OLONGAPO BIBLE BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY & INSTITUTE

#24 Gordon Avenue, New Asinan, Olongapo City Zambales

FINAL EXAM
In
Problem Text

Submitted by: Bro.Carlo C. Cariaso

Submitted to: Ptr. Dante Villar

1. WHAT DO YOU MEAN PROBLEM TEXT?

Problem text was not really meant that the text or the Bible has a problem or error. Problem text is
simply means that the Words of God were being misapprehended by some reader due to different
reasons.

2. WHAT IS MISAPPREHENSION AND WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF IT?

Misapprehension is a failure to understand something correctly. It is because of lack of broader

understanding of something that leads to a conclusion based on a corrupted human mind. Like in the
Holy Bible that covers different time, place, culture, custom and tradition, even authors that were never
take consideration by many.

3. WHY DIFFICULTIES IN THE BIBLE?

We must first know that God gave the Holy Bible not to confuse us but to instruct us, to correct us, and
to bring us closer to Him. So why or what makes the Bible so difficult to understand? of the nature of
man; corrupted, wicked and unable to comprehend spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14). The Bible says
in paraphrase, “Our thoughts are not the thoughts of God” –Isaiah 55:8-9, since the Bible comes from
the infinite mind of God, it is impossible to understand by a natural man. There must be an intervention
of God through the Holy Spirit that will teach us to understand. There must be a guidance of the Holy
Spirit. But reality bites that there are lots of people who interprets the Bible, not according to the Bible
but according to man’s own principle.

I can still render a lot of reasons but I am pretty sure that God is not part of it that makes it so difficult.

4. WHAT IS THE POSITIVE REASON OF THE DIFFICULTIES IN THE BIBLE?

If men are experiencing difficulties, it will result to different reaction; it is either positive or negative
reaction. Like in the Bible, if the reader finds it so difficult to understand by relying on own
understanding; he will draw nigh to God through prayer to ask for wisdom and understand from the
Word of God.
5. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REVELATION, INSPIRATION AND ILLUMINATION?

I. REVELATION
A. Definition: It is God making known or revealing to man who He is, what He is like, and what His truth is.
1. Revelation can be either general or specific.
2. God reveals Himself through His actions and through His Word.
B. General Revelation is defined as God revealing Himself in nature, the human conscience, and in His
sovereign control of the world.
1. Creation reveals God. (Psalm 19:1-6)
2. God has placed the knowledge of Himself in every individual. (Romans 1:18-20)
3. God reveals Himself in the human conscience. (Romans 2:14-15)
4. The value of general revelation:
A. it shows the unbeliever that God exists.
B. It gives the believer confidence that his faith is not in vain.
5. But, general revelation is limited. Special revelation is necessary for a person to be saved.

C. Specific revelation is defined as God revealing Himself in Jesus Christ and in the Scripture. (Hebrews 1:1-2)
1. God revealed Himself through the acts and the words of Jesus. (John 10:36-38)
2. Jesus was the revelation of God to individuals. (John 14:6-9)
3. There is a relationship between the living Word of God (Jesus), and the written Word of God (the
Bible). (John 1:1-2; John 5:39)

II. INSPIRATION
A. Incorrect definitions:
1. One view denies God’s direct involvement and teaches that inspiration only means that intelligent
people who were good writers wrote down their own thoughts about God.
2. Another incorrect view of inspiration teaches that every word in the Bible is directly from God and
that the authors did not think about what they were writing. They were like mindless robots.
B. The correct definition: God actively worked in the minds of human authors (like Moses, Samuel,
Jeremiah, David, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul) so that they still used their own individual
personalities as they wrote what God wanted them to write. They did it without any errors or mistakes.
The Holy Spirit is the one who actually worked inside of each Bible writer to assure that there would not
be any mistakes. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21)
NOTE: This definition only applies to the documents that the original writers wrote. What we have today
are accurate translations of the original documents in our own languages.
C. Inspiration is how God guaranteed that His communication to man (His revelation) was written down
without any mistakes or errors.
D. Since inspiration guarantees that God’s revelation was written down without errors or mistakes, then
the Bible is inerrant (no errors) and infallible (never wrong).
NOTE: Some believe that the Bible is inspired, but still has errors. If the Bible is inspired, then it cannot
contain errors. God didn’t allow any of the authors to write something that was not true.

III. ILLUMINATION
A. Definition: An ability which is given to the person, who has received Jesus Christ as their Lord and
Savior, is born again that gives him the ability to understand spiritual truth.
B. Illumination is limited to Christians.
C. Insights:
1. It is a permanent ability that increases over time.
2. It is part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry in the life of the believer. (John 16:13)
3. The Holy Spirit removes the veil from the spiritual eyes of a person when they are saved (2
Corinthians 3:14-16).
4. The more we meditate and obey God’s Word, the more we will understand it (Psalm 119:130,
97-100, 104).
5. It is like shining a light on the meaning of the Bible. (1 Corinthians 2:14-15)
D. Caution: Unfortunately some Christians replace the reading and the study of the Bible with what they
believe is “illumination.” Example: If someone says, “The Holy Spirit said to me . . ” and they believe it
came directly from God, then that person is replacing reading and studying the Word of God with
seeking personal messages from God or some special insight or illumination. If that was possible, then
the Bible would not be necessary. All we would need are people who receive direct, inspired revelation
from God.
E. The difference between inspiration and illumination:
1. Inspiration is about how the Bible (God’s special revelation) came into existence without
errors or mistakes.
2. Illumination means that spiritual truth is made clear to the Christian, and makes it easier for
the Christian to understand the Bible.

6. PROVE THUS GOD SATISFIES WITH HIS WORK. HOW CAN YOU EXPLAIN GEN. 6:6?
If God "changes his mind," the average Bible reader could understand this to mean that God's final
decision on an issue was unknown even to God himself; that God initially had one plan in mind, but then
adopted another. Both the translations "repent" or "regret," and "change the mind," can lead to the
same conclusion: God does not know everything that will take place in the future. That is exactly the
conclusion reached by open theists. But that is not the case.
Genesis 6:6 is an example of anthropopathism (or anthropopatheia). Anthropopathism is a figure of
speech in which the feelings or thought processes of finite humanity are ascribed to the infinite God. It’s
a way to help us understand God’s work from a human perspective. In Genesis 6:6 specifically, we
understand God’s sorrow over man’s sin. God obviously did not reverse His decision to create man. The
fact that we are alive today is proof that God did not “change His mind” about the creation.

The fact that God changes His treatment of us in response to our choices has nothing to do with His
character. In fact, because God does not change, He must treat the righteous differently from the
unrighteous. If someone repents, God consistently forgives; if someone refuses to repent, God
consistently judges. He is unchanging in His nature, His plan, and His being. He cannot one day be
pleased with the contrite and the next day is angry with the contrite. That would show Him to be
mutable and untrustworthy.

7. PROVE JESUS OMNIPRESENCY USING MARK 13:32? IF HE KNOWS EVERYTHING WHY HE DO NOT
KNOW THE TIME OF HIS COMING.

The key to understanding Jesus’ seeming lack of knowledge in this matter lies in the nature of
the Incarnation. When the Son of God became a man, He remained fully God, but He also took on a true
human nature. Jesus retained all the attributes of divinity, yet, as a man, He voluntarily restricted their
use. This was part of the “self-emptying” or self-renunciation spoken of in Philippians 2:6–8. When
Christ entered our world, He laid aside the privileges that had been His in heaven. Rather than stay on
His throne in heaven, Jesus “made himself of no reputation” (Philippians 2:7). He veiled His glory, and He
chose to occupy the position of a servant.

There were times when Jesus publicly manifested His divine knowledge and power on earth (John
2:25; 11:43 –44). On those occasions, Jesus’ demonstrations of His divinity were directed by the Father.
On other occasions, He had no such directive from the Father, and He kept His glory veiled. On all
occasions, Jesus obeyed the Father’s will: “for I do always those things that please him,” He said (John
8:29).

So, when Jesus said He did not know when He would return, He was actively humbling Himself and
taking the form of a servant (see Philippians 2:7–8). Since no other mortal knows the time of Jesus’
return—that information is the Father’s alone (Matthew 24:36)—Jesus voluntarily restricted His
knowledge on that point. It was part of Jesus’ submission to the Father (see John 5:30; 6:38; 8:28–29)
and His mission to live a human life.

Some things Jesus apparently chose to “give up the rights” to be privy to during His earthly ministry. The
knowledge of when He would return was one of those things. Jesus, now exalted in heaven, surely
knows all, including the timing of His second coming.
8. PROVE THAT JESUS IS OMNIPOTENT GOD.

Jesus has the same power as God, the Father. Scripture shares that all things are created by Jesus (John
1:3–4) and held together by Him. Read Hebrews 1:1–4. Jesus is all-powerful. Jesus is different than an
ordinary person. As an ordinary person, you can’t make anything hold together without glue! No one
can. Jesus helps you understand God, the Father, by sharing that nothing is impossible with God. And
now you know why — if God is all-powerful then He really can make anything happen. Jesus shares too
that if you trust in Him and ask anything that agrees with God’s will, He will help you.

9. GIVE REFFERENCES THAT PROVE THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD?

The Holy Spirit appears in both the Old and New Testaments. In Genesis 1:2 at the creation of the world,
the Bible records, “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” In Genesis 1:26, God says, “Let
us make man in our image.” God wasn’t talking to Himself like a weirdo; He was creating man in the
image of all three members of the Trinity, each of whom was present at creation.

The Old Testament also shows that the Holy Spirit has power and emotions and is active among His
people. Isaiah 63:10 says, “But they rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit.” Nehemiah 9:20 records, “Thou
gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them.” Various figures in the Old Testament were also temporarily
filled with the Holy Spirit for certain tasks, such as Bezaleel for building the Tabernacle (Exodus 31:1-5).

The Holy Spirit is all over in the New Testament. This is because once Jesus had resurrected and
returned to heaven, the Holy Spirit was sent to reside with the believers (John 16:7). In the Old
Testament, the Glory of God was separated from a sinful people, residing among the people in the Holy
of Holies, the innermost part of the temple, only to be visited by the high priest once a year.

But once Jesus paid the penalty for sin, the curtain to the Holy of Holies was torn. There was no longer a
separation between God and the born-again believers.

10. WHAT IS YOUR GOAL, PURPOSE OF STUDYING THE BIBLE?

To know Christ more and more, as I go along meditating the Word of God, It gives me wisdom
about Christ. From Old Testament to the New Testament, the Bible points me to Christ. He is not just my
Savior; He is my God, the second Person in the Trinity, our Creator, and our Kinsman-Redeemer etc.