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Sources of wisdom and authority the bible - Coggle Diagram
Sources of wisdom and authority
the bible
Intro:
facts on the nature of the bible
The extent to which the bible has authority= extent to which has the right to demand obedience
Many types of writing in the bible= assume all have same authority?
Scriptures in the old testament have apparent contradictions= e.g. two creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2
The present new testament dealing with the life of Christ and the teachings of the early church are based on handwritten texts after Jesus' death= including variant readings in many passages
In Greek, but assumed language of Disciples and Jesus is Galilean Aramaic
New Testament was agreed by the early church, but they left out some gospels= did they make the right decisions with what they left?
This has led to many questions within Christianity e.g. God gave the writers the words
God inspired the writers to write= cc can only interpret teachings correctly as the record of teaching is fallible and the style and intention of the words are not clear
Bible is a human interpretation of the way God expressed himself in Jesus' life = as the work of humans it is fallible = but the personal experience of the presence of God= stimulated by reading bible= makes authorative for reader
The word ‘testament’ refers to the covenant (meaning agreement) between God and the Jewish people
The CANON of scripture
The canon (collection of books) of the Bible was formed over a long period of time. Different churches have slight variations on this canon.
Perhaps the main criterion by which a book was judged was whether it is part of God’s inspired revelation to humans. Finalised in Rome in c382CE.
Then translated into Latin (one such e.g. is Jerome)
Paul (who writes a large section of the NT) makes it clear the continuity between old and new testaments- the new agreement is confirmed in Jesus’ blood, where the old was through the blood of animals sacrificed at an alter
The New Testament
27 books in 4 main styles
The Gospels (stories of Jesus’ life told by his disciples) Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Gospel means good news. Written in Greek – probably finished by 100CE
The Acts of the Apostles- stories of the early church and Paul’s missions
The Epistles- letters mainly written by Paul to his churches- outlines the gospel message (Romans most influential)
The book of Revelation- story of the end of time- different interpretations are that it is actual prophecy of what will happen and to some it is symbolic.
Old testament= original Hebrew bible= tells first part of story e.g. the creation= contains laws e.g. ten ten commandments=m prophetic books contain God's purpose
Theories about the inspiration and authority of the bible:
Conservatism:
Evangelical
Protestantism and Catholicism
Evangelical Protestantism
= hold that we are saved by Jesus' grace ( Gods free gift to us)= The doctrine of the atonement=# part of theology of st Paul= he held that after the original sin of Adam God + world reconciled by Jesus' death- sacrificial= evangelicals committed to spreading Jesus' word= converted= saved from sin by receiving salvation by being born again
Not all EP's believe the same thing= comments apply to many not all= views based on the number of texts, particularly= 2 Timothy 3= all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching.. correction in righteous= Inspired comes from Greek word 'God breathed '= in other words God wrote scripture and 2 Peter 1= ' no prophecy of scripture is a matter of ones own interpretation'
Some interpret such texts that God literally dictated the books of the bible= authors were dictating machines= text= inerrant= comes from God, must be without error
Conflict between science and religion= religion is always authorative and dictates what science really is
For many EP text of the bible is literally true= God created world in six days= literally 6 24 hour periods
Creation= historically/scientifically accurate
'verbal plenary( means complete)inspiration'= God inspired all scripture, including erotic poetry and Elisha's reaction to those who called him 'baldy'. Does not mean God approved of Elisha's action= simply recorded as truth of what happened
God inspired authors = produce precise words =however they were allowed to use their own faculties in= e.g. Author of mathew's Gospel mainly addressed Jewish audience= Luke= spread message about God to the gentiles
Catholicism
Believes that the bible is
inspired
by God=
Catholic teachings on this form an organic whole
Apostolic tradition
= stem from Jesus' Apostles.= he commanded them to
preach
the
Gospel
to all men= done
orally
, from teachings
received
from Jesus and the
holy spirit
= also in writing by the apostles=under inspiration of the holy spirit
Continued into
Apostolic Succession
= Jesus' apostles appointed bishops to be their successors, and the bishops were given teaching authority= established a continuous line of succession that would last until the end of time
Tradition means living tradition= called tradition to separate it from sacred scripture= with which is closely connected through the work of the holy spirit = holy spirit remains active within the church
To describe the catholic approach to bible as conservative = is not set in stone== tradition is seen as essentially dynamic so that new truths can be discovered in scripture
Tradition and scripture= same divine source = same divine authority=scripture is the ' speech of God'= in writing under the 'breath of holy spirit'= Tradition transmits active word of 'God'= given by God/ holy spirit to the successors of apostles
Both scripture and tradition have equal standing of authority= authorative body for interpreting both is the magisterium
Body of catholic church is inerrant= matters of belief= BC there is a sensus fidei- 'instinct of faith'= allows the faithful to recognise authentic Christian doctrine
God chose human authors and inspired them= use their faculties
Interpret scripture=
Prot