Introduction

God has revealed Himself to mankind in various ways. Without this revelation, we would have no knowledge of God whatsoever.  Revelation is what has been made known that could not have been known otherwise. Before we can look at God's attributes, His creation, or any subsequent beliefs about His dealings with us, we must first understand where we get our information. We must take God on His own terms, and those terms are found in His creation and in His Word. In what ways does God reveal Himself to us in His creation? There are two fundamental ways God has chosen to reveal Himself:

•  General Revelation: is God's creation - His works (Rom 1:19-20; Ps.19:1) which includes Nature and Conscience.
•  Special Revelation: is God's Word (Ex. 4:22; Hebrews 1:1-2)

General revelation is a double edged sword. While it is enough to condemn (for unbelief), it is not enough to save. Nature brings about an awareness of a divine being, and this is the first step in coming to a true knowledge of God, but it cannot convey other essential truths such as man's depravity, Christ's atonement, etc. Also the Bible is quite clear when it points out that sinful man distorts that revelation (Rom ch 1), often creating a "god" made in the image of man or of man's ideals. Special revelation answers the questions that General revelation asks.

The Major Tenets of Revelation

Historically the church has followed the following teachings of the Bible regarding God's revelation:

The Inspiration of Scripture (2 Tim 3:16) (Acts 1:16)
The biblical definition of inspiration differs from that of modern usage (i.e. an "inspired" musician, an "inspirational" teacher). The Greek word we translate inspire (theopneustos) means to "breath out" (2 Peter 1:21), or to "bear along"  (Acts 27:15) like a ship at sail. Both of these illustrations are crucial to understanding the Bible's inspiration. The Bible is a divine+human book...much as Christ was divine and human at the same time. The authors of scripture were not dictation machines, although some parts of Scripture are actual quotes from God. Their personalities shaped what they wrote much as a rudder may influence the direction of a ship. It will not change the general direction that the boat is traveling in a strong wind without cutting off the supply of air that is moving it. Rather, the writers were superintended in what they wrote by God so that they wrote exactly what He wanted them to write, without error.

The Infallibility of Scripture (2 Sam 22:31) (Ps. 33:4).
It follows that if every word of Scripture was given by God, then it must be perfect, without error, in any part. If what God said about anything was wrong then God would be guilty of error. Some have tried to limit the Bible's reliability in different ways, but this idea is not only unsupported scripturally, it flies in the face of what the Bible teaches. This does not mean that the Bible cannot contain allegory, free quotations, or figures of speech (i.e. the sun "rising"). Also it does not mean that in every instance the Bible must tell the complete story, so long as it does not contradict itself. In cases of "errors" of this sort the truth is not compromised at all, merely incomplete (i.e. if I say I had one class today, when I had three, I am not lying unless I say I had "only" one.). Also keep in mind that the Bible records things that God does not agree with...that is, if God records a lie that Satan tells Eve, that does not make the lie true, only the fact that it was said.

Christ's View of the Scriptures

Christ treated the stories of the OT as factual accounts (Matt 12:40; 19:3-5; 24:38-39; Luke 17:28-29; etc.) , so should we. These include such stories as the Creation, the Flood, and Jonah's. Often the historicity of the Bible will have an outcome that effects the doctrinal positions the stories uphold. In fact, Christ often quoted rather "obscure " scriptures, and relied on exactly the right tense of averb to make His argument. (Matt 22:23-33; John 10:31-38). Mt. 4:1-11 speaks of the plenary verbal inspiration of Scripture. Christ said every word, not some of them. This is especially meaningful when we see that Satan tried to tempt Christ by leaving out a few key words from psalm 91:11-12. Christ was not fooled by this attempt of course, but relied on every word rather than just some. When Christ referred to "the "Law and the Prophets" in Mt. 5:17-18 He included the whole of the Old Testament, not just certain books or teachings. Not only that, but Christ affirms the accuracy of even the smallest strokes of the pen! (A jot is about this big:  '    ) The tittle is even smaller, it is not even a full letter! (This would be like the top line in the number seven..."7"...without it a seven could be an "l", with one extra it could be an "I".) Christ said every one of those would be fulfilled as well! Christ asserts concepts based on the words themselves, not the other way around.

It is simply absurd when we see the exalted position God places upon His word that it could contain error. Some have taught that the issue of innerrancy is not important. While this could possibly be considered a secondary issue, there are major problems if one does not hold to it.

The Canon

To accept the Bible as the Word of God, one must first decide which Bible they will accept! This is a fundamental issue (when it comes to Scripture). Note that this does not mean that non-canonical books are always unreliable in everything they say (non-canonical writings are quoted in Scripture), simply that they are not inspired. It is no secret that each of the three major branches of Christianity disagree as to what is to be included as Scripture, here are the tests that determine ours (Protestant):

• Is it inspired? (this sounds obvious, but the writing should identify itself as coming from God)
• Is the book written/edited/endorsed by a prophet/apostle/priest?
• Is the book factual?
• Was the book received by the people of God at the time it was written?
• Does the book concur with previous writings? (Isa 8:20)
• Does the book lead to a transformed life?

•      None were accepted by the Jews.
•      None of them claim inspiration.   (One even specifically says so! 1 Mac. 9:27)
•      None claim or contain predictive prophecy
•      None were in the Canon Christ refers to.
•      None are quoted in the New Testament.
•      None are included in the ancient writings in whole until the 4th century.
•      They contain historical, geographical and chronological errors.
•     The discovery at Qumran included some apocryphal books (and many others that were not included with the Scriptures.
•      Most of them (with the exception of 1+2 Esdras, and The Prayer of Manasseh) were only added centuries later as a divisive tactic against the Protestant movement at the Council of Trent in 1546.

Could God write more to us? And if He could, would He? There is no single verse that says definitively yes or no. However, there is good reason to believe that God has closed the canon and that we can expect no more authoritative writings in the future. Because the Bible does not speak to this question specifically, it is a secondary issue. While many quote Revelation 22:18-19 to show that the canon is closed these words only refer to the book itlsef (as stated). The Bible as a whole had not even been compiled into a single collection yet. Also, the same warning can be found in Deuteronomy 4:2, and later in Jeremiah 30:2. The warning is for God's Word as a whole. But that does not mean that other arguments for canon closure are without merit. Jude 3 (one of the very last books written in the Bible) speaks of a faith "once for all delivered to the saints". This would assume that no more scripture regarding the faith was needed, and Hebrews 1:1-2 says that God spoke (past tense) through the prophets, meaning that He no longer speaks in that way.

Different Translations

There are many good translations out there, with different audiences in mind, and different translation theories to match them. With the advent of computers and the information age, there are new translations springing up daily and there are those who find themselves very uncomfortable with wording that is not in "their" Bible. Some groups have erroneously elevated their particular favorite to a level that is clearly unbiblical in itself. The real issue is, of course, whether a translation is true to the original meaning in the Hebrew or Greek - not about the age of the receptor language, the translator's alleged agenda, or one's personal tradition - at least it should not be. This issue (which can barely qualify as even secondary in its present form) has become a major division more than once in history. Suffice to say that it should not be this way, and should the issue be pressed, it must be on the grounds of textual criticism, and not mere preferences (see Bible Versions for more).

Interpretation vs. Illumination

Words, in their historical context are what we must base our understanding on. The "literal" or "gramtic-historical" method follows this idea, understanding words in their most natural manner. This does not mean we ignore symbols or metphors, for this is in fact part of reading the natural meaning of the text. Simply put, it is letting the Bible speak for itself the way we do any other writing, keeping the author and recipients and culture etc. in mind. The more we learn the more we see.

Further, the Holy Spirit is the Light that shines not only on our minds, but in our hearts. He is our teacher, and without His ministry in our lives we may understand biblical meanings, but we will not be able to apprehend them - apply them to our lives. Illumination is what brings about application of truth. As such, an unbeliever does not have access to this ministry. This is why unbelievers are said to be "blind" to the truths of Scripture, they simply are not capable of "seeing it" until they accept the prompting of the Spirit to receive Christ. Illumination then comes in conjunction with reading God's Word and being taught by those God has chosen to teach (Luke 24:45).

The Flow of Revelation

 God's Mind>>>
        Special Revelation>>>
            Human Authors' Minds>>>
                Inspiration>>>
                    Original Manuscripts>>>
                           The Biblical Canon>>>
                           Translation>>>
                      Receptor Languages>>>
                 Interpretation>>>
              Illumination>>>
    Our Minds

Conclusion

The Bible is the Word of God. Being so, it is inspired both in its words and ideas - even down to the mood and tense of verbs. It is accurate in all that it affirms. It contains no errors in its original autographs. It is the only way we have of knowing God as He is, and not simply how we may want to see Him. It is therefore the only source we have for doctrine, and should be taken in its most natural sense...not being filtered first through the church, science, society, psychology, or our own wishes. As we seek God on His terms He will illuminate the truth that has always been right before our eyes.