1. Discuss preinterpretation. In terms of hermeneutics, preinterpretation can be grammatical, historical, or literary. Christians approach the Bible with presuppositions, while non-Christians approach the Bible like any other book. Proverbs 30:5-6 teaches that each word of God is pure and trustworthy. The reader should not add to it.

2. Discuss inspiration. The antonym of inspire is expire and means to breathe out. Inspire means to breathe in or into, and this is part of God's nature and character (a divine origin). To infuse is also to exclude, and God excludes error and misguidance from His words. Can the perfect manuscript of a perfect theologian be added to the Bible? Would it be inspired? The answer is no because the manuscript may not be inspired in the biblical sense. The Bible is a sword of God.

3. Discuss the extent of inspiration. The extent of inspiration takes the form of verbal (Latin word verbum which means "word") and plenary (Latin word plenus which means "full"). Verbal means that the inspiration extends to the word. Plenary means that all parts are inspired equally. A Bible genealogy is not as inspiring as a parable, but it is just as inspired.

The contrast of verbal inspiration is called conceptual inspiration (also dynamic inspiration) where inspiration extends to concepts, ideas, and themes. An argument for conceptual inspiration says that someone can convey the same message with different words, but this is wrong. If it were true, then words would not be all that important. Do different words convey the same meaning? No, because the message is linked to the words. Change the words, and you change the message.

The contrast to plenary inspiration is limited inspiration, which says that the Bible is only authoritative in the theology genre. Can theological be divided from non-theological? Genre is very important for interpretation because different rules apply with different genre. Scripture has genre; however, the boundaries are not as clear as with some secular types. Theology pervades everything, even the historical books of the Old Testament (the Old Testament history books frequently say that a particular king was a godly or ungodly king). In secular historical writings, the authors strive for objectivity, but this is not the case with the Bible.

4. Discuss canonicity. Canonicity is recognition. The various councils did not determine the canon. They recognized it. The historical context of the canon is that the upper echelon of Jews got together in 90AD and decided which books belonged. What criteria was used for the Old Testament canon? The leaders (1) compared the books to the Torah (the writings of Moses) for consistency, (2) believed that the times of Ezra was the end of prophesy, (3) looked for a Hebrew character to the books, and (4) asked if the book had a divine origin ("Thus saith the Lord" - which would have been easy to verify.

Canonicity comes from the Hebrew word "qaneh" which means reed. It was used to mean (1) a reed, (2) a rule or measurement, (3) any kind of standard, (4) a book divinely inspired, or (5) a collection of inspired books (39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament).

5. Discuss the Alexandria canon. The Alexandria canon (done before Jesus) had a slightly different canon than the Jerusalem canon (same as the Protestant canon of 39 books). In Alexandria, the Apocrypha was included, but the Jews always believed the Jerusalem canon. The leaders of the Protestant Reformation (1525-1600AD) also believed the Jerusalem canon.

6. Name some related books. Some recommened books for this lesson are: (1) Origin of the Bible, by multiple authors (canon, inspiration, and other topics), (2) Hermeneutics, Authority, and Canon, edited by Carson and Woodbridge, and (3) Scripture and Truth, edited by Carson and Woodbridge.

				Tom of Bethany

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