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Should the Bible Be Viewed as God’s Word?

What is the Bible? At its core, Bibliology is the study of


God's Word. One thing should be noted from the outset is
that the study of God's Word by the Christian should
assume the authenticity and inerrancy of God's Word. In
other words, according to Chafer, "the theologian must be
a Biblicist - one who is not only a Biblical scholar but also
a believer in the divine character of each and every
portion of the text of the Bible."[1] In doing so, the
Biblicist does not set out to prove whether or not God's Word is true and/or inerrant. That is
a given. The job of the Biblicist is "the collecting, scientifically arranging, comparing,
exhibiting, and defending of all the facts from any and every source concerning God and His
works..."[2]

Just another work of antiquity? The one thing that sets the Bible apart from every other
literary work is the fact that Bible claims to literally be God's message to the human
race. Written over a period of 1400 years, by over 40 different human authors, the Bible is
fully harmonized and sets itself apart from all other works by this fact alone. In it, God tells
us (living today) what He has done and what He will do with respect to the human race and
the earth upon which we live. Is it any wonder that the Bible is replete with praises to God
as Lord of all? No other literary work of antiquity or modern times can lay claim to both of
these facts.

Who among men could have written a work like the Bible? Who would have come up with
the concept of sin and God's redemptive plan? Who among men would have been able to
write something that would have stretched across generations with the continuity and
precision that lies within the pages of Scripture? Who would have thought of the concept of
the Triune God? These and many other reasons preclude the possibility of the Bible being
produced by human hand. There is one Source for the Bible and that is God. In His
graciousness, He has opted to include human beings in the process by choosing specific
men to add to His Word, using their personalities. Yet, the Holy Spirit was able to produce a
complete revelation (from Genesis to Revelation), that is fully God's Word. Bibliology - as
the study of God's Word - often includes a number of topics such as "revelation, inspiration,
inerrancy, canonicity, illumination, and interpretation.

[1] Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology Vols. 1 & 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1948,
1976, published with special permission of Dallas Theological Seminary), 21
[2] Ibid., 21
[3] Greg Herrick, Bibliology: The Bible, [journal on-line, p 724] Internet; accessed
September 14, 2007

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