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32 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Define "General Revelation"
General Revelation is truth about God available to everyone through nature, history and God's image in mankind. – Qualities rendering man without excuse.

WCF 1.1

Psalm 19:1-3 The heavens declare the glory of God...
Rom 1:19-20 what can be known about God is plain to them... his invisible attributes... clearly perceived... So they are without excuse.
Define And Defend (Including Scripture Proofs) The "Inspiration" Of Scripture.
To say that the Scripture is inspired is to say the it is God's special revelation-a product of God' s direct intellectual superintending of the men who wrote it. Therefore the inspired Scriptures are the very words of God and thus are the absolute and immutable authoritative rule for faith and practice.
2 Tim.3:16: All Scripture breathed out by God....
Heb. 1:1-2: Long ago & in many ways God spoke....
2 Pet.1:21 No prophecy ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the HS
Define And Defend The "Necessity" Of Scripture.
Scripture is necessary as a means of revealing the saving truth of Jesus Christ, “the knowledge of God and of his will that is necessary for salvation”.

WLC #2,

Rom. 10:17: So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ

1 Cor.2:11: For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
What Is The "Canon"? Defend It Scripturally.
Canon means rule, measure or standard.
1) OT canon was confirmed by Jesus (Matt. 5:17 not to abolish law & prophets but fulfill).
2) NT is built on the teaching of Jesus as he taught and trained the disciples to accurately share his message.
2a. Matthew 10: sending out of the twelve with a specific message.
2b John 20: Jesus appears to twelve with final instructions and Holy Spirit.
3) Writings of Paul - In 2 Peter 3:15-16, Peter understands Paul to be writing Scripture.
Define And Defend The "Authority" Of Scripture.
The authority of Scripture rests not with any humans but solely with God, inspired by the Holy Spirit which makes , it God's very word. It possesses historical authority in that it is 100% historically reliable. It possesses normative authority in that it is God's rule for faith and practice.

2 Tim.3:16-17 - All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

WCF 1.4 - authority depends not on any man or church but wholly on God... it is the Word of God
Define And Defend The "Sufficiency" Of Scripture.
1) Bible is the only rule of the faith and practice. It is sufficient; it does not need the Church or any other institution to interpret it for us or to add regulations to it.
2) It is Sufficient in terms of principles rather than details, leaving it to men to apply general principles according to their image function in particular instances.
3) Scripture is complete, containing all that is needed for God’s glory and for man’s salvation, faith, and life.

WCF 1.6 confirms above, adds the need for the inward illumination of the HS for saving understanding

1 Cor 2:9-12 "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit....
Define And Defend The "Perspicuity" Of Scripture.
Literally means the “see-through-ableness” of Scripture

knowledge of saving faith is so clearly and simply presented in Scripture that anyone who earnestly seeks salvation therein can easily gain this knowledge for himself, and need not depend on the church or the priesthood to attain it.

The biblical declaration of God’s redeeming grace in Jesus Christ is not a secret, which requires priestly mediation. It is clearly found in Scripture. But you cannot understand everything in the Bible some things take expertise.

Psalm 119:105, 130 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path… The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.

WCF 1.7 - All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves...yet those things which are necessary...
What Is Distinctive About Reformed Interpretation Of Scripture?
1) It sees the continuity between the Old and New Testament.
2)The principle of private interpretation, that is, the right of the individual believer to interpret Scripture without the aid of a priest or any other.
What Principles Should Guide Our Interpretation Of Scripture?
Scripture is the only infallible rule of interpretation. When there is ambiguity concerning one passage, the true meaning must be found in other clearer portions of Scripture.

WCF 1.9 - Infallible rule of interpretation of scripture is the scripture itself...
Define And Defend (Including Scripture Proofs) The "Inerrancy" Of Scripture.
The Bible, in all that it teaches, is free from error. Where it speaks to history it is true, but it doesn't speak to everything.

Num. 23:19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Heb 4:13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
What Do The Scriptures Principally Teach?
What man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man. (WCF 2-5: WLC 7-19: WSC 4-11)
Where does Westminster deal with theology of the Bible?
WCF 1; WLC 1-6; 154-160; WSC 3, 88-90
Define "Special Revelation"
Special Revelation is what God has revealed about Himself to His people, through special messengers (angels or prophets), Jesus Christ, or the Scripture. Certain theological knowledge, i.e., the way of salvation, can come only through this method. – Mediated through word and spirit.

WCF 1.1

2 Tim 3:15 How from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
What is revelation?
God’s making known to man who he is, what kind of God he is, and what duty God requires of man.
Why is revelation necessary?
Without revelation, we would not know God, therefore we would not know anything.
Are “special revelation” and “Scripture” synonymous?
These are synonymous terms. Although in the past God has revealed Himself through theophanies and direct communications (Heb 1:1-2), now His special revelation is found in Scripture.
What is the meaning of theopneustos? (θεοπνευσος)
the Greek word found in 2 Tim 3:16 which literally means “breathed out by God.”
Define Inspiration
God is its Speaker— He is its Author.

“Inspiration is defined as a supernatural providential influence of God’s Spirit upon the human authors which caused them to write what He wished to be written for the communication of revealed truths to others”-J.I. Packer.
Explain Verbal Inspiration
The influence of the Spirit extends, not merely to the ideas of the human writers but to the very words of Scripture in such a way that God can be spoken of as the speaker of the Word. Scripture therefore is the very words God intends His people to hear, yet it is not mechanically dictated.
Define what is meant by Plenary (inspiration)
Every part of Scripture is inspired; all of it is authoritative and not merely some parts of it. The fullness of the Scriptures are without error in the original manuscripts.
What determines which books belong in Canon?
1. God’s self-attesting witness.

2. Internal evidence - agreement of Christ and apostles to OT, language and idiom, consistency of style, comportment of substance, practical power (my sheep hear my voice).

3. External - citation by early church, catalogue of books (e.g., Muratorian canon),
Why is the Canon closed?
The canon is closed because there are no longer Apostles to speak infallibly on matters of faith and practice.

Hebrews 1:1-2 says that the ways which God formerly communicated to His people have ceased, and now he speaks to us through the Son.
Canon Formation
Criterion:
1) Self-Authentication: Life-Changing ability
2) Universal acceptance on the churches
3) Apostolic tie: Written or sanctioned by an apostle

Progression
1) Muratorian Cannon (AD 170 - 190) - missing Hebrews & James
2) Athanasius' Easter letter (367)
3) Hippo (393)
4) Carthage (397)
Make a case for NT Special Revelation
The voice of God was heard again in Israel beginning with John the Baptist. It
ceased with the death of the last apostle, John. The early church was conscious of the cessation of revelation. The church fathers testify to this: Clement wrote, "The apostles received the gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ." (1Clement 42:1). This indicates that Clement believed that revelation ceased with the apostles.
WCF 1.4 (sufficiency of scripture)
The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or Church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.
May the authority of Scripture be limited to matters of strictly theological importance? Why not?
God’s word speaks to all of life, it is sufficient for “every good work,” man must live by it.
What do we mean by saying the Scriptures are infallible?
The Scriptures are trustworthy and will not fail to accomplish the task to reveal God and the path of salvation to man.
WSC #3 What do the Scriptures principally teach?
The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.

2 Tim 1:13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Discuss “higher criticism” and its effect on biblical authority.
Sees Bible as just another human literary artifact. It has had a deleterious effect upon people as it denies God’s authority, clarity, necessity, and sufficiency.
Explain textual criticism and its contribution to biblical authority
Textual criticism is the science and art of determining which copies contain the correct (original) text of Scripture.
What is the Textus Receptus?
The critical text of the KJV Bible’s NT.
Where does Westminster address the Bible?
WCF 1
WLC 1-6, 154-160
WSC 3, 88-90