Be careful

When we are not being careful, we most conservative brothers and sisters allow ourselves to be carried away by the popular teachings of conservative brethren who are carried away by the popular teachings of “The Academy.”[i]

Two examples.

I have spoken and written of the inspiration of 2 Timothy 3:16 as referring directly to the Old Testament and only by extension to the New Testament.[ii] 2 Timothy 3:16 does not directly refer to the New Testament? Where did I get that? If we trace it back, it probably finds its origin in repeating conservatives who have accepted the liberal view of dating the New Testament writings as late rather than early. That is, they believe that none of the New Testament scriptures existed at the time when Paul wrote those words to Timothy. Therefore, they say, Paul could have only meant the Old Testament when he wrote of inspiration.

However, taking the Bible as our guide, we find first that Jesus himself authenticated beforehand the New Testament writings as Scripture. John 16:13 records, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” Further, Christians accepted the writings of the apostles as scripture even before the canon was closed. For example, Paul refers to Luke’s Gospel as scripture (1 Timothy 5:18; cf. Matthew 10:10), and Peter refers to all of Paul’s epistles as scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16), placing them on equal footing with the Old Testament.[iii]

In another place, I wrote concerning 1 John 5:7-8:

Cyprian of Carthage wrote, possibly invoking the comma…Cyprian certainly references this part of John’s first epistle, but it is not a verbatim quotation of it – thereby leaving the use of it inconclusive and open to argument.

Why be equivocal? Cyprian (circa AD 250) wrote, “of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit it is written, ‘And these three are one’” (Treatise 1, On the Unity of the Church, Chapter 6). Where is it written? In the Bible, only in 1 John 5:7. One might argue, as does Dan Wallace, that he reads such into the text. However, Cyprian wrote – “it is written” – “of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” – not that what is written means such and such.[iv]

We need to learn to turn our backs on the assumptions of “The Academy” and learn to exercise caution following conservative scholars who are following the assumptions of “The Academy.” May the Lord help us to do so.

---

[i] The society or gaggle of distinguished scholars who aim to promote and maintain standards in their particular fields, or a body of established opinion widely accepted as authoritative in their particular fields (e.g., religion, textual criticism, etc.).

[ii] I believe the New Testament is inspired but there made the “safe” argument by extrapolation.
[iii] Peter mentions this in the natural flow of his larger thought, without needing to stop and make an argument to prove Pauls writings are scripture. This indicates his audience has an understanding that the apostolic writings are authoritative. Peter also equates the inspiration of the apostles with the prophets of the Old Testament in 2 Peter 3:2. See also John 14:26, John 15:26-27, John 16:13, 1 Corinthians 14:37, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 John 4:6, Jude v. 17, and Revelation 1:1-3.
[iv] Wallace says, “and these three are one” is “the wording of which occurs in the Greek text.” However, what he refers to in his Greek text is οι τρεις εις το εν εισιν (these three agree in one), rather than ουτοι οι τρεις εν εισιν (these three are one). Wallace also writes that the Comma “at first shows up in Latin, starting with Priscillian in c. 380.” However, Cyprian (writing in Latin) was familiar with it written in some kind of text by AD 250, some 130 years earlier. He wrote, Et iterum de Patre et Filio et Spiritu sancto scriptum est: Et hi tres unum sunt.