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Introduction
& Class 1
God's
Word (The Bible) and its authority
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Introduction
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This
series is divided up into fifteen lessons. It begins by establishing
the authority of the Word of God as the only source for all
Christian doctrine (teaching) and then presents the Christian
religion from that framework. The first lesson deals with
the basic differences between denomination's, highlighting
the Lutheran teaching and continuing from there. Each section
will involve looking up passages that support the claims made,
further illustrating that we do not teach some fantasy, but
from God's Word.
There
are two companion books that accompany this Adult Instruction,
and regular reading in these will enhance the discussions.
The first is Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation,
© 1991 Concordia Publishing House. This is the basis
for the curriculum, and a very handy book to have. If you
have the older version, Copyright © 1943 CPH, then you
may still follow with it. Each lesson contains a line stating
the catechism questions related to that lesson. The numbers
given refer to questions listed in the section beginning on
page 47 (page 39 of the old catechism). The second set of
numbers following the word OLD: indicate the questions from
the 1943 edition.
The other
text book is Light from Above, by Alfred Koehler (CPH
#14EE1260). Each lesson will indicate at the top of the page
which pages of this book pertain to that particular lesson,
with a notation such as Koehler pp. 9-14 or simply
Koehler 9-14. In each case, pages 9-14 are meant.
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May the
Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the Communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you as you study this Adult Instructin
Series.
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Rev. Jeffrey D. McPike
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Lesson
1 - God's Word(The Bible) and its authority
Catechism
Questions 1, 2, 9-12 (OLD: 1-6); Koehler pp. 9-14
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What
are the basic differences among the Christian denominations?
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A. |
The
main question: Where does the Church get its teachings?
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B. |
The
answer according to the three major divisions
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1. |
Roman
Catholic:
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a. |
The
Bible
(Creation to 95 AD)
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b. |
Tradition
(First 500 years)
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c. |
Decrees
of Popes and Councils (Since A.D. 800)
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2. |
Protestants:
The Bible as interpreted
• Who or what is the interpreter?
• Human Reason! Difficult passages therefore must
be reasonable
• No immediate revelation
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3. |
Lutheran: Sola Scriptura, the Bible alone
• The literal sense of the passage is taken first
unless there is good evidence to do otherwise.
• The Bible does not contradict itself
• The Rule of Faith:
___ * Doctrine of Justification
___ * Body of the Church's
teaching
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| II. |
Our
knowledge of God
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A .
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Natural Knowledge |
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1
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Nature
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2
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Conscience
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B
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Revealed
Knowledge: The Bible
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1.
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What
does the Bible say about the knowledge of God? |
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_______
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1
Timothy 6:16 |
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Romans
1:19
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Acts
14:17 |
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2.
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Various
sources of revelation in the past
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Dreams
__• Visions
__• Miracles
__• Prophets
__• Jesus
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| III. |
The
Bible - God's self-revelation to us
(Catechism Questions 5-8(OLD:7-13);
Koehler pp. 15-21)
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A. |
The
purpose: John
20:30-31
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B. |
Its
source
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1. |
Original
languages: Hebrew,
Aramaic, Greek
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2. |
Original
authors
__• Some books named
after author
______Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, etc.
__• Some books named
for events
______Exodus, Judges, Kings,
Acts
__• Some named for
contents
______Deuteronomy, Psalms,
Proverbs
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3. |
Human
sources
_____
Joshua 10:13
_____Luke
1:1-4
_____Jeremiah
36:17-18
_____Romans
1:1, 16:22
_____ Galations
6:11
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C. |
Its
authority
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1. |
The
concept of inspiration
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Why do we call the Bible the Holy Scripture?
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The Bible is the Holy Scripture because God the Holy
Spirit gave to His chosen weriters the thoughts that
they expressed and the words that they wrote(verbal
inspiration). Therefore, the Bible is God's own Word
and truth, without error(inerrancy). (From Luther's
Small Catechism)
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Verbal Inspiration: The Holy Spirit carefully guided
the process of writing down exactly everything God wanted
said, but did it in such a way as to involve the intellect,
education, vocabulary and grammar of the original author.
____Dr. Luke's Gospel is
very complex Greek
____St. John's Epistles
(letters) are very simple
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2. |
Why
we believe the Old Testament is the Word of God
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a. |
the
testimony of the New Testament
• __2
Peter 1:20-21
• __2
Timothy 3:15-17
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b. |
Jesus'
testimony
• __John
10:34-35
• __Luke
24:44
• __Matthew
5:17-18
• __Isaiah
7:14
• __Micah
5:2, Matthew 2:4-6
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c. |
its
prophecies are faithfully fulfilled
• __Joel
2:28-31, Acts 2:14-21
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3. |
Why
we believe the New Testament is the Word of God
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a. |
the
promises of Jesus
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John
14:25-28
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John
17:20
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b. |
the
standard of the early Church in selecting the canon
Only
books written by Apostles, or under their authority,
were accepted as inspired
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4. |
Modern
Versions
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King James Version (KJV) 1611
• Revised Standard Version (RSV)
• New International Version (NIV)
• New American Standard Bible (NASB)
• English Standard Version (ESV) 2001
• Living Bible: Not a translation!
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