The Canon and Inspiration of Scripture

Prayer:

Help us to understand your word, and to follow its teachings

I did an exhortation a few years back which started with "If at first you don't succeed ...

... read the instructions!" If you're like me you might tend to rush into things then wonder what went wrong. The simple fact is that many people fall into the same trap. We have people recorded in the Bible who should have know better;

• King David, when he wanted to move the ark, put it on a cart when it was written in the Law that it must always be carried on the shoulders of the Levites.
• Jeroboam wanted people to worship God in the North of Israel so he built a golden image of a calf, even though Moses had destroyed the one that Aaron had made.
• And Annas the High Priest condemns prophets from the North, saying none we recorded in the scriptures that had come from Galilee, just weeks after Jesus had likened himself to Jonah, a prophet who did in fact come from Galilee!.

And if anything today is even worse. People seem to have a 'pick and mix' attitude to scripture; they choose the parts they like and ignore the ones that they don't. I don't know how women priests dare stand up and preach when it says in black and white in 1 Corinthians 14:35 "it is a shame for women to speak in the church."

The Bible is an absolute. In terms of a reference it is all we need to get to know Jesus. The reason why I said reference is that we also need to do the works required by Jesus, as just reading and doing nothing is of no benefit.

The Christadelphians are one of the few, if not the only Christian body, who hold that 'All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (which you may recognise as being part of the writings to Timothy by the Apostle Paul)

Unfortunately the Bible can be a difficult book. There's quite a bit I don't understand and to make matters worse there are a number of versions and translations, styles and 'helps' available, all which seem to point one direction or another. Even the King James Version was modified as the translators of the time wanted to emphasise the battle between good and evil by using the word 'devil' in places where it doesn't really apply. This has led to many people believing that there is some super-natural creature as a devil, even when the Bible says that the evil is our own nature waring against God. (see my notes on the devil)

So to come to a more complete picture we need to

1. Take the Bible as a whole book, not pick the parts we like and ignore the rest.
2. Try to understand what the Bible is actually saying, not just skim read the 'stories'.
3. Try to put the Bible into action in what we do.

The Bible is the most important book ever written. We have to make sure that it is at the top of our reading list.