All these studies come from the viewpoint that the Bible (= Old Testament + New Testament, not including Apocrypha) is SPECIAL REVELATION. The opposite of special revelation is GENERAL REVELATION. Those are theological terms for two very simple concepts.
GENERAL REVELATION is everything you can learn by using your five senses along with your mind and emotions. You can do it as an individual, or you can do it as a group, or you can use both. Either way, GENERAL REVELATION is limited by your HUMAN LIMITATIONS.
SPECIAL REVELATION is information you receive APART FROM your human limitations. One example is the message an Old Testament Prophet receives directly from God. Although I’m not sure how that happens, there is an example of it in 1 Samuel 3. Another example is when a “spirit” gives information to a necromancer. There are examples of these things in real life even today, but I won’t get into it here. So that’s what SPECIAL REVELATION is.
I view the Bible as a message from God. I believe we would not be in possession of the Bible were it not for God’s DIRECT INVOLVEMENT. There are a number of theological ideas on how this happens, but I don’t want to get into that controversy. It’s enough to say that THE ENTIRE CHRISTIAN BIBLE IS SPECIAL REVELATION.
The two key NT texts in this regard are:
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness … (2 Timothy 3:16)
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. (1 Peter 1:20-21)
One of the key features of special revelation is that its words and texts are not up for debate or change. What is says, it says, and that’s final. Scholars may find errors in the texts based on our modern ‘scientific’ viewpoint. They may be able to point out what appear to be contradictory statements about the same thing from different authors. They may even postulate that the authors got their ideas from others who didn’t even know the God of the Bible.
In the final analysis, these scholars weren’t the authors of the Biblical texts, and they don’t have personal knowledge of what went into the texts. These scholars weren’t on the counsels that compiled the OT and NT texts, so they really can’t say definitively. And since these scholars are removed from the youngest Biblical text by about 2,000 years, what can they possibly contribute objectively to the integrity of these texts, especially considering all the “experts” who came before them who accepted these texts as special revelation? Like I said, no point in getting into this controversy, because it’s a waste of time and doesn’t accomplish anything of value. If you want to read more about it, look up some books by scholars on TEXTUAL TRANSMISSION. Two such books from a conservative perspective are:
The Text of the Old Testament, by Ernst Wurthwein
The Text of the New Testament, by Bruce M. Metzger
The subject related to the integrity of the Biblical text is called Biblical criticism. It’s a relatively new ‘science’, and it is quite sophisticated. There’s a lot of money involved, not to mention national egos and organized intellectualism (think high-level, government-controlled, international universities). This is not a little subject that we can dispense with summarily. So let’s not get into it. Politics complicates everything!
Moreover, a number of other “criticisms” (scholarly ‘scientific methods’) have been applied to the Bible. If interested, you can get started by looking up these phrases in Wiki: Biblical criticism, form criticism, textual criticism, literary criticism, etc. Have at it!
I really don’t want to get all tangled up in those scholarly controversies. It’s enough to have studied it in college and chosen my position based on my “faith”. That’s right; IT’S A FAITH PROPOSITION, whether you’re a conservative or liberal. I am a conservative when it comes to the Bible. Most scholars are liberals (for shame!).
I happen to believe that the overall objective of scholastic criticism is to DESTROY THE INTEGRITY OF THE BIBLICAL TEXT, in order to discredit the Bible’s message. Basically, Biblical criticism is a war against the Bible. And by extension it’s a war against God. The key here is the POLITICAL OBJECTIVE behind this scholastic discipline. Don’t be fooled: The sciences are NEVER objective. They’re ALWAYS controlled by national and financial politics!
All of that to say this: My studies in this blog are based on the proposition that the Bible is a message from God, it means what it says, it’s not up for debate, it’s not up for change, and it’s especially important for us to get the messages that it contains. So that’s where I’m coming from. In the end, it’s all about what God wants us to know so we don’t get side-tracked in life by things that don’t lead to “eternal life”, and especially so we avoid the things in life that lead to “the second death”.
Reality Bible 