For a while now I have been struggling with the question of Biblical inspiration. Whether the Bible has been revealed by God or whether it is little more than an ancient tome of human origin.
Well today a thought came to me regarding this question. I recalled that in John 1:1-14 Jesus is presented as the eternal Logos. The preexistent Word of God who is the divine reason and source of all being. While I understood this doctrine previously a new realization came to me in regards to its significance. This realization is that I have missed the forest for the trees in regards to the question of divine revelation. It is not the texts of the Bible per se which are important. The important point is the truth to whom those texts point. That truth is that God is a person who has revealed himself to us by becoming one of us.
Whether or not Genesis is literal or whether or not the Exodus is strict history should not be the main concern of the Christian. Our main concern should be our standing before the divine person who is Christ. That is not to say that the Bible ought to be dismissed as mere fable, but that a Christian faith ought to be principally based on Christ as the revealed Word and not so much on the Biblical texts in and of themselves. Although inspired by God and thus authoritative for doctrine the Biblical texts were nonetheless written by men living in specific cultural contexts in specific moments in history.
In short what I am saying is that perhaps questions concerning the strict historicity and scientific accuracy of the Bible while important miss the point in terms of the Bible's ultimate claim. Which is again, spelled out in the opening verses of John.
Well today a thought came to me regarding this question. I recalled that in John 1:1-14 Jesus is presented as the eternal Logos. The preexistent Word of God who is the divine reason and source of all being. While I understood this doctrine previously a new realization came to me in regards to its significance. This realization is that I have missed the forest for the trees in regards to the question of divine revelation. It is not the texts of the Bible per se which are important. The important point is the truth to whom those texts point. That truth is that God is a person who has revealed himself to us by becoming one of us.
Whether or not Genesis is literal or whether or not the Exodus is strict history should not be the main concern of the Christian. Our main concern should be our standing before the divine person who is Christ. That is not to say that the Bible ought to be dismissed as mere fable, but that a Christian faith ought to be principally based on Christ as the revealed Word and not so much on the Biblical texts in and of themselves. Although inspired by God and thus authoritative for doctrine the Biblical texts were nonetheless written by men living in specific cultural contexts in specific moments in history.
In short what I am saying is that perhaps questions concerning the strict historicity and scientific accuracy of the Bible while important miss the point in terms of the Bible's ultimate claim. Which is again, spelled out in the opening verses of John.
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