As hearers, we ought to receive Scripture from God with a disposition of humility, acknowledging that the whole counsel of God revealed to us in Scripture is all we need.
Read moreAuthority of Scripture: Illumination
Throughout these articles on the authority of Scripture, we have distinguished between the reason why we believe, and the thing believed; or, the testimony and the thing testified to. The formal object of faith is the testimony of God which is presented to us in the material object of faith, the things revealed. The Spirit’s work upon the believer is neither the formal nor the material object of faith.
Read moreThe Authority of Scripture: Motives
If we reason from motives to the divine origin of Scripture, then our assurance rests upon our natural capacities rather than the great testimony of God. However, because Scripture is self-authenticating, the motives for faith provide sufficient evidence that Scripture is the Word of God.
Read moreThe Authority of Scripture: Grounds and Motives
The marks of divinity, according to the Confession, serve as “arguments whereby [Scripture] doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God.” Yet, these lines of evidence serve as motives rather than as the ground of our faith upon which the authority of Scripture rests.
Read moreThe Authority of Scripture
Since Scripture is inspired, the Confession contends that Scripture is to be received on the authority of the One who gave it. Neither the creature nor a created institution supplies the authoritative testimony needed for one to accept Holy Scripture.
Read moreCanon: Exegetical Grounding
God’s speech and intention warrant a book's canonical status and ground the creature’s ability to recognize the canon on God’s authority.
Read moreCanon: The Contents of Holy Scripture
Discourse about the canon is inherently theological such that what we say about Holy Scripture reveals what we think about its Author. Scripture is the very speech of God and, as such, we recognize that everything we say about Scripture says something about the One to whom it belongs.
Read moreThe Necessity of Scripture: God's Gracious Act
In general revelation, God freely and objectively reveals Himself in the light of nature in man and the works of creation and providence so that He might manifest his goodness, wisdom, and power. This manifestation of God was not intended to reveal mysteries of faith that are received with but undetected by reason.
Read moreThe Necessity of Scripture: General Revelation
General revelation is God’s free and objective revelation to man via the light of nature in man and the works of creation and providence. It finds its origin in God, and man knows it by innate and acquired knowledge.
Read moreThe Necessity of Scripture: An Introduction
The goal of these expositions is to analyze the confession and engage in theological reasoning with the goal of knowing God by receiving discipleship from the past as we seek to humbly receive and confess the faith that came before us for the benefit of those who come after us.
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