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For those who helped me with your feedback before. Thank you. I have version 2. It is longer. If you are willing to discuss with Scripture, please do. As I mentioned before, I am working through a personal doctrinal statement. Your Scripture-based feedback or historical feedback if I have missed something, whether you agree or don't, enables me to go back to the Scriptures and/or history again.
Again, this is my personal statement of belief concerning Scripture. I am not trying to offend anyone. I am just stating what I believe. You can disagree with me. I can accept that. Here it is:
1. I believe that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” by which I understand the whole Bible is inspired in the sense that holy men of God “were moved by the Holy Spirit” to write the very words of Scripture.
A. I believe that includes the 66 Books currently in the Protestant Bible: 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. I understand that while all 27 books were widely circulated, other books were circulated too which aren’t part of that list of 27. I also understand that, of the 27 books that were confirmed, 5 were not unanimously in the canon in the 3rd century (per Origen), but all were in the approved canon in the 4th century (per Athanasius) confirmed by the Council of Carthage (397 AD) to counter the many false writings, apocrypha, and false doctrines resulting from them, at the time.
B. I also understand there are extra books. These books are referred to as Deuterocanonical by the roman catholic church and Apocryphal by the protestants. I believe both are in error. I choose to agree with Athanasius who conceded that those books are useful, but not on the level of Scripture. Therefore I do not believe they are worthy of “2nd canon” status and I also do not believe they are worthy to be called “apocryphal” or “spurious” (which means of doubtful authenticity). Spurious/Apocryphal books, like the supposed “Gospel of Thomas” and any others that aren’t even listed by Athanasius would be worthy of the apocryphal/spurious label.
NOTE: Athanasius in 39th Festal Letter of A.D. 367: “[from paragraph 2] some few of the simple should be beguiled from their simplicity and purity, by the subtilty of certain men, and should henceforth read other books—those called apocryphal—led astray by the similarity of their names with the true books; [from paragraph 6, after listing the Scriptures of Old Testament in paragraph 4 and New Testament in paragraph 5] These are the fountains of salvation, that he who thirsts may be satisfied with the living words they contain. In these alone the teaching of godliness is proclaimed. Let no one add to these; let nothing be taken away from them. [from paragraph 7] But for the sake of greater exactness I add this also, writing under obligation, as it were. There are other books besides these, indeed not received as canonical but having been appointed by our fathers to be read to those just approaching and wishing to be instructed in the word of godliness: Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Sirach, Esther, Judith, Tobit, and that which is called the Teaching of the Apostles, and the Shepherd. But the former [listed in earlier paragraphs], my brethren, are included in the Canon, the latter [what is mentioned above here] being merely read; nor is there any place a mention of secret writings. But such are the invention of heretics, who indeed write them whenever they wish, bestowing upon them their approval, and assigning to them a date, that so, using them as if they were ancient writings, they find a means by which to lead astray the simple-minded.”
C. I believe the Scriptures included in what we call the Bible are the sufficient, reliable, true, honest, and perfectly consistent Testimony of God regarding the human matters He chose to speak to us about.
2. I believe that this divine inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts of the writings—historical, poetical, doctrinal, and prophetical—as appeared in the original manuscripts.
3. I also believe that, as the omnipotent Absolute Sovereign over all, God does not lie and has no reason to lie. God has the ability to keep His Word. I believe God watches over His Word to perform it (Jer 1:12), I believe that God’s Word never returns void, but accomplishes that which God pleases and that His Word will succeed in the thing for which He sent His Word. (Isa 55:11) I believe the Word of God is living and active (Heb 4:12) and I believe faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom 10:17).
4. I believe that the whole Bible in the originals is without error and perfectly consistent. I believe all translations have translational errors; but that doesn’t make void the Life of God’s Word contained within the Holy Scriptures, as noted in the next paragraph.
5. I believe in transcendant Inspiration whereby God carries the Life of His Word forward through translations, in spite of translational wording errors:
A. For instance, Tyndale and Wycliffe produced the first two English translations at a time when England’s king was in support of the controlling Roman Catholic church. It cost them their lives. But, later, when England’s king stopped supporting the Roman Catholic church, he commissioned an English translation that we know as the KJV. This version, like its predecessors, is not free of translational errors. As but one example, three different Greek words are all translated “hell” in the KJV New Testament.
6. I believe God will bring an indwelt believer into all Truth regardless of translational error, if the believer will listen to Him over men, their traditions, and his own self-interest.
A. Jesus said: “My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me. If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself.” (John 7:16-7) To do that, one must be able to know the doctrine through the Words spoken by Jesus Christ and one must be, without limitation, willing to do God’s will.
B. I agree that we cannot self-interpret Scripture; but the Holy Spirit will lead fully surrendered individuals into all Truth.
1) An uninspired man will never know the Truth by reading the Bible as we read a history or science book. But that is not what the verse (2 Pet 1:20) often used to support that idea means.
2) BUT, when an individual is fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit, then: “When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all Truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come” (John 16:13) and “if you continue in My Word, then you are My disciples indeed; and you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-2), according to the very Words of Jesus and Jesus said “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).
3) So, if we would all fully surrender (and divorce ourselves of self-interest, tradition, and politics), we would be led to the same exact interpretations. There is One Spirit and One Truth.
4) To ensure that we are fully surrendered, I have found that finding genuine believers who are outside one’s circle is imperative. They will be used to shake the hidden deceptions that we have inadvertently believed (because of our own traditions that even those who don’t believe in tradition have accepted) out of us, if we let God use them. They will also be used to sharpen the Truths we have believed.
5) As two examples of how tradition, self-interest, and politics impede the Truth:
a) Consider Luther and the Roman Catholic Church: The catholic church had become corrupt and was using the “extra books” to justify selling indulgences, for example. Luther responded with his 95 Theses. Luther referred to the early fathers and confirmed that the extra books were not Scripture and therefore are not the basis for doctrine. The Roman Catholic magisterium then responded by officially elevating those books to Scripture status (2nd canon) and pronouncing anathema on any who didn’t accept those books as being Scripture. Surely, The Holy Spirit was not leading that behavior!
b) Consider when the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church both ex-communicated each other (and their respective followers) from the faith over matters of politics and tradition prior to the above division. Again, surely the Holy Spirit was not leading that behavior.
c) I don’t believe the church was following the Holy Spirit when they joined forces with the Roman emperor Constantine, either.
7. As a result, I reject the idea that a visible church body is the infallible or even the proper interpreter of Scripture; because they have sold themselves to the gods of tradition and self-interested controlling politics which necessarily impede the Truth from being known to them.
8. God is neither constrained by missing words nor extra words nor wrong words. God only chooses to be constrained by an individual’s genuine (heart) response to Him.
A. If this were not true, I would not have been able to be woken up by God through an NIV audio Bible while in a hotel room by myself, in spite of my “church’s” lack of belief in being born again.
B. Because this is true, there are probably genuine believers (and thus members of the True Ekklesia/Ecclesia) that are currently found in almost all, if not all “church traditions/denominations (or whatever else you would call the whole visible mess).
C. We will all eventually rise above the mess, if we allow God to lead us into all Truth instead of preferring our own traditions, politics, and control over Him.
9. The Bible is not what is referred to in 1 Cor 13:10 as “that which is perfect”; therefore, there is no reason to conclude, as some errantly do, that the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been retracted.
10. I do not believe it is appropriate to call the Testimony of God (that we have in The Scriptures we call The Bible) “The Word of God”, because it confuses people into thinking that they can quote things that were said by people--other than God or those God spoke through--as if they are Truth about God and man.
A. While it is true that these things were said, according to the inerrant Testimony of God, what people said is not necessarily true and therefore shouldn’t be quoted as if it was. (For example: Job’s three friends said a lot about God who said they didn’t speak correctly about Him; so, to quote those three friends as if what they said was true would be using the inerrant Scriptures errantly. In Jesus’ run-ins with the pharisees, they often said things that weren’t true. To quote them, as if what they said was true, would be an errant use of the Scriptures.
B. God makes errant words obvious.
11. The True “Word of God” is the Person of Jesus Christ who is much bigger than what we have in the Scriptures; but, there is nothing false in Him.
12. I believe in the Theocentricity, as opposed to the Christocentricity, of the Scriptures. Within that bigger Theocentric context, I do not dispute that the Scriptures in what we call the Old and New Testaments of the Bible speak extensively of the Person and Work of our One and only True Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Scriptures also speak extensively about the Father. The Scriptures also speak of the Holy Spirit. So, I prefer to call the Scriptures Theocentric as opposed to Christocentric.
13. I also believe that all the Scriptures were given for much more than simple practical instruction. Jesus said “My Words are Spirit and they are Life”. (Mark 12:26, 36; 13:11; Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39; Acts 1:16; 17:2–3; 18:28; 26:22–23; 28:23; Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 2:13; 10:11; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21).
Again, this is my personal statement of belief concerning Scripture. I am not trying to offend anyone. I am just stating what I believe. You can disagree with me. I can accept that. Here it is:
1. I believe that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” by which I understand the whole Bible is inspired in the sense that holy men of God “were moved by the Holy Spirit” to write the very words of Scripture.
A. I believe that includes the 66 Books currently in the Protestant Bible: 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. I understand that while all 27 books were widely circulated, other books were circulated too which aren’t part of that list of 27. I also understand that, of the 27 books that were confirmed, 5 were not unanimously in the canon in the 3rd century (per Origen), but all were in the approved canon in the 4th century (per Athanasius) confirmed by the Council of Carthage (397 AD) to counter the many false writings, apocrypha, and false doctrines resulting from them, at the time.
B. I also understand there are extra books. These books are referred to as Deuterocanonical by the roman catholic church and Apocryphal by the protestants. I believe both are in error. I choose to agree with Athanasius who conceded that those books are useful, but not on the level of Scripture. Therefore I do not believe they are worthy of “2nd canon” status and I also do not believe they are worthy to be called “apocryphal” or “spurious” (which means of doubtful authenticity). Spurious/Apocryphal books, like the supposed “Gospel of Thomas” and any others that aren’t even listed by Athanasius would be worthy of the apocryphal/spurious label.
NOTE: Athanasius in 39th Festal Letter of A.D. 367: “[from paragraph 2] some few of the simple should be beguiled from their simplicity and purity, by the subtilty of certain men, and should henceforth read other books—those called apocryphal—led astray by the similarity of their names with the true books; [from paragraph 6, after listing the Scriptures of Old Testament in paragraph 4 and New Testament in paragraph 5] These are the fountains of salvation, that he who thirsts may be satisfied with the living words they contain. In these alone the teaching of godliness is proclaimed. Let no one add to these; let nothing be taken away from them. [from paragraph 7] But for the sake of greater exactness I add this also, writing under obligation, as it were. There are other books besides these, indeed not received as canonical but having been appointed by our fathers to be read to those just approaching and wishing to be instructed in the word of godliness: Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Sirach, Esther, Judith, Tobit, and that which is called the Teaching of the Apostles, and the Shepherd. But the former [listed in earlier paragraphs], my brethren, are included in the Canon, the latter [what is mentioned above here] being merely read; nor is there any place a mention of secret writings. But such are the invention of heretics, who indeed write them whenever they wish, bestowing upon them their approval, and assigning to them a date, that so, using them as if they were ancient writings, they find a means by which to lead astray the simple-minded.”
C. I believe the Scriptures included in what we call the Bible are the sufficient, reliable, true, honest, and perfectly consistent Testimony of God regarding the human matters He chose to speak to us about.
2. I believe that this divine inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts of the writings—historical, poetical, doctrinal, and prophetical—as appeared in the original manuscripts.
3. I also believe that, as the omnipotent Absolute Sovereign over all, God does not lie and has no reason to lie. God has the ability to keep His Word. I believe God watches over His Word to perform it (Jer 1:12), I believe that God’s Word never returns void, but accomplishes that which God pleases and that His Word will succeed in the thing for which He sent His Word. (Isa 55:11) I believe the Word of God is living and active (Heb 4:12) and I believe faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom 10:17).
4. I believe that the whole Bible in the originals is without error and perfectly consistent. I believe all translations have translational errors; but that doesn’t make void the Life of God’s Word contained within the Holy Scriptures, as noted in the next paragraph.
5. I believe in transcendant Inspiration whereby God carries the Life of His Word forward through translations, in spite of translational wording errors:
A. For instance, Tyndale and Wycliffe produced the first two English translations at a time when England’s king was in support of the controlling Roman Catholic church. It cost them their lives. But, later, when England’s king stopped supporting the Roman Catholic church, he commissioned an English translation that we know as the KJV. This version, like its predecessors, is not free of translational errors. As but one example, three different Greek words are all translated “hell” in the KJV New Testament.
6. I believe God will bring an indwelt believer into all Truth regardless of translational error, if the believer will listen to Him over men, their traditions, and his own self-interest.
A. Jesus said: “My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me. If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself.” (John 7:16-7) To do that, one must be able to know the doctrine through the Words spoken by Jesus Christ and one must be, without limitation, willing to do God’s will.
B. I agree that we cannot self-interpret Scripture; but the Holy Spirit will lead fully surrendered individuals into all Truth.
1) An uninspired man will never know the Truth by reading the Bible as we read a history or science book. But that is not what the verse (2 Pet 1:20) often used to support that idea means.
2) BUT, when an individual is fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit, then: “When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all Truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come” (John 16:13) and “if you continue in My Word, then you are My disciples indeed; and you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-2), according to the very Words of Jesus and Jesus said “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).
3) So, if we would all fully surrender (and divorce ourselves of self-interest, tradition, and politics), we would be led to the same exact interpretations. There is One Spirit and One Truth.
4) To ensure that we are fully surrendered, I have found that finding genuine believers who are outside one’s circle is imperative. They will be used to shake the hidden deceptions that we have inadvertently believed (because of our own traditions that even those who don’t believe in tradition have accepted) out of us, if we let God use them. They will also be used to sharpen the Truths we have believed.
5) As two examples of how tradition, self-interest, and politics impede the Truth:
a) Consider Luther and the Roman Catholic Church: The catholic church had become corrupt and was using the “extra books” to justify selling indulgences, for example. Luther responded with his 95 Theses. Luther referred to the early fathers and confirmed that the extra books were not Scripture and therefore are not the basis for doctrine. The Roman Catholic magisterium then responded by officially elevating those books to Scripture status (2nd canon) and pronouncing anathema on any who didn’t accept those books as being Scripture. Surely, The Holy Spirit was not leading that behavior!
b) Consider when the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church both ex-communicated each other (and their respective followers) from the faith over matters of politics and tradition prior to the above division. Again, surely the Holy Spirit was not leading that behavior.
c) I don’t believe the church was following the Holy Spirit when they joined forces with the Roman emperor Constantine, either.
7. As a result, I reject the idea that a visible church body is the infallible or even the proper interpreter of Scripture; because they have sold themselves to the gods of tradition and self-interested controlling politics which necessarily impede the Truth from being known to them.
8. God is neither constrained by missing words nor extra words nor wrong words. God only chooses to be constrained by an individual’s genuine (heart) response to Him.
A. If this were not true, I would not have been able to be woken up by God through an NIV audio Bible while in a hotel room by myself, in spite of my “church’s” lack of belief in being born again.
B. Because this is true, there are probably genuine believers (and thus members of the True Ekklesia/Ecclesia) that are currently found in almost all, if not all “church traditions/denominations (or whatever else you would call the whole visible mess).
C. We will all eventually rise above the mess, if we allow God to lead us into all Truth instead of preferring our own traditions, politics, and control over Him.
9. The Bible is not what is referred to in 1 Cor 13:10 as “that which is perfect”; therefore, there is no reason to conclude, as some errantly do, that the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been retracted.
10. I do not believe it is appropriate to call the Testimony of God (that we have in The Scriptures we call The Bible) “The Word of God”, because it confuses people into thinking that they can quote things that were said by people--other than God or those God spoke through--as if they are Truth about God and man.
A. While it is true that these things were said, according to the inerrant Testimony of God, what people said is not necessarily true and therefore shouldn’t be quoted as if it was. (For example: Job’s three friends said a lot about God who said they didn’t speak correctly about Him; so, to quote those three friends as if what they said was true would be using the inerrant Scriptures errantly. In Jesus’ run-ins with the pharisees, they often said things that weren’t true. To quote them, as if what they said was true, would be an errant use of the Scriptures.
B. God makes errant words obvious.
11. The True “Word of God” is the Person of Jesus Christ who is much bigger than what we have in the Scriptures; but, there is nothing false in Him.
12. I believe in the Theocentricity, as opposed to the Christocentricity, of the Scriptures. Within that bigger Theocentric context, I do not dispute that the Scriptures in what we call the Old and New Testaments of the Bible speak extensively of the Person and Work of our One and only True Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Scriptures also speak extensively about the Father. The Scriptures also speak of the Holy Spirit. So, I prefer to call the Scriptures Theocentric as opposed to Christocentric.
13. I also believe that all the Scriptures were given for much more than simple practical instruction. Jesus said “My Words are Spirit and they are Life”. (Mark 12:26, 36; 13:11; Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39; Acts 1:16; 17:2–3; 18:28; 26:22–23; 28:23; Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 2:13; 10:11; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21).