WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.800 Let me read just from one verse very quickly. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:15.660 As my word, God says through Isaiah, as my word goes out from my mouth, it shall not 00:00:15.660 --> 00:00:17.519 return to me empty. 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:23.039 It will accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:24.039 it. 00:00:24.039 --> 00:00:26.780 Isaiah 55-11. 00:00:26.780 --> 00:00:30.440 Last time we were together we started this series on trusting scripture in a secular 00:00:30.440 --> 00:00:36.679 age and we looked at the fact that the Bible was inspired and what that means and how 00:00:36.679 --> 00:00:43.200 that means so much more than just that word might say on the surface and the challenges 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:48.159 that we face in believing in an inspired text in 2023. 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:49.159 And so we took on some of that. 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:53.680 Today we want to carry it one step further which is not only to say the Bible is inspired 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:59.519 but also that it's true which is a logical step from inspiration to simply say the Bible 00:00:59.519 --> 00:01:00.920 is also true. 00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:05.840 Now that's where we really get into thorny issues and challenges from the age that we 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:10.680 live in and so we'll consider just a couple of those today more later in the series. 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:16.519 But the preview what we really want to say today is that truth is more than historical 00:01:16.519 --> 00:01:18.400 reliability. 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:23.319 So what it means to say that the Bible is true is much more than saying that the Bible 00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:25.799 got the facts of history right. 00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:28.439 Truth is it goes well beyond that. 00:01:28.439 --> 00:01:32.079 And so that's what we're going to see and talk about tonight. 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:37.079 So the big claim three things very quickly the big claim that we like to make when we 00:01:37.079 --> 00:01:42.119 talk about the truth of the Bible is to say that it is an errant. 00:01:42.119 --> 00:01:46.039 So the way that we express that statement is by saying the Bible is an errant in our 00:01:46.039 --> 00:01:47.039 tradition. 00:01:47.039 --> 00:01:51.399 And so what I want to do is ask three questions about what that means. 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:55.920 Truth has an errancy that the Bible is true therefore without error. 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:56.920 What does that mean. 00:01:56.920 --> 00:01:57.920 Okay. 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:00.400 And three things that we've got to say to make that clear. 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:02.880 All right first what is an errancy. 00:02:02.880 --> 00:02:03.880 What is it. 00:02:03.880 --> 00:02:04.880 Okay. 00:02:04.880 --> 00:02:14.800 Inerrancy very precisely is the view our view the church's view that the Bible is without 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:18.480 any errors in its autographs. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:21.560 That means the first forms. 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:27.359 So it's not that there aren't discrepancies in the ESV perhaps. 00:02:27.359 --> 00:02:34.959 It's that there are no errors in the original text that God gave through people through 00:02:34.959 --> 00:02:35.959 Paul through whoever. 00:02:35.959 --> 00:02:38.079 Now what is that original text. 00:02:38.079 --> 00:02:42.039 What is the first time Isaiah was ever fully Isaiah. 00:02:42.039 --> 00:02:47.079 Well it's hard to say because of course Isaiah didn't write Isaiah in a day. 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:51.920 He wrote it over a long sequence and how it was transmitted and developed is hard for 00:02:51.920 --> 00:02:52.920 us to say. 00:02:52.920 --> 00:02:57.760 So that means that when we say something like the Bible is an errant it's not a position 00:02:57.760 --> 00:03:01.640 that we come to by empirical data. 00:03:01.640 --> 00:03:06.360 So in other words we don't go through the Bible and study it verse by verse and say I 00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:09.600 have concluded like a scientist that the Bible is an errant. 00:03:09.600 --> 00:03:10.600 No. 00:03:10.600 --> 00:03:11.600 Why. 00:03:11.600 --> 00:03:13.600 Because what we're talking about are the originals. 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:17.359 And so in other words an errancy is a doctrine of faith. 00:03:17.359 --> 00:03:18.359 We say it in faith. 00:03:18.359 --> 00:03:22.799 We say that if this is God's word and we said that last time that this is the word of God 00:03:22.799 --> 00:03:29.680 and the words of men then therefore it requires that we say it's true in an era. 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:35.840 So it's a statement we make in faith not a fact finding mission. 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:37.199 And so those are very different things. 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:41.599 Now oftentimes people challenge an errantcy and get that confused. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:44.960 Like that the only way you can establish an errancy is if you go through the Bible and 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:51.240 check for any possible discrepancies word for word verse for verse manuscript for manuscript 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:53.599 and that's exactly the opposite of what we're saying. 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:54.959 We're saying no not at all. 00:03:54.959 --> 00:03:58.039 Of course we expect human beings that are messing around with it and translating to 00:03:58.039 --> 00:03:59.959 make mistakes from time to time. 00:03:59.959 --> 00:04:04.120 We're talking about a doctrine of faith that the originals that God gave us because of 00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:07.199 who he is are therefore without errors. 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:13.839 Okay now nevertheless that also there's still some tricky bits left that still hasn't given 00:04:13.839 --> 00:04:17.439 us everything we need to say about this doctrine. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:20.399 Before I give it to you let me explore a counter claim. 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:22.360 So what's the challenge to this? 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:24.240 Well there's two popular ones. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:29.480 One I've already dealt with and that's popularly represented by a person like Bart Ehrman a 00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:33.759 scholar at UNC North Carolina in the United States. 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:41.199 Ehrman claims that there are over 300 mistakes errors in the New Testament. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:48.399 And the problem the simple thing we can say to Bart is that matters of material discrepancy 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:51.399 within the New Testament aren't what we're talking about. 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:54.680 So what Ehrman's talking about is manuscript contradictions. 00:04:54.680 --> 00:04:59.719 This manuscript has the preposition of this one has the preposition at but when you look 00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:04.000 at almost all of them that Ehrman brings up there's no substantial discrepancy. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:05.640 It doesn't change the meaning right. 00:05:05.640 --> 00:05:10.000 Last time we talked about how the meaning of the Bible is not in every particular word 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:15.880 it's in the discourse it's in what God's saying to us across the whole of the sentence. 00:05:15.880 --> 00:05:19.800 And so almost everything Ehrman points out can be easily dealt with. 00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:23.160 For that reason Ehrman's claim that there are 300 mistakes in the New Testament is really 00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:24.800 not the challenge. 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:29.240 The challenge to an erency instead comes from some people that are a little more thoughtful 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:30.800 than Bart Ehrman. 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:38.720 And what they'll say is an erency is a entirely modern idea that ancient people, pre-modern 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:42.519 people ancient Near Eastern people just don't think in that way. 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:46.280 So when we want to say the Bible is an errant it doesn't have any errors in it. 00:05:46.280 --> 00:05:51.759 We're thinking like a modern person that an ancient person would have never never expected 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:54.160 the Bible to not have errors. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:55.560 So that's the common claim. 00:05:55.560 --> 00:05:56.560 Why? 00:05:56.560 --> 00:06:02.160 Because they would say modern people have the camera you know you have an iPhone. 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:05.480 And ever since the 19th century when we started recording things by camera and then later 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:10.040 by video camera we changed the way we think about the world. 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:18.399 And now what truth means for us is eyewitness testimony perfect evidence video recordings 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:23.680 innocent until proven guilty by some undoubtable testimony right but that's just not how a 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:26.240 pre-modern person thought about it. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:31.800 Modern people were okay to say this is legend and truth at the same time this never really 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:36.879 happened but at the same time it's also true in a different sense. 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:41.600 And we don't have time tonight obviously to unpack all the ways we might we might think 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:50.079 about that and speak about that but a wonderful book on this is Richard Balkon's book Jesus 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:53.120 and the Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony. 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:56.280 It's a wonderful book that explores this claim one of the best scholars in the world 00:06:56.280 --> 00:06:59.840 and he really really undermines this thesis in that book. 00:06:59.840 --> 00:07:03.319 So if you're looking for something more I commend it to you you can buy it from William 00:07:03.319 --> 00:07:05.840 over here I'm sure across the street. 00:07:05.840 --> 00:07:12.399 But let me just say this did did pre-modern people's really think that? 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:17.519 That's the real question and here's Augustine this is Augustine in the third century the 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:23.079 late third century late fourth century I should say and Augustine says this it seems to me 00:07:23.079 --> 00:07:29.120 that the most disastrous consequences must follow upon our believing anything false is 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:33.479 to be found in the sacred books with regard to history. 00:07:33.479 --> 00:07:38.719 So Augustine all the way back in the late three hundreds says it would be disastrous 00:07:38.719 --> 00:07:44.120 to say that you can find anything historically false in the sacred books of scripture. 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:47.719 Now he's not a modern person he's a pre-modern person he is in fact someone say an ancient 00:07:47.719 --> 00:07:52.519 person and so it's just not true and there's there's a lot more evidence for that. 00:07:52.519 --> 00:07:58.519 Now instead we can say secondly that we've got to think carefully though however about 00:07:58.519 --> 00:08:01.399 what an errant seed really does mean. 00:08:01.399 --> 00:08:07.399 Okay and let me give you a definition of what it what it means we've already said an errant 00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:12.199 seed is saying that the Bible doesn't have any errors in its originals but but we need 00:08:12.199 --> 00:08:17.039 to say more than that to hedge around other potential mistakes that might be made. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:23.480 Alright so here's something a little more precise an errant seed says that the Bible is true 00:08:23.480 --> 00:08:29.439 when God speaks the meaning God intends to speak. 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:35.720 In other words we read Isaiah 5511 and it told us what an errant seed means. 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:41.960 It says my word goes forth and it accomplishes exactly what I'd tend to accomplish. 00:08:41.960 --> 00:08:48.800 An errant seed is the claim that everything God wants to say is true and that he has said 00:08:48.800 --> 00:08:50.000 it. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:57.280 He says things without fail so whatever he wants to communicate in the text he has communicated 00:08:57.280 --> 00:08:59.400 and it has no errors in it. 00:08:59.400 --> 00:09:02.400 No errors with respect to his intentions. 00:09:02.400 --> 00:09:08.560 Now there's a very important reason that we put an errant seed in this frame let me illustrate 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:18.319 it we might any Jane Austen readers Jane Austen yeah a few, Siobhan others yeah I like Jane 00:09:18.319 --> 00:09:20.199 Austen. 00:09:20.199 --> 00:09:23.799 Glenis maybe you like Jane Austen. 00:09:23.799 --> 00:09:29.559 Jane Austen it's very famous Pride and Prejudice it is a truth universally universally acknowledged 00:09:29.559 --> 00:09:37.559 that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife right probably 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:38.879 the most famous Austen line. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:43.599 Now Kevin Van Hoeser uses Austen to illustrate an errant seed. 00:09:43.599 --> 00:09:47.919 So he says when you read an Austen line an Austen line like that we can say that Jane 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:52.519 Austen writes prose divinely. 00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:56.039 She writes literature divinely right. 00:09:56.039 --> 00:10:01.799 We cannot say that Jane Austen writes divine prose. 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:07.199 So she writes prose divinely but she doesn't write divine prose right. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:14.920 Divine prose is what the Bible gives you and it's where God speaks and says exactly what 00:10:14.920 --> 00:10:21.240 he wants to say without fail and that's an errant seed. 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:25.120 It's the same thing we really said last week that where is the inspiration located the 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:30.759 inspiration where is the Bible the Bible is in the discourse that God intends therefore 00:10:30.759 --> 00:10:34.960 we can translate it and it's still be God's word even though the Hebrews changed the English 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:36.680 the Greeks changed the English. 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:41.319 And in the same way an errant seed is not just the claim that the Bible says true things 00:10:41.319 --> 00:10:46.599 historically it's much more than that it's the claim that God says exactly what he intended 00:10:46.599 --> 00:10:50.839 to say and it does what he wants it to do without any failure. 00:10:50.839 --> 00:10:54.479 That's the doctrine of an errant seed. 00:10:54.479 --> 00:11:01.000 Now let me lastly and we'll be done just say a few things that make more sense of that 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:02.879 and why that's so important. 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:06.159 So the first is the nature of truth. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:09.959 So when we say that the Bible is an errant that God communicates everything he wants 00:11:09.959 --> 00:11:12.559 to communicate in the Bible without fail. 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:18.039 We say that because when you think about the nature of truth you realize that you've got 00:11:18.039 --> 00:11:22.079 to say more than just that the Bible contains historical truths. 00:11:22.079 --> 00:11:27.439 An errant seed has to be about more than just getting the facts of history right because 00:11:27.439 --> 00:11:31.600 if that's all it is you leave out most of the passages of the Bible. 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:33.959 Okay let me give you some examples. 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:38.560 In other words it's to say truth is much more multifaceted than how we often think about 00:11:38.560 --> 00:11:39.560 it. 00:11:39.560 --> 00:11:46.600 Alright so for example the Psalmist says how long a Lord, how long a Lord will you forget 00:11:46.600 --> 00:11:47.920 me? 00:11:47.920 --> 00:11:53.680 How long a Lord will you look on and not rescue me? 00:11:53.680 --> 00:11:56.040 What kind of a truth claim is that? 00:11:56.040 --> 00:12:01.120 Okay well you know what I say well the Bible is true and everything it says but what kind 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:06.440 of truth is the truth claim how long how long a Lord will you forget me? 00:12:06.440 --> 00:12:07.440 What kind of truth is that? 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:08.440 The prayer. 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:10.039 Is it a historical truth? 00:12:10.039 --> 00:12:13.039 No not at all it's not in the category of history. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:16.639 You can't go and say well maybe perhaps you can say well did you really say that? 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:18.399 Well of course it's written. 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:20.200 It's a prayer. 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:25.360 What kind of a truth claim is the claims of the Psalms, the prayers of the Psalms. 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:27.080 What kind of a truth is that? 00:12:27.080 --> 00:12:30.560 And it tells us that an errant seed has got to be about more than just historical facts 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:32.279 and historical data. 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:34.039 No an errant seed is much deeper. 00:12:34.039 --> 00:12:41.439 It's that God has said unfailingly what he wants to say in Psalm 77 or whatever it might 00:12:41.439 --> 00:12:44.639 whatever Psalm you might be reading okay. 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:48.799 Psalms aren't really about facts they're about prayer they're about singing and worshiping 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:51.000 God alright. 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:54.919 In the same way you can say that art is true. 00:12:54.919 --> 00:12:59.439 The art historians will talk about the truth of art or the philosophers and what they mean 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:05.120 is that art is true when the good and the beautiful come together in one painting, one 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:10.400 sculpture, one image and then it has the category of truth meaning it communicates the type 00:13:10.400 --> 00:13:13.200 of meaning it should communicate. 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:14.360 It should say. 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:19.320 It is what it should be that's what they mean when they talk about true art and so truth 00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:26.560 is not merely at all the correspondence between event and history and then the way we communicate 00:13:26.560 --> 00:13:27.560 it. 00:13:27.560 --> 00:13:28.560 It's not like courtroom truth. 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:29.559 Truth is much deeper. 00:13:29.559 --> 00:13:35.319 Truth instead is whatever God intends something to be. 00:13:35.319 --> 00:13:38.119 When it is that thing it is true. 00:13:38.119 --> 00:13:41.919 So whenever something is beautiful as God intended it we can say it's true. 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:43.879 It's exactly what God wants it to be. 00:13:43.879 --> 00:13:48.079 Whenever the Bible communicates a scripture communicates something that God wants and 00:13:48.079 --> 00:13:52.639 it does it it's true even if it has nothing to do with history alright. 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:59.480 So actually it's incredibly modern to say that truth is relegated to the realm of fact-checking. 00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:01.039 That's a modern way of thinking. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:04.080 Now that is true but truth has many more layers than that. 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:05.080 It goes much deeper. 00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:08.559 Let me give you another one. 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:10.799 He is risen. 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:13.399 Now what kind of a statement is that one? 00:14:13.399 --> 00:14:14.399 He is risen. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:18.559 There's no surprises here. 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:19.559 What kind of statement is it? 00:14:19.559 --> 00:14:20.799 It is historical right? 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:22.299 It is one. 00:14:22.299 --> 00:14:27.799 Paul says, 1 Corinthians 15, if he didn't then your faith is futile right? 00:14:27.799 --> 00:14:30.639 And so that's a historical truth claim. 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:33.799 If it was proven that Jesus did not rise from the dead then we wouldn't have an inherent 00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:35.799 scripture. 00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:37.279 But he did. 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:40.919 So the historical facts are true but also it goes beyond that. 00:14:40.919 --> 00:14:44.199 So here's one more, the last one. 00:14:44.199 --> 00:14:48.679 There were 14 generations between Adam, between Adam and Abraham. 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:52.919 There were 14 generations between Abraham and David and there were 14 generations between 00:14:52.919 --> 00:14:53.919 David and Jesus. 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:56.799 Now where do we find that one? 00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:00.399 What text? 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:01.399 Matthew 1 right? 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:02.399 Matthew, somebody shouted out Matthew. 00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:03.399 Matthew 1. 00:15:03.399 --> 00:15:04.639 There are 14, 14, 14. 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:12.799 Now if you relegate anerency to mere historical data you have a real problem when you come 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:14.899 to Matthew chapter 1. 00:15:14.899 --> 00:15:20.519 Because the point is not to say that there are literally and only 14 generations from 00:15:20.519 --> 00:15:23.559 Adam to Abraham, Abraham to David, David to Jesus. 00:15:23.559 --> 00:15:24.559 No, not at all. 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:26.840 There's some dude claim that that is the case. 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:30.600 But they missed the point because that's exactly the opposite of the point. 00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:35.519 The point is there are so many more generations between Adam and Abraham, Abraham, and David 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:36.519 and Jesus. 00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:37.600 Of course there are. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:41.899 But why is it being communicated this way? 00:15:41.899 --> 00:15:45.959 In other words, if you relegate it to history then you have to say the Bible is not anerent. 00:15:45.959 --> 00:15:47.399 But that's not what Matthew 1 is trying to do. 00:15:47.399 --> 00:15:49.439 Matthew 1 is trying to communicate something different. 00:15:49.439 --> 00:15:54.399 Yes, all these people really did live that are listed but so many more generations passed 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:55.399 between them. 00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:57.279 Instead, you've got several things going on, right? 00:15:57.279 --> 00:15:59.279 You've got 14, 14, 14. 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:02.360 14 is the number of David himself. 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:08.079 So the Jewish people knew very well that in Hebrew the way you count is you take your 00:16:08.079 --> 00:16:10.600 alphabet and your alphabet are also your numbers. 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:11.960 They're your letters and your numbers. 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:15.159 A is one, B is two in the Hebrew alphabet. 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:19.720 And so anytime a number appears it also looks like a word, a normal word, right? 00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:25.000 And so 14 is 464 in Hebrew and 464 is DVD. 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:26.840 All right? 00:16:26.840 --> 00:16:30.639 464, which is the number 14 in Hebrew, is what? 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:31.639 DVD. 00:16:31.639 --> 00:16:32.639 All right? 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:35.200 What does it say? 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:39.480 It says Jesus is David, David, David. 00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:41.039 14, 14, 14. 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:43.240 And how does Matthew 1, 1 begin? 00:16:43.240 --> 00:16:46.879 This is the genealogy of Jesus Christ and the very first thing we're told about him is 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:49.440 son of David. 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:53.720 And he is the David, David, David, King, King, King, or 14, 14, 14. 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:56.000 You have six sets of seven. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:17:00.200 But then Jesus is the seventh, seven, the true Sabbath. 00:17:00.200 --> 00:17:02.840 You've had six sets of seven but you need the seventh. 00:17:02.840 --> 00:17:04.039 And the seventh is the Sabbath. 00:17:04.039 --> 00:17:05.759 And seven times seven is 49. 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:08.680 And 49 is the multiple of seven and a very important number. 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:10.640 And we can go on and on and on. 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:15.840 There's multiple meanings here and it is exactly the point to say this is not the historical 00:17:15.840 --> 00:17:16.840 fact. 00:17:16.840 --> 00:17:23.039 There are many more than 14 plus 14 plus 14 generations from Adam to David. 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:27.080 And so if you relegate anerency like Bart Ehrman and others do to simply saying, well, you're 00:17:27.080 --> 00:17:31.759 saying that anerency means that every single moment it's pure historical facts, like we 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:36.160 had a video camera, then you're going to have to deny it eventually because of Matthew 1 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:39.040 and so many other places like it, but that's not what it means. 00:17:39.040 --> 00:17:42.240 All right, I'm finishing in three minutes. 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:50.040 Let me leave you with some things to think about to help all of us in our Bible reading. 00:17:50.040 --> 00:17:54.640 That means that whenever we encounter problems as we read the Bible, there's a few things 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:55.640 we can do. 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:58.660 One of them is we have to assume that the problem is with us. 00:17:58.660 --> 00:18:01.920 As Christians by faith, we have to assume the Bible is with us. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:06.120 And so Kevin van Hoeser says, anerency is the doctrine that God says exactly when it 00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:10.839 what he wants to say, but we only see it when right readers are reading rightly. 00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:14.639 That's how he puts it when right readers are reading rightly. 00:18:14.639 --> 00:18:19.000 So of course, a skeptic is not going to buy that, of course, but we're talking to the 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:25.839 church and in the church, we say, right readers reading rightly are those who have the spirit. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:30.959 And so remember last time we said that every act of proper reading is God the Father speaking, 00:18:30.959 --> 00:18:36.099 God the Son being the very content and God the Spirit interpreting that in our hearts. 00:18:36.099 --> 00:18:39.559 That's what happens when we read the Bible or hear preaching. 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:42.599 The triune God is there working. 00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:46.719 And so you have to be a right reader reading rightly or you're not going to see everything 00:18:46.719 --> 00:18:48.359 that's being offered in the Bible. 00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:49.359 All right. 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:51.679 So that's the first thing, just a couple more and we'll be done. 00:18:51.679 --> 00:18:56.279 Secondly, it's important to remember, however, that scripture is an ancient book. 00:18:56.279 --> 00:18:58.000 So it's not a modern textbook. 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:02.240 It's not a modern book in the way we often expect modern books to be written. 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:06.880 And so that means we don't go to scripture looking for scientific explanations, for example, 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:10.000 not at all. 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:20.599 Scripture does not say very much about most things, but it does give you the norm for everything. 00:19:20.599 --> 00:19:27.240 Scripture doesn't tell us very much about geology, but it can be a real norm for a geologist, 00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:31.900 meaning that it gives you the boundaries of belief of where your study can go. 00:19:31.900 --> 00:19:36.519 If your study is leading you down the path to deny that there was a creator in the beginning, 00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:37.519 scripture norms you. 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:38.519 It stops you. 00:19:38.519 --> 00:19:39.920 It says not, don't go past that. 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:40.920 All right. 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:43.440 But it doesn't tell you very much about geology. 00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:47.800 It does talk about rocks and gems pretty often, but not in a geological sense. 00:19:47.800 --> 00:19:49.680 It's not a scientific textbook. 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:55.880 So it speaks most often phenomenologically, meaning in Joshua, when Joshua prayed for 00:19:55.880 --> 00:20:01.320 God to help in the battle of AI, and it says that God stopped the sun. 00:20:01.319 --> 00:20:05.879 The sun stood still so that there could be a longer day. 00:20:05.879 --> 00:20:09.200 What might a scientist come and say about that? 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:10.679 Grant it's a miracle. 00:20:10.679 --> 00:20:13.240 Grant that God really did it. 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:19.159 Nevertheless, what might the scientist say about the way the Bible puts it? 00:20:19.159 --> 00:20:23.439 What's the problem? 00:20:23.439 --> 00:20:27.279 What's the problem with saying the sun stood still, even if God extended the day? 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:29.279 How would God extend the day? 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:31.879 God stands still. 00:20:31.879 --> 00:20:32.879 The earth stands still. 00:20:32.879 --> 00:20:35.319 Thanks Thomas. 00:20:35.319 --> 00:20:40.119 We know, now we know that it's not, well the sun does move, but it's primarily what that 00:20:40.119 --> 00:20:43.759 controls daylight and sunlight in a nighttime. 00:20:43.759 --> 00:20:45.519 It's the movement of the earth, right? 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:49.000 And so the scientist comes along and says, look, you've got an error. 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:54.160 It says, sure, maybe God did perform a miracle, but it's not the sun that stood still. 00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:55.160 That's an improper claim. 00:20:55.160 --> 00:21:01.240 It's maybe the earth that God stopped on its axis. 00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:02.640 It's not a scientific textbook. 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:06.360 We think that most of these claims are, we say it's phenomenological. 00:21:06.360 --> 00:21:09.440 They're written as they're experienced, right? 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:16.160 And every single one of us, we say the sun is rising earlier and earlier every day and 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:19.519 going down later and later as we get away from January, right? 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:20.920 And of course, that's the same thing. 00:21:20.920 --> 00:21:22.800 It's a phenomenological claim. 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:25.799 The sun is not rising. 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:28.519 Everybody knows that the sun is not rising. 00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:30.159 What is happening? 00:21:30.159 --> 00:21:31.680 The earth is rotating. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:36.319 And yet we will continue to say that till we die, because it's also true. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:40.159 It is true because it's true by way of perception. 00:21:40.159 --> 00:21:41.599 And that's a certain type of truth. 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:43.319 And so that's what the Bible does over and over and over again. 00:21:43.319 --> 00:21:46.960 It says there were 13,000 people at the battle. 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:52.159 And you say, well, if I had a video camera, I would have seen 13,407. 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:53.880 But did the person tell an untruth? 00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:55.200 No, not at all. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:56.200 It's phenomenological. 00:21:56.200 --> 00:22:01.040 It's the same way if you were looking over a cliff at a battle, you would say as a historian, 00:22:01.040 --> 00:22:02.840 there were 13,000 people there, right? 00:22:02.840 --> 00:22:03.840 You would do your best. 00:22:03.840 --> 00:22:04.840 You would do your best. 00:22:04.840 --> 00:22:06.840 And that's exactly what we get in ancient text. 00:22:06.840 --> 00:22:10.680 So we've got to remember what the Bible is and treat it in that way. 00:22:10.680 --> 00:22:16.720 Lastly, inerrancy is a confession, remember, always about the autograph of the original 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:18.480 text, the autographs. 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:23.759 Which means that we're OK, we're OK, we're not destroyed if we come and realize, hey, 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:27.839 the ESV could have done better on this word. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:29.120 That's OK. 00:22:29.120 --> 00:22:35.039 If we say, well, the manuscripts might lead us to change this preposition to that. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:38.640 You'll hear that, you'll get that even here because that's what's in the footnotes. 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:42.120 The footnotes that say we could have gone this way because of the manuscript. 00:22:42.120 --> 00:22:47.120 So even the Bible translators tell you from the outset, that's exactly what to expect. 00:22:47.120 --> 00:22:48.120 We're not upset by that. 00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:49.719 We fully expect that. 00:22:49.719 --> 00:22:57.759 That we have 5,700 plus biblical manuscripts that we now use to cultivate and curate the 00:22:57.759 --> 00:22:58.759 Bible. 00:22:58.759 --> 00:23:03.079 That's the most reliable document ever in human history by far, not even close. 00:23:03.079 --> 00:23:07.159 And so we know that we have a reliable text and that the inspiration is found in God's 00:23:07.159 --> 00:23:08.679 intended communication. 00:23:08.679 --> 00:23:14.719 All right, so believing the Bible, it has real reasons and what we believe about it has 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:19.240 a lot, a lot of substance. 00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:23.960 And it also requires in us, each of us, a posture of humble submission. 00:23:23.960 --> 00:23:29.920 That's really what we're saying is that we come to the text humbly submitting in faith 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:32.960 and saying, I'm never going to see the originals. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:37.279 But because I believe in God, I believe that this is true. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:38.799 That's the logic for the Christian. 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:40.160 All right, let's pray. 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:44.079 Father, we give thanks that you've given us a trustworthy word. 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:48.079 And we trust in it tonight and we trust that it tells us truths about you. 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:53.720 So as we come to prayer, we do it in thanksgiving for your word and we also do it on the ground 00:23:53.720 --> 00:23:56.039 that your word has shown us Jesus. 00:23:56.039 --> 00:24:00.399 And so we pray to you, Christ tonight, that you would hear our hearts in these brief moments 00:24:00.399 --> 00:24:01.399 of prayer. 00:24:01.400 --> 00:24:14.920 And I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.