When we open any discussion on theology, there are several things we must consider: church history, catechisms, the writings of historical theologians, etc. However, the one common basis of all theology is the Bible, or at least it should be. But what is the Bible? How was it compiled? Most importantly, why do we believe what is in the Bible? Given these questions, it should come at no surprise that there is a great deal of theology pertaining to the Bible itself. In order to understand and believe any theological concepts, we have to understand and believe the basis from where theology even comes from.
What is the Bible?
The first step in affirming our belief in scripture is to understand what the Bible is. Everyone knows that the Bible is the religious text the Christians use to practice their faith. The important question to ask is what is the Bible to Christians? As stated before, it should be seen as something to guide our thinking in theological terms. Without scripture, we couldn't have theology and ultimately, Christianity would likely not exist.
Growing up in a rural, hyper-conservative church I always heard people refer to the Bible as an acronym:
Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
As a child this sounded kind of cool and so it stuck with me for a while. However, as I grew in my faith and began to study the writings and teachings of not only modern, but also historical church leaders, I found that this conjecture is actually misleading and potentially heretical. Here is why:
1. The Bible is not simply " basic instructions." The Apostle Paul referred to scripture as "living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12-13)." This infers that the Bible is not instructions, but the Word of a living God who uses it to not only guide us, but change and transform us, even if it hurts (two-edged sword). Not to mention, Paul's rhetoric indicates that the Bible is anything but basic. Could you handle a two-edged sword? Likely not, as it is a very complex object given that you could easily stab yourself while trying to attack someone else. Scripture is the same as it is complex and misuse could not only hurt others, but yourself as well. While the main, overarching points (Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration) are easily understandable, there are so many parables and ideals that are not easily perceivable by the human mind, especially in modern times. Scriptural complexity is one of the reasons for denominational differences. If it were so basic, why would anyone have different viewpoints and doctrine? So interestingly enough, the Bible is the exact opposite of "basic instructions;" it is actually a complex, living, potentially dangerous text if used incorrectly.
2. The second half of the acronym (Before Leaving Earth) is well intended, but still misleading. It plays into the fatalistic view that many Christians fall into of not only fearlessness of death (which is good), but welcoming of it (not good). While Jesus's resurrection gives us hope and courage to not fear death, we have a whole lot of years on Earth and stuff to do before rejoining Him in paradise. As Christians, we should be more focused on how we serve our communities and fellow church members than we are preparing for death (Acts 20:35; Ephesians 2:10; Galatians 6:10). Obviously, you can't serve others, create disciples or fulfill the Great Commission if you are not alive. A Christian in their 30s should not be scared of death, but also shouldn't be fatalistic and walking around challenging death to come their way "because they're ready." While our fearlessness surrounding death is a wonderful thing, it is not the duty of the Church or it's members to dwell on that; rather, it should be to reach people and communities who need help spiritually, physically or financially. Likewise, many churches get caught up in prophecy (another form of "leaving Earth") as well which has the same pitfall. The fixation on death or rapture has led many to ignore their communities, which should be the first priority of the church.
How was the Bible compiled?
Before we get into what the great theologians of modern and ancient history thought of scripture, it is prudent to discuss and understand how the Bible came to be.
The Old Testament, referred to in Hebrew as the Tanakh, dates back to the 10th century BC. Though the stories are older than that, we refer to them as 'divinely inspired' (2 Timothy 3:16) as their accounts are directly a result of the influence (i.e. angels and prophets) or encounter with God. It is theorized that the stories were not originally recorded in text but passed down through generation until they were inscribed around 10th century BC.
The New Testament has a far more interesting history. The collection of books was not even formally addressed until 393 AD, over 300 years after the death of Jesus. Irenaeus (130 - 202 AD) who was responsible for the spread of Christianity to France and the development of early theology, used a 21-book New Testament that excluded Philemon, Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 3 John and Jude. Origen of Alexandria (184 - 253 AD), who is credited as the most influential figure on early theology, used the modern 27-book New Testament, but the church still debated the legitimacy of Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, and Revelation. Athanasius, a Catholic Bishop, was the first to formally suggest the collection that would become the modern New Testament in 367, though it wasn't accepted until 382 AD and was affirmed at the Synod of Hippo in 393 AD. By the 5th century, the modern New Testament was universally agreed on by all churches.
Credit: Wycliffe Bible Translators
That being said, not all denominations have the same books of the Bible. The Catholic Bible contains several other books in the Old Testament: Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch.
It is also important to realize that different translations of the Bible do not change the content of the books. The first complete written English Bible, the Coverdale Bible of 1535 (written 76 years before the King James Version) contains the same books and content as the English Standard Version (ESV), which was written in 2001. The difference between translations all boils down to our ability to translate. Given our current knowledge of Greek, Hebrew and Latin, the most accurate (literal) translation is the New American Standard Bible (NASB), followed by the ESV. The King James Bible when judged by accuracy is the 4th best. That being said, all these Bibles are equivalent; none are superior over the other (looking at you KJV supremacists). Because the content is the same, verses are just translated differently since some Greek or Hebrew words have 3 to 4 equivalent words in English.
There is also several ancient texts that were written during the time of the early Church and have no place in the Church at all. They are called the Gnostic Gospels and often contradict or just flat out deny the truths laid out in the actual Gospel. To summarize Gnosticism, they believed that knowledge was what lead to salvation, not Jesus. Jesus just gave knowledge and that knowledge would free the spirit from the flesh and to do that, they had to reject all material things. A well known and cited Gnostic Gospel known as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas claims that Jesus killed two children that were rude to him. I'm serious, look it up. As such, all aspects and appearances of these Gospels should swiftly denied. Some other commonly cited or seen Gnostic Gospels include the Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Philip, Gospel of Mary and the Secret Gospel of Mark.
Why do we believe Scripture?
If the Bible was written, assembled and approved by men and translated from multiple languages with non-perfect accuracy, why do we take it as a divine text? This is a question that gets asked by Christians and non-Christians alike at some point. It can be broken down into 4 core tenets:
1. Sufficiency: The Gospel Coalition explains that "[Scripture] is the only inspired, inerrant, and therefore final authority for Christians for faith and godliness, with all other authorities being subservient to Scripture." To put simply, we must admit the Bible is what equips us for life and service. To admit the Bible is sufficient is to stop believing that wisdom from people like Paul Harvey and Joel Olsteen are supplemental to Scripture. The Bible does not need to be supplemented because it is sufficient. No other writings, sayings or words can make us understand Christ more or lead us to a better life. Were the Bible not sufficient, there would be no stark warnings against adding new ideals to scripture (Galatians 1:8-9; 2 Thessalonians 2:2).
2. Clarity: Simply put, the Bible is understandable. It was written in a way that was easy for people to understand the main points. If you don't think this is the case, you probably need to change the translations you are reading. The KJV was written in the dialect of a monarch that has been dead for nearly 500 years so it hard for a lot of modern Christians (unless you like Shakespeare). If you're reading a word-for-word translation like the NASB, you may want to try a thought-for-thought translation like the NIV to see if that help your comprehension. Clarity does not mean complete understanding, however. Peter even admitted that Paul's letter were hard to understand, but not impossible (2 Peter 3:16). While he acknowledged that he would never understand all the meanings and nuances of Paul's writings, he said that all should gain enough understanding to see when the Scripture is being twisted to fit a destructive and incorrect ideology.
3. Authority: The Bible is wholly true (inerrant) and as such, act as the written authority of God. This stems from the truth that God "breathed-out" scripture (2 Tim 3:16) and Scripture should be taken as such. We are to treat the Bible as if we were Moses speaking to God directly. Practically, this just means to do what the Bible commands and avoid what it tells us to, as those are the commands of God in written form.
4. Necessity: Scripture provides us with important information on how to establish and maintain a relationship with God. Since there are no other texts or sources that inform us on this, Scripture becomes absolutely vital to our relationship with God as well as other. Therefore, any teaching that doesn't come from the Bible should be avoided as you will not be supplied with the necessary information to sustain a Christian life. Everyone has some notion of the existence of God (Rom 1:19-20) but need the guidance of scripture to know and understand God.
Upcoming Schedule
We already have the schedule for this series mapped out for 2021 to give you an idea of what we'll cover and when. If you see something you like or are interested, now you know when you can expect it! We put in countless hours of research to produce these articles, so we are grateful to everyone who reads our work! The 2021 remaining schedule is as follows:
March - The Trinity
April - Ecclesiology (Theology regarding church structure and function)
May - Soteriology (Theology of salvation)
June - Hamartiology (Theology of sin)
July - Eschatology (Theology of the Book of Revelation)
August - Baptism
September - Apologetics (Theology concerning the defense or proving Christianity)
October - Reformed Theology
November - Zionism (Theology concerning Israel)
December - Calvinism and Arminianism (Predestination vs Free Will)
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