Bibliology - Lesson 8 by O. B. (Oscar Brian) Mink

Assignment:
Study chapters four and five of, The Bible and Spiritual Criticism by A. T. Pierson.
Questions on this lesson will be based on the following comments.

Scripture:
Psalms 119:160 "Thy Word is true from the beginning and everyone of Thy righteous judgments endureth forever."

The Supreme Theme

    It was mentioned in our last lesson that the chief or supreme theme of the Scriptures is; Blood Redemption. That is, the salvation of God's people is obtained by the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ. It was also noted in our last lesson that everything necessary to make this great truth plain is in the Bible. Nothing was used by God in giving us His revealed will (the Bible) that did not contribute to this most important theme. In formulating the idea of redemption by the shed blood of His Son, God passed by secular history. The great empires of the world claim no historical space in the Scriptures. Natural science which captivates and holds the keenest of human intellects is passed by in the Scriptures. Then too, the human arts are allowed no room in the house of Scripture. Men dedicate their lives to the perfecting of the arts. They construct great buildings designed to preserve and show the progress of their work. Every great city in the world has one of these Art Museums. But God selected a tent to dwell in and chose the architecture, furnishings and functions of the High Priest in that tent to reveal His work, past, present and future.
    In giving Moses the pattern for the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:40) natural beauty was not the idea in God's mind, but teaching was the predominant thought in the Divine mind. Everything that went into the construction of the Tabernacle contained an important lesson for Israel. In constructing and giving us the Bible, God gave us songs and poetry. But the supreme idea in giving the Bible was to teach men about the redemptive work of God's Son, Jesus Christ.
    God is omniscient and when He gave the Scriptures He knew what to leave out, as well as what to include. There is ALL included that ought to be in the Bible to express God's mind and reason for giving the Bible. On the other hand., there is nothing in the Bible that would divert attention from the purpose God had in view, and that purpose was to manifest His glory by the giving of His beloved Son to redeem His people by the shedding of His blood. There is beauty in the Bible. To the saved there is perfect beauty, unity and harmony in it. No piece of human literature can ever be clothed with the beauty, nor compared with the Bible when considered and viewed by the spiritual beholder.

The Book Above All Books

If God charged the world today with the responsibility to write a book that was above every other book, it would be filled with the sayings of Roman Catholic Popes, Albert Einstein, Lincoln and esteemed representatives of the Arts and Sciences. Had God left man to himself in writing and compiling the Bible it would have been filled with the sayings of Socrates, Aristotle, Plato and of the Caesars of Rome. But the Book which is infinitely above all books is the product of the condescending mercy and omniscient mind of God Almighty. The Book of books, the Bible, is untainted and free from human thought. In giving us this sacred volume, God made use of human minds and human hands, but He enlightened those minds and He guided those hands to keep them free from error and to impel them to set in writing His eternal message to men. There is but one "God-breathed" book and that is the Bible.

The Scarlet Line

The primary and chief theme of the Bible is; salvation by the shed blood of Christ. In spite of this great and obvious truth, Christendom (?) is crying, "Away with the blood, eliminate it from your preaching and teaching, from your Hymn books and from all your literature." But upon investigation of the Divine Record we find that every page has the blood stain upon it. The blood of substitutionary atonement is the scarlet line that runs through the Bible. It is upon this line as a string of precious pearls, all the prophecies and promises of God are strung. Any effort to eliminate the doctrine of Blood redemption from the Bible, is, in essence, an attempt to destroy the Bible, and the God of the Bible. One proof of the supernaturalness of the Bible is its power to survive and endure the vicious assaults of its enemies. It is the most persecuted Book ever written. There are organizations dedicated to discrediting and destroying the Bible. Had the Bible been merely a human production it would have fallen long ago before the relentless assaults of the enemy. Yet, it is a fact of history, the more the Bible is persecuted the more it is promoted, and the more are faithful adherents multiplied. The breath of God is in the Book. The almighty hand of God's protection is on the Book. Men may reject the Word of God, and bring His counsel into disrepute in the eyes of other men. But all the powers of evil combined cannot destroy a single jot or tittle of the inspired record. Their efforts to destroy the Word of God is comparable to a child trying to put out the sun with a water pistol. Thus it is, every effort to erase a single jot or tittle from the Book is vain and inexpressibly wicked, much more so when evil men try to eliminate the precious doctrine of vicarious atonement.

Vicariousness Vividly Presented

    The whole chapter of Isaiah fifty three (Isaiah 53) is given to the truth of vicarious atonement. In the first six verses we read of the substitutionary sufferings of Christ seven times:
    1. "He hath borne our griefs."
    2. "Carried our sorrows."
    3. "He was wounded for our transgressions."
    4. "He was bruised for our iniquities."
    5. "The chastisement of our peace was upon Him."
    6. "With His stripes we are healed."
    7. "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
    Then in the last six verses we read:
    1. "For the transgression of My people was He stricken."
    2. "Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin."
    3. "By His knowledge shall My Righteous servant justify many."
    4. "He shall bear their iniquities."
    5. "He was numbered with the transgressors."
    6. "He bare the sins of many."
    7. "Made intercession for the transgressors."
    And in the middle of these fourteen substitutionary acts of Christ are the words; "He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter." And the teaching made unmistakably clear in Isaiah 53 permeates the Old Testament and clearly points toward Calvary. The doctrines of the New Testament look back to Calvary and Calvary speaks of the shed blood of Christ, which was shed to atone for the sins of His people. In this great truth we see the idea of God and the redemptive scheme fully developed. "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission," (Hebrews. 9:22).
    God meant for this great truth to stand out, and be so conspicuous that no person could look at the Scriptures and not be confronted with it. Paul refers to the sacrificial blood of Christ as; "The blood of the everlasting covenant," (Hebrews 13:20). When a man denies the efficacy of the blood, or is afraid to preach it as the exclusive means of redemption, it is evident that the man, regardless of his pretension of a Divine call is yet in his sins.

The Bible Did Not Come Into Existence Instantaneously

    The Bible did not come into existence instantaneously. The Bible came into being progressively. But in this progress, perfect unity, harmony and growth was maintained.
    Suppose forty men from different nations around the world showed up at the U. S. Bicentennial celebration in Washington, D. C. Each man would bring with him five pieces of marble stone, each stone representing a year of American history, and when the pieces were put together they formed a perfect statue detailing 200 years of progress in the United States. We would surely know there was a master plan and great intelligence behind the whole project.
    The great quantity of Bibles on the American scene has made the possession of one very easy. In fact, there are many organizations which offer them free upon request. But this great abundance and easy ownership has not diminished the preciousness of the Book in the eyes of those who know the history of the Book. They know the Scriptures are Divinely inspired and confidently accept the Bible as God's Book. The forty different authors and the fifteen centuries God used in bringing the Bible to its plenary state, is in no way an argument against Divine inspiration. But, in fact, adds force to the argument for Divine inspiration. This great truth is confirmed when one notices the perfect unity which pervades the sacred pages. There is absolute agreement in its doctrines, and complete harmony throughout all its contents. While each book of the sixty six books is a component part of the whole, yet each part was designed by one mind, the mind of God. The Bible is God's Book. He guided its progress and production. While we of today have the Word of God in its entirety, some of the early church only had it in part.

Conclusion

Skeptics say there are discrepancies in the Bible. A religious education teacher in the public school system said to me, "The Bible contradicts itself in many places, therefore, I do not trust the Bible, nor do I believe in the God of the Bible." I remarked to her, "Being that the Bible is so replete with contradictions, perhaps you will call my attention to just one?" From that time, which was a number of years ago, until now, this kind but mis-called teacher has not shown me the one contradiction she promised to point out to me in the Bible. The reason being; there is NOT one.
There are no errors or inconsistencies in the Word of God. And when the skeptic says he cannot believe because of alleged errors, he is compounding his spiritual ignorance. The only hindrance to faith in God and reliance in His Word is a person' s own innate depravity.

Questions
Lesson - 8

1. What was the predominant thought in God's mind in giving Moses the pattern of the Tabernacle?

3. Human minds and human hands were used in writing the Bible. How is it then, that the Bible is totally free of human thought in its teachings?

4. The chief, and supreme theme of the Word of God is, Salvation by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, What do the liberals, Moderns, and skeptics think about this teaching?

8. If the Bible had been merely a human production, what would have happened to it if it had been subjected to the bitter persecution the Bible has been subjected to?

9. Do you believe God gives stewardship of the Sacred Volume to a man that is afraid to preach the blood of Christ as the exclusive means of redemption?

10. Why is it that the plurality of authors, and the many centuries of time involved in completing the Bible cannot be used as an argument against the doctrine of Divine inspiration of the Scriptures?

11. Are there any errors or inconsistencies in the Word of God as originally written?

12. The early church did not have the Scriptures in their entirety, but nevertheless stood faithful to God. Should the true church of today which has the complete revelation, and ready access to the Sacred page be less faithful than the God honoring Baptists of the first century?