The Holy Spirit And The Holy Scriptures

We begin with a simple and yet profoundly helpful illustration from James Philip. "The black plastic disc (for those who are more familiar with compact disc, he's speaking about the vinyl record - you can replace 'black plastic disc' with 'compact disc'!) that is put on the gramophone turntable has a voice within it, and when we put it …

The Word of God – Christ, Scripture, Preaching

If I were to go around the congregation and ask you, "Why have you come to this church service?", I'm sure I would get quite a variety of different answers. Some of you, if you were being perfectly honest, might have to say, "I came because I've got into a routine of coming to church …

The Saviour, The Scriptures, The Spirit

Centred on the Saviour, grounded in the Scriptures, filled with the Spirit - This is what God wants us to be.

Faith in Scripture as God’s Word

Berkouwer criticizes "an incorrect conception of theology, a conception of theology, a conception which considers it possible to discuss Holy Scripture apart from a personal relationship of belief in it, as though that alone would constitute true 'objectivity'." (Holy Scripture, pp. 9-10). He holds that those who view Scripture in this way "wrongly ... see …

The Authority of Holy Scripture

Discussing the authority of Holy Scripture in the modern world, Berkouwer writes, “The confession of the authority of the Word of God can never be isolated from the saving content of the Word of God” (Modern Uncertainty and Christian Faith, p. 14, emphasis mine). In confessing that the Bible is the Word of God, the …

Paul Tillich’s Systematic Theology: “A Help In Answering Questions”?

"My purpose, and I believe it is a justified purpose, has been to present the method and the structure of a theological system written from an apologetic point of view and carried through in a continuous correlation with philosophy ... A help in answering questions: this is exactly the purpose of this theological system." (Paul …

What are we to say about ‘biblical criticism’?

Berkouwer presents a view of biblical criticism which promises to overcome theological polarization. Keeping the Gospel at the centre of his thinking, he maintains that it is possible to acknowledge that there are “hesitations and doubts … present at many points (which) do not in themselves indicate a deep and final uncertainty” (A Half Century …

The Spirit, the Scriptures and salvation

In his post, The perspicuity of Scripture, Ben Myers quotes from Berkouwer's "fine book", Holy Scripture (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1975), p. 275.He begins his post, "Reformation theologians spoke of the "clarity" or "perspicuity of Scripture ... According to Reformation theology, the message of salvation shines out clearly from Scripture through the power of the Holy …

Called to believe in God’s Word – and called to trust in Christ as Saviour and follow Christ …

The purpose for which God has given us Scripture G C Berkouwer points out that “Scripture itself in a very explicit way speaks about its intention” (Holy Scripture, p. 125, where he cites John 20:31, Romans 15:4, Romans 4:23-24, 1 Corinthians 10:11, 2 Timothy 3:16 and 1 Timothy 1:18-19). He emphasizes that his approach is …

Berkouwer on “Scripture and Christ”

In his book, “Holy Scripture”, Berkouwer places great emphasis on the vital connection between Scripture and Christ.* “Scripture is the Word of God because the Holy Spirit witnesses in it of Christ” (”Holy Scripture” (p. 162).* “the purpose of the God-breathed Scripture is … to witness of the salvation of God unto faith” (p. 180).* …

Berkouwer’s Doctrine of Scripture

Berkouwer insists that when “the concept of error in the sense of incorrectness is … used on the same level as the concept of erring in the sense of sin and deception … we are quite far removed from the serious manner with which erring is dealt in Scripture … (as) a swerving from the …

The Sufficiency and Reliability of Scripture

Holding that the Bible is all that God wants it to be in accordance with His precise purpose, Berkouwer insists that it is unnecessary to posit a perfection that extends beyond the confines of the specific purpose of Scripture. He speaks of the sufficiency of Scripture in terms of "sufficiency for the Christian life (Holy …

The Purpose of Scripture

Berkouwer emphasizes that “the purpose of the God-breathed Scripture is not at all to provide a scientific gnosis in order to convey and increase human knowledge and wisdom, but to witness of the salvation of God unto faith” (Holy Scripture, p. 180). He insists that “This approach does not mean to separate faith and knowledge. …

Berkouwer on the authority of Holy Scripture

Discussing the authority of Holy Scripture in the modern world, Berkouwer writes, “The confession of the authority of the Word of God can never be isolated from the saving content of the Word of God” (Modern Uncertainty and Christian Faith, p. 14, emphasis mine).In confessing that the Bible is the Word of God, the believer …

Berkouwer on the Spirit and the Scriptures

Berkouwer emphasizes the present activity of the Spirit in pointing men to Christ through the words of the Bible - "Scripture is the Word of God because the Holy Spirit witnesses in it of Christ” (Holy Scripture, p. 162, emphasis mine); “the purpose of the God-breathed Scripture is … to witness of the salvation of …

God’s Word For Every Day

God’s Word For Every Day