Preface
The Orthodox Study Bible, New Testament and Psalms, (1993) Saint Athanasius Orthodox Academy, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee.
Purchased from my former employer, the Canadian Bible Society @ Cafe Logos, Vancouver.
This text review continues...
Five sources of Christian tradition (iv)
In this entry I will deal with the first (1)
Five sources of Christian tradition (iv): 1. The Holy Scriptures
Paraphrased:
The Old Testament and New Testament are viewed as the written record and experience of God's people via God's revelation to them. (iv).
I agree.
It is understood that the Church, therefore, wrote the bible. (iv).
I agree, but I hold to the view that the Holy Spirit, guided human writers to produce inspired, inerrant (without error) scripture. Admittedly, with the original autographs which are not extant. But thousands of copied manuscripts of biblical books in whole, or in part, are extant.
Houston Christian University: Dunham Bible Museum
Cited
'What is a Manuscript?
A manuscript is a hand-written document. The word has its origin in Latin: manu (hand) and scriptum (written). There are approximately 5,800 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. In addition, there are 10,000 Latin manuscripts, and 9,300 manuscripts in other languages. The New Testament autographa, the manuscripts written by the original authors, are unavailable, but manuscripts have been discovered that are dated as early as the 2nd century.
Parchment: writing material made from animal skin (might be lamb, goat, deer, or cow), or
Papyrus: a reed plant that grows along the banks of the Nile. There are 1,276 New Testament papyri, the earliest copies of portions of the New Testament.
Different Formats of Early Scripture
Scroll: a rolled piece of papyrus or parchment. All of the original scriptures were written on scrolls.
Codex: a book made up of paper, parchment, or papyrus, with one end bound.
Palimpsest: a manuscript page that has been washed off so that it can be reused./
End citation
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Basically, my Reformed view agrees with Orthodoxy in a denial of dictation theory, in regard to biblical inspiration.
Cited
'Bob Wilkin (ThM, PhD, Dallas Theological Seminary) is the Founder and Executive Director of Grace Evangelical Society and co-host of Grace in Focus Radio. He lives in Highland Village, TX with his wife, Sharon. His latest books are Faith Alone in One Hundred Verses and Turn and Live: The Power of Repentance.'
Cited
'It has been well publicized that there are over 5,000 Greek manuscripts of the NT. The manuscripts we have today were created between AD 125 and AD 1516. Scribes copied by hand the books of the NT. The first copies were made directly from the original manuscripts. Then those copies were copied.
The number of available copied manuscripts has grown as new copies are discovered every year. It is now commonly reported that there are about 5,800 manuscripts of the NT. In addition, there are 10,000 ancient Latin manuscripts (translations of the early Greek manuscripts) and 9,300 ancient manuscripts in other languages (e.g., Coptic, Syriac, Ethiopic). And the church fathers quoted nearly every verse in the NT in their writings.
The time between the writing of the original manuscripts of the NT and their earliest copies is between 100 and 200 years. Compare that to other major works of antiquity, whose earliest copies date to over 1,000 years after the books were written.
One fact that has not been published widely is the number of individual books for which we have complete Greek manuscripts. We do not have 5,800 complete manuscripts of any book in the NT. Many manuscripts–such as the Gospels or Paul’s letters–contain only a portion of the book.
I asked Dr. Wilbur Pickering, an expert on the text of the NT, how many manuscripts we have for the various portions of the NT. Here is his answer:
There are around 2,000 manuscripts (MSS) containing the Gospels; because of fragments and lacunae, for any given verse (e.g., John 3:16) there are around 1,700.
There are around 800 MSS containing the Pauline corpus.
There are around 650 MSS containing Acts.
There are around 600 MSS containing the General Epistles.
There are around 300 MSS containing the Apocalypse.i
i Personal correspondence (email) from Dr. Pickering on December 25, 2022.'
The Orthodox Bible states that the scripture was inspired by God, but was not written directly by God. (iv).
This disagrees with segments of Christian fundamentalism and dictation theory. A dictation theory reasoning the scribe/writer merely writes/transmits what God has dictated; but the denial of dictation theory is very reasonable considering the human aspects in writing the scripture. For example, the Apostle Paul, as a Hebrew Bible scholar, was chosen to write many of the more theological sections and books of the New Testament, such as Romans. Reasonably, even as Paul was guided by the triune God, including God the Holy Spirit, to write certain New Testament letters, Paul's mind was used in the writing process.
God verbally inspires all Scripture Erickson (1994: 219). Each human writer (or his scribe) had a distinctive human style. Erickson (1994: 217). But this does not make Biblical vocabulary and content, therefore exclusively human. Erickson (1994: 218). God inspires a certain author to write certain things, but as Erickson points out, God had been influencing and working on that author for a long period of time. Erickson (1994: 218). God definitely directed the writing of the author, but it is not dictation as if God was bypassing the education and thoughts of the author. The writers of Scripture were not persons without individuality.
This disagrees with segments of Christian fundamentalism and dictation theory. A dictation theory reasoning the scribe/writer merely writes/transmits what God has dictated; but the denial of dictation theory is very reasonable considering the human aspects in writing the scripture. For example, the Apostle Paul, as a Hebrew Bible scholar, was chosen to write many of the more theological sections and books of the New Testament, such as Romans. Reasonably, even as Paul was guided by the triune God, including God the Holy Spirit, to write certain New Testament letters, Paul's mind was used in the writing process.
God verbally inspires all Scripture Erickson (1994: 219). Each human writer (or his scribe) had a distinctive human style. Erickson (1994: 217). But this does not make Biblical vocabulary and content, therefore exclusively human. Erickson (1994: 218). God inspires a certain author to write certain things, but as Erickson points out, God had been influencing and working on that author for a long period of time. Erickson (1994: 218). God definitely directed the writing of the author, but it is not dictation as if God was bypassing the education and thoughts of the author. The writers of Scripture were not persons without individuality.
Thiessen states the dictation theory ignores the stylistic difference in authors. Thiessen (1956: 106). The stylistic differences are apparent with scriptural analysis of biblical languages. Thiessen dismisses the idea of a dictation theory of Scriptural inspiration, as the writers of Scripture were not persons that merely had divine information dictated to them. Thiessen (1956: 106). The writers of Scripture were not ‘mere secretaries’ that wrote words dictated to them by the Holy Spirit. Lindsell (1976: 32). It can therefore be reasoned it is not the Holy Spirit’s grammar being used. Thiessen (1956: 106). People were not robotically inspired to write Scripture. The distinctive style of Biblical writers based on the study of original languages makes the dictation theory quite unlikely. Erickson (1994: 207).
The concept of Biblical inspiration, with the Holy Spirit serving as guidance for the Biblical writer, seems both orthodox and reasonable. Thiessen (1956: 106). Lindsell (1976: 30). The Biblical authors had full use of their intellect and used their own grammar, but were guided to write God’s word without error and omission. Thiessen (1956: 106). The Scripture was presented accurately via inspiration, states Erickson. Erickson (1994: 199). J.I. Packer reasons God and Christ sent the Holy Spirit to teach his people the truth and to save them from error. Packer (1973: 61). The Holy Spirit guided the thoughts of Biblical writers. Erickson (1994: 215). Shedd names this basic theory of Biblical inspiration as ‘plenary inspiration’ meaning writers were moved by the Holy Spirit in respect to thought and language and were kept from error. Shedd (1874-1890)(1980: 72 Volume 1).
The Orthodox Study Bible explains that the scriptures did not fall from heaven, completed. (iv).
Agreed. Nor are the original autographs maintained supernaturally, but the scripture is maintained, reasonably via copying and scholarship.
They were written by human beings that were inspired by God. (iv).
Agreed.
The scriptures were written by God's people. (iv).
Agreed. As I have noted in my writings, the scriptures were written by those within the Christian Church community.
These scriptures need to be interpreted within the context of the Christian Church. (v).
Agreed. This same principle was taught to me with my Bachelor of Arts, degree in Biblical Studies at Columbia Bible College, within the Mennonite Brethren tradition.
For Orthodoxy, the Bible is the first source within the Christian tradition. (v). For example, Many conservative, Protestant traditions would also see the Bible as the first source, and final authority of religious truth, but would not generally emphasize tradition to the same extent as the Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church.
Tradition, in my view, is especially downplayed in many modern, evangelical, charismatic and non-denominational contexts, that attempt to not be 'religious'. As if philosophically, the gospel cannot be presented within a religion, that is the true religion.
As I have noted online, I prefer the designation of Christianity as a religion as it provides credibility to Christianity within Religious Studies as an academic discipline. An academic discipline as is Philosophy of Religion, Theology, the Sciences, etcetera.
Agreed. Nor are the original autographs maintained supernaturally, but the scripture is maintained, reasonably via copying and scholarship.
They were written by human beings that were inspired by God. (iv).
Agreed.
The scriptures were written by God's people. (iv).
Agreed. As I have noted in my writings, the scriptures were written by those within the Christian Church community.
These scriptures need to be interpreted within the context of the Christian Church. (v).
Agreed. This same principle was taught to me with my Bachelor of Arts, degree in Biblical Studies at Columbia Bible College, within the Mennonite Brethren tradition.
For Orthodoxy, the Bible is the first source within the Christian tradition. (v). For example, Many conservative, Protestant traditions would also see the Bible as the first source, and final authority of religious truth, but would not generally emphasize tradition to the same extent as the Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church.
Tradition, in my view, is especially downplayed in many modern, evangelical, charismatic and non-denominational contexts, that attempt to not be 'religious'. As if philosophically, the gospel cannot be presented within a religion, that is the true religion.
As I have noted online, I prefer the designation of Christianity as a religion as it provides credibility to Christianity within Religious Studies as an academic discipline. An academic discipline as is Philosophy of Religion, Theology, the Sciences, etcetera.
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ERICKSON, MILLARD (1994) Christian Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.
ERICKSON, MILLARD (2003) What Does God Know and When Does He Know It?, Grand Rapids, Zondervan.
GEISLER, NORMAN L. (1975) Philosophy of Religion, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.
GEISLER, NORMAN L. (1978) The Roots of Evil, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.
GEISLER, NORMAN L. (1986) Predestination and Free Will, Downers Grove, Illinois, InterVarsity Press.
GEISLER, NORMAN L. (1996) ‘Freedom, Free Will, and Determinism’, in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.
GEISLER, NORMAN, L (1999) ‘The Problem of Evil’, in Baker Encyclopedia of Apologetics, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.
LEIBNIZ, G.W. (1710)(1998) Theodicy, Translated by E.M. Huggard Chicago, Open Court Classics.
LINDSELL, HAROLD (1976) The Battle for the Bible, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.
PACKER, J.I. (1996) ‘Regeneration’ in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.
PACKER, J.I. (1973) Knowing God, Downers Grove, Illinois, InterVarsity Press.
SHEDD, WILLIAM G.T. (1874-1890)(1980) Dogmatic Theology, Volume 1, Nashville, Thomas Nelson Publishers.
SHEDD, WILLIAM G.T. (1874-1890)(1980) Dogmatic Theology, Volume 2, Nashville, Thomas Nelson Publishers.
The Orthodox Study Bible, New Testament and Psalms, (1993) Saint Athanasius Orthodox Academy,Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee.
THIESSEN, HENRY C. (1956) Introductory Lectures in Systematic Theology, Grand Rapids, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
