ANSWERS TO LIBERAL DOCTRINE
By John L. Hoh, Jr. BACKGROUND
This Bible Study came about in answer to a need and in reaction to events in 1993. At this time I served as vicar of a small group of ELS Lutherans in Northeast Iowa. The neighboring ELCA congregation had just experienced a series of unsettling events that left the members confused and questioning what was going on in their church.
As in many other predominantly Lutheran communities, the events of the neighboring church also affected the people in my care. Whether through marriage or relationships, the members of my congregation were affected by these events and wanted to know why these things were happening and what the differences were between the ELS and the ELCA. Thus the decision was made to proceed with a series of Bible studies with the Leppien/Smith book, What's Going on Among the Lutherans?, as a textbook of sorts.
The study series was advertised in the local paper and response to it was soon forthcoming. It seems that many in the neighboring church were themselves reading and studying the book. So it came as no surprise that there were members outside of our congregation present for the first session.
The purpose of this study is to instruct our members in the doctrines of the Bible so that they may be able to give witness to the hope which they harbor, both in season and out of season. This study will also aid in the study of the differences between the official positions of the various churches without being judgmental. There are many in the ELCA who are not in agreement with what their church officially teaches. Some of them may come to you, or your members, with questions and concerns. With this study your members may be more equipped to answer the questions and address the cares and concerns of their friends and neighbors.
The historical-critical method, much like its cousin the theory of evolution, is simply a theory. Both are similar in that neither theory is static. The theories change with the times and in the face of valid challenges. Following are examples of the basic changes of how the historical-critical method changes outlooks and beliefs on major sections of Scripture:
1. Historical-grammatical method: An honest look at the manuscripts that have survived through the ages. This method seeks to come as close to the original manuscripts as is possible through analysis and comparision. Seeks to solve variants in the context of literary and grammatical analysis.
2. Historical-critical method: A method that seeks to solve variants and "contradictions" in an historical context. Sees the Bible as an evolving work of an evolving religion. Seeks to dismiss miracles and prophecy with the use of Reason.
3. Autograph: Term used to refer to the original documents written by the Prophets and Apostles. None are known to exist.
4. Variant Readings: Refers to the collection of manuscripts that are available to us. Very few from before 300AD (New Testament) and about 100BC (Old Testament) exist today. Variants among the hundreds of manuscripts exist, but affect less than 1% of the text. Many of these are usually spelling, copying or grammatical errors. No variant reading affects any point of doctrine!
5. Redactor: a fancy term for editor. Historical-critical scholars contend that the Bible was pieced together from various manuscripts by redactors.
What warnings from Scripture do we have concerning tampering with God's Word?
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, Deuteronomy 4:2A See also: Deuteronomy 12:32, Proverbs 30:6, Revelation 22:18-1
When one denies that Scripture is inspired and inerrant, when claims are made that the Holy Bible is not totally God's Word but actually what a composite of men throughout the ages has thought God said, then the very veracity of God and His Word has been challenged. Those who deny that Scripture is God's Word and is without error are calling God a liar. This section will look at the natures of God and Satan, what the Bible says about itself and the consequences of denying or altering God's Word.
Relate how the following passages reveal to us that God does not and cannot lie:
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man , that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Numbers 23:19 See also:1 Samuel 15:29, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18
Scripture reveals to us who the "Father of Lies" is:
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth , because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. John 8:44
The following passages tell us why the Prophets and the Apostles wrote what they wrote:
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. II Peter 1:21 See also: verse 12-20, I Peter 1:10-12, I John 1:1-5
God has strongly forbidden anyone to tamper with what he has said. The following passages serve as warnings to us:
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destructions. II Peter 2:1 See also: Jeremiah 5:31, Jeremiah 9:3-5, Jeremiah 14:14-15, Jeremiah 23:14-15, Romans 1:18-32
Modern liberal theologians claim that many people in the Old Testament were not actual, historical people but represented mankind or various groups of mankind. We will focus on selected people in this section. This section will study what various Scriptural writers have had to say about these people.
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; I Corinthians 15:45A See also : Romans 5:12, Jude 14-16, Luke 3: 23-38, 1
And he said, Men, bretheren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran. Acts 7:2 See also: 7:3-56, Romans 4, Galatians 3,Galatians 4:21-31, Acts 3:25
If, by faith, we accept the Bible for what it is--God's direct, personal message of sin and grace for each member of the human race--then we understand that the Old Testament authors (and speakers) could "see" centuries or even millennia ahead into the future. But if one does not accept this Book as the divinely inspired and inerrant Word of God, then one must create theories and explanations to answer how the Old Testament authors could predict the events of Jesus' life with such startling accuracy.
How did the Prophets know about the coming Messiah and how he would be born and how he would live and how he would die? It is by God's grace that these men were accorded this information. Did they always know what they were speaking or writing about? Look up 1 Peter 1:10-12 for that answer!
In this section we will look at various prophecies as found in the Old Testament and their fulfillment in the New Testament. As you look these up, note (1) who spoke the prophecy, (2) how it was fulfilled, (3) who recorded that the prophecy was fulfilled and (4,5) the circumstances surrounding the prophecy and the fulfillment.Isaiah 7:14 (Matthew 1:22,23)
- Micah 5:2 (Matthew 2:6)
Hosea 11:1 (Matthew 2:15)
Jeremiah 31:15 (Matthew 2:18)
Micah 7:6 (Matthew 10:35,36)
Malachi 3:1 (Matthew 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27)
Psalm 78:2
Zechariah 9:9 (Matthew 21:5; John 12:13)
Psalm 118:26 (Matthew 21:9; Mark 11:9,10; Luke 13:35; Luke 19:38; John 12:13)
Isaiah 56:7 (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46)
Jeremiah 7:11 (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46)
Psalm 8:2 (Matthew 21:16)
Psalm 118:22,23 (Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10-11; Luke 20:17)
Psalm 110:1 (Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42,43)
Daniel 9:27;11:31;12:11 (Matthew 24:15)
Isaiah 13:10;34:4 (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24,2
Zechariah 13:7 (Matthew 26:31; Mark 14:27)
Zechariah 11:12,13 (Matthew 27:10)
Jeremiah 19:1-13; 32:6-9 (Matthew 27:10)
Psalm 22:18 (Matthew 27:35; John 19:24)
Psalm 22:1 (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34)
Isaiah 53:12 (Luke 22:37)
Hosea 10:8 (Luke 23:30)
Psalm 69:9 (John 2:17)
Isaiah 54:13 (John 6:45)
Psalm 41:9 (John 13:18)
Psalm 35:19; 69:4 (John 15:25)
Exodus 12:46/Numbers 9:12/Psalm 34:20 (John 19:36)
Zechariah 12:10 (John 19:37)
Testimony from Acts and Epistles
Psalm 69:25; Psalm 109:8 (Acts 1:20)
Psalm 16:8-11 (Acts 2:25-28; 13:35)
Joel 2:28-32 (Acts 2:16-21)
Psalm 110:1 (Acts 2:34-35)
Genesis 22:18; 26:4; Deuteronomy 18:15,18,19 (Acts 3:17-26)
Psalm 118:22 (Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:7)
Psalm 2:1,2 (Acts 4:25,26)
Isaiah 53:7,8 (Acts 8:30-35)
Psalm 2:7 (Acts 13:33)
Isaiah 55:3 (Acts 13:34)
Isaiah 49:6 (Acts 13:47)
Amos 9:11,12 (Acts 15:16-18)
Psalm 32:1,2 (Romans 4:7,8)
Isaiah 8:14; 28:16 (Romans 9:30-33; 1 Peter 2:6,8)
Psalm 69:22,23 (Romans 11:9-10)
Isaiah 53:9 (1 Peter 2:22)
