Visiting Hank Hanegraaff’s New Greek Orthodox Church

Pulpit and Pen Blog ^ | APRIL 18, 2017 | Jeff Maples

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

I think there is something to that. I had never heard it P&P before now, but I have seen other sites that do the same thing.

[fortes fortuna juvat]

Well, since nowhere in the 27 books that make up the New Testament canon of Scripture is there a list that authenticates them to be inspired, their legitimacy cannot be distinguished with certainty except by some other infallible source.

[Campion]

Who gets to decide what the Scripture means under sola scriptura? In practice, I mean, forgetting about slogans.

Here, I'll answer the question for you: you decide what it means for you, and only you decide, in the final analysis. There is no possible authoritative interpreter beyond the individual. That is what Luther demanded when he said "Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders!" And he was shocked -- shocked, I tell you -- to discover that then other people insisted on interpreting the Scriptures for themselves, entirely apart from what he thought those Scriptures meant. Unforeseen consequences and all that ...

And so the atomization of Christianity began.

[Campion]

Where in the doctrine of sola scriptura is there any room for any individuals to appoint themselves "Bible Answer Men" for other believers, and from where do they get their authority?

[Biggirl]

BINGO! Winning post of the day!

[NRx]

If ignorance were a virtue, he’d be a saint.

[NorthMountain]

Hostility just oozes from that opening paragraph ...

[boatbums]

Well, since nowhere in the 27 books that make up the New Testament canon of Scripture is there a list that authenticates them to be inspired, their legitimacy cannot be distinguished with certainty except by some other infallible source.

How did the prophets of the Old Testament Scriptures demonstrate their authenticity and legitimacy? How did God expect His revelation to be received - take it or leave it or obedience? The same rules applied. Scripture - because it is Divinely-inspired - is SELF-authenticating. The early Christian assemblies received the writings AS the word of God because they knew from whom they came. There is no need for some human "infallible" authority to sit in judgment over what God has said. Holy men of God spoke as they were moved/carried along by the Holy Spirit:

We also have the message of the prophets, which has been confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to this message, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever brought about through human initiative, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (II Peter 1:19-21)

This link is an excellent explanation for how we got the New Testament: The Formation of the New Testament Canon. In it we read:

No more authority dwelt in the prophets of the old covenant than in themselves, the apostles, who had been “made sufficient as ministers of a new covenant “; for (as one of themselves argued) “if that which passeth away was with glory, much more that which remaineth is in glory.” Accordingly not only was the gospel they delivered, in their own estimation, itself a divine revelation, but it was also preached “in the Holy Ghost” (I Pet. i. 12); not merely the matter of it, but the very words in which it was clothed were “of the Holy Spirit” (I Cor. ii. 13). Their own commands were, therefore, of divine authority (I Thess. iv. 2), and their writings were the depository of these commands (II Thess. ii. 15). “If any man obeyeth not our word by this epistle,” says Paul to one church (II Thess. iii. 14), “note that man, that ye have no company with him.” To another he makes it the test of a Spirit-led man to recognize that what he was writing to them was “the commandments of the Lord” (I Cor. xiv. 37). Inevitably, such writings, making so awful a claim on their acceptance, were received by the infant churches as of a quality equal to that of the old “Bible “; placed alongside of its older books as an additional part of the one law of God; and read as such in their meetings for worship — a practice which moreover was required by the apostles (I Thess. v. 27; Col. iv. 16; Rev. 1. 3). In the apprehension, therefore, of the earliest churches, the “Scriptures” were not a closed but an increasing “canon.” Such they had been from the beginning, as they gradually grew in number from Moses to Malachi; and such they were to continue as long as there should remain among the churches “men of God who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

[boatbums]

Who gets to decide what the Scripture means under sola scriptura? In practice, I mean, forgetting about slogans. Here, I'll answer the question for you: you decide what it means for you, and only you decide, in the final analysis. There is no possible authoritative interpreter beyond the individual. That is what Luther demanded when he said "Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders!" And he was shocked -- shocked, I tell you -- to discover that then other people insisted on interpreting the Scriptures for themselves, entirely apart from what he thought those Scriptures meant. Unforeseen consequences and all that ... And so the atomization of Christianity began.

Here's a clue...the Bible is God's word and its truth is something that is spiritually discerned. The "natural" man doesn't receive the things of God and he cannot even know them - he has no indwelling Holy Spirit who leads him to the truth. Another clue...the Bible is not written in some kind of "code" that only a magic decoder can interpret. I hold to the Biblical view that the words, in context, mean what they say.

There have ALWAYS been disputes over doctrines and since the start of the Christian communities, God has gifted to them through the Holy Spirit those who are able to teach and lead. Peter recognized Paul's writings to the churches as Divine in origin, he stated:

Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. (II Peter 3:15,16)

Those who are unlearned, ignorant and unstable stumble over God's word and it is usually the reason why there are disputes on the major tenets of the Christian faith. It takes study, prayer and a desire to know the deep things of God so that one may be able to give an answer to everyone that asks of the hope within us. Biblical hermeneutics is a study of Scripture using not only context but target audience, word meanings, customs, etc. to understand the things God's word teaches. Certainly Pastors, teachers, elders and others are gifted with not only the ability to understand the truths of the faith but be able to teach others so that the faith once delivered unto the saints is preserved and passed down.

When you ask, "Who gets to decide what the Scripture means under sola scriptura?", you miss the point of what sola Scriptura IS. The heresies that crept into the early churches were disputed BY Scripture. Athanasius of Alexandria, for example, disputed with the Gnostics and Docetists of his day who denied Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. He had the better argument from Scripture and helped to formulate creeds that outlined the Apostolic doctrines as they had been taught through the written word. I hope you would agree that there cannot be diametrically opposite doctrines that can be proved through the Divine word. There is only the truth - and that truth IS spelled out for us in God's word. The Apostolic letters were meant to do that spelling out. Spiritually gifted teachers - those who put in the work - are able to teach others also. Because God's word is powerful and able to make one wise unto salvation, is why Scripture, alone, is the authority over and above any human.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:10-16)