The Gospel, the Kingdom of God, and the Theological Theory of Everything: Part 2

Joh 5:39-40  "You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf.  (40)  Yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Luk 24:27  Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

Luk 24:44-48  Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled."  (45)  Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,  (46)  and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day,  (47)  and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  (48)  You are witnesses of these things.

Evangelical/orthodox dogma is based on many presuppositions. One area of presupposition that makes it virtually impossible to adopt a Theological Theory of Everything are the presuppositions about the scripture. It is most especially this one presupposition about the scripture. In 1978 the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy met in Chicago and drafted what is called the Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy. It contains Articles of Affirmations and Denials. One of these Articles addresses what I believe to be the problem with evangelical/orthodoxy's position on scripture. Further, I believe that it contradicts what the first century followers and Jesus Christ Himself plainly taught and stated as reflected in the passage of scripture posted above. Here is the affirmation and denial that I am referring too. It is article twelve:

Article XII

We affirm that Scripture in its entirety is inerrant, being free from all falsehood, fraud or deceit.

We deny that Biblical infallibility and inerrancy are limited to spiritual, religious or redemptive themes, exclusive of assertions in the fields of history and science. We further deny that scientific hypotheses about earth history may properly be used to overturn the teaching of Scripture on creation and the flood.

It is my considered opinion that the passages of scripture that I have posted above from John and Luke's gospels contradict the underlined part of the article that I have included. I have changed the color of the text as I do scripture to be certain that no one confuses it with my thoughts and assertions. Jesus and his first century followers that wrote the New Testament definitely taught that REDEMPTIVE THEMES was the ONLY THEME.

I confidently make the above assertion because of two reasons. 1) Jesus said that the entire purpose of scripture was to point to Him for a redemptive purpose. 2) The New Testament writings clearly define the word of God as the gospel of Jesus and Jesus the gospel made flesh. There are numerous blog posts that irrefutably prove that the first century authors of the New Testament meant the gospel or Jesus when they wrote "word, Word, the word of truth, the word of God" You can find a collection of all these writings HERE.

In fact, the main scripture passages that evangelical/orthodox theologians cite for proof of inerrancy limits it to a "redemptive theme." I will post it here but will underline and embolden that part that limits it to redemptive and then will explain why. 2Ti 3:15-17 NRSV  "and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  (16)  All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,  (17)  so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work." Now then, at the time of the writing, Paul was referring to the Old Testament scripture as the New Testament as we know it did not even exist at the time Paul instructed Timothy on this matter. He sated the purpose, a redemptive purpose in verse 15. The unbelieving Jews were scripture experts beyond anything else and the scripture did not instruct them in obtaining salvation. It did not teach them, it did not reprove them, it did not correct them, it did not train them in righteousness, and it did not make them proficiently equipped for every good work.

The reason is that they were using the scripture as a legal-constitutional document. They were using it as a life operational manual. Jesus and his followers pointed out that it was not that at all. Rather is was the redemptive narrative, the story of redemption. It was the story of God's love that was so great that he would stop at nothing, including sacrificing his own Son to demonstrate his unfathomable love for the humanity he had created.

As long as there is an insistence on treating the scripture as a legal constitutional document, as an operational manual of sorts, the pristine gospel that turned the world upside down will not completely be believed and thus, it will not be able to supernaturally transform the saints as it was meant to do and as it did in the first century.

More to come....

You can read part one HERE.