Christianity is true insofar that the Holy Bible is God’s self-revelation to mankind.[1] The entirety of the Christian faith and its corresponding worldview hinges upon the Bible being the inerrant, inspired, and infallible Word of God (2 Cor. 2:17; 4:2). At least two frightening consequences would result from the Bible simply being another book from antiquity and not the God-breathed Scriptures. First and foremost, if the Bible were not the Word of God, then humanity would not have any way of entering into a personal relationship with their Creator.[2] Despite the created order and the human conscience bearing witness to God’s existence, it is impossible to possess an intimate knowledge of God if He does not first condescend to us through an act of special revelation (Rom. 1:18-32; 2:12-16). Yet, from start to finish, Scripture presents itself as the authoritative means whereby human beings can rightly know God and understand how they can live in a manner that honors Him (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible portrays the manifold expressions of God’s self-revelation to man. It describes His purposes in renewing a creation that has been marred by sin (Heb. 1:1-4). The climax of the Biblical meta-narrative is seen in the person and work of God’s Son—the Lord Jesus Christ—who redeems undeserving sinners through His perfect life, substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection and ascension into Heaven (Rom. 4:24-25). However, apart from the veracity and divine origin of Scripture, the bedrock of the Christian faith loses all its meaning and significance.[3] If the Bible is not what it claims to be, then the beauty of Christ and the message of His Gospel is altogether undermined by skepticism.[4] The context for understanding the person and work of Jesus Christ—prophesied of in the Old Testament and testified of in the New Testament—is abolished if the Bible is not God’s chosen means of revealing His wondrous mystery of redemption (1 Cor. 2:6-16).
As disconcerting as this scenario is to contemplate, there is a second frightening consequence to ponder if the Bible were not the source of God’s special revelation to humanity. If the Bible were not the Word of God, then there would be no objective basis for humanity to account for intelligible experience in reality.[5] Apart from recognizing their inextricable relationship to the character and self-revelation of the triune God, man loses all ability to definitively explain the existence of the laws of logic (Col. 2:3; 2 Tim. 2:13), the laws of mathematics and science (Col. 1:17), the uniformity of nature (Gen. 9:1-17; Heb. 1:3), the reliability of human sense perception (1 Cor. 3:12-15) and the prevalence of moral absolutes (Ex. 20:1-17; Rom. 2:14-16). Whether a devout Christian, adherent to an alternative world religion or a staunch atheist, the universal dependence and utilization of the preconditions for intelligible experience in reality showcase that all people must play by Yahweh’s rules to function in His created order.[6] When compared to Christianity, every other system of religion and philosophy fails to provide an invariant or transcendental explanation for why creation is the way that it is.[7]
Nevertheless, if the Bible is not the Word of God, then Christianity cannot be posited as a solution to account for the preconditions for intelligible experience in reality because the Christian associates those preconditions with the God of Christianity.[8] Said differently, if the Bible is not God’s Word, then there is no objective basis for believing in the triune God of Christianity because it is only within the Bible that the triune God is described (Ps. 19:7-9). Necessarily, if the Bible is not the Word of God, then the God portrayed in the Bible cannot be assumed to be the God who created the universe. And if the God who created the universe did not reveal Himself in the Bible, then Christianity is no different than any other religion in the world (1 Cor. 15:12-19). Both of the aforementioned schemas demonstrate the intellectual futility and spiritual hopelessness that stem from rejecting the Bible’s divine origin of authorship.
Intellectually speaking, the most significant proof for the Bible being the Word of God is that if it were not so, then man would have no objective basis for accounting for some of the most basic preconditions for intelligible experience in reality.[9] Furthermore, every human being lives in such a way that demonstrates they presuppose the existence of the triune God of Christianity and the truthfulness of the Christian worldview as delineated in Scripture.[10] As such, the truthfulness of Scripture and its representation as the Word of God is proven by the impossibility to the contrary.[11] On the other hand, spiritually speaking, the triune God has been pleased to grant His people with eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to submit to the Biblical characterization of Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8-9).
For millennia, billions of blood-bought saints have come to taste and see that the Lord is good by virtue of the living and active Word of God (Ps. 34:8). As such, the Christian cannot help but consume their mind with Scripture’s teaching, for it alone contains the words of the God who rescued them from His wrath (Job 33:24). Indeed, only the Holy Bible contains the words of eternal life (John 6:68). When considering the power of Scripture to transform a sinner’s life and the philosophical necessity of affirming the Christian worldview to account for intelligible experience, in reality, it becomes clear that there is nothing of greater importance in this world than to accurately interpret the Bible.[12] Unfortunately, there also appears to be no subject of greater confusion than discerning how Scripture should be interpreted.[13]
From the moment that a person begins to read the Bible, he inevitably begins to systematize the contents in accordance with a presupposed methodology of interpretation, a hermeneutic.[14] As such, it is never a question of whether or not one employs a particular hermeneutic to the Bible. Instead, the question is whether or not one’s Biblical hermeneutic is correct.[15] By God’s grace, Christians have not been left in the dark as to how Scripture should be interpreted. The Bible provides its readers with an extensive model of interpretation by featuring how the Spirit-inspired authors interpret other sections of Holy Writ.[16] Nevertheless, despite the clarity of how Scripture interprets Scripture, hermeneutical debates still abound within Christian circles.[17]
One of the most noteworthy sources of contemporary disputation centers upon Dispensationalism’s approach to interpreting the Bible. A systematic examination of the Dispensationalist hermeneutic will signify that alternative theological frameworks provide a more cogent understanding of how God’s Word fits together. With this in mind by way of preface, the next three articles will address three of Dispensationalism’s most noteworthy hermeneutical aberrations. Each of these hermeneutical critiques of Dispensationalism will be presented from a Particular Baptist perspective (“1689 Federalism”).[18]
[1] Greg L. Bahnsen, Always Ready: Directions for Defending the Faith, ed. Robert R. Booth (Nacogdoches, TX: Covenant Media Foundation, 2000), Pages 19-21.
[2] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/scripture-divine-revelation/.
[3] Cornelius Van Til and William Edgar, An Introduction to Systematic Theology: Prolegomena and the Doctrines of Revelation, Scripture, and God (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2007), Page 224.
[4] Cornelius Van Til and K. Scott Oliphint, The Defense of the Faith, Pages 169-170.
[5] Greg L. Bahnsen, Van Til’s Apologetic: Readings and Analysis (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 1998), Pages 6-7.
[6] Greg L. Bahnsen, Always Ready: Directions for Defending the Faith, ed. Robert R. Booth (Nacogdoches, TX: Covenant Media Foundation, 2000), Page 38.
[7] Greg L. Bahnsen, Van Til’s Apologetic: Readings and Analysis (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 1998), Pages 502-515.
[8] Jason Lisle, The Ultimate Proof of Creation: Resolving the Origins Debate (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2017), Pages 45-71.
[9] Cornelius Van Til, A Survey of Christian Epistemology (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1980), Page 205.
[10] Greg L. Bahnsen, Van Til’s Apologetic: Readings and Analysis (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 1998), Pages 620-622.
[11] Cornelius Van Til and K. Scott Oliphint, The Defense of the Faith, Pages 380-382.
[12] J. Scott. Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2020), Pages 9-10.
[13] https://thestateoftheology.com/data-explorer?AGE=30&MF=14®ION=30&DENSITY=62&EDUCATION=62&INCOME=254&MARITAL=126ÐNICITY=62&RELTRAD=62&EVB=6&ATTENDANCE=254.
[14] https://www.britannica.com/topic/hermeneutics-principles-of-biblical-interpretation.
[15] https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/interpreting-hermeneutics/.
[16] https://www.reformation21.org/blog/jesus-learned-hermeneutics.
[17] Stanley Porter, Craig Blomberg, and Beth Stovell, Biblical Hermeneutics: Five Views (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012).
[18] https://www.1689federalism.com.
Dewey is a licensed and ordained minister in the Southern Baptist Convention. He was raised in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, is happily married to Beall, and is a proud father of Isabelle Ruth. Dewey played college baseball at Western Texas College, receiving the Associate of Arts degree in General Studies. Following his time at Western Texas College, Dewey would continue as a student-athlete at The Master’s University, earning the Bachelor of Arts degree in Christian Ministries. Upon completion of his undergraduate work, Dewey went on to acquire the Master of Arts degree in Biblical Studies from The Master’s University, as well as the Master of Theology degree in Historical Theology from Campbellsville University. Dewey is currently a doctoral student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, with an emphasis in Christian Worldview and Apologetics. Over the last decade, Dewey has served local churches in a variety of ways, focusing on next generation ministries. He has experience teaching children in AWANA, serving as youth pastor, as well as leading college students and young adults. He is also passionate about personal evangelism, and has led groups in gospel outreaches in cities around the country. To strengthen his service to the church, and in conjunction with his seminary studies, Dewey has participated in several academic fellowships and cohorts. He specializes in the disciplines of apologetics, biblical theology, historical theology, and systematic theology. Dewey is also actively involved with Covenant Confessions—a ministry of Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary. Today, Dewey serves as the Associate Pastor of Next Generation and Outreach at Metro East Baptist Church (Wichita, Kansas).
You can follow Dewey on Twitter @SlaveofChrist17
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