The Bibles won't be discarded provided the scholarship of the last century is shared with the people in the pews. It is not that it has not been known, just not communicated. How inspiring to find someone who can tell it as it is. One day I read Gordon Moyes' speech and the next day the following arrives:
The Common Roots of Hanukkah and Christmas Religious people frequently assert that they have received their truth by divine revelation. It is a strange assertion, leading almost inevitably to the power claim that there is a single "true church" or religious system that alone offers salvation. It also produces such irrational doctrines as papal infallibility and scriptural inerrancy. A study of religious history, however, reveals the irrationality behind such claims. Religion is always a very human creation. Every religious tradition participates in and is shaped by cultural factors, time-bound understandings of the world of nature, and prevailing tribal prejudices. Nothing illustrates this better than a look into the origins of both Hanukkah and Christmas and especially at how these celebrations were placed into the calendars of the western world when daylight was in short supply. Both holidays play on the theme of the restoration of light in a darkened world. Both reveal in these realities that they are the product of people living in the northern hemisphere. Hanukkah was not a Torah festival. It rather developed late in Jewish history, coming into the cycle of liturgical observances no earlier than the second century B.C.E. It was designed to celebrate the time when a military leader named Judas, nicknamed "The Hammer" [or Maccabeas in Hebrew], routed the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes, driving his army out of their land. In that process the Jews reclaimed their sacred Temple in Jerusalem and restored to it the "true worship of Yahweh." The Syrians, showing utter contempt for this conquered nation, had desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem by replacing the sacred symbols of the Jews with pagan ones. In the Holy of Holies, regarded by the Jews as the very dwelling place of God, the Syrians had placed the head of an unclean pig that the Jews referred to as "the Abomination of Desolation." When Judas Maccabeas and his victorious rag-tag army of guerilla fighters entered the city in triumph, they went immediately to the Temple. Stripping away the offending images, they restored the Star of David, cleansed the 'holy of holies' and rededicated their Temple to its sacred purposes. Then, the tradition states, Judas lit the eight-branched candelabra called the Menorah to initiate a time of great celebration and enjoined upon the Jews in every succeeding generation a proper remembrance of this moment. These candles, the story suggests, burned miraculously for eight days. In the minds of the Jewish faithful this act not only restored light to a dark time in their history, but it also replaced idolatry with true faith. That was what Hanukkah celebrated. For Christians, the great festival that interrupts the darkness of human history is called Christmas, that in the old tradition lasted from Dec. 25 to Jan. 6. This 12-day celebration was designed to recall the birth of Jesus who, the Christian faith system asserted, came to be called "the light of the world." These nativity narratives, created by second-generation Christians, provided the content for this observance. In the earliest birth story of Jesus, written by Matthew (1 and 2) somewhere between the years 80-85, the primary symbol of light was a star--bright, radiant and beautiful--that illumined the darkness of the night. This star was said to have had the power to guide Magi through that darkness to the birthplace of this newborn savior in Bethlehem. In Luke's account of Jesus' birth (1 and 2), written sometime between the years 88-92, the light symbol was not a star but a resplendent angel accompanied by a heavenly host, who cracked the midnight sky with heavenly brightness. To shepherds recoiling before this unearthly light, the tradition said that the angels announced the birth of Jesus, the "true light," who "came down from heaven." Historical records from that period of time are scant, and no one today can date with precision either the date of the defeat of Antiochus by Judas Maccabeas or the actual time of the birth of Jesus. That did not stop either tradition, however, from locating their celebrations in the dead of winter. That choice was not designed to coincide with literal history, but to meet a deep and ancient human yearning that antedates by thousands of years both Judaism and Christianity. As far back as human records go, it is clear that people in the northern hemisphere have observed with acts of worship that moment when the daylight stopped its relentless retreat into darkness and began its march back into the world. That human yearning for light to come to a dark world shaped both Hanukkah and Christmas. Indeed it captured them. That is why both celebrations are located in the darkest month of the year, Kislev in the Jewish calendar and December in the Western calendar. Modern people have difficulty imagining the fears of our primitive human ancestors. We live today in an artificially lighted world. We can hurl back the darkness of night with the flip of a switch. We can travel in darkness far from home by turning on the headlights of our automobiles, or by utilizing the lights marking the landing fields of our airports. We live in cities with electrified streets and neon signboards. For our ancestors, however, the only light of night was provided by the moon and the stars. When the moon faded each month into a total blackout the darkness of night was illumined only by the distant twinkling stars. When clouds made the stars invisible, the darkness was total. With darkness came danger and fear. The darkness was inhabited, it was suggested, by "ghosties and ghoulies and things that go bump in the night." The relatively recent human ability first to capture fire and later actually to ignite it, was a gigantic step in the quest to defeat the always-threatening darkness. The vast majority of the human beings who have inhabited this earth lived with the presence of an unconquered and unrelieved darkness. When one further embraces the fact that people in the ancient world did not understand the relationship between the heavenly bodies and the earth, it is easy to understand why mythology and ritualistic acts were wrapped around these mysterious natural wonders. Modern men and women deal with these realities in a quite secular manner. We manipulate our clocks with various time zones and with something we call 'daylight savings time.' We anticipate and name the shortest day of the year as the winter solstice. We understand that the earth rotates on its axis as it journeys around the sun every 365 1/4 days. We know the months when we are closer to the sun and the months when we are farther away. None of this, however, was known by our forebears. They only knew that the sun seemed to retreat into darkness as the winter came. They wondered why, and they speculated about this observable phenomenon using a wide variety of religious explanations. They lived with a chronic fear that one year the enveloping darkness that came each winter might finally capture the light of the sun forever and thus doom their lives to be lived without any light at all. For this reason in almost every human culture there was a great religious celebration when the sun stopped its relentless retreat into an ever enveloping-darkness and began its slow but steady return. Both Hanukkah and Christmas became later historical expressions of this ancient celebration. They thus reveal their northern hemisphere, and obviously human origins. It is time to recognize that religious truth, like all truth, can only emerge out of human experience. Once that is understood, then religious people will recognize that their exclusive claims to possess some external, divine revelation is nothing but a part of our human security system. These claims also create the mentality that fuels that religious imperialism that, even in the 21st century, underlies human conflict. The only way for the Christmas yearning for peace on earth to be achieved is for every religious system to face its human origins, and to recognize that all worshipers are nothing but human seekers walking into the mystery and wonder of the God, who is beyond anything that human minds can finally imagine. That would represent a gigantic step both into a new sensitivity and away from the negativity that religion perpetually pumps into the human bloodstream. In our observances of Hanukkah and Christmas this year, that could well be our most important learning. -- John Shelby Spong Question And Answer With John Shelby Spong Stephen from Westmere, Australia asks: If, as you say, the stories of Jesus' miraculous birth are pious legends, what are the implications for staging a children's Christmas pageant in a small suburban church? Dear Stephen: There is no reputable New Testament scholar in the world today, either Catholic or protestant, who regards the birth stories of Matthew and Luke as history. I say reputable because there are a few evangelical fundamentalists and pre-Vatican II Roman Catholics who have not yet caught up with the last 150 years of biblical scholarship. Does that mean, however, that these beautiful stories have no eternal value? Of course not! They are great narratives and our lives would be considerably poorer without those shepherds and wise men, the manger and swaddling clothes, the star in the East and the angelic chorus. These stories are filled with interpretative meaning but they were never written to be understood literally. The star to announce the birth of a special life had a long history in Jewish piety. The story of the Wise Men was based on Isaiah 60. The story of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus is based on the story of Joseph the patriarch from Genesis 37:50. The swaddling clothes came out of the apocryphal book of the Wisdom of Solomon. The manger is from Isaiah 1:3. The story of Zechariah and Elizabeth having John the Baptist in their old age is a retelling of the Abraham and Sarah story from Genesis 15 to 34. We could go on and on. I developed all of these connections in a book entitled, "Born of a Woman: A Bishop Rethinks the Virgin Birth and the Place of Women in a Male-Dominated Church." Does that mean when we learn that these stories are interpretative legends we discard them? I certainly do not. Our home has several crèche scenes on display every holiday season and we normally attend at least one Christmas pageant a year. The meaning of these stories is that in the adult Jesus, people believed that they had experienced the presence of the Holy God. That moment was so transforming that when they wrote it they said things like "the heavens rejoiced at his birth." Why cannot those themes be acted out in pageantry without telling the children that they are literally so. The great myth of Santa Claus/Kris Kringle does not disappear when children learn that no literal elf lives at the literal North Pole. The power of the Christ is likewise not diminished when the miraculous story of his birth is recognized as an interpretative myth. So enjoy the holidays and welcome the birth of the one many of us acknowledge as our gateway into all that God means. -- John Shelby Spong PS I guess it depends on who you are. Last week the Essay was about the attitude of the Bible towards women. At least the Uniting Church, from its beginning has not officially precluded women from any office but it takes a while for all men to accept that. It is OK for those who 'fit the formula' to agree with the writings (attitudes) of 2000 years ago, but if you don't fit the formula you are expected to be content with being a second-class citizen. In the case of homosexuals, even if they know that they have not 'chosen' to be who they are, they are expected to live a lie or to spend their lives without the support, comfort and love of another person because those who fit the formula say that those who wrote 2000 years ago have the final say. There are exceptions of course. They are happy to receive or pay interest, they don't agree with slavery, they can enjoy prawns or ham - especially at Christmas. It is just that they have a bit of trouble with loving their neighbours. "Live fully, love wastefully and be all that it is possible for you to be" Margaret ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Webb" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 10:16 AM Subject: gordon moyes > at the closure of bible house, sydney > > CLOSURE OF BIBLE HOUSE. 10.12.2003 > > > > "COMING TO A CHURCH NEAR YOU > A PILE OF DISCARDED BIBLES. > > It is entirely appropriate that I should speak on the day Bible House, > 95 Bathurst Street, Sydney, closes. I was born in the same week as it > was opened! The speaker at the opening was the Honourable H.M.HAWKINS, > member of the NSW Parliament, and long term Treasurer of the Central > Methodist Mission. Today, at the closing, I am guest speaker, a minister > of the Uniting Church, and Superintendent of the Wesley Mission, > formerly the Central Methodist Mission, and also an Honourable member of > the NSW Parliament. > > Men from Sydney Methodist Church, now Wesley Mission, were among the > founding fathers of the Bible Society in Australia in 1817 and we have > been supporters ever since. Yet times have changed in regard to peoples > attitude to the Bible. In 1817 everyone agreed with the authority and > inspiration of the Bible even if they neglected or objected to it. By > 1938, many in society rejected the Bibles claims, but no denomination > did. Every denomination accepted the authority of the scriptures, even > though Protestants were suspicious the Roman Catholics giving equal > place to the authority of church tradition. > > By 2003, we have the first mainstream denomination rejecting the Bibles > authority. The 2003 Assembly of the Uniting Church, affirmed that > ministers living in open same sex relationships may be ordained as > ministers to the consternation of members across Australia. 22,000 > members wrote expressing their disagreement. Their petitions had no > effect. This months Onward magazine from Victoria states, > > What is radically new is that implicit heresy is now openly declared > and defended. However, many of us in the UCA reject what the Assembly > has done and we continue to submit to the authority of the Bible as the > supreme rule for Christian faith and behaviour. We continue to adhere to > the theological essentials of the UCA Basis of Union. To do otherwise is > to betray the holy, catholic and apostolic church to which we claim to > belong. Now that the Uniting Church has openly declared its apostasy, > who knows how many more heresies are contemplated. > > > > Certainly the blessing of homosexual relationships is in the pipeline. > Then it would be consistent to press the Government to give full legal > and moral status to such relationships and to equate those relationships > with marriage. There is also a progressive denial of the essential > elements of the Person and Work of Christ in deference to a > non-Christian ecumenism. These heresies are widespread and little or > nothing is currently done to discipline or correct them. > > Never, in this country, has there been a more urgent need for the Bible > Society to declare its belief in the authority and inspiration of the > Bible. It is really impossible for a church from the reformed and > evangelical tradition, to teach that the Bible has as much relevance and > authority as last years Sydney telephone directory! Otherwise, coming > near to you, will be a church, with a pile of discarded Bibles! > > There is a beautiful touch of sarcasm about how such modern Christians > speak when they are discussing the authority of the Bible. In the Monty > Python movie, "The Life of Brian", Brian, a supposed contemporary of > Jesus, is standing on the edge of the crowd when Jesus delivers the > sermon that begins with the Beatitudes. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, > for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for > they shall be comforted." > > At the edge of the crowd it is hard to hear the speaker. The speech is > half heard, half passed from person to person. Jesus continues: "Blessed > are the peace-makers for they shall be called the sons of God." "What > was that?" asks a man in the crowd. "I think it was, "Blessed are the > cheese makers," responds someone further forward. "What's so special > about the cheese-makers?" A cultured type who has been to a modern > theological seminary, chimes in, "It's not meant to be taken literally. > Obviously it refers to any manufacturer of dairy products." > > To hear some preachers twist passages of scripture to declare they are > to be taken literally or not, to hear others saying that Jesus was not > physically raised from the dead nor born of a virgin, and others > declaring that the days of creation must be only 24 hour days otherwise > a person is a non-believer, is to generate in the minds of many > intelligent hearers uncertainty about the authority of the Bible. If > these days, every Rev. Tom, Dick and Harriet interprets the scriptures > as they please, the whole question of the nature of the scriptures, > their inspiration, infallibility and authority is up for grabs. > > > > > > None of us want to return to a obscurantist, closed minded acceptance of > everything told us, simply because someone says "the Bible tells me so." > Billy Graham came preaching with authority because he kept punching out > the phrase "The Bible says" but even Billy quotes psychologists, > politicians and world leaders alongside the scriptures these days, > because for growing numbers of people, the Bible has little or no > authority. What can intelligent people believe about the authority of > the scriptures? > > 1. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE SCRIPTURES? > > We believe in the unique, absolute and final authority of the Bible for > belief and practice. All other differences regarding conversion, a > personal relationship with God, judgment, heaven, hell, styles of > worship and morality are based on that one main difference - > evangelicals believe that the Bible is authoritative. > > Consequently, in analysing any theology, it is crucial that evangelicals > carefully evaluate the view the theologians have of the Bible. It is > their view of Scripture that is essential. I have been saying in the > Uniting Church, that the argument is greater than same-sex couples > living the manse, ordained to teach our congregations. The issue has to > do with the question: Does the Bible continue to have any relevance and > authority to this Church? > > Evangelical Christianity affirms that the revelation God gave in the Old > and New Testaments is unique, final and closed. But many theologians and > secular commentators see scripture as a product of ordinary people, > trapped within the limitations of their time of writing and so are open > to challenge and change for us today. > > To the question: "Is the Bible still authoritative?" must be added > another: "to whom?" If the answer to that question is "to the man on the > street" then we must reply: "No, the Bible is no longer authoritative to > the man on the street, even though the written Word of God has been > regarded by the man on the street as authoritative for the past 3,000 > years, the ordinary secular person these days has little regard for any > authority. > > Certainly there is little regard for the authority of school-teachers or > the police, the viewpoint of judges is widely deprecated, the scientific > judgement on the ozone layer is disputed by people who little knowledge > of the subject, politicians views are cynically disparaged and the > findings of any expert subject to the opinions of talk-back commentators > and the un-enlightened mind. No authority is regarded as sacrosanct > anymore." > > > We live in an age when anti-authority views are seen as praiseworthy, > when children are taught not to accept what teachers say and our view is > deemed thoroughly objectionable. Modern secularist thought can tolerate > any form of belief except the belief that there are absolute answers to > life's questions. Modern pluralistic society can accept witchcraft and > nonsense astrology in newspapers more easily than it can accept > evangelical Christianity. > > Furthermore, modern liberal theology cannot accept an authoritative > Bible. Liberalism is the fruit of rejecting the unique authority of the > scriptures. Once the authority of the Bible was dismissed, then all > other possibilities of interpreting the written record were allowable, > subject only the feeling of the moment. > > Why this rejection of the authority of the Bible both by secular > humanism and theological liberalism? In parts of Africa, Christians > today are called by a name that means "The People of the Book." Why have > so many Christians and so many communities based upon the ethic of the > scriptures no longer want to be known as the people of the Book? > > Because evangelical faith declares that God has spoken in an absolute, > final way about human thought, beliefs and conduct, and that the duty of > every human being, in the face of God's revelation is faith and > submission. Therefore a prime task of the church is to translate and > distribute, at a price everyone can afford, Gods word, to every people > group on earth. > > But few denominations accept that today. This is a tough pill to swallow > for the do-your-own-thing generation, and it comprises the primary > scandal of Christianity in the 20th century. The basic reason why people > will not accept the authority of the scriptures, is that have all been > hood-winked into believing that we modern people are the master minds > behind all we believe and the sole arbiters of all we accept. We do not > want to be under any authority. We want to be the captains of our soul > and the masters of our destinies. > > But let the intelligent mind challenge that! The findings of psychiatry > and psychology tell us we are the product of environment and genes more > than we realise. From the world wars, we should have learned that when > we rejected all other authorities, we were taken over by some whose only > authority is their own megalomania. Our personal experience is that when > we stand for nothing, we fall for anything! Accepting the external and > objective authority of the Bible is a mentally healthy approach to life > if nothing else! > > > The question of authority is the most fundamental issue that faces > everybody seeking to understand and obey the scriptures. Authority is > the key question of theology to be answered before any other. The > question by whose authority is the scriptures judged and obeyed cannot > be overestimated, for it is the means whereby worship, preaching, > practice, discipline and organisation are kept under the continuous > scrutiny of the truth. Differing forms of authority produce contrasting > systems of theology and religion, and invariably underlie most other > theological differences. The origins of all authority lie in God Himself. > > 2. IN WHAT SENSE THEN ARE THE SCRIPTURES AUTHORITATIVE? > > Most today exalt the authority of the human mind over all else. In the > last two centuries the supreme authority of Scripture has been > consistently subjected to human reason, conscience, feeling, experience > and scientific learning which have critically judged the Bible. Rather > than the divine Word, human reason is seen as the judge. Anybody can set > himself up to be the final arbiter of what the Bible says and its > significance. On the issue of same sex marriage of clergy, radio > talk-back personalities pontificate vacuously, and journalists express > their own ignorance. > > Others within the Church, in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches > gave equal status to the authority of tradition. This blends with > Scripture the authority of the church and its pronouncements. The voice > of tradition is exercised through councils of bishops or through the > Popes. This however, reflects misgivings about the sufficiency of > Scripture. Protestantism rejects the claim of an infallible tradition > and regards all tradition as subject to the test of Scripture. > > Evangelicals accept the authority of Scripture alone. "Sola Scriptura" > This is the Reformation view. We assert Scripture is the only source of > all knowledge of Him. The Creator has not left His creatures to hazard > guesses at the truth concerning Him. Scripture is the written record of > what God has spoken to His people. The Bible is a record of God's > revealing of Himself and contains all that the church needs to know in > the way of salvation and service. The scriptures bear witness to Me , > said Jesus. John 5:39 The Bible is the inspired and true record of what > God has to say to us. > > > > > > > Last Sunday one of the giants of the faith died. Theologian, journalist, > and evangelical leader Carl F.H. Henry died Sunday, December 7, at age > 90 in his longtime home of Watertown, Wisconsin. Henry made it his > life's work to present biblical Christianity as intellectually credible > and historically true. On the battlefields of modern theological > thought, spanning seminaries, denominations, and media, Henry shaped the > defenses of evangelicalism with two goals in mind: preserving truth and > attracting non-believers. > > After a chance meeting with a young Christian friend, the non-believing > Carl Henry inquired for three hours about spiritual matters, and then > prayed The Lord's Prayer. When they were done praying, Henry remembered, > "I had inner assurance hitherto unknown of sins forgiven, that Jesus was > my Saviour, that I was on speaking terms with God as my Friend. A > floodtide of peace and joy swept over me. My life's future, I was > confident, was now anchored in and charted by another world, the truly > real world." > > Carl Henry completed two doctorates, was the founder of Fuller > Theological Seminary, and first editor of Christianity Today. In later > years he found himself preoccupied with two concerns: the problem of > religious knowledge, and the doctrine of God. He became convinced "that > if we humans say anything authentic about God, we can do so only on the > basis of divine self-revelation; all other God-talk is conjectural." > These theological issues gave birth to his six-volume work, God, > Revelation, and Authority . 1983. An able encourager and champion of > evangelicals, Henry critiqued evangelical accommodation to a society > increasingly at odds with Biblical standards. We need his skills as we > face our society and church denominations today. > > 3. HENCE THE AUTHORITY LIES IN THE REVELATION OF GOD. > > Dr Carl Henry would agree that the Bible is a human record and > celebration of God in history. It is also the point of God's > self-revealing encounter with us in the present. God spoke in human > experience and the Bible is the written record of that Word. In that > revelation God acts at three inter-linked levels. > > Level one is revelation on the public stage of history. God acted in > human history, eventually by coming in Jesus Christ and in the > Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit. He will act again in human history > at the point of Christ's return for judgment and cosmic renewal, which > will end human history. > > > Level two, is revelation in the public records of Scripture. Written > public records give us accurately and permanently what God wants us to > know about Himself. > > Level three is revelation in the personal consciousness of individuals. > That is, God gives us an understanding mind and will of the God Jesus > disclosed. Mt. 11:25-27; 16:17; 2 Cor. 4:6; Gal. 1:12-16; Eph. 1:17-20; > 1 Jn. 5:20 The Holy Spirit interprets to us the contents of Scripture in > a way we understand. "New Dictionary of Theology" Inter-Varsity Press, 1988 > > For the past twenty-five years, on national television, I have > proclaimed the word of God and invited people to ring one of our > counsellors who can show them from the scriptures what it means to > believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour. Thousands of people have > responded in faith to what the Bible teaches over the years. This week, > one of our counsellors, Sally Dales, reported to me: > Adam Nasey, of Cabramatta, responded to the message of Dr. Gordon Moyes > on Sunday morning's Turn Round Australia. He comes from the Middle East, > and is a Muslim. He asked about what the preacher said about > relationship with JESUS CHRIST, what is my view about it, and what is he > to do to have relationship with HIM? I explained to him the death and > resurrection of the LORD, His love for us, that we have to acknowledge > that we are sinners, repent of all our sins, believe the LORD JESUS > CHRIST died as the penalty for our sins, and to acknowledge the LORD > JESUS as the LORD of our lives, to be renewed of heart and mind, to be > born again and make disciples of all nations, and that the purpose why > we are here is to glorify HIM. I gave him a brief testimony of where I > was delivered by God. After our conversation, I asked him if he would > like to pray with me and repeat after me the salvation prayer and he > did. I gave the Lord all the glory and praise. > > The Reformers insisted that Scripture alone, unaugmented by any > philosophy or religion, can bring us to know God, for the Spirit opens > Scripture to us reveals our need and God's answer. > > 4. FROM EXPERIENCE WE KNOW SCRIPTURE TO BE INSPIRED. > > The historic description of Scripture as inspired, means not that it is > inspiring (although it is) but that it is "God-breathed." 2 Tim. 3:16 > "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, > correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be > thoroughly equipped for every good work." > > > > The Bible is a product of the Holy Spirit, to be viewed as the teaching > of God Himself through the words of human witnesses through whom the > Spirit spoke. Christ constantly quotes what men such as Moses, David or > Isaiah said through the Spirit. Mk. 7:6-13; 12:36; Rom 10:5, 20; 11:9 It > also records what God has said through men. Mt 19:4-5; Acts 4:25; 28:25 > Peter said: 2 Peter 1:21 "For prophecy never had its origin in the will > of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy > Spirit." > > Individuals and groups received the Spirit's inspiration. The Bible was > not produced "by a few literary individuals who wrote whole books as a > modern author might write a novel. Sometimes they gathered up and > brought together into a new synthesis traditions which had developed and > circulated in the community for generations. Even the books of the > prophets combine oracles from different sources and have been brought > into the form in which we have them by a number of editors and > redactors. The gospel writers also have drawn on oral and written > sources which existed well before they began to write. The nearest we > have to a single person's work are the letters of Paul... Most of these > letters also came out of an interaction between Paul and a Christian > community. So if we are to speak of inspiration we need to see it as > involving not just a few individuals but all who contributed in any way > to the final text." The Bible With Understanding." Gordon S. Dicker, > Joint Board 1988 > > The inspiration of the Bible was shared between a large number of people > over centuries. The whole community of faith, not just significant > individuals, were used by God to produce His God-breathed records. > > Is the Bible still authoritative? This is the question we asked at the > beginning. Yes it is - not through whatever distinction we bestow upon > it, but by its inherent quality. It is authoritative to believers whose > eyes have been illumined by the Spirit of God. That is why the secular > humanist cannot see neither the inspiration nor the authority of the > Bible. When theological seminaries teach from a secular humanist > viewpoint, is it any wonder church doctrine and behaviour ignores the > commands of Scripture as neither inspiring nor authoritative? > > The tradition of the Bible Society and those who support its work > acknowledge the Bibles authority as unique and sufficient for > everything of faith and salvation because God has revealed Himself in > this written record of His events in history and in the life of Jesus > Christ and His Spirit. Whenever we open ourselves to the inspired Word, > it inspires us. > > > > That is our experience of God's Spirit breathed into those who wrote the > words and into all who read them with a seeking heart. > > For You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of > imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for "All flesh > is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass > withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord abides for > ever." That word is the good news which was preached to you. 1 Peter > 1:23-25 > > We thank God for every blessing that has emanated from Bible House, > Bathurst Street, and pray for even greater showers of blessing upon the > new building in North Ryde. > > > Rev Dr The Hon. GORDON MOYES, A.C., M.L.C.. > > > ------------------------------------------------------ > - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] > - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) > See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm > ------------------------------------------------------ > ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------
