Theological Term of the Week: Sufficiency of Scripture

sufficiency of Scripture

The truth that the words of scripture contain everything we need to know from God in order to be saved and to be perfectly obedient to him.

• From scripture:

… [F]rom childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:15 ESV).

• From The London Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 1, Section 6:

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture, to which nothing is to be added at any time, either by new revelation of the Spirit, or by the traditions of men.

• From Systematic Theology by Robert Letham, page 202:

Beyond the sense of Scripture found in its explicit statements and by deduction, nothing is to be added. Scripture is the complete and utterly sufficient revelation of God for the salvation of his church (2 Tim. 3:16-17). There are two main potential sources for claiming additions to Scripture. First, mysticism proposes new revelations from the Holy Spirit. To suppose that such are needed is to regard Scripture as less than sufficient to disclose God’s glory and to unfold our salvation, faith, and life. Second, traditionalism is another threat, chiefly in the Church of Rome with its body of dogmatic accretions, reinforced by its stress on the supremacy of churchly authority. Instead, we are to look to Scripture as our only rule of faith and life (Isa. 8:19-20).

In no way does this eliminate the need for the Holy Spirit. We need his illumination in order to understand the Bible in a saving manner. Rationalism is as damaging as mysticism. The Spirit, who authored Scripture, enables us to recognize that it is the Word of God and helps us to interpret it correctly.

Nor should we reject tradition as such. However, the bottom line is that there is no truth required by God to be believed for salvation of duty required of us to perform other than what is found in Scripture.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: What is the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture?
2. Simply Put: The Sufficiency of Scripture
3. Blue Letter Bible: What Is the Sufficiency of Scripture?
4. Matthew Barrett: The Sufficiency of Scripture
5. Carl Trueman: The Sufficiency of Scripture
6. Dave Jenkins: Sufficient for You

Related terms:

• authority of scripture
• inerrancy of scripture
• infallibility of scripture
• inspiration of scripture
• perspicuity of scripture
• sola scriptura

Filed under Scripture

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.

Theological Term of the Week: Special Revelation

special revelation

God’s self-disclosure through direct, supernatural revelation.

• From scripture:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…. (Hebrews 1:1-2a ESV).

… [F]rom childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:15 ESV).

• From The Westminster Confession of Faith:

CHAPTER 1 Of the Holy Scripture

1. Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of His will, which is necessary unto salvation; therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal Himself, and to declare that His will unto His church; and afterwards for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God’s revealing His will unto His people being now ceased.

• From Systematic Theology by Robert Letham, page 62:

The central purpose of special revelation is gracious: to bring salvation. Unfolding progressively over wide epochs, it is rooted in human history and historical events. Above all, revelation centers in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son (John 14:10-9; Col. 1:15-20; Heb. 1:1-14). 

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: What is general revelation and special revelation?
2. Blue Letter Bible: What Is Special Revelation?
3. Simply Put: Special Revelation
4. Keith Mathison: General and Special Revelation
5. Louis Berkhof: Revelation

Related terms:

• authority of scripture
• general revelation
• inerrancy of scripture
• inspiration of scripture

Filed under Scripture

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.

Theological Term of the Week: Source Criticism

source criticism

The field of biblical studies that seeks to “establish the literary sources the biblical author/editor drew upon.”1

• From 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible by Robert Plummer, page 300:

Source criticism seeks to establish the literary sources the biblical author/editor drew upon. For example, Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918), a liberal Old Testament scholar, argued that the Pentateuch was composed of four literary strands: the Yahwist or Jehovist (J), Elohistic (E), Priestly (P), and Deuteronomistic (D) sources. The evidence for the JEPD construction is actually quite tenuous. The data support traditional Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, while obviously allowing for some gathering and editing of the Mosaic material. 

In the New Testament, source criticism is especially applied to Matthew, Mark, and Luke (the Synoptic Gospels) because of their close similarity in wording and order. The majority of New Testament scholars believe that Luke and Matthew used two main sources in their composition—the written gospel of Mark and “Q.” “Q” is an abbreviation for the German word Quelle (source) and stands for a collection of written and oral sources that Matthew and Luke had in common. Indeed, Luke explicitly indicates that he drew upon multiple sources in the composition of his Gospel (Luke 1:1-4). As many early church fathers comment on the literary sources behind the Gospels (i.e., which Gospel author(s) were dependent on others), source criticism is truly an ancient discipline. 

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: What is source criticism?
2. Christianity.com: What Is Source Criticism?

Related terms:

• autographs
• inerrancy of scripture
• inspiration of scripture
• manuscripts
• redaction criticism
• text criticism

Filed under Scripture

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.