The Self-Attesting Holy Scriptures
By Jay Wegter
Samuel Waldron on self-authenticating Scriptures (Baptist Confession 1689).
When we speak of the Scriptures as being self-authenticating, we are stating that the Word of God has authority in itself, and consequently does not rely upon external sources to verify its infallibility. The Bible is that authoritative test of all other truth claims in the world. In terms of its authority, “God says,” and “Scripture says,” are equivalent. Notice the wording in Romans 9:17: “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I
RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH” (Rom 9:17; Gal 3:8) (See
Exodus 9:16).
The organic whole of the OT comprises ‘God’s writings’ and are referred to in Scripture as the “oracles of God” which were entrusted to Israel. “. . . they were entrusted with the oracles of God” (Rom 3:2). Scripture is divine in that it is ‘Godbreathed’—thus it is a transcript of God’s decree (His redemptive plan of the ages) and, divine necessity demands its fulfillment. After His resurrection, Jesus said to His followers: “’These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Lu 24:44; Acts 1:16; 2:24-26; 13:34-35).ⁱ
EX. Attempts by unbelievers to explain away the Bible’s internal witness to its plenary verbal inspiration is reminiscent of the story of a be-spectacled researcher, who postulates about avalanches from the safety of his lab. With the help of diagrams and formulae he expounds from physics how every stone in an avalanche has a definite pathway that may be easily dodged and avoided by the proper presence of mind. But, an avalanche does not come at us stone by stone. It comes as an entire side of a mountain bursting upon us in a solid mass. So also, skeptics may think themselves smart as they dodge a couple of Bible texts, but the whole of Scripture is massive, all-encompassing in its eternal weight, divine authority, and infallible witness.ⁱⁱ
500 or so years ago, the Protestant Reformers faced the challenge of proclaiming the absolute divine authority of the Scriptures without setting themselves up as the essential authority which validated the testimony of the Scriptures. In other words, they were not about to fall into the same trap as the Roman Catholic church did which arrogated to itself the role of validating the authority of the Scriptures by means of its own ecclesiastical authority. Thus, in order to carefully respond to the issue of the Scriptures’ self-authenticating authority, the Reformers explained a trilogy of three doctrines in regard to divine revelation.ⁱⁱⁱ
First, the self-authenticating character of general revelation. General revelation (God’s testimony in creation and conscience) affirms that even depraved men cannot wholly escape the voice of God. Psalm 19 speaks of God’s general revelation, for the creation is filled with sermons without words.
The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard (Ps 19:1-3).
All men are immersed in a ‘sea’ of divine revelation. For, through the creation, God is ceaselessly authenticating Himself to man. Daily, a man’s conscience continually speaks; either excusing or accusing all of his ethical behavior. “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus” (Rom 2:14-16).
Thus, all men are without excuse for their suppression of God’s truth which is declared in general revelation. Thus, general revelation is self-authenticating (true of the illiterate and the heathen—define terms).ⁱᵛ
“The testimony of Scripture is clear. For, it is not that by general revelation men may have a vague notion of some undefined deity. It is rather that men are immediately confronted with a clear unavoidable revelation of the true living God.” Therefore, if general revelation is self-authenticating, how much more self-attesting is special revelation as it is inscripturated in the Bible? For, in special revelation (the Word of God), our Creator speaks to us as God, approaching us directly in His precise words.ᵛ
Second, the self-authenticating character of the Holy Scriptures. The Word of God asserts that it is living, active, and infinitely powerful. “Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?” (Jer 23:28-29; Lu 16:27-31; Jn 6:63; 1 Pet 1:23-25). (See the context for Hebrews 4:12-13).
The Scriptures demand all that hear them to immediately believe their message. Confidence in the truth of Scripture is required of saving faith. Like the Apostle Paul preaching on Mars Hill (Acts 17), we bring the gospel to men unproven. “Therefore, it is not required to bring with the Scriptures reasoned dissertations and external arguments in order for the Scriptures to bring about faith.”ᵛⁱ
The Scriptures are sufficient in themselves to warrant the confidence in their truthfulness which is required for saving faith. “. . . these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (Jn 20:31; Gal 1:8-9). In fact, to suggest that sinners must be convinced by external arguments is a position with undermines the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture.ᵛⁱⁱ
Third, the testimony of the Holy Spirit to the Scriptures. The complete assurance that the Scriptures are the infallible Word of God is obtained by the testimony of the Holy Spirit. This begs the question, if the Scriptures are self-authenticating, then why do the majority of people disbelieve? The answer addresses the necessity of the testimony of the Spirit. For, sin (human depravity), perverts human intellectual endeavor in the things of God.
Fallen men and women are ‘studious’ truth-suppressors. They do not wish to acknowledge their utter dependency and total accountability to their Creator. “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Rom 1:21; Eph 4:17f-21ff.).ᵛⁱⁱⁱ As a consequence, they treat special revelation in the same way that they treat general revelation, by suppressing its truth.
The natural man (in his carnal state) is blind to the glory of God; the Spirit penetrates that blindness. The Spirit, by means of the new birth, removes the evil ethical disposition which blinds to the light of divine revelation (2 Cor 4:3-6). Therefore, the Spirit’s testimony is an ethical operation. “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5ff.).
The Spirit’s enlightening work is not a new revelation in addition to the Scriptures; it is the granting of a new nature. The Bible teaches that if a man is to think correctly, he must be right ethically, for the mind of man is not a morally neutral reasoning faculty. “Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power. . .” (Ps 110:3; 2 Tim 2:25; 3:7; Jn 10:26-27).ⁱˣ
A man’s intellect will always gravitate toward the presuppositions which reflect the commitments of his heart. And, the natural man, due to his depravity, is doggedly committed to personal autonomy—that shapes his heart commitments. The testimony of the Spirit is necessary if a man is to exercise faith, repentance, fear of God, and obedience to will of God. These responses to the Word of God are evidences of the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit. For, the Spirit creates faith in the Scriptures, enabling us to see and savor, and understand divine truth.
And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Mt 16:17; 1 Cor 2:14-16; 1 Cor 2:4-5:1).
“We can see from this trilogy of doctrines that the whole effort to discover external attestation of the Bible’s authority is misguided. Authority cannot rest upon an infallible church or an [infallible] historical expert. God has spoken, the Bible itself being the Word of God; therefore, the highest possible attestation is the Bible’s own witness of itself.”ˣ
The Holy Scriptures exhibit, A Peculiar Glory, John Piper
Divine glory figures so largely in the Word of God. Saving faith involves faith in God’s self-authenticating glory. “For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor 4:6). How do we know God exists, that He is all-powerful, beneficent?
According to Romans chapter one, and Psalm 19, we are responsible to see this glory; there is no excuse to not see this glory. How did Jesus’s followers know Jesus is the Son of God?ˣⁱ The disciples saw this divine glory face to face. And, they impart this glory of Christ to us through their words inscripturated in the Bible. Their testimony is:
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’” For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus
Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him (Jn 1:14-18).
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ (1 Jn 1:1-3).
The fact that people do not see this glory in the gospel so as to be saved is blameworthy, and evidence of a hard heart. “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God” (Jn 3:19-21).
We can’t see this glory without God’s help, because we are lovers of darkness, and our works are evil. Due to the deception of sin, we loved the ‘cell’ in which we were chained. We kissed our shackles and gladly viewed the drawings on the wall of our cell as true glory, even though it was a masquerade; that is our blindness.ˣⁱⁱ For, Scripture says, “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures” (Rom 1:22-23).
What must happen is that divine glory in the face of Christ must shine into our dark cell, revealing the knowledge of God. The answer to our darkness is His shining into our hearts. It does not mean that there is nothing we can do until then. For, we are commanded to seek God as He is revealed in His Word (Is 55:6-11). Paul was sent with the gospel to the Gentiles, to ‘open their eyes’ (Acts 26:18). The power of the Scriptures in the hands of the Spirit convinces us of a peculiar, unique glory. This utterly unique glory of the Lord Jesus Christ convinces us that the Word of God is divine in origin.ˣⁱⁱⁱ
The majesty of the glory of Christ is expressed in His meekness and His greatness. For, He is Lamb and Lion. He manifests a glory that is our supreme treasure. What other king gives His life’s blood to make friends and heirs of His enemies? He saves and serves us in the act of manifesting His glory (Eph 1:3-12). Every human being has an internal template shaped for the communication of this glory. This is why we know in the Word of God that we have met divine glory (when confronted with His Word, there is a correspondence between general and special revelation). (EX. Helen Keller story, “I just didn’t know His Name.”).
God’s glory in Christ is manifested in His meekness—in the depth of His giving in His humiliation. The believing sinner is ‘captive’ to the glory of His majesty. “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 24-25).
The Bible is a letter from the Creator of the universe to connect you with the heart and mind of a divine Person. In His Word, God reveals His eternal purpose, “to fill the world with God-imaging images.” We see in a mirror dimly now (1 Cor 13:12-13), but then, face to face. “We are fallible but submitted to an infallible book.”ˣⁱᵛ
Five internal Epistemological Tests in Scripture
In each case, the test is applied to the reader, and each test is an ethical test.
TEST ONE – Do you fear God as He is revealed in Scripture? “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov 1:7). Knowledge, particularly divine truth, has only one trustworthy God-approved gate of entry, the fear of the Lord. Without the fear of the Lord man is unable to enter the realm of divine truth. Without that reverential awe of God, man sentences himself to be shut out of the knowledge of divine truth, and ‘sentences’ himself to wander on a shoreless sea of relativism and uncertainty. To fear God is to say the same thing about evil as God does and to turn away from evil (Prov 3:7). The reverential fear of the Lord is what is due God as our Creator (Ps 90:11). Those who fear the Lord tremble at His Word, knowing He is as good as His threats and His promises, and that His reputation is joined to the immutability of His Word (Is 66:1).
TEST TWO – Have you placed your mind under the mind of God (Jn 1:18, Matt 11:25-30, Heb 1:1-3, Ps 36:9)? God has clearly stated that Christ came to explain and unfold the knowledge of God to man. “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him” (Jn 1:14, 16-18).
If we attempt to gain understanding of God while doubting Christ’s testimony of God, and God’s testimony of His Son (1 Jn 5:9-12), we will be settling for error. Christ is the divinely appointed means of knowing truth and knowing God. Christ proclaimed that we must listen to Him in order to know the truth, be of the truth, and be delivered from sin’s grasp by means of the truth (Jn 8:31-37). This test sets forth the relational dimension of truth. One cannot be in possession of the truth unless one is in relationship with Jesus Christ who is the truth incarnate (Jn 1:1-3, 14; 14:6).
Christ is not only revealer of God and the authoritative spokesman for God, Christ is also the exact representation of God’s nature (Heb 1:1-3). To pass this test involves submitting to Christ’s epistemic Lordship. For He is God’s light to the world (Jn 8:12). And in Him are hidden all the treasures of God’s wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3). As the eternal utterance of God, all Scripture is truly the Word of Christ. Jesus tells us why empiricism cannot produce saving faith (Lu 16:19-31). Why do we need God to find God? (See Ps 36:9; Rom 11:33-36).
TEST THREE – Do you hate both your personal sin, and your love of darkness? “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God” (Jn 3:19-21).
Jesus blistered his hearers in John 3:19-21 by exposing the falsehood of their professed objectivity. Our Lord stated that the love of darkness is completely antithetical to the love of the truth. In so doing, Christ enthroned the central discriminating epistemological test: love of sin kills objectivity. Either we love the truth and are constantly repenting of sin and putting it to death because we want all of our behavior to be conformed to the truth. Or, we love our sin and therefore eschew the truth, twist the truth, and suppress the truth. The two positions are mutually exclusive. One’s orientation towards sin completely and comprehensively conditions one’s approach and orientation to God’s truth. Love of darkness is manifested in the suppression of God’s truth.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures (Rom 1:18-23).
TEST FOUR – Are you willing to do God’s will as revealed in His Word (Jn 7:17)? Jesus’ opponents tended to falsely accuse Him of a multitude of things: demon possession, selfish ambition, Sabbath-breaking, false teaching, etc. In John 7:17, rather than choosing to offer an extended personal defense, Jesus sets forth an epistemological test for His listeners. The test would determine, that is produce certainty, that Jesus’ message was infallible and divine. Here is the test: Are you willing to do the Father’s will as it is revealed in His Word? “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself” (Jn 7:17).
Again, Jesus is highlighting the ethical nature of truth. One’s relation to the truth is a litmus test of the contents of the human heart. The person willing to do the will of the Father (love God and neighbor as spelled out in the commands of Scripture and love the One born of Him—1 John 5:1) will see a perfect correlation between Jesus’ identity and message and the Father’s will.
TEST FIVE – Do you reject the conventional wisdom of this world and rejoice in God’s infinite wisdom in the cross (1 Cor 1:18-25)? In this passage Paul gives us God’s authoritative perspective of human history. God’s stated purpose in history is to humiliate human wisdom. God is precipitating a clash between the world’s wisdom and His own wisdom in the cross of Christ. God has made the cross a destroyer of human wisdom and its folly. The cross is regarded as weak and foolish by the world, but it is the power and wisdom of God concentrated in one event and towering over the human intellect. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND
THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.’ Where is the wise man? Where
is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (1 Cor 1:18-20).
Thus, the cross is the great watershed, the continental divide which separates impotent transitory wisdom from eternal wisdom.
So why does this constitute an epistemological test? The answer is summed in the beginning clause of verse 21, “For since in the wisdom of God, the world in its wisdom did not come to know God.” In other words, divine wisdom is at work in this exhibition of the folly of conventional wisdom. Those who subscribe to human wisdom will fail to know God and the truth of Scripture because they have not rejected the world’s wisdom in order to embrace God’s infinite wisdom in the cross. Therefore, their bias remains.
These internal epistemological tests of Scripture function as a powerful diagnostic tool to show the unbeliever that the posture of His heart is not that of a truth seeker, but a truth suppressor. Truth is ethical, therefore, inseparable from its moral base and Holy Author. Thus, to expose the moral fallacies of the unbeliever is a valuable pre-evangelism that strikes at the stony soil of the natural man’s heart.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Prov 1:7).
“To avoid Christ (who is God’s light-John 8:12) at any point in the academic pursuit is to be misled, untruthful, and spiritually dead (Greg Bahnsen).”ˣᵛ One must be presuppositionally committed to Christ in the world of thought or else (by default) be deluded by persuasive argument (Col 2:8). All ‘Life View’ thoughts and philosophies fall into one of two categories: obedience or captivity. “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (Col 2:8). We are to press the antithesis (mutual exclusion of opposites)—and in doing so remove all imagined ‘middle ground’. Without repentance, one remains in a state of foolishness, folly, and eternal darkness (Eph 4:17ff.).
An appeal to neutrality is nothing more than a thinly veiled disguise for all-out war against the epistemic authority of Christ. The antithesis between imagined human autonomy and Christ’s authority cannot be erased.ˣᵛⁱ We must confront the arrogance which assumes that genuine knowledge is attainable independent of God’s direction and standards. Attempts at self-sufficiency unavoidably result in futility.
So, this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness (Eph 4:17-19).
There are only two starting points in the realm of knowledge: God or self. God the Lord is the Originator of all truth. All our knowledge is a receptive reconstruction of God’s primary thoughts. Intellectual self-sufficiency always leads to foolishness and delusion. According to Scripture, a ‘fool’ does not want to find the truth; he only wants to be justified in his vain imaginations (obfuscations). The fool will not leave his intellectual folly UNTIL he sees that his imagined autonomy is hostile to knowledge.
God’s justice is filled with His intention to demonstrate His wrath in the form of a divine ‘object lesson’. Like a public hanging; error will forever be hung on the gallows of God’s justice and eternally exhibited in all its ugliness and horror (see Romans 9).
Consider how men who do not fear God are oblivious to this public purpose of God to demonstrate His wrath. God’s unbending purpose is to make foolish the wisdom of the world:
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.’ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world (1 Cor 1:18-20)?
God is in the pride destruction business. The Word of God says that one cannot know God and the world aright by means of independently exercised reason. Reverence and faith must precede the knowledge of God and what He has made (Prov 1:7).
The Hebrew word for fear is YARAH.ˣᵛⁱⁱ It means to hold in honor—to be afraid—to be in awe—to worship—even to be alarmed. The word ‘fear’ in the context of fearing God frequently refers to the reverence and awe and respect which God’s Person elicits (Deut 10:12-13). The fear of God is associated with obedience to His commands—obey, walk, do, listen, hear, fear, heed—thus fear of God is inseparable from appropriate moral conduct. Fear of God is also associated with the wonder and awe of God which are an essential part of true worship.
Of Job’s fear of God, the Word says that he was blameless, upright, turning away from evil (Job 1:8). The fear of the Lord is wisdom. Proverbs and Psalms are the major books of the Bible dealing with the fear of God. Fear of God, wisdom, and knowledge are closely associated in Scripture. The theme of Proverbs is the wise man versus the fool. The wise man fears the Lord; the fool is lacking fear of God.
In Ecclesiastes, God’s absolute sovereignty is a just cause for fear and reverence for God. The fear of God underlies wise decision-making (Eccl 3:14). The whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments—consider how ‘rational’ this is in view of the fact that God will bring every act to judgment; whether good or evil (Eccl 12:13-14).
A true understanding of who God is inspires worship; even trembling (Ps 55:5-6; 90:11). The fear of God inspires moral conduct. “But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even their servants domineered the people. But I did not do so because of the fear of God” (Gen 20:11; Neh 5:15).
Such fear is imparted to God’s people and learned through the Word of Gd in order that they might not sin (Ex 20:20; Jer 32:40). The hard-hearted do not have the fear of God (Is 63:17). Jesus commands men to fear God (Lu 12:5). The fear of the Lord is the first principle of wisdom (Ps 111:10; Prov 1:7). The fear of God is also associated with knowledge. “Then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God” (Prov 2:5).
Scripture teaches a metaphysical system—all things are of God, through God, and unto God. “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen” (Rom 11:33-36). Theologically—this is “Mount Everest”—all rationality therefore is stipulated upon reasoning from this vantage point of all things from God, through God, and to God. There is no other reality.ˣᵛⁱⁱⁱ
Therefore, we must think God’s thoughts after Him in order to bow before His authority in the Holy Scriptures and in order to understand and interpret the world as a whole. The Bible’s metaphysical scheme (Romans 11:33-36) is absolutely essential for Christian Worldview. What a contrast this is to the unbeliever’s metaphysical system of empiricism, speculation, myth, and folly.
Empiricism (facts contain their own interpretation) suggests that man may by studious observation (and by science) successfully aspire to explain all phenomena (apart from divine revelation). Empiricism cannot do the following:
- It cannot correct illusions (it can’t go beyond appearances).
- It cannot open up the world of reality lying beyond the senses.
- It cannot determine the limits of possibility and impossibility.
- It cannot deal with the world as a whole (it’s left with a fragmented view of the world).
- It cannot set forth an explanation of the nature of reality.ˣⁱˣ
Metaphysically, empiricism is capable only of reckless flights of speculation. Empiricism cannot discover the plan of redemption by looking at a cursed earth in which nature is red in tooth and claw and dominated by cruelty. This is sobering indeed—no wonder the reprobate is plunged into the depths of eternal confusion, no wonder humanistic utopian ideas appear attractive.
To be void of fear of God is to abandon the very condition necessary for knowledge. Thus, to reject Scripture as the presuppositional starting point is to destroy the possibility of knowledge. We are to call unbelievers to abandon their suppression of the knowledge of God— to repent of their rebellious mindset and to abandon the ‘worship’ of their own imaginings.
What is the highest, ultimate standard and criterion for truth—authoritative, clearly known—validating all other proposed authorities for truth? It is the Word of God.ˣˣ God the Lord interprets everything definitively. If we want to know something, we must think His thoughts after Him. God plans, knows, and sees all—therefore the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.ˣˣⁱ He knows Himself, then creates a cosmos and fulfills His plan for it.
Authority is part of His Lordship. He has the right to command, to tell us to obey, and to tell us what to believe. When sinners try to gain knowledge apart from the fear of the Lord, that knowledge is necessarily distorted. Why is this so? The answer is that God Almighty upholds all reality. His relationship to the creation as Maker; Owner; Upholder; Ruler; Owner; and Judge IS the very essence of prime reality (again, we cannot outgrow Romans 11:33-36). We can only know God, the universe, man, and man’s place in the cosmos IF we submit our minds to the mind of God found in His self-revelation—the Holy Scriptures.
When we speak of the unbeliever’s knowledge being distorted, we do not mean that every sentence is distorted—what we do mean is that his worldview is distorted, twisted, and unreliable—it does not correlate with reality. To make self, or something other than the God of the Bible, the ultimate reference point, and the final standard of truth is to commit epistemological suicide. The willful assumption of autonomy always results in epistemological disaster. God calls this speculation, or ‘doing your own thing’ utter foolishness.
The unbeliever’s method of knowing—his epistemology—his philosophy of fact—and his criterion for truth are collectively (according to Scripture) what make him a fool (Rom 1:18-25). What any individual regards as a fact depends upon his worldview.ˣˣⁱⁱ
The autonomous man becomes his own ultimate epistemological authority—this is hostile to the Word of God and it is abhorrent to God who proclaims Himself as ultimate authority of the universe. God condemns man’s quest for independence and intellectual self-sufficiency.ˣˣⁱⁱⁱ
When an unbeliever questions the Word of God as an ‘autonomous’ critic, the Word of God draws that person into judgment. God’s sure Word is the final authority and final criterion for truth. God’s Word is the ultimate authority in the world of thought. Woe to him who strives with his Maker (Is 45:9). The creature has no right to question the Creator.ˣˣⁱᵛ The authority of God’s Word is the necessary presupposition for all true knowledge. Rather than having God pass tests of fact, logic, beneficial effect, and subjective satisfaction, the Apostle Paul realized that logic and fact (and all other criteria) are senseless without God.ˣˣᵛ
A fool trusts his own heart (Prov 28:26; 29:11; 12:15). A fool trusts his own utterances, his own opinions, and his own professed wisdom. It is impossible to arrive at truth in this way, and it is impossible to autonomously verify the Word of God. “If one does not begin with the truth of God, he cannot conclude his argumentation with either truth or God.”ˣˣᵛⁱ
God is ultimate self-consciousness—God’s knowledge of Himself is foundational—what He says is truth, is real, and is fact. He is self-sufficient Creator. The mind of man is not self-sufficient—we must take in the Word of God as our starting point and standard of knowledge. We must presuppose Christianity—nothing can be known if the Creator-Redeemer is not known first. The knowledge of God is the condition of rational inquiry.ˣˣᵛⁱⁱ
Autonomy is destructive to human reason because autonomy makes impossible demands on finite, dependent, human intellect. In the Word of God, the knowledge of God is so certain that no reasonable man should doubt it. All the treasures of God’s wisdom and knowledge are in Christ (Col 2:3). Aside from Christ and His self-attesting Word—man can produce nothing but vanity: “the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’” (1 Tim 6:20). Thus, the quest for certainty can be successful only as one takes the fear of the Lord as the beginning of knowledge.ˣˣᵛⁱⁱⁱ
The fear of the Lord is the only reliable ‘gate of knowledge’—all other proposed gateways to knowledge put a person in a position to NOT have truth and knowledge. All other proposed gateways to knowledge (empiricism, philosophic naturalism, false religion, etc.) assume that man’s reason is autonomous—in other words; that man’s reasoning processes are able to attain real knowledge independent of God’s infallible revelation.
Here is a summary of reasons why the fear of the Lord is sole gateway to truth:
- Man as the image of God is an analog of God. Man’s mind is uniquely created to receive revelation from God. Man as image-bearer of God is designed by God to think His thoughts after Him. The highest man can attain to in the realm of truth is to think God’s thoughts after Him.
- Man is utterly dependent upon divine revelation in order to know as he ought. What God reveals in Scripture; man could never discover through his own independent inquiry.
- God structures all reality. God and His plan for His creation constitute ultimate reality. The Word of God is His revelation concerning Himself and His plan.
- Truth has no origin or existence independent of God. Truth is an ethical issue.
Truth is an ethical issue for the following reasons:
- Man was created with the capacity to know God. God made the knowledge of Himself evident in them, and evident to them (Rom 1:19). There are certain attributes of God that every man knows—this knowledge of God is inescapable (Rom 1:20; Ps 19).
- God charges man with culpability for suppressing the truth of God (Rom 1:18). Sinners studiously suppress the knowledge of God that they have been given. Because they work to suppress the knowledge of God they already possess; they are without excuse (1:20). Man is eternally responsible with what he does with both general and special revelation.
- Those who suppress the truth bear the consequence of their willful sin (Rom 1:18). The wrath of God is revealed against their ungodliness and unrighteousness which calls forth the wrath of God against them because they hold down the truth in unrighteousness.
- God paid an infinite cost to put men back in possession of the truth. Christ is God’s truth incarnate. Christ is God’s eternal utterance (Word) made flesh. Nothing less than the death of the Son of God in the sinner’s place can remove the darkness from men’s minds and hearts (2 Cor 4:4-6). Regeneration (purchased for God’s people at the cross of Christ) is the resetting of the mind to receive God’s truth.
The self-attesting Word of God and Circularity
Does the Bible’s ‘self-attestation’ constitute circular reasoning? We begin with the premise that the circularity employed in defending Scripture is not the same kind of circularity employed by the unbeliever in defending his erroneous worldview. The unbeliever’s circularity is flawed. A worldview cannot validate itself because it is made up of presuppositions (assumptions/core commitments) which are taken on faith. A worldview is like a scale that weighs things, but the scale can’t weigh itself. When it comes to validating itself, there still must be a standard by which the internal weights of the scale are calibrated.
The natural man’s reasoning processes may be compared to a pair of “faulty scales.”ˣˣⁱˣ It is useful to the Christian apologist to know that the unbeliever’s “scales” are not in working order! In this analogy the “scales” are analogous to one’s world view. All information that a person encounters is interpreted by means of his world view. The scales are utilized to validate everything except one thing—they cannot weigh themselves!
God has given to every man “weights” that are accurately stamped. They are stamped internally by reason of the fact that all men bear the image of God. Every person has an innate knowledge that he is made in the image of an almighty Creator—the law of God is written upon man’s heart (Rom 2:14-15).
The God-given “weights” are also stamped externally. The whole creation that surrounds man gives inescapable daily evidence of the power, wisdom, and majesty of its Creator (Ps 19).ˣˣˣ In order to avoid the indelible stamp that God has put upon these “weights,” the natural man constructs a fantasy view (illusory) of reality that flows from his own mind. As a consequence, the unbeliever’s ‘scales’ do not “weigh” accurately. “Issues that should carry great weight [the Creator’s absolute claims on the creature; what we owe God] have no weight at all on the scales of unbelief.”ˣˣˣⁱ
The unbeliever cannot get an accurate reading upon his scales because he has set aside the authoritative claims of God, Christ, and Scripture. Because the apologist is armed with an understanding of the unbeliever’s reasoning processes, he will not suggest for a moment that the unbeliever’s scales are in working order.ˣˣˣⁱⁱ
When the Christian apologist keeps asking the question, “And why is that true?” He is actually ‘drilling down’ deep enough to hit core assumptions which are taken on faith. These core assumptions are commonly offered as ‘proofs’ of one’s life view—but in reality, they are self-referential (EX. Atlas holding up the earth, standing on an endless stack of tortoises).
The circularity employed in defending Scripture is inseparable from the Scripture’s sufficiency. General revelation renders all men guilty; without excuse (Rom 1:20). Thus, how one treats general revelation (God’s infallible revelation in the creation) totally conditions how one treats special revelation (the inscripturated Word of God). Western culture, having abandoned God’s absolutes, utilizes the distorted lens of naturalism to interpret the facts of God’s creation. The result is futility, folly—the natural man’s ‘epistemology—truth suppression and clinging to autonomy—make him a fool (Rom 1:21; Eph 4:17-19).
Is human reason the ‘common ground’ we have with the unbeliever?
Reason is not the common ground upon which the believer should try to make contact with the unbeliever. Unbelievers possess an epistemic bias is to twist God’s truth for their purposes since they are truth suppressors.
Granting human reason as “common ground” suggests that the unbeliever may use reason to determine whether he/she should believe in the God of the Bible or not. The Bible does not grant this right. The unbeliever is called to repent and believe the gospel. We bring the gospel to men unproven (see Acts 17:30-31).
If you set out to map the Himalayas with a pad of paper, a flashlight, and a 12 inch ruler—you would fail on a grand scale. Why? Because the magnitude of what you are seeking to map and measure is infinitely larger than your tools and your vantage point. So also, the God of Scripture cannot be known or found by the inadequate tools of human reason and empiricism.
John Calvin’s Doctrine, by John Piper
How this happened is extremely important, and we need to see Calvin himself describe it in the Institutes, especially Book I, Chapters VII and VIII. Here he wrestles with how we can come to a saving knowledge of God through the Scriptures. His answer is the famous phrase, "the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit." For example, he says, "Scripture will ultimately suffice for a saving knowledge of God only when its certainty is founded upon the inward persuasion of the Holy Spirit" (I, viii, 13). So, two things came together for Calvin to give him a "saving knowledge of God" – Scripture and the "inward persuasion of the Holy Spirit." Neither alone suffices to save.
But how does this actually work? What does the Spirit do? The answer is not that the Spirit gives us added revelation to what is in Scripture (see note 16) but that he awakens us, as from the dead, to see and taste the divine reality of God in Scripture, which authenticates it as God's own word. He says, " Our Heavenly Father, revealing his majesty [in Scripture], lifts reverence for Scripture beyond the realm of controversy" (I, viii, 13). There is the key for Calvin: the witness of God to Scripture is the immediate, unassailable, life-giving revelation to the mind of the majesty of God manifest in the Scriptures themselves.
Over and over again in his description of what happens in coming to faith you see his references to the majesty of God revealed in Scripture, and vindicating Scripture. So already in the dynamics of his conversion the central passion of his life is being ignited.
We are almost at the bottom of this experience now. If we go just a bit deeper we will see more clearly why this conversion resulted in such an "invincible constancy" in Calvin's lifelong allegiance to the majesty of God and the truth of God's Word. Here are the words that will take us deeper.
Therefore, illumined by [the Spirit's] power, we believe neither by our own [note this!] nor by anyone else's judgment that Scripture is from God; but above human judgment we affirm with utter certainty (just as if we were gazing upon the majesty of God himself) that it has flowed to us from the very mouth of God by the ministry of men. (I, vii, 5).
This is almost baffling. He says that his conviction concerning the majesty of God in Scripture rests not in any human judgment, not even his own. What does he mean? As I have wrestled with this, the words of the apostle John have shed the most helpful light on what Calvin is trying to explain. Here are the key words from 1 John 5:7-11:
And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. . . . If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God [= the Spirit] is greater; for the witness of God is this, that He has borne witness concerning His Son. . . . The witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
In other words, the "witness of God," that is, the inward witness of the Spirit, is greater than any human witness – including, I think John would say in this context, the witness of our own judgment. And what is that witness of God? It is not merely a word delivered to our judgment for reflection, for then our conviction would rely on that reflection. What is it then? Verse 11 is the key: "The witness is this: that God has given us eternal life." I take that to mean that God witnesses to us of his reality and the reality of his Son and his Word by giving us life from the dead so that we come alive to his majesty and see him for who he is in his Word. In that instant we do not reason from premises to conclusions, we see that we are awake, and there is not even a prior human judgment about it to lean on. When Lazarus wakened in the tomb by the call or the "witness" of Christ, he knew without reasoning that he was alive and that this call waked him.
Here's the way J. I. Packer puts it:
The internal witness of the Spirit in John Calvin is a work of enlightenment whereby, through the medium of verbal testimony, the blind eyes of the spirit are opened, and divine realities come to be recognized and embraced for what they are. This recognition Calvin says, is as immediate and un-analysable as the perceiving of a color, or a taste, by physical sense – an event about which no more can be said than that when appropriate stimuli were present it happened, and when it happened we know it had happened.
So, in his early twenties John Calvin experienced the miracle of having the blind eyes of his spirit opened by the Spirit of God. And what he saw immediately, and without any intervening chain of human reasoning, were two things, so interwoven that they would determine the rest of his life: the majesty of God and the Word of God. The Word mediated the majesty and the majesty vindicated the Word. Henceforth he would be a man utterly devoted to displaying the majesty of God by the exposition of the Word of God.
Epistemological Certainty (how can we know what knowledge is reliable?)
Truth is an ethical issue. Every human being is constantly evaluating his own behavior. The very fact that our conscience is either defending or accusing every ethical decision we make is powerful evidence we are created in the image of God (Rom 2:11-16). People pretend that eternal truth is solely in the rational realm; and not the moral realm. But Scripture makes it clear that eternal truth has no independent existence from God. God’s Word is truth; eternal truth; He is its Author (Jn 17:17; 1:1-3).
Have you ever wondered why God’s truth is downright disturbing; why it makes people uncomfortable? The answer is—truth is an ethical matter; God’s infallible truth shines a light of exposure on a man’s heart (Heb 4:12). It reveals motives and desires. It illuminates moral rebellion and corruption (Rom 3:19-20). God’s truth finds out where you live and where you hide from God.
No one can be neutral regarding God’s truth—we love the truth or hate the truth. Jesus explains why men hate the truth (the light); He says that God’s testimony is as follows: sinful men prefer darkness because their deeds are evil (Jn 3:19-21). Christ is highlighting the ethical nature of truth. Evil deeds, says Jesus, kill objectivity. Men feign objectivity; pretending to be truth-seekers; when in reality they hate the light.
God is justly offended by man’s flight from truth. Because we were created in the image of God, we have an innate knowledge of God. We know that He is Creator; that He is good; Almighty; and that He will judge us some day. Every person knows the attributes of God listed in Romans 1:19, 20). Therefore, when an unbeliever reads or hears God’s Word; there is an instant correlation between what he knows instinctively about God; and what he is reading. If he suppresses the truth; he calls down God’s wrath upon himself because he is without excuse (Rom 1:20). Why is he without excuse? Because God says that His revelation in creation, and in man’s consciousness is evident. That means that God created you with the capacity to recognize spiritual truth the moment you see it; you are accountable.
Man has such an irrational preference for darkness, that the cost of possessing God’s eternal truth is extremely high. Modern men, like Pilate of old standing before Christ, flee from accountability to God by uttering, “What is truth?” But God’s truth permits no neutral ground. Like Pilate, everyman must either judge himself or judge Christ and God’s testimony concerning Christ. The Roman ruler’s capitulation sent Christ (the Truth Incarnate) to the executioners. So also the natural man of contemporary culture judges God’s revelation in Christ to be unreliable and self to be authoritative (thereby contradicting God and calling Him a liar; 1 Jn 5:10).
On God’s side; the cost of putting sinners in possession of the truth was nothing less than the sacrifice of the Son of God. The cost to us is to take up our cross; that is a willingness to keep putting sin to death (Rom 8:12, 13). Either we are being conformed to the truth through ongoing repentance; or we are in rebellion against the truth. It is impossible to be static (Rom 12:1, 2). The same eternal God who spoke creation into existence out of nothing has spoken in His Son (Heb 1:1-3). This is why His truth ‘is living’; and has the power to transform our lives.
The cross of Christ does not fit with man’s method of validating religious truth (1 Cor 1:22). Historically mankind has sought ways to validate religious truth. “Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:22). But God’s validation of truth is the revelation of Himself in Christ. Not only in the discourses of Jesus is God revealed, but also in the works of Christ and the Person and character of Christ.
But the revelation of God’s truth, wisdom, and righteousness reach their most pivotal focus in the cross of Christ. This presents a paradox to the mind of man. For the death of Christ does not immediately satisfy either the Jewish or Greek criterion for the validation of religious truth. The cross mortifies arrogance. The effect is a radical humbling of human pride. For the reception of God’s wisdom in the revelation of His Son is not made to depend upon the accessibility of signs; nor is it made to depend upon human wisdom. The wise did not find the cross of Christ compatible with their wisdom and the Jews were not brought to faith by signs. Both Old and New Testaments affirm that the knowledge of God is unattainable by the exercise of human reason and senses. Man by investigation cannot build an observation tower to view God, and then by reflection determine what is true about Him. God has closed off all of those avenues. “The world through its wisdom did not come to know God” (1 Corinthians 1:21).
An entirely new faculty is needed in order to apprehend the knowledge of God with absolute certainty (1 Cor 2:6-16). Having eliminated reliance upon signs, human wisdom, and that which can be perceived by the senses, Scripture states that the validation of religious truth shall be by another means altogether. That new faculty needed is the Holy Spirit indwelling a man. (1 Corinthians 2:10-16). The cost of the new birth was the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though God has provided abundant evidences that the Scriptures are the very words of God, “[The] full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth, and the divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word [of God].”ˣˣˣⁱⁱⁱ
Man cannot reason his way to God; empiricism is not the gate to spiritual truth. Man is humbled by the scriptural proposition that the foundation for certainty shall not rest upon signs, wisdom, empirical evidence, nor the scientific method. God’s special revelation in Christ and the Scriptures is the foundation for certainty concerning spiritual truth. Christ Himself is the epistemology of those who believe. (Colossians 2:8). Christ reveals absolute truth and the Holy Spirit validates absolute truth. By the knowledge of Christ through the Scriptures, the believer is given the Holy Spirit who continually validates the veracity of God’s Word.
God desires that those who bear a saving relationship to Himself (and thus to His truth) shall be fully assured and persuaded that they are in possession of absolute truth. “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). At times God even condescends to swear by oath—so that redeemed men and women may have full assurance that His revelation is infallibly true (Hebrews 6:17-20).
The Gospel as the mind of God is foreign to human understanding; it requires the faculty of the Holy Spirit implanted in man to fully comprehend it. Men have no compendium of knowledge and experience to draw upon by which to probe the mind of God. Nothing less than the illuminating ministry of the Spirit will suffice to give understanding. Without His anointing, men read the Bible with the “lights off.” The precious things of the Spirit of God are regarded as foolishness. (1 Corinthians 2:14). Spiritual realities are spiritually discerned. They cannot be perceived with certainty and finality apart from the work of God’s Spirit. It is His ministry to convince a man that the supernatural truths he is reading about are beyond speculation. How vital this is. The sacrifices Christ calls a man to endure are joined to the conviction that his spiritual possessions consist of wealth beyond measure; and certainty beyond doubt.
The Spirit gives full assurance to the believer that by union with Christ his heavenly possessions, though freely given, are his by legal right. (1 Corinthians 2:12). Only a person who has God’s Spirit living in him can know with certainty that he is the object of divine activity. Only a person indwelled by God’s Spirit can think God’s thoughts after Him. The Holy Spirit enables a believer to employ his own mind in the study of Scripture and in so doing to allow the Scriptures to dominate exceptionally in that man’s intellect, will and affections (nothing less than this experience is meant by the Scriptural term, ‘believe’). That man who by the Spirit’s ministry has a renewed mind is said to have “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).
Observations about epistemological certainty from 1 John 5:1-13. Vv. 1-3 – Love, truth, and faith are always found together. Real love is shown by a concern to do God’s will. Epistemological certainty is a function of being willing to do God’s will—choose the things that please God; take delight in them (Jn 7:17).
Vv. 4-8 – Faith is not an optimistic attitude; faith is always directly connected with its object (and its trustworthiness). Man cannot receive the witness by himself. There are no human categories available to him through which to understand God’s redemptive activity in Christ. God’s revelation in the Gospel of Christ does not neatly fit into some portion of man’s data; natural men are unable to deduce the truth for themselves by means of analogical thought. (Consider that when Jesus announced His coming death to His disciples; they did not understand – Mt 17:22, 23).
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit provides what humanity is not able to provide for itself. The witness of the Spirit accompanies every presentation of the Word of God. The Spirit’s witness is not a still small voice; “It is the gift of eternal faith breaking into the soul.” The witness of the Spirit (first experienced in the new birth) is God’s own gift to enable the sinner to lay hold of God.ˣˣˣⁱᵛ
Faith in the Son is based upon valid external and internal testimony. God has born historical testimony to His Son; and individually, He bears internal testimony through His Spirit.ˣˣˣᵛ William Hendrickson says of Christ’s illumining work [through His Spirit], “He illumines every man who hears the Gospel; i.e. He imparts a degree of understanding [about] spiritual matters (not necessarily resulting in salvation) to all those whose ears and minds are reached by the message of salvation.” “The majority do not respond favorably. Many who have the light prefer the darkness. Some, however, due entirely to the sovereign, saving grace of God, receive the word with the proper attitude of heart and mind, and obtain everlasting life.”ˣˣˣᵛⁱ
Vv. 9-13 – It is God who is behind the testimony. The purpose of the testimony is to evoke faith in Christ. The sinner’s initial step of faith is a ‘stepping stone’ to receive further testimony from God. This ‘further testimony’ is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit—who provides constant confirmation. The ‘cost’ of certainty of knowledge is faith. The unbeliever forfeits the possibility of receiving further testimony from God—because “he has made Him a liar” by not believing God’s testimony concerning His Son. Unbelief is not an unfortunate error in judgment; it is damnable, deplorable wickedness.ˣˣˣᵛⁱⁱ
The Spirit’s work is to give uninterrupted witness to the truth. Without His witness; the message of the water and the blood (which confirm Christ’s Messiah-ship) remains unintelligible. The Spirit interprets the true mission of Christ’s work to the heart of the believer. He testifies of Jesus (Jn 15:26; 14:17; 16:13). As a result of the new birth; the believer has the witness in himself.xxxviii
God has annexed His glorious Name to the perfect fulfillment of His Word (Ps 138:2). We shudder to think what will become of those who have assumed that God is not as good as His Word (as good as His threats; and His promises). There is no greater folly than to build upon the sandy soil of doubting God’s Word. Better to sit on the seashore in a cardboard box as a tsunami approaches than to build one’s hope upon the folly that God does not mean what He says. Satan lost his eternal soul by betting that God’s infinite power, holiness, and sovereignty did not stand behind His Word. Now Satan eagerly shares his delusion with the sons of men (2 Cor 4:4-6). Discuss the following passages which are related to epistemological certainty: John 7:17; Matthew 18:1-3; Matthew 16:17; Proverbs 1:7; John 14:9-12; Matthew 13:11, 16; 1 John 5:1-13.
Christ’s epistemic authority as the Living Word, and as source of the written Word. Christ’s role as “Prophet” involves revealing to us “by His Word and His Spirit the will of God for our salvation.”ˣˣˣⁱˣ “He is uniquely equipped for this office, inasmuch as all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him (Col 2:2-3). To refuse His epistemic lordship is to continue in epistemic futility. Christ repeatedly stated that He did not bear witness of Himself (Jn 8:14). His Word was NOT His own teaching.”ˣˡ
“It should be carefully noted that when the incarnate Son of God authenticated the Scriptures, He was not only authenticating His own word, but He was also doing it according to His own declared authority in keeping with the principle He affirmed in John 8:14. Jesus based the validity of His testimony upon an appeal to His own knowledge of Himself, unintimidated by the charge of petitio principii [assuming in the premise what one wishes to prove, “begging the question”]. His appeal is in accord with the divine procedure enunciated in Hebrews 6:13: “. . . when God made a promise . . ., since He had no one greater by whom to swear, He swore by Himself.ˣˡⁱ
Hence one must never separate in his doctrine of Scripture the Scriptures themselves from the Christ of Scripture. It is the same self-attesting eternal Word revealing itself and speaking in and through both. . . . Christ’s Word in Scripture is essential to true knowledge; as the standard of truth (Jn 14:6), the Word of the Christ of Scripture ultimately is the test of truth (Luke 16:31). To doubt the truthfulness of Scripture is to doubt the Christ of Scripture is to be immoral, it is to operate with one’s false ideal and test of knowledge (epistemology). To fail to believe Christ and His Word, the Bible, will result only in His refusal to acknowledge the unbeliever as His own in the day of judgment (Luke 9:26). To refuse to receive His words as one’s authority will result one day in one’s being judged by those very words (Jn 12:48).”ˣˡⁱⁱ
Christ’s epistemic Lordship governs our apologetic methodology. Only God’s Word can penetrate to the depths of the heart. Rationalism won’t go there. The arguments posed by semi-rational apologists are ineffective at entering that realm of reality in which the Word and the Spirit of God must go to convert a man. Proofs and evidences do not enter that realm. Our problem is that we are not really sure that the Word of God has that much power! We imagine that we need extra helps and props to have people really believe it is God’s Word. We assume that we need semi-rationalistic argumentation with philosophically minded folks before people will take Christianity seriously.ˣˡⁱⁱⁱ
“How can a man believe what he has not and cannot see?” ANSWER: God has built into us the capacity to recognize spiritual truth as God Himself proclaims it to them, and then demands they recognize who He is (reject, resist, and suppress the testimony of His Word and you are doomed forever. God does not doom people for what they cannot do. You are responsible because God tells you that you are capable of recognizing Him when He speaks.ˣˡⁱᵛ Jesus blistered His hearers with these words, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” Our generation is fantastically guilty of this – we reason, “if I just had some real evidence that your Word is true.” The rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19). The rich man in Hades, my brothers are scientifically, evidence-oriented kind of men. If you could just show them a sign that was unanswerable. Send Lazarus back from the dead, then they will believe! Abraham said NO, if they didn’t believe Moses and the Prophets, they won’t believe if someone they know comes back from the dead. Many contemporary evangelical apologists are still reasoning like that rich man in Hades -- with a convincing enough sign, men will repent. No, if they do not respect the Word of God, a “powerful” evidence will not turn them.ˣˡᵛ
When the unbeliever rejects Christ, he is also rejecting Christ as interpreter of the world (Christ’s interpretation of the world includes the whole world of knowledge). To reject Christ is to reject Christ as interpreter of the world; and thus, to remain with Satan’s interpretation of the world (a la the Edenic Lie).ˣˡᵛⁱ
Our methodology must reflect a fidelity to the epistemic Lordship of Christ. Semi-rationalistic apologetics fails to do this. It fails to deliver the final blow which is found in Romans 1. Until that final blow is delivered, the natural man tosses Christian evidences over his head into a sea of probability. As long as the Christian apologist remains on the battlefield armed only with the high “probability” that the events of Scripture took place; he allows the assumed autonomy of the unbeliever to remain undisturbed. The presuppositional apologist utilizes Romans one, and, in so doing he attacks and exposes the mechanism of the unbeliever (suppression, speculation, futility, etc.). Only then is the ultimacy of chance and contingency properly cast down so that Christ’s epistemic role may have its proper and authoritative place.ˣˡᵛⁱⁱ (Note: probability is inferred when evidences are not accompanied by challenges to
the unbeliever’s epistemology, philosophy of fact, worldview, etc.)
Endnotes:
i Samuel Waldron, A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, pp. 33-35.
ii Ibid, p. 36.
iii Ibid, p. 38.
iv Ibid, pp. 39-40.
v Ibid.
vi Ibid, p. 40
vii Ibid.
viii Ibid, p. 41.
ix Ibid.
x Ibid, p. 42.
xi John Piper, A Peculiar Glory.
xii Ibid.
xiii Ibid.
xiv Ibid.
xv Greg Bahnsen, Always Ready, p. 5
xvi Ibid, pp. 7-8
xvii NIDOT, 2:527
xviii Greg Bahnsen, Always Ready, p. 180
xix Ibid., p. 181
xx John Frame, Apologetics to the Glory of God, pp. 7-8
xxi Ibid, p. 50-52
xxii Michael Kruger, TMS Journal, “The Sufficiency of Scripture,” 12:1, pp.76-78
xxiii Kruger, p. 78
xxiv Greg Bahnsen, “Socrates or Christ: The Reformation of Christian Apologetics,” Foundations of Christian
Scholarship, p. 217
xxv Ibid.
xxvi Ibid.
xxvii Greg Bahnsen, “Pragmatism, Prejudice, and Presuppositionalism,” Ibid, pp. 287-290
xxviii Ibid, p. 292
xxix Grover Gunn, A comparison of Apologetic Methods, pp., 3-4
xxx Ibid., p. 5-7
xxxi Ibid, p. 13
xxxii Ibid, pp. 14-15
xxxiii The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. p 10
xxxiv Expositor’s Commentary, pp. 348-352
xxxv D. Edmond Hiebert, Commentary on 1 John, pp. 233-235
xxxvi William Hendrickson, NTC, p. 77
xxxvii John Stott, Tyndale Commentary, pp. 184-185
xxxviii Hiebert, pp. 237-245
xxxix W. S. C., Q. 24
xl Robert Reymond, The Justification of Knowledge, p.31
xli Ibid.
xlii Reymond, pp. 31-32
xliii John Whitcomb, Contemporary Apologetics
xliv Ibid.
xlv Ibid.
xlvi James F. Stitzinger, Apologetics Syllabus, The Master’s Seminary, p. 36
xlvii Stitzinger, p. 152