine of Scripture, with particular attention given to the role of preaching the Scriptures as well as how individual reading of Scripture relates to the corporate hearing of Scripture in congregational life.

Some of the strengths of Ward’s book include:
• Clear and accessible summaries throughout each chapter as well as the end of each chapter. For example, “It is probably helpful to summarize the biblical outline of this chapter so far. When we encounter certain human words (e.g. the words of an Old Testament prophet), we are in direct contact with God’s words. This is itself a direct encounter with God’s activity (since God’s speech is one form in which He regularly acts), especially with His covenant-making activity. And an encounter with God’s covenant-making communicative activity is itself an encounter with God.” (36)
• Pithy statements that capture the thrust of his argument(s). For example, in Part 1, Ward writes, “God’s words in some way convey His presence.” (30); “…[I:]t is in and through the words of the covenant He speaks to His people that God makes Himself knowable to humanity.” (30); “God’s actions, including His verbal actions, are a kind of extension of Him.” (31); “to encounter the words of Scripture is to encounter God in action”. (48)
• Utilization of “Speech-act theory” as a helpful tool in understanding the nature of Divine communication. This was especially helpful in part 2, where he connected the doctrine of Scripture to the doctrine of the Trinity.
• His comments on preaching in his last chapter were sensational. One fantastic example, “[W:]hat the faithful biblical preacher does, and what the Holy Spirit does with Scripture through him, is best described as a contemporary re-enactment of the speech act that the Spirit performed in the original authoring of the text…[T:]he sermon is itself a redemptive act of God in the present…[I:]t is a moment in God’s reconciliation of the world unto Himself.” (162) In addition, he describes how faithful preaching must be faithful to both the purpose AND the content of the original text. Liberal preaching often grasps the purpose (e.g. to inspire hope), but does so in a way that ignores the specific content (e.g. our hope is in the risen Christ, the firstfruits of new creation). Conservative preaching, however, often grasps the content (e.g. teaching about hope), but fails to embody the purpose (e.g. the preaching is doctrinaire, not a hope-inspiring action).

Some weaknesses of the book, in my opinion, were, on the one hand, at times he was too wordy or seemed to unnecessarily repeat things he had already established and summarized, and on the other hand, he occasionally gave too little attention to things that could have been teased out more (e.g. canonicity). Moreover, his chapter on the attributes of Scripture lacked some of the freshness that the other chapters seemed to convey.

But overall, this was a fantastic book and I highly recommend it for intermediate-level engagement with the doctrine of Scripture.

Words of Life by Timothy Ward. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2009.

Summary: This book is a Reformed treatment of the doctrine of scripture that begins from a study of scripture’s teaching about itself, moves to a Trinitarian theology of scripture and finally explores the classical affirmations about scripture. Another significant aspect of this book is its incorporation of «speech-act» theory which Ward uses to delineate the relationship of God and the Bible.

Many Reformed treatments of the doctrine of scripture begin with assertions concerning the necessity, sufficiency, clarity, and authority of the Bible. Timothy Ward gets there in the end but pursue a different approach from what I’ve typically seen. He begins by discussing the question of the relationship between God and the Bible, and the issue of how we speak of the Bible as «The Word of God» while lapsing neither into bibliolatry nor elevating the Bible to be a fourth member of the Godhead.

He then begins by looking at scripture’s own account of itself as reflecting the «speech act» of God for the salvation of his people. He summarizes this as follows:

«God chooses to present himself to us, and to act upon us, in and through human words that have their origin in him, and that he identifies as his own. When we encounter those words, God is acting in relation to us, supremely in his making a covenant promise to us. God identifies himself with his act of promising in such a way that for us to encounter God’s promise is itself to encounter God. The supreme form in which God comes to encounter us in his covenant promise is through the words of the Bible as a whole. Therefore to encounter the words of Scripture is to encounter God in action» (p.48).

The second part of the book then looks at the relationship of each person in the Trinity to scripture. This is then followed by a chapter on the doctrine of scripture under the headings of necessity, sufficiency, clarity and authority. Laid out this way, these qualities are informed by and follow as implications of the idea of scripture as the speech action of God. Particularly helpful here was the author’s discussion of what clarity does and does not imply.

The final chapter considers the Bible in the life of Christians. Ward has some trenchant remarks differentiating sola scriptura from a more contemporary version in evangelicalism of solo scriptura. He also addresses the role of the Christian community in relation to scripture and the particular dynamic that occurs when scripture is read and exposited in which the Spirit-given scripture, the Spirit informed and empowered preacher, and the Spirit indwelt congregation come together and God’s people indeed hear a word from God, and not simply human teaching.

This book is an exposition of a Reformed view of scripture at its best. The author draws heavily on Calvin, Turretin, Warfield, and Bavinck while addressing contemporary criticisms and using contemporary approaches to give a fresh account of the doctrine of scripture. Often, contemporary critics of the Reformed view knock down a «straw man» version of this doctrine. I would suggest it would be far more constructive to engage this account. At a personal level, reading this book nourished my enthusiasm for reading the scriptures alone and together with others, and for the preaching of these «words of life.»

The last section is—in my estimation—one of the best explanations I’ve read so far about the nature and attributes of the Scriptures. The book is very much academic in question, but it is still fairly accesible.

I got this book after seeing it heavily cited in a chapter or two of Finny Kuruvilla’s «King Jesus Claims His Church.» I appreciated every quote that Kuruvilla used. They were easy to understand and relayed simple truths and doctrines about Scripture in a concise and digestible way. After seeing that the book itself also seems concise (only 180 pages), I decided to get it, hoping it would be something I could easily share with other people as a good, easily digestible book for laymen to understand the importance of holding a high view of scripture while holding an even higher view of Jesus, the incarnate Word of God.
It turns out that Kuruvilla had already pulled most of the better quotes from this book, so I was better off just using the chapter(s) in his book to share with fellow lay-Christians. Ward’s book is good, but it turns out not to be written in a way that the average Christian would easily grock. Also, although many (I’m hesitant to say «all,» but maybe all) of his conclusions are right and true, I’m not certain about all the arguments he uses to get to them. He uses a few GREAT arguments from the Bible to demonstrate how the authors and actors within the text (even Jesus) considered the written scriptures to be «the Word of God.» However, most of Ward’s arguments throughout the book seem to be using and fully relying on a narrow church tradition. Kuruvilla warns against «reading the Bible through the lens of creeds and other church documents, instead of the other way around,» and Ward gets REALLY close to doing that… I would argue that, by the end of the book, he’s definitely crossed that line on more than one occasion.
In his urgency to interpret the Bible and doctrines about the Bible through the lens of a specific church tradition, he also takes time to strawman other church traditions… stating things that are outright wrong (which, on occasion, he comes close to admitting) and uncharitable.

Recommendation: Get Kuruvilla’s book «King Jesus Claims His Church» and read the chapters on «faithful Biblical Interpretation» instead. He uses the best parts of Ward’s book, chewing the meat and leaving the bones for anyone who is curious about them.

Drawing upon and synthesizing the writings of Calvin, Turretin, Warfield, and Bavinck, Timothy Ward presents his readers with a marvelous introduction to the doctrine of God’s word.

Ward describes Scripture a speech in which god presents himself to us in a way that we can know him and remain in faithful relationship to him. Put differently, it is God’s communicative action, which means that to encounter the words of Scripture is to encounter God in action. Theologically, then, we learn of the different persons of the trinity through God’s communicative act in Scripture. We learn of the Father who unites himself to us in covenant relationship. We learn of the Son whose incarnate existence and work help us to know the Father and remain in him. And we learn of the Holy Spirit who preserves, illumines, and speaks God’s words to us. And I love Ward’s conclusions based on the descriptions above. He helps us to see that interpretation of Scripture should lead humans to an encounter with God as he has actually presented himself to us in the Scriptures. The implications of this are many, among which, the necessity of reading for formation rather than mere comprehension is undeniable. God’s Word is not a source of knowledge to be mastered but a media of God’s speech that is intended to make us wise unto salvation and into a personal encounter with God himself. Thus, if when we read the Scriptures we fail to be moved by them to greater love and knowledge of God and heightened love of neighbor, we have failed to read the Scriptures as God intended. When coming to the Scriptures, we must not only ask, “What is God seeking to teach me?” But also, “What is God wanting to do with that teaching, to me and in me?” (175). Thank God for His Word! If you’re looking for a work that plainly presents the doctrine of Scripture through its exploration of topics like inspiration, inerrancy, etc., Ward’s book may not be for you (though he does in fact cover these topics). But if you’re looking for a work that explores the implications of what it means that God has spoken to us, you should definitely read this book! You can probably imagine which way I lean.

The way Ward warrants this relationship is by explaining that the speech of God is the way Scripture chooses to describe the action of God. God acts; and he does so primarily by the words he utters. Ward talks about the curse of the fall in the Old Testament, and the justification by faith as a declaration in the New Testament as examples of speech-acts of God. But overall, Ward stresses our understanding of God as a covenant-making God — the God that utters promises.
This covenantal framework is the grid by which we are to read Scripture. Instead of thinking about Scripture as different books and authors, with different topics and literary genres, in order to guard us against an atomist reading of Scripture, the author invites us to understand it as a unified story from beginning to end. Narrative is the meta-genre of the Bible, which addresses firsthand questions related to the covenant, “Can I trust the covenant?”, “What happens if I fail?”, and so forth. Furthermore, psalms are to be understood as an honest way to deal with different circumstances, while being faithful to the covenant; and apocalyptic literature is to be read as foreseeing the upcoming victory and resolution of the covenant, etc.
Although the Bible warrants a pietistic, doctrinalistic, and moralistic reading, it is meant to be read as a single story. This emphasis on covenantal reading is the reason why Ward did not lead with an argument on inerrancy, since he understands inerrancy as pertaining to the propositions of Scripture, and that would be treating it primarily as a body of information and not a covenant book.
We further explored the relationship between Jesus and the word of God by means of equating the psalmist words, “your word is a light to my path” with Jesus’s words, “I am the light of the world”. We also discussed Ward’s development on the different traditions regarding authority (Tradition I, II and O) and how it applied to our respective cultural backgrounds.

Timothy Ward does a great job at summarizing the doctrine of Scripture as the Word of God. He is sensitive to the more controversial areas of the doctrine of Scripture and charitable to opposing views, but is firm in stating the evangelical doctrine of Scripture. He intentionally unpacks the attributes of Scripture after grounding them in the doctrine of God.

He begins by giving a biblical outline of the doctrine of God, showing that when we encounter Scripture, we are encountering God himself. He intentionally starts with the doctrine of God before unpacking the attributes of Scripture that I imagine many Christians are familiar with and tend to think of (i.e. inerrant and infallible, which he does affirm).

He then goes on to define Scripture as the Word of God in the context of the Trinity. Through Scripture, the Father establishes a covenant relationship with us, the Son, the very Word of God, comes to us and the Spirit preserves His words for us and illuminates our hearts to take God at His word. B.B. Warfield famously said: «What Scripture says, God says.» Finally, he outlines the attributes of God under the more traditional categories of necessity, sufficiency, clarity and authority and subcategories like infallibility.

This book is written for an academic audience, but is is very accessible. I found the chapter on Sola Scriptura to be especially helpful. Sola Scriptura means Scripture alone, but this in no way means that tradition and ancient creeds should be rejected. Rather, Scripture alone is the final infallible authority and tradition and ancient creeds can help us to understand and interpret Scripture rightly.

In this excellent book, Ward skillfully and convincingly presents a brief but powerful outline of the doctrine of Scripture. He frames this doctrine as more than a mere formality to other theological discussions, showing instead it is foundational for establishing other doctrines. He makes the case for the doctrine of Scripture by outlining the biblical case for it (what the Bible says about itself) and providing a theological outline (concentrating on how
the Bible relates to the Trinity). After doing this, Ward lays out the doctrine in specifics, discussing necessity, sufficiency, clarity, and authority while also making a solid case for the importance of inerrancy. He finishes the book with a superb examination of this doctrine’s impact on the church and why it matters on the basic level of local ministry. Remarkably, the most important takeaway in my reading was his profound work in showing the deep importance and essential nature of God’s words as speech-acts intimately involved in a Christian’s
relationship with the Trinity. Highly recommended.

This was an excellent book describing the bible from a Christian perspective. In most respects the book deserves a very high rating. I have not given it one because of one main objection, which created much more emotion than I might have imagined. When discussing different Christian traditions (e.g. Calvinist, Lutheran, Orthodox, etc.), the author uses Anabaptist as a general word of contempt. He has clearly adopted a view of Christian history that chooses to label every crazy group as Anabaptist, and thus he uses this term to describe incorrect variants, which are often contradictory. If he had not used that label (I believe incorrectly, and slanderously) then I would rate the book much higher.

4.5 stars.

Perhaps the best introductory book I’ve read on the doctrine of Scripture. Ward’s approach is thoughtful, balanced, and well-integrated, and his prose, accessible and economic. There is also a British flavor (or better yet, «flavour») to the overall tone and perspective of this book that I found refreshing as an American evangelical. Ward’s comments on inerrancy are something I had never really considered, and they are — at the very least — worth chewing on. Lastly, I appreciated how Ward wrote this book in such a manner that it serves as a self-aware gateway into the more substantial treatments on Scripture written by the likes of Calvin, Turretin, Bavinck, and Warfield (and to a lesser extent, Vanhoozer).

Outstanding. One of the best books on Scripture I have ever read. The way that Ward organizes the doctrine of Scripture is crucially important and can be followed by evangelicals with much profit. Really outstanding.

In my experience, most critics of evangelicals don’t actually understand what evangelicals believe about Scripture, as well as Scripture’s relationship to Tradition. They ought to read this book in order to understand.