Answer:
The Scriptures manifest themselves to be the Word of God, by their majesty and purity; by the consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God; by their light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and build up believers unto salvation: but the Spirit of God bearing witness by and with the Scriptures in the heart of man, is alone able fully to persuade it that they are the very Word of God (Westminster Larger Catechism Q.4).
6 comments:
This is quite beautiful. But it discomforts me for two reasons.
1) I could switch around the language of the first section just a tad and a mu-slim would confess the same thing.
2)The second part is completely subjective and based on individual experiences.
I don't want to know how it "Doth Appear," I want to know what is true. Can we know for certain that the Scriptures are the word of God (Yahweh, not Allah -- and is there a difference between the two?)?
James,
Thanks for your comment.
The answer to your question is: Yes (and yes).
I think the point of the divines in this section is to confess that, because the Scriptures are by definition self-attesting (i.e. they "manifest themselves to be the Word of God"), it is ours to simply recognize them as such. If we could prove their divinity apart from them (i.e. through some higher authority), then they would not be what they are. Nonetheless, they evidence their divinity equally to all.
The divines also confess that it is the work of the Spirit to fully persuade us that the Scriptures are the Word of God. This is sometimes referred to under the category of the Spirit's illumination.
Besides its fidelity to the teaching of Scripture, one thing I find striking about this particular aspect of the Reformed confession is its walking that fine epistemological line between rationalism and irrationalism. Because there is an objective truth before us which stands on its on merits, we are not given to irrationalism. And because that standard is not ultimately provable by my own reasoning but requires the illumination of the Spirit if I am to be certain of it, we are not given over to rationalism. Word and Spirit always work together in the execution of God's eternal decree.
Thanks for the explanation.
Do you dispute the idea that a Mu-slim would confess a similar, if not exact, thing?
Though I'm not an expert in Muslim theology, I think he might indeed say the same thing.
But . . . he would be wrong.
How do I know? Because the Bible alone is God's word.
How do I know? It attests to its own authority, which I am fully persuaded of by the Spirit's work in my soul.
It attests to it's own authority...So does the Qu'ran right?
Paul says in Galatians 1:11, "For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Muhammed would say the same thing, inputing Allah in for Jesus, of course.
Part of the reason I press you is because I visited a Mosque and the speaker implied that the gospel of Christ was just another gospel of Islam given from Allah.
Yet, Jesus and Muhammed taught mutually exclusive doctrine, right? Right.
Regardless, I find that both the Bible and the Qu'ran claim to be the Word of God.
So, "How doth it appear that the Qu'ran is not the Word of God?"
Is there any objective way of knowing? And how do we engage Mu-slims in that objective knowledge?
Sorry, that was long. Love to hear what you think.
My argument against the Qu'ran would be multi-faceted, but ultimately it would come down to one simple truth: The Qu'ran is not the word of God.
Objectively, this is evident "by their [lack of] majesty and purity; by the [lack of] consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is [not] to give all glory to God; by their [lack of] light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and build up believers unto salvation."
Subjectively, I am fully persuaded of this truth by the Holy Spirit's work in my soul.
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