Jeremiah 20:7 O LORD, You induced [persuaded] me, and I was persuaded; You are stronger than I and have prevailed. I am in derision daily; Everyone mocks me. 8 For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, “Violence and plunder!” Because the word of the LORD was made to me a reproach and a derision daily. 9 Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back and I could not. NKJV
Jeremiah warned Judah that its enemies would soon subdue the Nation. This message, this knowledge, came to Jeremiah from God. It was “the word of the Lord” to him and to them. When he preached this Word- “Violence and destruction are coming”- he was derided; indeed he was arrested for being a danger to Israel, an enemy. He wished he could stop preaching this Word, but God made him continue. When he suppressed this Word (the Message, this prophecy, this knowledge) within his heart, not speaking it, it burned within him and would not be denied.
The Word of God in this passage was not the Bible or any part of it. It was a message from God given directly to the prophet to be preached to Israel. It was within the man, to be preached by him, out loud. It would not be suppressed. It was knowledge of what was going to happen and he was driven to tell it to everyone, using verbal, propositional statements. Those statements were not the Word, the Message was. However, can the Message be separated from the method or messenger? Jeremiah had a revelation from God. He expressed it in human, personal, historically conditioned, Hebrew terms. The former, the knowledge (revelation) was infallible, i.e.-reliable, dependable and true. The latter, the method was not, unless the Spirit of God was in control of that method, inspiring the very words ultimately used by Jeremiah to orally deliver the Message. In that case, those words would be inerrant, i.e.- without error or mistakes. How could erroneous words deliver an infallible Message without corrupting it, making it unreliable or fallible? [This requires that the original written copies of the inerrant words of the infallible Message, that was delivered orally, be themselves inerrant and the translations we use be, at least, trustworthy copies of them.] In this way, conservative Christians argue that the written and inerrant words conveying the infallible oral Message are themselves infallible.
The Revelation and the record of it become one and the same. Both are the Word of God. Now we have gone from the Word as “a message from God given directly to the prophet to be preached” to the Word as a paragraph or section of a Book, the Bible. Eventually, the entire contents of the Book (all human words) are considered to be the inerrant, infallible Word of God, cover to cover. “All Scripture is out breathed (inspired) by God…” 2 Tim 3:16) The original reference in this verse is to what we call the Old Testament, even though it is popularly taken to mean all 66 canonical Books of our Bible. These and these alone, are now commonly considered to be the Revelation of God. We have come a long way from the original and Scriptural meaning of the “Word of God” and that has been detrimental. I am convinced that we are missing much that God has to say by our limitation and constriction of His living Word to what we can read in Scripture. We have reified Revelation. We must accept that infallible Revelation from God comes to us through a fallible human medium. It must not be identified with that medium. The Bible as such is not itself Revelation. For it to be literally the Word of God would make it God Himself or, at least, sacred and an object for worship. That would be Bibliolatry.
An Analogy is made between the Bible and Jesus. The Book is both human and divine. Jesus is both human and divine and yet is still all God and Perfect. Therefore, the Bible can be also. Not so. Jesus was a perfect human, unlike any other (one of a kind) The human part of the Bible is not perfect, as it reflects the humans who wrote it and those humans were sinners with limitations, not like Jesus as all. [This same argument also applies to Translations]
The Two Books of God.
Many Christians believe they have solved the problem of an alleged conflict between Faith and Science by positing that there are two Books of God. One, the Scripture, is about spiritual and moral matters. It is a book of salvation, not about Science (or any other “secular” subject). The second Book is Nature. Using the scientific method and reason we learn what can be learned about Science and all the other “secular” subjects, not about Salvation and spiritual matters. Simple. We have two Books, two kinds of Knowledge and no conflict between them. These Christians are misled. Their epistemological paradigm is wrong; but they are unto something which is right: there are two Books of God! God has a mind, will and character He expresses them and we call that expression His Word. His Word, by definition, is His revelation, i.e. - His expression of His presence, power and especially, His mind, will and character. Whatever does that is His Revelation, His Word. Human beings are totally dependent on Revelation to know God. This Revelation, the Word of God, comes in two volumes: non-verbal and verbal.
The
“Word
of God” - Nonverbal or Verbal
Isaiah 55:10 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
For generations, it has been assumed that “my word” in this text is the Bible. Certainly, that is the common use of this passage. In fact, Isaiah uses “word” to mean a “word”, such as I am using in this sentence. “Word” sometimes means the Law and yet, other times, it means a message (a revelation) given by God to Isaiah to preach, “Thus saith the Lord…”. It never means our Christian Bible (except by extended argument). There is another possibility. In the beginning, God spoke and the time-space world came into existence. Genesis 1 and 2 is not simply an argument for divine creation out of nothing (ex nihilo) against various kinds of evolutionary theories. It is primarily an argument for creation by divine fiat: God spoke: Let there be light. And it was so! No actual words proceeded from God’s mouth, rather God thought to Himself: Let there be light. His thought produced the light. Genesis 1 and 2 is an account of the creative Word of God in action. This is what Isaiah 55:10-11 may be about. Compare this with-
Psalm 148:3 Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! 4 Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded and they were created. 6 And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.[ 7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, 8 fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word!
Psalm 147:12-18 Worship the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion… he satisfies you with the finest wheat. He sends out his command to the earth, and his word runs very swiftly. He gives snow like wool; he scatters hoarfrost like ashes. He scatters his hail like bread crumbs; who can stand against his cold? He sends forth his word and melts them; …
Again, no actual word was spoken; the wheat and snow did not literally hear God speak to them. This is figurative language. The act of bringing the natural order into existence, as well as the infinite actions of God to preserve it through the ages, is all a demonstration of God’s Mind in action, His Word (Greek- Logos cf. John 1:1-3)
Psalm 147 goes on, not skipping a beat, to use the same word to mean the Law- vv.19-20 He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and his judgments to Israel. He has not done so to any other nation; to them he has not revealed his judgments.
These are just two of many texts illustrating that the “Word of God” can be verbal or non-verbal. In neither case is the phrase a reference to the Christian Bible as such. However, in both cases, the reference is to Revelation. The Bible itself tells us that “Revelation” is dynamic. It refers to the living, active God actively making Himself known. “Revelation” refers to God’s acts of self-disclosure. Revelation is not the same as information or doctrine as such. The content of Revelation, as we shall see, is not a systematic body of absolute, propositional Truth; all that is included, but the primary purpose of Revelation is not to give knowledge of such Truth. The primary purpose of Revelation (both Books) is to enable us to know the living God Himself.
The
Two
Books: General and Special
I. General Revelation (non-verbal): God reveals himself, His mind and will, directly in and through His works-
-
In Creation- its origins and preservation. Nature is not God and not to be worshipped; rather Nature reveals qualities of God: power, beauty, design, the “laws” of science. All these witness to God
-
In Human Beings- they image God. They reveal characteristics of Him: Rationality, Creativity, Morality, Communality, Spirituality
-
In History- we can see evidence of God’s providence and sovereignty in the affairs of individuals, groups and nations
All of the above is General Revelation. All of it reveals the mind, will and character of God- therefore, all of it is rightfully called His Word. However, this revelation is incomplete!
II. Special Revelation (verbal): God reveals himself, His mind, will and character, directly through actual words. Written down and recorded, they became Holy Scripture, in six categories-
-
The Five Books of Moses (Torah)
-
The Decalogue (section of the Torah)
-
The Prophets
-
The Books of Wisdom, including the Psalms
-
The Apostolic Writings [The “New Testament”]
-
The Person of Jesus (known through the Apostolic Writings, primarily the sections called “Gospels”)
All of the above is Special Revelation. All of it reveals the mind, will and character of God- all of it is also rightly called His Word.
The Spirit and the Word
To review: The Hebrew word translated “Word” (dabhar) is also translated as “act” or “deed”. The “Word of God” may be verbal or non-verbal. The Word of God is dynamic. Revelation is dynamic. It is both General and Special. It is error to limit Revelation to only the Special kind; it is further error to limit the Special kind to a human Book. It is further error to lock the dynamic revelation of God into the contents of the printed pages of that human book, to be learned through reading skills and reason alone. Many Christians talk as though it were. Careful exegesis is always necessary, absolutely, but it does not in itself unlock the Revelation of God that is in the Book The verbal Revelation of God requires the teaching, illuminating operation of the Holy Spirit for it to be understood and applied (John 16:13-15; 1 Cor.2:9-14; 2 Cor.3:13-17; et al.). A good illustration of this are those occasions when his disciples read the Scripture and Jesus had to open their minds that they would understand what they read, eg- Luke 24:32, 45. The Scripture is not the Word (revelation) apart from the Spirit. It is because of this work of the Holy Spirit that I do not find contradictions or inconsistencies in the text itself [chronology, dates, names, omissions, repetitions, evidence of redactions, problems with authorship, etc] to be a serious problem. The same Spirit that assures me of the infallibility of the Bible’s content, assures me that such errors in the text do not change what the Bible is, the totally reliable and authoritative Word of God written. Conversely, no one can claim revelation from the Spirit, apart from the Scripture. It seems very common or popular to claim immediate or direct verbal revelation from God (“God said to me“. “Learn to be quiet and listen for the voice of God speaking to you.“) Church groups, entire denominations, are making decisions based on what they say the Spirit has told them. In many cases, they claim to hear the Spirit saying things (such as “Bless same-sex unions“) that are clearly contrary to the Word of God in Scripture. That would mean God contradicts Himself. Impossible! Pressed to make a choice, they often go with the “Voice”. When we insist on the sufficiency of Scripture, we mean it does not need to be supplemented. General Revelation does not supplement Special Revelation. It is not of equal authority to Special Revelation, but subservient to it, always [See below]. The personal understanding the Spirit gives of Scripture to the Believer is, likewise, absolutely subservient to it. That means it will never contradict it. The Spirit can speak only what is faithful to what is already revealed. That will be the test for anything which people claim is from the Spirit.
Sola Scriptura
There are two serious problems with the paradigm of the Two Books which is so popular. First, it does not allow that both Books are revelation from God of God. The purpose of reading the Book of Nature about Creation, Human Beings and History is to learn about God. That is why He “wrote” the contents of that “Book”. Second, they also do not understand the relationship of the Books to each other. They are not to be read separately. The Book of General Revelation does not stand on its own. Knowledge of God from the Book of General Revelation is valid, but it is partial and not salvific; saving knowledge of God requires the Second Book, the Bible. All knowledge from General Revelation is misdirected, perverted or repressed and incomplete without the knowledge that comes from Special Revelation and the Spirit. These misunderstandings about the Two Books are shared by Christians who reject the two-Book paradigm of Revelation, insisting instead that there is only one Book, i.e. the Scripture. In practice, this is as fatal an epistemological error as the one they are rejecting. To really and truly know the mind, will and character of God we absolutely must read both Books.
What happens to the Formal Principle of the Reformation, Sola Scriptura? Against arguments that Church Dogma and Tradition are as authoritative as Scripture in matters of Faith and Church Practice, the Reformers insisted that Scripture alone was authoritative. They also meant that Scripture is sufficient for Evangelism, for growth in holiness and guidance in life. It does not need to be supplemented for these purposes. I agree. Sola Scriptura for Salvation remains a fundamental doctrine. Nevertheless, the Book of General Revelation is absolutely necessary for knowing how Creation works and how to fulfill the Cultural Mandate to God’s Glory. It is also a bridge to communicating with non-Christians about a Biblical Worldview, God and the Gospel.
Both Books are revelation from God. God has a mind. He has exhaustive knowledge (“omniscience”) He is not a dualist, nor is His Knowledge limited, divided or compartmentalized. The goal of all education is to learn what God knows [See the essay “Epistemology” on my website] Education, rightly understood, is seeking God’s thoughts after Him, literally, seriously seeking the mind of Christ in all things. He is Lord of all. We see light in His Light. We understand when we have God’s perspective, Divine viewpoint. This means Christians can legitimately use General Revelation to learn truths, e.g. about economics and politics. From General Revelation, using all our God-given human faculties, we can learn to use and appreciate the Environment, develop Sciences and the Arts- all in ways that glorify God. Everything that exists is grounded in Him. He is the Center, as well as the alpha and omega of all that is- not of only half of what is. When anyone, Christian or non-Christian, seeks to divide reality into “Upper Story” and “Lower Story” ala Francis Schaeffer and knowledge into two (so-called Sacred and Secular) they are literally off-Center and wrong. Nothing is neutral or value-free. The attempts to support a-theistic and autonomous [from God] Education is truly abnormal from a Biblical Perspective. Christians reject, discredit or distain the Book of nature to their detriment and the displeasure of God, Creator and Redeemer of Heaven and Earth and all therein.
To review: General Revelation of God can and should be discovered in three areas: Creation, Humanity, History. The unregenerate, as well as the regenerate, are able to observe and study, use and enjoy the
-
Design, beauty, power and the so-called “laws” of science that are in the Creation
-
Rationality, Creativity, Morality, Communality, Spirituality in themselves
-
Causes and effects, connections, progress and regression, cycles and dialectics in the affairs of individuals, groups and nations
General Revelation and “The Fall” (Genesis 3)
The regenerate and unregenerate have these three categories in common. Thus, they can share a lot with each other, working together on all kinds of projects. The “Fall”, described in Genesis 3 and its noetic effect do not make this impossible. Though subject to “Total Depravity”, Human beings remain human. Though they are dead in sin and separate from God, they are not dead to their humanity or separated from their God-given human faculties. In fact, the purpose of Redemption is to redeem those faculties (rationality, creativity, morality, spirituality communality) and, thereby, all Culture which has been produced using human faculties. What was formed by God and deformed by Sin must be reformed in Christ! (adapted from Al Wolters)
Redemption in Christ, by the Work and Word of Christ, makes people fully human. A sanctified sinner in Christ, by definition, should be a fully human person in Christ. This is an extremely important truth that has been somehow lost to multitudes of dualistic Christians.
The unregenerate do not, and can not, know the true or underlying meaning of General Revelation, as distinguished from the functional, superficial or pragmatic. They do not, and can not, know the true origins and purposes of all they might observe study, use and enjoy. They try and fail. They hypothesize, they despair. All they observe, study, use and enjoy witnesses to God, but they will not admit that Hypothesis. They can not and will not “see” the connection or “hear” the witness. God is the missing link that holds it all together; they go on seeking to connect it all together without Him, which is impossible. They have knowledge; but, what they know, the unregenerate continually work hard to suppress and deny as a witness to God. This, in fact, is the very reason for universal human guilt and misery (and the primary root of all the troubles of living in this world). Because of the effects of the Fall on the human mind and will, with the consequent Antithesis (innate animosity and rebellion toward God), human beings resist knowledge as General Revelation and reject Special Revelation outright.
However, regenerate human beings, with the Holy Spirit within them and the Bible at hand to guide them, confront a challenge . We can study every subject in every field as revelation from God. We know how all things come together in Christ for the glory of God, even though the world does not. We study Physics and the physical Sciences to learn about God. We study the Humanities to learn about God. History, Psychology, Music- all things, to learn about God. Using both Books, as we have explained, we will never have exhaustive knowledge, but we can have true and full knowledge of Him.
Natural
Law/Moral Law
Of all areas of General Revelation, arguably the most fruitful for common discourse, with the unregenerate, on the “Meaning of life” is Natural Law. Natural Law is a subset of General Revelation. It is defined as that Moral Law all human beings, universally, know innately and elucidate primarily through Reason. Because it is written on everyone’s heart, the Bible is not required to know the Moral law of God. Human beings have this innate moral knowledge simply because they are human beings. We are born wired for morality. It is part of the way in which we image God. God created us with “moral oughtness”, along with rationality, spirituality, creativity and commonality. None of these faculties were lost at the Fall. It is inconsistent to say we lost this Natural Moral Law or Moral Knowledge at the Fall, but not the other faculties. Possessing innate moral knowledge is part of what makes us human beings. All people, by nature, know there is an Other (the Supernatural) whom they should worship and spend time with. Our innate faculty for spirituality reflects the First Tablet. The morality, which we know innately, is fundamentally the same as the Second Tablet of the Decalogue. Our fallen nature causes us, as human beings, to deny, suppress, transgress or violate what we know, both spiritually and morally. We are constantly at war against the Image of God within (again, this is the Antithesis). This is also evident in the way we treat or use our other faculties of rationality, creativity and commonality. All human faculties must and can be redeemed in Christ. The regenerated heart, with the illumination and guidance of the Holy Spirit, in conjunction with study of the Special Revelation found in our Bibles, enables individuals to develop a Biblical, Christian Morality and Ethics.