The power and wisdom of scripture
“All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” This powerful statement from the 16th and 17th verses of 2nd Timothy 3 serves as a powerful and often-quoted reference to validate the authority of Scripture for the Christian faith. Although it has power and prominence, it is also often abused and taken out of context to justify the most egregious distortions of the Faith.
The scripture to which Paul was referring was limited to the cannon of writings that modern Christians understand to be the “Old Testament” or the “Hebrew Testament.” The fact that his letter would ultimately be included in the cannon of scripture that today Christians understand to be part of the Bible was probably inconceivable to Paul as he wrote these words. Understandably, these words eventually became part of the sacred canon of writings that Christians world-wide accept as “Scripture,” but we do an injustice to Paul to presume that he was referring to any sacred writing that today is part of the New Testament, or Christian Testament, of the Bible.
A second important aspect regarding this passage to remember is the fact that “All scripture is inspired by God.” Unfortunately, many erroneously interpret that fact to mean that all scripture is perfect, without error, and unavailable for scrutiny. “Inspired,” or to be more precise, “Breathed by God” means that the Holy Spirit was active in the creation of the sacred text that Christians understand as the Bible. This in no way presumes, or even implies that the Bible is a perfect, word-for-word dictation by God to humanity. To make such presumptions claim denies the historical, literary, and theological errors, contradictions, and ambiguities of the Bible. The reality is, no known original manuscript of the ancient text is known to exist and countless copies—not all of which are accurate—circulate within the ancient archives of Scriptural texts. The Bible is a Spirit-inspired attempt by flawed people to understand and relate to the Creator of the Universe within their own contexts, limitations, and understandings. It is not without error. None of these historical and factual points invalidate the authority of the Bible, but they do define a Christian approach to reading, interpreting, and applying Scripture to modern life.
The Bible is useful for teaching. Such is the foundation of both sermon and Bible Study. The wisdom of scripture is powerful—and invaluable—for communicating God’s love for humanity on a grand scale. The Bible serves as a power to reproof believers. This comes in the form of the healthy judgment and prayerful discernment necessary to determine that which is unhealthy or dangerous for the wholeness of humanity. Once determined legitimately contrary to the will of God, scripture can be used to lovingly correct—or perhaps redirect—others for the sanctity of all humanity. Once redirected, one may achieve the right living that is exemplified in Scripture. This is defined by a life lived in love, faith, fidelity, and dedication to God’s will.
Yet, all-too-often, Christians are deluded into following secular, national, political, and cultural definitions of fidelity to right living, justice, judgment, and teaching which serve only to advance one’s own personal view of salvation over and above God’s unrelenting love for all humanity. Rather than engaging in prayerful, careful, and faithful study of the Bible in all its beauty and complexity, many just apply what they want it to mean in the moment. The difference is a form of idolatry versus prayerful, faithful, and genuinely spiritually guided discernment of the complexity and intricacy of God’s word as revealed in Scripture.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: The power and wisdom of scripture
