Journal: Grace Journal
Volume: GJ 07:3 (Fall 1966)
Article: The God-Breathed Scripture: A Modern View of the Bible
Author: Edward Joseph Young

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GJ 7:3 (Fall 66) p. 35

The God-Breathed Scripture: A Modern View of the Bible

Edward J. Young

In our lectures thus far we have sought to present a view of the Bible which we believe the Bible claims for itself. This procedure is, of course, a tacit acknowledgment that we regard the Bible as our final and absolute authority in the field of doctrine. For a doctrine of Scripture, then, we have turned not to a consensus of modern opinion or to the “living theology of the church,” whatever that may be, but to the Bible itself. In doing this we believe that we have been acting in accordance with the procedure of the historic Christian church. It can hardly be denied that throughout the years, when the church has wanted to define her doctrine, she has turned to the Bible.

Today, however, the procedure seems to be reversed. Today, it would appear that attempts are being made at writing creeds which are not designed to be expositions of the Scriptural teaching. As is well known a proposed Confession popularly referred to as the Confession of 1967 is being presented to the United Presbyterian Church, and, should it be adopted, would become the statement of belief of that church.

This fact should be of interest and even concern to all Christians and not merely to Presbyterians, for what is being proposed is typical of much that is engulfing the church of Christ today. This proposed Confession, however, brings us head-on with the emphases of modern theology, emphases which we believe are destructive of the Christian faith. This is strong language, but it is not too strong. It is our profound conviction, after careful study of this proposed Confession, that it proceeds upon the assumption that there is no final and absolute truth. Should this Confession be adopted, it would be tantamount to declaring to the world that the church has no message; there is no final truth.

Our concern, however, at this point is not with this fatal weakness of the Confession but rather with the attitude toward the Bible which is found therein. This proposed confession presents a view which is basically out of harmony with that found in the Bible itself and hence out of harmony with the traditional Christian conception of Scripture. It is not saying too much if we plainly assert that the view of the Bible found in this Confession is thoroughly unbiblical.

The Confession and the Bible

We are told, “The one sufficient revelation of God is Jesus Christ, the Word of God incarnate, to whom the Holy Spirit bears witness in many ways. The church has received the Old and New Testaments as the normative witness to this revelation and has recognized them as Holy Scriptures.” This is the first paragraph under the heading: The Bible. It will perhaps

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