Before delving into specific biblical doctrines, we need to first think about what the bible is. In this lecture you’ll learn what the bible says about itself, some reasons to believe God inspired it, as well as the major types of biblical scholars and how they approach scripture. This episode, along with the last one, serves to round out the introduction to this course.
—— Notes ——
bibliology: one’s understanding about the bible

what is the bible?

a library of 66 books
written by 40 people


how should you interact with it?

 
claims that God inspired the bible


Matthew 1.22-23
Mark 12.36
Acts 1.16
Acts 3.18
Acts 4.25
Acts 28.25-26
Hebrews 3.7
Hebrews 10.15-17
2 Timothy 3.16
2 Peter 1.16-21
Revelation 1.1-2

 
reasons why I believe the bible is genuinely inspired


it claims it
predictive prophecy
unflattering honesty
medical insights
martyrdom
archeology

some more reasons

ear-marks of eye-witnesses
historicity of the resurrection of Jesus
changed my life
incredible preservation

survived some Israelite and Judean kings who disregarded it (Manasseh->Amon->Josiah)
survived 70 year exile in Babylonia
survived Antiochus Epiphanes who tried to destroy the Torah
survived destruction of Temple in a.d. 70
survived destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 135
survived several Muslim empires
survived all the crusades
OT survived in high quality manuscripts (Aleppo, Leningrad, DSS, LXX)
Diocletian tried to destroy the NT
NT survived in over 5,000 Greek mss
531 language for whole bible, 1329 languages for NT



 
dichotomy today between bible-believing and bible-critical approaches to doctrine

refer to youtube video of my lecture on Losing Faith from 500
enlightenment gave rise to intense philosophical and biblical criticisms

most bible professors in most secular universities examine the bible from an atheist worldview


some Christians affirmed these criticisms but tried to save Christianity

Schleiermacher (1822): feeling of absolute dependence; entering into Christ’s perfect God consciousness
Albrecht Ritschl (1852): kingdom of God = community of brotherly love (focus on Jesus’ ethics not miracles)
Adolf Harnack (1886): fatherhood of God, brotherhood of man, worth of each soul, love rather than law
Walter Rauschenbusch (1917): social gospel movement—focus on humanitarian needs


other Christians dug in and fought the criticisms

John Locke (1695) published The Reasonableness of Christianity
William Paley (1802) early proponent of intelligent design
Charles Hodge (1874) defended infallibility and attacked Darwinism
Fundamentalist Movement (1910)


In 19th and 20th centuries the liberals and conservatives fight it out

major denominations split (Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans)
as universities go liberal and biblical conservatives leave and start new schools

1806 Harvard splits to form Andover Theological Seminary
1908 Lyman Stewart started BIOLA; he’s the man who funded the 1910 “The Fundamentals”
1929 Princeton splits to form Westminster Theological Seminary
1976 Liberty University Founded a

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