Like a Thermometer, Not a Thermostat

Michael Kruger on the proper role of the church in the authentication of the canon of the New Testament:  

The books received by the church inform our understanding of which books are canonical not because the church is infallible or because it created or constituted the canon, but because the church’s reception of these books is a natural and inevitable outworking of the self-authenticating nature of Scripture. Viewing the role of the church in the context of a self-authenticating Bible can bring fresh understanding to the complex church-canon relationship … . The Catholic model [of the canon] insists that the church’s reception of these books is the sole grounds for the canon’s authority. In the self-authenticating model, however, the church’s reception of these books proves not to be evidence of the church’s authority to create the canon, but evidence of the opposite, namely, the authority, power, and impact of the self-authenticating Scripture to elicit a corporate response from the church. Jesus’s statement that “my sheep hear my voice … and they follow me” (John 10:27) is not evidence for the authority of the sheep’s decision to follow, but evidence for the authority and efficacy of the Shepherd’s voice to call. After all, the act of hearing is, by definition, derivative not constitutive. Thus, when the canon is understood as self-authenticating, it is clear that the church did not choose the canon, but the canon, in a sense, chose itself… . [T]he role of the church is like a thermometer, not a thermostat. Both instruments provide information about the temperature in the room—but one determines it and one reflects it.

Quoting from Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books.

Other quotations from this book:

• A Canon Based on Probability
• Canonical Bookends

Theological Term of the Week

temptation of Jesus
Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness the beginning of his ministry.

• From scripture:

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

 

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”




Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

• From Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem:

These temptations were really a culmination of a lifelong process of moral strengthening and maturing that occurred throughout Jesus’ childhood and early adulthood, as he “increased in wisdom  . . and in fear with God” (Luke 2:52 and as he “learned obedience through what he suffered” (Heb. 5:8). In these temptations in the wilderness and in the various temptations that faced him through the thirty-three years of hislife, Christ obeyed God in our place and as our representative, thus succeeding where Adam had failed, where the people of Israel in the wilderness had failed, and where we had failed (see Rom. 5:18-19). 

As difficult as it may be for us to comprehend, Scripture affirms that in these temptations Jesus gained an ability to understand and help us in our temptations, “Because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted” (Heb. 2:18). 

Learn more:

1. In the Bible: Matthew 4:1-11, see also Luke 4:1-13, Mark 1:12-13.
2. Got Questions.org: What is the meaning and purpose of Jesus’ temptations?
3. Bob Deffinbaugh: The Temptation of Jesus, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
4. D. A. Carson: The Temptation of Jesus (audio)

Related terms:

• active obedience of Christ
• federal head
• humanity of Christ
• impeccability
• incarnation

Filed under Person, Work, and Teaching of Christ

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Linked Together: Theology Books for Kids

The Trinity
A few months ago I ordered Joey Allen’s book on the Trinityfrom her Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers series. It simple and yet deep—and analogy free. (I wish I’d bought the whole series.)

Here’s an interview with Joey on teaching children the doctrine of the Trinity (Credo Magazine.)

The Big Story
Carl Trueman recommends 66 Books One Story, a biblical theology for children. This book, he writes,

presents the basic theme and significance of every single book of the Bible.  It will not substitute for a good children’s story Bible or — of course — for the actual Bible; but it will help give children at a young age that great ‘big picture’ of the biblical story which will help them grow in their knowledge of God’s word.

(Reformation21 Blog)

Speaking of story Bibles, David Shaw evaluates two popular ones, The Big Picture Story Bible and The Jesus Storybook Bible, with regard to 

1. story bible text and Scripture
2. story bible images and Scripture
3. text and image within the story bible
4. the story bible and the child

(Themelios)