HOME / PROCLAMATION! MAGAZINE / 2009 / FALL / God's word

FALL 2009
VOLUME 10, ISSUE 4

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A R T I C L E S

 

God's word
or the words of men

Roy Tinker

 

Editor's note: The January-March, 2009, Sabbath School lessons were entitled The Prophetic Gift and comprised an apologetic for Ellen White's inspiration. This article is adapted from the Life Assurance Ministries commentary on the Sabbath School lessons published at BibleStudiesforAdventists.com. Written by Roy Tinker, this article reflects his response to the lessons for week 5: "The Inspiration of the Prophets".

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The author of the first quarter Sabbath School Bible Study Guide for January-March, 2009, Gerhard Pfandle, opens the lessons for the fifth week by posing several questions including: "What does it mean when we say that the Bible is inspired?" "What is the difference between inspiration and revelation? What is the difference between verbal and thought inspiration?"

The questions of the mechanics of how the Bible was inspired and whether it can be taken as the inerrant word of God, without error in the original manuscripts, are essential and foundational. We'll begin by looking at what the Bible says about itself. If we are to accept the Bible in any way, we must accept it on its own terms, not on our terms. There is no middle ground regarding Biblical inspiration and interpretation: we can either accept or reject what the Bible says about itself. In doing so, we either accept or reject the Bible itself.

Before we think about the inspiration of the Scriptures, it is important to know the purpose of Scripture. Hebrews 1:1-2 says:

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, who He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

Hebrews was written primarily to Jewish Christian believers who were familiar with the Old Testament. Let's pull some observations out of the passage: God spoke long ago to the fathers (referring to men who lived long ago—men of Israel). God spoke to these fathers in the prophets—meaning that the prophets themselves communicated God's word to the fathers. God spoke in the prophets in many portions and in many ways. God has spoken to us in these last days in His Son (identified as Jesus Christ later in the book of Hebrews).

The writer of Hebrews is clearly drawing a contrast between God's manner of speaking in the prophets and his manner of speaking in Jesus Christ:

Prophets	Jesus Christ
Long ago	In these last days
To the fathers	To us
In many portions and in many ways	Implied: In one portion and in one way

While God spoke in various ways through the prophets in the past, he spoke finally to us through His Son. How are we to respond to God's speaking, both in the prophets and in His Son?

God the Father Himself has given us the answer, verbally, to remove all questions and make His intent and our obligation eminently clear. On the Mount of Transfiguration, when Jesus appeared in glory with Moses and Elijah, the figureheads of the Old Testament (symbolizing the Law and the Prophets, respectively, which collectively constitute the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures), Peter wanted to make Jesus equal to Moses and Elijah:

Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah" (Matt. 17:4).

But God spoke clearly to them:

While he [Peter] was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!" (Matt. 17:5)

God the Father identifies Jesus as His beloved Son, a title given to no one else. He also gives us a command: "listen to Him!" In the presence of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament, through whom God had revealed Himself to His people, God the Father says of Jesus, "listen to Him!" The Father's command to listen to Jesus correlates to Jesus' title as the beloved Son of God the Father. We are to listen to Jesus, over against anyone else, because Jesus has this title, which is elsewhere referred to as the "name that is above every name" (see Phil. 2:5-11). No one else has a name or title as high as Jesus, the beloved son of God the Father; therefore, we are not to listen to anyone else over against Jesus himself.

Now that we have clarified both how God has spoken to us and how we are to respond, let's examine God's purpose in speaking to us. The following passage is from Jesus' last public statement before His arrest, trial, and crucifixion as recorded in John's gospel:

And Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me" (Jn. 12:44-50).

We learn these things:

God reveals himself to us in Jesus: "He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me." To believe in Jesus is to believe in God the Father. Jesus says elsewhere, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father."

God shines His light on us in Jesus. John says in his epistle, "God is light. In him there is no darkness at all" (1 Jn. 1:5). Light is a symbol of truth. Elsewhere, Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me" (Jn. 14:6). Jesus himself is truth personified; thus, He Himself is the light of God that "shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (see Jn. 1:1-14).

Jesus came to save the world. In chapter 3, Jesus says of Himself: "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world..." (Jn. 3:18-19).

God's primary purposes in speaking through Jesus His Son are to reveal Himself, to reveal truth, and to saving faith.

What about God's purposes when He spoke "long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways?" First, it's important to note that the primary purpose of the Old Testament, both the Law and the prophets, is to point forward to Jesus, who is God's full and final word to man. The theme of the Law and the Prophets pointing to Christ is repeated throughout the New Testament. Here are a few examples:

"For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John" (Matt. 11:13 – see the context for more information).

John was the greatest of the prophets until his time, because he pointed to Jesus and directly testified to him:

"Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (Jn. 1:29).

The prophets before John "made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow" (1 Pet, 1:10-11), but John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit in the womb and recognized Mary, pregnant with Jesus, even before he was born. Moreover, he directly witnessed Jesus, and he testified to Him.

"Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor" (Gal. 3:24-25).

The law here refers to the old covenant law given to Israel at Sinai, as opposed to the new covenant, which is given to believers in Christ (See Heb. 9).

"But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe..." (Rom. 3:21).

"Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ" (Col. 2:16-17).

Perhaps Isaiah 55 most beautifully sums up God's redemptive purposes in speaking to us. God speaks tenderly and compassionately to those he loves:

Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David (Is. 55:3).

The Bible is clear; we must accept the Bible on its own terms. Jesus is God's full and final revelation of Himself to us. Moreover, God the Father commands us to listen to Jesus over against everyone else. The Law and the Prophets point to Jesus; that is their primary purpose. Ultimately, God's purposes in speaking are to reveal Himself, to reveal truth in Jesus, and to save those who believe in Jesus. These purposes are identical to the purposes of the Bible.

 

The authority of God's word

In the Sabbath School lessons Pfandl attempts to differentiate between thought inspiration and word inspiration.1 He attempts to distinguish between the two, deriving a strained distinction from Ellen White's own words:

Revelation: the Holy Spirit revealed truth to prophets via "visions and dreams, symbols and figures".2

Inspiration: prophets interpreted what they were given and "embodied the thought in human language" 3 while being "moved upon by the Holy Ghost", thus creating words of Scripture.

The Bible is not in "grand superhuman language", but rather in "the language of men." Therefore, the Bible is imperfect, since "Everything that is human is imperfect".4 (Ellen G. White Comments, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 945).

These teachings are designed to devalue the Bible, and they disagree with what the Bible says about itself. Moreover, they disagree with what the Bible says about prophetic revelation.

In Deuteronomy 18, God speaks to Moses regarding prophets he would later send to Israel:

I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him (Deut. 18:18-19).

In this text we see that God himself "will raise up a prophet." No one will raise himself or someone else as a prophet; this work belongs to God alone. Further, God will put His words in the prophet's mouth, and the prophet will speak God's words in obedience to God's command. Finally, the prophet will speak God's words in God's name, and therefore in God's authority (but also in submission to God's authority, since he is acting in obedience to God's command). God Himself will hold accountable those who do not listen to His words.

Just as we are commanded by God the Father to listen to Jesus and are held accountable for listening to Him, God held the Israelites accountable for listening to His words spoken through the prophets of old. Just as Jesus' words were not His own, so the words the prophets spoke were not their own:

But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Pet. 1:20-21).

To Jeremiah God said,

The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. For behold, days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.' The LORD says, 'I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they shall possess it'" (Jer. 30:1-3).

We see that the written words of God are just as authoritative as the spoken words of God. Scripture is clear regarding the words of God:

The words of the LORD are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times (Ps. 12:6).

As for God, His way is blameless; the word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him (Ps. 18:30).

For the word of the LORD is upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness (Ps. 33:4).

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host (Ps. 33:6).

Forever, O LORD, your word is settled in heaven (Ps. 119:89).

Clearly, God's words are as perfect and holy and unchanging and unfailing and powerful as God Himself. As Jesus says: "For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart" (Matt. 12:34). God's heart is expressed and revealed in His words, and to assign any flaw to His words, no matter his vehicle of speaking, would be to assign flaw to God Himself.

A question arises: what about places in the Bible where God is not being directly quoted? Paul addresses the authority of Scripture as a whole:

All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

The Bible is indeed trustworthy. It is the words of God, spoken through men, but in no way imperfect or diluted. We can put our full trust and hope in the words of God, for they are just as trustworthy as God Himself is.

 

Textual criticism or submission to the word

The Adventist viewpoint is that the thoughts of Scripture, not the words, are inspired ("except when the words of God or an angel are quoted, or when God speaks directly through a prophet" The Prophetic Gift, p. 56). This teaching devalues Scripture and sets up a false dichotomy between verbal and thought inspiration. The real issue is whether the Bible is inerrant and whether it is authoritative. Again, we must accept the Bible on its own terms as stated in 2 Tim. 3:16-17.

The doctrine of the inerrancy of Scriptures is paramount and foundational to the Christian faith. If there is any belief that the Scriptures are unreliable, then we have license to come to Scripture without submitting ourselves to it. The doctrine of "thought inspiration" subtly introduces the possibility that errors exist in the Scriptures. Whether each word is inspired, and whether some words could have been changed, is the wrong question and a dangerous direction of thinking. If "all Scripture is inspired by God," then the whole body of Scripture constitutes God's word to us, and our proper response is not to question it, but to "tremble at His word," listen to it, and submit ourselves to it.

The Adventist discussions of inspiration have a particular agenda: to convince people that Ellen White is a true prophet inspired the same way the biblical prophets were inspired. They appeal to her physical phenomena and paranormal manifestations, but false prophets throughout Scripture displayed signs and wonders. These things are not an authoritative indication of truth or falsehood. Rather, the New Testament gives us stern warnings to watch out for false prophets.

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves (1 Pet. 2:1).

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 Jn. 4:1).

There are two tests for truth for any system of belief: correspondence to reality, and internal consistency. Applied to Ellen White's writings, the tests become these two questions:

1. Do her writings contradict Scripture in any way?
2. Do her writings contradict themselves in any way?

As we consider these questions, remember the promises of God regarding truth and our relationship to it:

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (Jn. 8:31-32).

This text explicitly describes our marching orders: to continue in His word. This is the ongoing activity of true discipleship. If we do so, we will know the truth. The truth will make us free. (Conversely, lies put us in bondage—and these bonds are what truth breaks when it makes us free.) We are to put our faith in Jesus, and our hope is to be rooted in God and in Jesus (see Heb. 11:6 and Matt. 11:28-30).

God's word to us declares that Jesus Himself is the way: He will lead us as our shepherd. Jesus not only made the way open for us to come to God through His death and resurrection, He will continue to be our Way throughout all eternity. We will never be without Jesus and will never come to God apart from Him (Heb. 7:24-25).

Scripture further reveals that Jesus Himself is the truth. Therefore, anything false necessarily contradicts or denies Jesus. Conversely, anything that contradicts or denies Jesus is false. To know Jesus is to know the truth. To love Jesus is to love the truth (and conversely, to love the truth is to love Jesus). Furthermore, Jesus Himself is the life. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men" (Jn. 1:4). There is no other source of life. To know Him is to truly live. "We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life" (1 Jn. 5:20).

 

Conclusion

When Adventists compare Ellen White and Bible writers, the comparison is contrived and designed to distract from the important issue of whether or not Ellen White's writings are true. There are two tests for truth: correspondence to reality (Do Ellen White's writings contradict Scripture in any way?) and internal consistency (Do Ellen White's writings contradict themselves in any way?). Jesus is the truth; we are to put our faith in Him, and if we continue in His word, the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth, and we will be set free.

Finally, Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy that God would raise up a prophet to speak His words. Jesus is more than a prophet; He is the Son of God. His words are God's words to us: words of truth, comfort, instruction, and life. We must heed the words of Jesus, and we will be held accountable for listening to Him. His written word is to be our only source of truth; additional writings and prophets claiming present truth or revelation for today must be rejected.

Let us come to Jesus and listen to Him. This is the one thing that is necessary. †

 

For further information on the reliability of Scripture: Sermon series by Dr. Gary Inrig titled "Words of Life" and available online in both audio and video formats: LINK TO SERMONS

 

1. Pfandl, Gerhard, The Prophetic Gift, January, February, March, 2009 Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, Office of the Adult Bible Study Guide of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, MD, p. 54.
2. White, Ellen, Ye Shall Receive Power, p. 222.
3. ibid.
4. White, Ellen, Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 945, quoted from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, January-March, 2009, Office of the Adult Bible Study Guide of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, MD.

 

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Roy Tinker is a software engineer and attends Trinity Church where he is a keyboardist on a worship team and also leads a small group Bible study. He and his fiancee¥ Adrienne Halpin are planning a June wedding.