Lesson 3 Flashcards
How does 2 Pet 1:12-21 help the reader understand the production of Holy Scripture?
- The production of Scripture, part one: preparation, etc. of prophets and apostles 2 Peter 1:12 - 15
- part two: inspiration of Holy Scripture 2 Peter 1:16 - 21
- Provision 1:12 - 15
- Source 1:16 - 18
- Relationship between source and prophetic writings: 1:19a’
* 4. Deut 18:15
* 5. 1 Pet 1:10-11 - 1:19B
* 5. Clarity - light in darkness
* 6. Authority - Pay attention
* 7. Sufficiency - All things that pertain to life and godliness
* 8. Truth - We did not follow cleverly devised myths (no private Interpretation) - Source and Status of the prophet writings: 1:20-21
* 2. See 2 Pet 3:14-16
Through what three ways did God prepare the prophets and apostles for the production of Scripture? Briefly describe each way.
- Authorization - Called and set apart by God to bring God’s Word to God’s people (Rom 1:1; Ex 3
- Access - They are granted access to th edivine Council (Ex 32 - 34; Is 6 with John 12:41
- Anointing - They are anointed with God’s Spirit (Luke 24:49; Jn 15:26-27; 2 Pet 1:21)
What is double agency discourse?
i. In double agency discourse, one person authorizes or deputizes another person to speak on his behalf, in his name.
ii. The result of this act of authorization is not simply that the authorized agent speaks with authority on behalf of the one who sent him. The result is that the speaker himself communicates by means of the speech of his authorized agent.
iii. Example: When a president sends a message by means of an ambassador, the president himself speaks by the ambassador’s mouth.
IV prophet is “a person called and designated by God to be his spokesperson” (Jer 1:5; 23:21). When the prophet speaks in his office as prophet, he characteristically announces, “Thus says the Lord” (Exod 4:22; etc.). When the prophet speaks, God speaks (Rom 1:2; Acts 28:25).
ii. According to Herman Ridderbos, the apostles were “uniquely empowered to represent Christ” and to be “Christ’s instruments and organs in the continuation of revelation” (Luke 24:48-49; John 20:21-22). Christ speaks by means of his authorized witnesses, the apostles (2 Pet 3:2). Whoever receives their word, receives his Word (Matt 10:40; John 13:20).
How is Scripture “God-breathed?”
1. God is the primary cause and author of Holy Scripture.
** a. To affirm that “all Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Tim 3:16) is to affirm that it is “produced by the creative breath of the Almighty” (Warfield, 286). “Men moved by the Spirit spoke from God” (2 Pet 1:21).
- Holy Scripture is thus the product of God’s intention to communicate his Word to his people; it is not the product of human imagination or interpretation.
a. When God commissioned his prophets and apostles to communicate his Word he commanded them to communicate all that he told them to communicate and he warned them not to withhold anything that he told them to communicate (Jer 1:7, 9, 17; 26:2; Ezek 3:10-11; Matt 28:20). In their office as God’s authorized emissaries, they were charged to speak his words, “no more, no less” (Bavinck, 1:391).
b. This is true of Holy Scripture as well, whether the Holy Spirit moved the prophetic and apostolic writers by direct command to “write these words” (Exod 34:27; Deut 31:19; Isa 30:8; Jer 30:2; 36:2, 28; Hab 2:2; Rev 1:11, 19; 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 12, 14; 14:13; 19:9; 21:5) or by internal impulse to write in the execution of their prophetic and apostolic ministries. - In fulfilling God’s intention to communicate his Word to his people, the Holy Spirit gave prophets and apostles understanding of his Word and taught them the very words they needed to communicate God’s Word in writing.
- Because the Holy Spirit is “the Lord and Giver of Life” (Nicene Creed), his work as the primary author of Scripture requires us also to speak of the prophets and apostles as secondary authors of Scripture
What does it mean for Scripture to be God’s Word in servant form?
c. Scripture is God’s Word in servant form.
** i. As is the case with all revelation short of the beatific vision, Holy Scripture is a species of God speaking to creatures by creatures.
ii. Scripture’s humble form fits its gracious function of communicating God’s covenant Word to God’s covenant people for the sake of covenant friendship. And friends must speak the same language. In Scripture, God “speaks to his people, not from afar but from nearby” (Bavinck, 1.385).
iii. Indeed, the various genres of biblical literature correspond (in some degree) to the various elements of the covenant relation**
o Narrative: God’s name, God’s history of kindness
o Prophecy and apocalyptic: God’s promises and warnings
o Law, wisdom, and poetry: God’s law for life and worship
iv. The various genres of the Bible are suitable forms of human literature fitted to the formation of faith, hope, and love in human beings to the glory of God.
