The Hillsboro Christian Volume 62 September 2022
“All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (II Timothy 3:16 17)
In This Issue of The Hillsboro Christian
By Brad Clouse
Paul is writing this to Timothy, who is ministering to the believers in Ephesus. In Paul, Timothy had a spiritual mentor. Serving together, they forged a deep friendship as brothers in the faith. In this epistle, Paul is encouraging Timothy to remain faithful in preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Here, the apostle reminds Timothy that “All Scripture is God breathed” – In other words, God is the true author of the Bible. The Scripture itself is the direct result of God’s action, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (II Peter 1:20 21). The writers of the OT make more than 2,000 direct claims to be speaking the very words of God: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says… the word of the Lord came to me.” The divine origin of the Bible guarantees that it is indeed the very words of God. “The Bible was written over a period of 1,500 years on three different continents by some 40 human writers. Its human writers by occupation were sheepherders and kings, farmers and doctors. The Bible was written in three different languages and covers in its 66 separate books, every subject imaginable” (Denver Sizemore). These writers lived in separate times and places and had no real opportunity to collaborate to any degree. With a few exceptions such as Moses and Solomon (OT); Paul and Luke (NT); most of these writers had limited education simple farmers; herdsmen; soldiers; fishermen. Yet, all of these writers were absolutely certain that what they were writing was God’s Word. The Bible does not just contain God’s Word; rather, the Bible is God’s Word. Therefore, as God’s people, we must submit to the authority of God’s Word. We must recognize the Bible as the one true final authority for our lives. Listen to the words of Jack Cottrell: “This means that it has a rightful claim upon our minds and our lives. Whatever it says, we ought to believe. Whatever it commands, we ought to do. It is our God-given norm, our only rule for faith and practice. To ignore it is foolish and, in the end, fatal.” “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful…” God’s people must also stand upon the
In presenting this month’s newsletter, we recognize at this time that a new school year is beginning. So let us be in prayer for all teachers and students, especially those who are a part of our church family. Let us pray for their health and their safety. Let us also pray for their witness for Christ: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). In Christian love, Brad (1) God’s Word is useful for teaching = tells us what is right. (2) God’s Word is useful for rebuking = tells us what is wrong; (3) God’s Word is useful for correction = tells us how to get right; (4) God’s Word is useful for training in righteousness = tells us how to stay right. By submitting to and standing on the authority of God’s Word, we as servants of God will be “thoroughly equipped for every good work” (v.17).
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” (Psalm 119:105)
“It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4).
authority of the Bible. In II Timothy 3:16, Paul gives Timothy a list of the ways that God’s Word is useful to His people. Matt Proctor gives the following description of the Bible’s usefulness: “The B I B L E, yeah that’s the book for me. I stand alone on the word of God, the B I B L E.” “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)
In this edition of The Hillsboro Christian, Adam reminds us how important it is that we as God’s people meet together to study His Word. Also, Micah points out to us why the worship songs we sing must be grounded in the truth of God’s Word. Our guest contributor for this month is Brett Seybold, who just launched KAPOL (Kontakt Apologetics). He was one of our guest speakers at this year’s Summer in the Son. Brett passionately and tactfully defends the faith and helps equip churches to do the very same. His article is entitled: On the Authority of Scripture for the Follower of Jesus Christ.
SAVE THE DATE
Brad served at smaller churches in Adair County Kentucky while in college before being called to Ohio in 2009. Brad ministered to the New Vienna Church of Christ congregation for 12 years before being called to the Hillsboro Church of Christ as the Senior Minister. He is pictured here with his wife, Julie, and his children, Will, Annaleigh, and Samantha.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Brad Clouse, a Louisville, Kentucky native, graduated from Louisville Bible College in 2010 with a Master's Degree in Sacred Literature after earning his former degrees at the same university.
Mom Connect is a newer ministry of Hillsboro Church of Christ. Here at MomConnect, we gather and support moms. We believe in the simple idea that remarkable things happen when moms come together. This is a gathering place for every mom, from every background, with any story and this ministry offers moms a much needed break to catch her breath. We provide encouragement, community and support for any mom with kids at home. MomConnect allows mothers to become the best version of themselves, for their families and the people in their communities. We meet every fourth Thursday of the month in the Connection Café. The meeting begins at 4:30 pm and ends at 7:30 pm. We would love to have you join us! Let us know you are coming by going to our website: MomConnect (hillsborochurch.net) . We look forward to seeing you!
When discussing the role of the Bible in the life of believers, questions regarding infallibility, inerrancy, inspiration, and authority often surface. With the first three I encourage, and challenge those I disciple to give the biblical text the benefit of their doubt when precise and perfect definitions of such terms prove elusive, however, I see NO wiggle room regarding the Bible as the authority for the church. The Bible is the standard against which all is measured in the life of the disciple of Jesus Christ. We all have questions and uncertainties at times, many of which get answered and addressed as we grow in our walk with the Lord, however, learning early on to give the scriptures the benefit of our doubt is a matter of spiritual life or death. For example, views on how the inspiration of scripture occurred range between the extremes of God having dictated every word (the error of extreme fundamentalism) to the notion that the scriptures merely resulted from human abilities of poetic genius (the error of extreme progressivism/liberalism). And although I find a pure and utter dictation of scripture a difficult position to hold in light of what the scripture testifies about itself (e.g. sometimes God speaks, sometimes humans speak, and even Satan speaks) reducing inspiration to human abilities and poetic genius (i.e. the liberal spectrum) falls quite short of 2 Timothy 3:16 where we’re told that all scripture is God breathed. And to admit that we cannot completely wrap our minds around how the Bible was inspired is not an error, rather, it is a honest concession regarding the limitations of our human minds. So, it is one thing to admit a lack of Cartesian certainty regarding how inspiration has occurred, but something quite different to reject the scriptures as authoritative. Faith in God’s ability to reveal Himself in His written word goes hand in hand with every aspect of the Christ follower’s life. One might ask, are the scriptures our only authority? No, for the Bible itself speaks of elders, parents, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, the Father etc.; however, these work in conjunction with one another, and there is no way in which the Bible is not our authority. Authority should in some sense take priority since it is directly tied to action and obedience à Matthew 28:18 20 –“All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me….Teaching them to obey everything I’ve commanded.” And as followers of Christ we can humbly confess that belief and obedience is possible, even when we can’t quite seem to wrap our minds around everything.
The heart of the problem: If we’re not resting on the scriptures as our authority, then what are we resting on? We might think of Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish builders (Matthew 7:24 29). I see at least four real dangerous distractions, all of which prove insufficient as substitutes for God’s word. These are the world, ourselves, a false teacher or false teaching, and our mistaken understanding of the Holy SomeSpirit.make the world their authority, i.e., the immediate culture around them. Here the problem is that cultural tides continually shift and often stand in blatant opposition to God's revelation. This can be very tempting because we humans can easily become
By: Brett Seybold With: The Hillsboro Church of Christ
On the Authority of Scripture for the Follower of Jesus Christ
on page 21)
Often times people trust themselves above all other authorities, whether it be their feelings, experiences, or human reason. We should make no mistake here that such things can and certainly do inform our theology and theopraxis. And feelings, experiences, and human reason need not be viewed as inherently dangerous. In fact, they may be understood as gifts from God, especially when in line with the scriptures. Nevertheless, each of these, when given too much credence and placed above the scriptures, can and will lead well intended followers of Christ astray. Notice how the authority of the scriptures, through which God has revealed Himself, is the correct standard against which we must measure ourselves; whether it be our feelings, experiences, and or our rationality.
Many have been led astray by false teachings or teachers. Yes, I am aware that some issues are debatable; Romans 14 or Colossians 2:16 17 issues for example. Not all Christians agree on everything, nor do we have to, especially on non essentials. However, it doesn't logically or theologically follow that everything pertaining to doctrine is therefore up for grabs. Some issues are more clearly revealed, articulated, and emphasized in scripture than others. These tend to emerge as the more prominent gospel level or decalogue level issues. We must also realize that all of us fall short and rarely do any of us understand all scripture with hermeneutic perfection. This fact, however, should not hinder us from striving to understand God's word more thoroughly, sufficiently, confidently, and graciously. Adding knowledge without puffing up in pride (2 Peter 1:5 & 1 Cor. 8:1), working out our salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), and producing fruit by remaining in Him (John 15:5). Yet when a particular teacher persists in presenting core doctrines in ways (continued
mesmerized by the prevailing spirit of the times. The Apostle John, who leaned on Jesus at the last supper warned his readers not to love the word, or the things of this word, because this world is passing away, and that instead, we should love the Father (1 John 2:15 17).
Jacob Conover was baptized on Sunday, July 31st. He is the son of Thaddeus and Heather Conover. Jacob has had this decision on his mind for some time now. He started talking about it this earlier this year after he attended SuperStart. Jacob went to Butler Springs Christian Camp and felt led to make that commitment. Please join us in praying for his spiritual growth!
On Sunday, May 1, 2022, Layna Apgar made the decision to begin her new life in Christ by being baptized. Megan Apgar (her mother) had the privilege of baptizing her. Congratulations Layna! Please pray for her as she continues to grow in Christ.
Have you ever been having a casual conversation with someone, and you mention something only to see the other person's face light up? You have just brought up one of their favorite topics. It may be their favorite TV show or movie. It could be their favorite sports team or book series. When this happens, you will often find yourself learning way more about that topic than you may have ever wanted to know. Just bring up classic cars around a car guy or start asking questions about geocaching and someone who does that every weekend will tell you all about it. I have found that for just about anything I do causally there is someone that takes it very seriThereously. is a name for a person who has a high level of interest in one particular area that not everyone enjoys. We call these people Nerds. Some people nerd out about Star Wars or Marvel, others nerd out about hunting or football. The difference is that one person knows all the names of the players on a sports team while the other knows the names of all the characters in a movie series. Both spend their free time watching other people do something impressive for their entertainment. Both people find community with others who also enjoy the same thing. You’ll find people who are nerds about bass fishing, Harry Potter, woodworking, baseball, deer hunting, fixing up old cars, video games, cooking, etc. They all know a lot about their particular thing and are always excited to meet someone who shares their interest. We may not all have the same interests or nerd out about the same things but there is one area that we should all be nerds about and that is scripture. Hear me out here, when you have a problem with your car you ask your friend who is a car guy (or car nerd). When your child is starting a new sport, you go to your friend who By Adam Steele
Grace and Peace, Adam Adam Steele is originally from western Pennsylvania. When he was eleven his parents moved to West Virginia where he lived through his time in high school.
knows a lot about that sport for advice. When you need to build a shelf for your living room you talk to the person with a woodworking shop in their garage. You lean on your friends when life hands you a problem you can’t solve on your own. When your non-Christian friends have questions about God or the Bible, they are going to look for the biggest Jesus Nerd they can find. That’s part of the idea about sharing our faith through relationships. We spend time with people who don’t believe the same as us in the hopes that when they have a question or crisis, we will be the person they will come to for Biblical answers. However, that means we need to know what we believe and why we believe it. It means that we must think deeply about who God is and what he expects of us. In his first letter, the apostle Peter gives this instruction to his readers, “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect," (1 Peter 3:15). We need to be ready to answer the questions from our non Christian friends about the hope we have in Jesus.
Adam attended Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, MO. While in college he met his lovely wife April. Adam and April have two children Silas and Sadie. Before coming to Hillsboro, OH they served at First Christian Church in Jackson, TN. Adam has a passion for ministry and for God’s word and has served as Youth and Families Minister at HCC since 2016.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
That is why our church started the Bible Basics classes to help you think more deeply about faith and the Bible. We have studied topics like God's Attributes, The Deity of Christ, Angels & Demons, as well as many more. It is simply a gathering of a group of people who all love the same thing (Nerds) and want to share this interest with their friends and family. On September 11th, we are going to be kicking off a new lesson set in the series, where we are going to be discussing Salvation and the Church. It is a great opportunity to nerd out about the Bible with your brothers and sisters in Christ and gain a greater understanding of theology, the study of God. We all need nerds in our lives, people who know a lot about one topic. Your friends, family, and coworkers need you to be Bible nerds for them. So, come to Bible Basics at either 9:00 or 10:30 every Sunday and nerd out about the Bible and all it has to teach us.
Starts Wednesday, September 21st
If you would like to register your child for Backpack Club, go to: hillsborochurch.net/backpack
Backpack Club
Backpack Club is a program to help kids in grades 1-5 with their homework. The kids will receive a snack, do some games, and have a Bible lesson. Backpack Club is on Wednesdays only, 3:45 p.m., and pick up is at 5:30 p.m. More information is on our website: hillsborochurch.net/events
2022September Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 SCHEDULESUNDAY 9 — 10 AM: 10 — 10:3010:30: — 11:30: 1 st ServiceWorship CaféConnections 2 nd ServiceWorship (Beginning9/11)ClassBasicsBible ClassBasicsBible Children ’ Classess Children ’ Worships (Nursery 5 th (NurseryGrade) 5 th Grade) ClassesSSMS/HS ActionInFaith Meeting CaféPM6 NewsletterthisineventthisaboutInformationMorefindcanYou MomConnect 5 — 7:30 Connection Cafe T.H.E.O.Lead-Ministry ers ’ Meeting Backpack Club Begins (SeptemberFairCountyHighland 4 — 10) ➔ OfficeChurch Closed
Do Heretics Sing Too?” …and other questions we should ask about our singing. By Micah Herrick
A core team of leaders has banded together within our worship ministry (now HCC Worship) and has worked hard to establish a core vision and direction for worship within our gatherings. Pursuing a vision to become a people engaged in worship as God created us guided by a mission to create an environment where the gathered experience the glory of God together we have developed a few core values that mirror the core values of our larger church Underbody. the umbrella of Biblical Authority, HCC Worship is committed to pursuing Biblical Truth. We say Biblical Truth because we live in a world where people are itching to find “truth” that makes them feel, especially in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) culture at large. We are focused on presenting truth through our art as God defines in scripture. Everything we say and do has to be through that lens. (2 Timothy 3:16)
A lesson from history This has implications that reach far further than we might realize. There is a particular controversy within the history of the church that speaks directly to this. During the 3rd century, in the city of Alexandria, there was a dispute between the bishop (head elder) of the city and one of the presbyters (other elders over the churches) over the being of Christ. The head elder believed (rightly) that Christ was of the same kind and being as the Father. The other elder, named Arius, believed (wrongly) that Christ was a created being and therefore subservient to YouFather.may be wondering to yourself, what does a theological argument from North Africa from 1700 years ago have to do with the church today? Well, even though Arius and his followers were separated from those that were part of the main body of believers in Alexandria, they continued to grow and expand their following. This led to the calling of one of the most influential councils in church history, the Council of Nicaea. (Google it!) How on earth could these fringe followers of a heresy have amassed such a following? The answer is through song. Learning through song Arius wrote a plethora of hymns that used themes and structures of the common songs sung by the working class people of the Roman Empire. One ancient writer wrote that “[Arius[ resorted to composing psalms… and ballads for sailors and millers as well as songs of the kind that the donkey drivers are accustomed to singing on their journeys.” What this did was use the mnemonic (memory boosting) nature of music to embed the theology he was teaching in the minds of the common man. Arius knew intrinsically the phenomena that modern psychology still spends time studying, which is that music helps to teach something deeper into the “
How we choose songs
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Micah Herrick began ministry in 2012 after being commissioned for ministry by his home church, White Oak Christian Church, in Cincinnati, OH. Micah is currently serving HCC as Worship Minister, as well as leading our Evangelism team and coordinating our online presence. He has served in both Youth Ministry and Worship Ministry in Richmond, IN and Knightstown, IN before coming back to Ohio to serve in Hillsboro. He is pictured here with his wife, Rebecca.
There are so many songs being written and recorded by so many musicians and ministries in the Christian community at large that there is no way we as a church can sing them all. If you have ever wondered why we sing the songs that we sing (especially if you wonder why we don’t sing a favorite of yours from the radio), there are several factors. First, does it connect to the topics we are trying to teach (remember the power of what a song can teach)? Is it singable for the whole community? Are the core teachings of the song biblically based and sound? Are the core teachings of the ministry that has produced the song biblically sound?
On Monday morning, as you are getting ready for the first day of the week, are you more likely to think back through the 3 points of the sermon or the catchy tune that has been stuck in your mind since we sang it together?
psyche than a lesson taught by an orator. This still holds true today. Do a thought experiment with me.
It is possible for a core teaching to reach the masses or to fall into obscurity based on how many people think about it. What we say, or in this case sing, really matters!
Health and Other: Steve Allen Ken OhioJimDenverAurigemaConleyCookMissionBible Training Center Janet WayneSharonMarySandyShalomPenceOrphanageSpruillJaneStephensWebbWiedenbein Shut Ins: Barbara Boris Jewel Calmes John RubyCarolPorterSettyWallingford Cancer: Jeffery Aurigema Vicki Butler Kari Crafton Judy Roush Mark Sears Family MissionsLoss:: The Brittons, The Millers, The Newmans HCC Leadership: Steve Allen Brad AdamMikeMicahDanRogerClouseEpleyFauberHerrickLabigSteele Richard VanZant Military: Tyler Amos Ryan PhillipCoreyThadeusMarkBurnsConoverConoverHughesMycroft requests P r a y e r 09 01 22 Average attendance for the month of August was 272 Average weekly giving for the month of July was 11,257.00 Our weekly need is: 11,229.13
LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED
Recently I found myself in a somewhat prickly dia logue with several believers spawned by a well intended lady who thought she had uncovered a hidden reason why the Bible should not be referred to as the word of God. She was insisting that since Jesus was the eternal word of God made flesh (John 1:1; 14) that we should not refer to the scriptures as the word of God, for Jesus was not a book. Granted, there is a sense in that the apostles and the prophets are subordinate to Lord Jesus, whom we hail as our King and Messiah (Eph. 2:20). Nonetheless this enthusiastic lady was promoting this false dichotomy in the form of a strange meme having a human figure sort of morphing out from the biblical text. And although several more seasoned believers attempted to correct this error, she proved quite resistant to their attempts. She failed to recognize that terms in this case, "the word" often carry multiple senses and referents, so Jesus serves as the incarnate word of God, while the inspired works of the apostles and prophets also, in another sense, serve as the written word of God. Once again, Notice the impossibility of addressing such a misguided theological conundrum
(continued from page 7) that clearly do not correspond with scripture we must be on guard with the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6). Notice how none of this is possible without the written word of God, revealed to the prophets and the apostles (Ephesians 2:20 & 2 Thessalonians 2:15). Therefore, it is impossible for the church not to see the Bible as the authoritative written word of God in perfect conjunction with Jesus Christ the word of God made Finally,flesh. we must be careful not to attribute misguided interpretations of the scriptures to the Holy Spirit. The Bible undeniably teaches us that the Holy Spirit guides, prompts, comforts, assures, teaches, testifies, inspires, and all sorts of other things, and quite honestly, many Christfollowers and congregations have neglected the role of the Holy Spirit unnecessarily. Yet, all too often we encounter stories where believers become convinced that the Holy Spirit is prompting them to engage in some activity or believe something that is clearly unbiblical. This proves particularly problematic when the activity or teaching pertains to core teaching of the historic orthodox Christian faith as revealed to and taught by the prophets and the apostles. As Christians, we believe that since the Bible has been inspired by the Holy Spirit that the Holy Spirit will not direct us in ways contrary to the scriptures. Notice how none of this is possible without the written word of God, revealed to the prophets and the apostles (Ephesians 2:20 the apostles and prophets are the foundation for the church of which Christ Jesus is the chief cornerstone; 2 Thessalonians 2:15 Oral presentation and epistles were both to be treated as authoritative; 1 Thessalonians 2:13 Paul believed the apostolic oral presentation of the word was the word of God and not merely the word of men!).
without the authority of the scriptures.
Now, let's make a brief case for the authority of God's written word. The following are what I consider the most prominent reasons why the body of Christ must continue its complete devotion to God through the authority of the scriptures, however, my explanation of each reason is brief on purpose.
The biblical authors claim to speak for God. I often refer to this as the testimony of the text. Two examples of such are Isaiah 1:1 where Isaiah informs his audience that this book contains the visions he was given during the reign of four significant Israelite kings, and Luke 3:2 where we're told when the word of the Lord came to John the Baptist. The Bible claims that God has spoken in space and time. Our skeptic friends will often ignore or scoff at such claims, however, mere presuppositions and biases that God either does not exist or is incapable of revealing Himself to or through a prophet or an apostle say more about the skeptic than they do about the possibility of revelation. We would do well to remind our skeptic friends that in order to successfully undermine the claims of scripture one must do much more than merely rest on presuppositions, e.g., one must produce actual evidence that such events did not or could not take place. And reminding the church that the scriptures contain the authoritative special revelation of God constitutes a necessity that will never fade away in this life. It is impossible to function properly as the body of Christ without the authority of scripture. The Bible contains different genres that function differently. However, multiple genres need not undermine the authority of scripture. The reason such statements prove important deals with the fact that, although we affirm the inspiration, inerrancy, infallibility, and reliability of the entire canonical scriptures, we also recognize that not all scripture is direct speech from God. Here the question emerges; can God communicate His message through different types of literature or the words of human prophets & apostles? We believe that He can and affirm that He has. For example, 1 Samuel 17 reports the unlikely story of a young shepherd boy slaying a very large warrior. And although this passage has little to do with direct speech from God, the confessional community learns something quite valuable about God's character. We learn that God is not dependent upon strength as seen in the eyes of the world to accomplish His purposes. We also learn the value of trusting in God and how courage is required of us when facing daunting foes. Indirectly God speaks through this text – somehow inspiring it without necessarily dictating it (i.e. we're not advocating zombie prophets in comas with no imprint of themselves left upon the text.) – teaching us eternal truths necessary for traversing this life.
The body of Christ must be on guard against the false argument that since the Bible is written by men that it cannot also be God’s authoritative word. The scriptures point beyond themselves, helping us to avoid reducing them to mere notions of circularity. Perhaps you have heard the argument, you cannot use the Bible to prove the Bible. At first glance, we can agree on some level. As Christians, we can often buy into the idea that there is no value in studying things outside of scripture and thereby fail to speak the language of those around us. However, there is a tremendous difference between studying the things of this world and elevating such things to equal status with God’s word. Therefore, we believers need a few helpful tactics for breaking the juggernaut of this cheap assertation, namely, we cannot use the Bible to prove the Bible. For such an argument grossly oversimplifies the Bible’s uniformity. In other words, the Bible may be bound as one book, however, in this case, it might be better understood as a library. We can begin by noticing the glaring assumption of our skeptic friends contained in this false claim that one cannot use the Bible to prove the Bible. The assumption is that everything written in the Bible began in the imagination of the human authors. The assumption is also that everything written in the Bible never existed beyond the pages of the text, and once again, this is at dire odds with the testimony of the text. It is the assumption that the authors simply made up these stories and this does not reflect an honest and thorough reading of scripture. The Biblical text testifies to events well beyond the written pages that you and I now possess. Instead of allowing our skeptic friends to reduce the Bible to a self contained singularity; a reductionist move protected by blind assumptions of circular reasoning, we can conceive of them as triangulations and liner testimonies. Here we emphasize how the Bible is a collection of a plethora of testimonies quite often eye witness testimonies of God's divine actions across time and space. And by these we as believers today are informed of salvifically significant events beyond the text to which the scriptures point, e.g., the divine claims, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The scriptures serve as our authority for the reliability of God's specific actions in this world. Therefore, the scriptures have traditionally been referred to as special revelation and evidence of God's existence in nature as natural revelation. It is also helpful to keep in mind that the scriptures point to and quote one another as authoritative. There are copious examples of this in scripture. Perhaps the most prominent is Jesus' affirmation of the Old Testament. Jesus recognized the multiple books of the Old Testament as one body (Luke 24:44) and gave no indication that any of it was false. He spoke of Jonah and the fish as if it happened (Matthew 12:40). He also warned on multiple occasions against not affirming what the Old Testament authors had written (John 5:47 & Luke 24:25). Jack Cottrell writes "He simply referred to them as factual without once suggesting they were mythical or inaccurate." (Cottrell, Jack. Solid: The Authority of God's Word. (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1991), 12.) In Fact, Jesus spoke of "All the Law and the Prophets", strongly implying that Jesus was teaching his followers to regard all the different genres of the Old Testament as a unified body and authority. As followers of Jesus Christ, we must seek to emulate the authority of God's word as Christ our Lord did while here on earth. And just in case anyone might wonder about the New Testament, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would guide his Apostles in all truth (John 16:13). As Christians we can grow in our confidence of the Bible as God’s authoritative written word when we take note of passages where biblical character especially Jesus recognize and affirm the authority of other biblical books.
“Regarding whether or not Biblical author A received a command from God to proclaim or write we find it more informative and helpful to trust their testimony over the testimonies of skeptics living some two millennia after the last events of scripture.” Some examples of such are the following: Exodus 24:3-4 testifies how Moses recounted and wrote down the words of the Lord. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 has Moses commanding the future generations of Israel to write the words on doorposts and chapter 31, verse 9, records that Moses wrote down the Law and gave it to the priests. Joshua 8:31-35 reports How Joshua both made a copy of the Law of Moses and read every word to the community on an alter at Mount Ebla. God also commanded Jeremiah to “write all the words, which I have spoken to you in a book” (Jeremiah 30:2). Jesus commanded John to write to the different congregations of Asia Minor in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation (2:1, 8, 12, 18, 3:1,7,14). Although these are just a few examples, such serves to undermine the skeptical notion that the biblical authors merely created a bunch of old stories and myths from their own creative imagination. So yes, as the story of the lady I mentioned struggling with the notion of Jesus being the word of God in one sense and the Bible being the word of God in another helped to highlight that the prophets and the apostles are in a sense subordinate to King Jesus, such subordination, however, does not denote contradiction, in fact, the prophets and the apostles only increase our confidence in Jesus as they triangulate together towards God's desire for our lives as His covenant people in this world. The prophets do so by announcing the coming of Jesus the Messiah in advance and the Apostles by presenting Him as God the Father has revealed Him in the flesh to the world by the power of the Holy Spirit. And when we're tempted to perceive such theological reasoning as circular, let us exchange this for a more precise term, namely triangulate. (Ephesians 2:20 the apostles and prophets are the foundation for the church of which Christ Jesus is the chief cornerstone; 2 Thessalonians 2:15 Oral presentation and epistles were both to be treated as authoritative; 1 Thessalonians 2:13 Paul believed the apostolic oral presentation of the word was the word of God and not merely the word of men!). We might also add
On several occasions, God commanded the prophets and apostles to proclaim and write. We should emphasize here that the testimony of the biblical authors on such occasions is that God commanded them to do such and when our skeptic friends respond with reductionistic claims such as “you cannot use the Bible to justify the Bible”. We might respond with the following line of reasoning.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With all this being said, I believe it is abundantly clear that the life of the Christ follower is virtually impossible without the daily authority of the Bible. One of my post graduate professors introduced me to some very practical advice, allegedly from the pen of J.A. Bengel; "Apply your whole self to the text and the whole text to yourself." Although some questions and uncertainties must be left in a holding pattern. I find such advice both biblical and livable.
Brett Seybold and his wife Heather served as missionaries in Germany for a decade. He is now currently working on his PhD at Liberty University where his focus is Jesus and the post Christian mindset while specifically highlighting skeptics' inability to get rid of the Biblical portrait of Jesus.
Brett has just launched KAPOL (Kontakt Apologetics) which is a sub mission of Kontakt Mission. It is a non denominational, European based missions network and movement. His mission includes interviewing skeptics apologetically across Western Europe specifically the French, English and German areas and to use speaking engagements internationally in churches, campus ministries, camps and more to help plant seeds and help churches get their non believers and skeptics more curious about Jesus. Brett's international apologetics YouTube channel is called KAPOL Kontakt Apologetics that when the author of Hebrews 1:1 2 (probably a pre textual creed or confession of the ancient church from the earliest decades of the church) recorded this passage that no definite article (the) or personal pronoun (His) was in the original Greek. This has led some scholars to believe that this was done to indicate that Jesus acted as a sui generis meaning "from nothing" "one of a kind" or "a category all of His own". This would emphasize and echo the fact that all other words of God, scriptures, and or books of the Bible point to Him as the ultimate authority.
Recently, the entire town of Hindman, KY was devastated by flood waters. One of the many families affected by the flooding was the Jacobs family. Justin Jacobs is the brother in law of James Combs, who is a part of our church family. The Combs traveled to KY to deliver the love offering that we took up for them. While there, Tabitha Jacobs was baptized into Christ.
Let me share with you a text from James regarding this moment: “The same water that tried to take Tabitha’s life, Christ used to bring her to eternal life.” We celebrate Tabitha’s decision and rejoice in the mighty power of God.
