62
February 1925
THE K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
D iv is ion s of Bible D o c tr ine I Dr. F . E. Marsh, of London, England
The second of a series of articles by th is well-kntfwn Author, Bible Teacher and Ed ito r, on “Is th e Bible th e Word of God?” Some of the. aspects of th e question which Dr. Marsh will discuss each m onth in The K ing’s Business are “The Scriptures are Unique in Their D etails” ; “The Scriptures are Accurate in Their P rophe cies” , etc. This series of articles alone is w orth much more th a n th e subscription price of th is magazine to every lover of th e tru th as it is in Christ Jesus. teaching of the Holy Spirit 'may be summar- i under ten divisions: • Bibliology, or the Doctrine of the Bible. Theology, or the Doctrine of God. These th ree things are intim ately connected, and yet they need to be distinguished. There may be inspiration w ithou t revelation, such as enabled Luke to trace “ accurately” .-All things which had previously been revealed (Luke l:l'-3y R. V:).
3. Anthropology, or th e Doctrine of man. 4. Christology, or th e Doctrine of Christ. 5. Pneumatology, or th e Doctrine of the Spirit., 6. Hamartology, or the Doctrine of sin. 7. Soteriology, or th e Doctrine of Salvation. 8. Ecclesiology, or th e Doctrine of the Church. 9. Eschatology, or the Doctrine of the last things. 10. Artgelology, or the Doctrine of God and evil angels. The Teaching of th e Holy Spirit about The Book, or, The Doctrine of th e Bible The “Doctrine of the B ible” tre a ts of its credibility, its inerrancy, its authenticity, its adaptability, its reliability, its inspiration, and its revelation. Its credibility-—for it is a Book of facts and should th e re fore be believed. Its inerrancy— for it is free from erro r and should th e re fore be followed. Its authenticity—-for it is th e tru th of God and should th erefo re be accepted. Its adaptability—^ fo r it is suited to everybody and should therefore be received by all. Its reliability—-for it is the voice of God to faith and should therefo re be the final court of appeal. Its inspiration— for th e Holy Spirit is its Author and it should therefore never be questioned. Its revelation— for Christ is its Sum and Substance, and therefore He and it must not be separated. A Divine revelation is possible, for man feels th e neces sity of it (Job 11:77; 23 :3 ; Acts 1 7 :2 7 ); it is probable, for as Creation declares God’s eternal power and Godhead, so being beneficent as well as powerful it is thinkable He should reveal Himself more explicitly (Rom. 1:20; Ps. 19:1; Isa. 6 :3 ) ; and it is certain, for prophets affirmed it (Matt. 1 :22 ; 2:5, 1 5 ); Moses declared it (Ex. 20:1; Deut. 5 :1 -28 ), David avowed it (2 'Sam. 2 3 :2 ), the Apostles asserted it (2 Tim. 3:16'; 1 Pet. 1:10; 2 Pet. 1:20-21), the Bible claims it (2 Tim. 3 :1 6 ), Christ confirms it (Luke 24:27, 44; John 5 :3 9 ), and the Spirit emphasizes it (Heb. 1:1-3). Three D istinctions There are th ree things which we need to distinguish, nam ely:— revelation, inspiration, and illum ination. Revelation is th e sup ern atu ral communication of tru th such as -the tru th of the Gospel which Christ revealed to Nicodemus (Jo h n 3 :1 6 ). In sp iration is th e control of the Holy Spirit over men so th a t He prevented them from making m istakes as the in strum en t whereby lie recorded th e things He wished to be made known (2 Tim. 3 :16 ; 2 Pet. 1:20-21). Illum ination is the inward grace of th e Spirit whereby He enables th e individual to understand and receive the tru th (1 Cor. 2:9-14).
There may be inspiration WITH revelation, such as John illu strated by his record of w hat Christ revealed to Him. (Rev. 1:1-11). There may be inspiration AND revelation WITHOUT illum ination, as is evidenced ini th e \ prophets, who, while they recorded the revelation of Christ and His sufferings, did not understand what they w rote (1 Pet. 1:10-12); There are many theories of inspiration. The four p rin cipal ones, are, the in tu ition theory, the Illum ination theory, th e dictation theory, and th e dynam ic theory. The in tu ition theory states th a t “inspiration is only a higher potency of th a t which every man possesses in some degree.” The illum ination theory regard s inspiration as associated with men rath e r th an the Scriptures. Those who hold this theory say “The Bible contains the Word of God,” and not “is the Word of God.’’ ’ Robertson contrasts the “th is” and the “ o th er” in speaking of th e intuition theory, as “ th is” and of the illum ination theory as the “ o th e r” by saying, “the o th er way, some twenty or th irty men in the world’s history have had special communication, m iraculous, and from G o d ;-in th is way all have it, and by earnest and devout cultivation of the mind and h ea rt may have in im it ably increased.” The difference between these two theories may be sum marized as follows: As the child intuitively feels it can walk because it has legs, So the in tu ition ists say all men have w ithin themselves th e possibilities of being inspired. But as the electric car can tak e a man faster th an he can walk, and yet it can be under his control, so th e illum ina- tionxsts recognize a power outside of themselves which inspires- them, yet is w ithin the reach of all. The dictation theory is expressed in th e following quota tion: “The verbal inspiration of the Scriptures implies, in general, th a t th e words of Scripture were suggested or dictated by th e Holy Spirit, as well as the substance of the m atter, and this, not only in some portion of th e Scriptures, but through the whole.” One is surprised to find th a t such a clear th ink er as Dr. A. H. Strong, of Rochester, New York, should say, “This rem inds us of the old theory that God created fossils in the rocks, as they would be had ancient seas existed.” The illu stration is not relevant, nor do the cases correspond. The w ritings claim to be inspired. Gaussen, in speaking of th e w riters, says: “They n eith er spake nor w rote any word of th e ir own, bu t u ttered syllable by syllable as the Spirit pu t it in th eir mouths,” as David said “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue” (2 Sam. 23 :1 ). The dynam ic theory holds th a t inspiration is a super n atu ra l fact, b u t many who hold this theory w hittle it down by explaining away verbal inspiration. While we believe
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