THE BIBLE IS INSPIRED AND AUTHORITATIVE
OUR BASIC ARGUMENT

by Thomas B. Warren

( reprinted with permission from: Spirtual Sword , 1970, Vol 1(2):1-3 ) 

The Most Fundamental Problem

While every person is confronted by many lesser problems, the most fundamental, most far-reaching problem facing every man is that of God. The problem of God involves such questions as: What or who is God? Is He infinite (perfect in power, in knowledge and wisdom, in goodness and love, in justice and righteousness, etc.) or is He merely finite (limited in such matters as those stated parenthetically just above)? Does He exist? If so, can we knowthat He does? Or, is a "leap in the dark" (coming to faith in God without any casual evidence) the best we can do? If we can know that God exists, how can we know it? Are there certain things true of nature (the stars, the planets, the world, and even man himself) which necessitate the deduction that the infinite God exists?

Another Fundamental Problem

All of the above questions are vital to every man, but we defer a detained discussion of them to a subsequent issue of this journal in order to concentrate in this issue on what surely must be the next most fundamental question facing man: What should be regarded as authority in settling religious questions?

Has God Revealed Himself?

Assuming, as we are in this issue, the Existence of God, we raise the question: Has God revealed Himself to man? Man faces crucial religious questions. Some of these questions are: In whom or what am I to believe? Have I sinned, broken the law of God? If so, what, if anything, can I do to be saved from the consequences of sin? What is the will of God in such matters? What sort of life should I live? Must one obey God's will? What are the consequences of not obeying? If God has revealed Himself to man, how can man determine whether He has? What criteria would such a revelation have? How would man determine what the criteria are or should be?

The Matter of "Authority" Is Crucial

Authority is "the right to command and to enforce obedience" or "that which may be appealed to for the right to believe or act in a particular way." Thus, the question of authority is basic to any sphere of human activity. Imagine the chaotic condition of a nation none of the people of which had any clear idea of authority. Imagine the chaos which would be involved in a giant military force (such as that of the United States) none of the members of which had any clear idea of authority. Even in such relatively non-complex matters as baseball or football games, there is the necessity (if chaos is to be avoided and if there is to be any activity worthy of the name "game") of the recognition (by both teams engaged) of the same set of rules or instructions as being authoritative. In playing a football game, neither team involved would regard merely an answer as a sufficient reply to a question which might arise; each would insist on having theanswer given by the authoritative set of rules.

So it is with religious questions. Merely having someanswer to a religious question is not sufficient. One should insist on having the answer given by theauthoritative revelation given to man by God. But what is that authoritative revelation? How can we recognize it?

 The Basic Argument

The Bible is the one and only authoritative rule of faith and practice. The basic argument in which this conclusion is drawn is as follows:
 

1. If it is the case that A, that B, that C,... and that T  are all true of a candidate being considered as the  inspired and authoritative revelation of God to man, then  that candidate is the inspired and authoritative  revelation of God to man;
    
2. It is the case that A, that B, that C,... and that T, are  all true of the Bible;
    
3. Therefore, the Bible is the inspired and authoritative  revelation of God to man. (In this argument A, B, C, ...T  all stand for some affirmative propositions regarding  some fact about the Bible.)

The argument is valid in form (a hypothetical syllogism in which the antecedent of the major premise is affirmed). Thus the only way the argument could be shown to be unsound would be to show that either or both the major and minor premises are false. Each article in this issue will be a constituent element in this basic argument. The first article will comprise A, the second article will comprise B, and so on down to S and T. Each article sets out an act of the Bible which will be a criterion of an inspired and authoritative document.

How Decide?

The following question might well be raised: How did you decide just what criteria a document would have to have in order to be regarded as inspired and authoritative? The answer is: by the use reason. If an objector should say, "But you thus make human reason the ultimate judge," then we reply that such is simply not the case. While it is true that we must use our powers of reason in order ascertain the marks (criteria) which would identify a document as inspired and authoritative, it is not the case that reason thus becomes authoritative. We simply use our powers of reason to find out which claimed "revelation" really is the revelation from God to man. Further, we use those same powers to accurately interpret that authoritative revelation. But we insist that it is the Bibleitself, not human reason which is ultimatelyauthoritative. We must use our reason correctly in order to be sure that what we regard as the authoritative revelation from God really is such, but having drawn the conclusion (by the use of our reason) that the Bible is inspired and authoritative, we then depend upon the Bible as the source of the right answer to religious questions.

The Articles In This Issue

At this juncture, in order to clarify somewhat our approach to the problem, I should like to say a few words about some of the articles (which are the A, the B, the C, and so on of our basic argument) which appear in this issue.

The article by Professor Lightfoot is concerned with showing how the matters of the text and Canon of the Bible relate to the questions of inspiration and authority.

Professor Woodson's essay is concerned with the promise made in regard to the Scriptures and how those promises relate to what the Bible actually claims for itself. As we would expect of a book claiming to be from God, the Bible claims to be inspired, inerrant, and authoritative. Woodson shows how these matters relate to our central affirmation.

Of any book, which we could regard as the revelation from God to man, we would expect that it would deal with the most profound themes. In his essay, Professor Wright shows that such is the case with the Bible. Its basic themes are: God, the world, man, salvation, evil, eschatology, etc.

Rubel Shelly, associate editor, in a special article on prophecy argues that the prophecies made and fulfilled in the Bible are of such nature as to necessitate the conclusion that the Bible is inspired.

Reason leads us to expect that God's revelation to man would e confirmed by miraculous signs. Professor McCord's essay shows this is the case with the Bible.

We would also expect of any inspired document that it would deal with the problem of God in the most exalted and sublime manner. Mr. Connally's essay shows that this is the case.

Professor Clevenger shows that the world is also dealt with in a way which affords supportive evidence that the Bible is from God.

Mr. Camp, in refuting the contention that man has evolved from some lower (i.e., non-human) form of life, argues that evolution, "whether theistic or non-theistic, cannot be compatible with the Genesis account of the creation of man." He then goes on to defend the Biblical account of the origin of man.

Professor Bales' article shows that rather than fettering man's thoughts and demanding a gullible acceptance of that for which there is no evidence, argues that faith, "as set forth in the Bible is the friend, not the enemy of reason." This is what we would expect of an inspired revelation from God to man.

Mr. Deaver presents two articles. In one of them, he sets out evidence showing the marvelous unity of the Bible. In the other, he gives some further explanation of what "inspiration" really means.

The rest of the articles in this issue make much the same sort of contribution to our basic argument. In this connection, we hold that since the syllogism is valid and the premises are true, then the conclusion (that the Bible is inspired and authoritative) should be accepted by all men. Truly, the Bible isthe inspired and authoritative revelation of the one true God to man.

•  
• 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 perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all  good works. (2 Timothy 3:16,17)
   
• It is our contention that every book of the Bible,  that every chapter in every book, that every paragraph in  every chapter , that every sentence in every paragraph,  that every word in every sentence, that every syllable in  every word, and that every letter in every syllable  throughout all of the Bible (original autographs) were  "inspired of God."
   
• In submitting this claim, it is our sincere hope that  every reader will see the truthfulness of it and will, as  a result, come to faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God,  and thus submit to Him in a life of love and obedience  (Hebrews 5:8,9; John 14:15), for the promise of doing so  is the gaining of life eternal (1 John 2:25).
  
  Questions For Study
   
1. Distinguish between Bible faith and a "leap  in the dark" approach to God. What is  "authority"?
    
2. Show why men must have authority on which to base  all their actions and beliefs.
    
3. What is the basic argument advanced in this  journal?
    
4. How would you answer the objection that this  argument makes human reason the ultimate  authority in religion?
    
5. Briefly acquaint yourself with the procedure to  be used in tracing out the basic argument through  the course of this journal.

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