From the April 2007 Adventist World NAD edition of the Adventist Review Bill Knott writes from the Editor’s Pen the following:
For Those Who Lead
Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. (Hebrews 13:7 )
It’s the most common of human signs, and in the church, one of the most troubling. We shrug our shoulders, roll our eyes, and say with gentle sarcasm, “But what could you expect of leadership?” It’s a line good for a momentary laugh as we forge a fleeting bond with some other believer by diminishing those who have been called to lead God’s church. “We,” who pretend to be the great unvoiced, unheard congregation, describe ourselves as helpless to overcome the faults and foibles in those we have elected. -- Page 3
The writer of Hebrews was addressing the leaders who brought the knowledge of Christ to the Hebrews though using the King James Version as Bill Knott does may make it sound a bit different and certainly Adventist do not elect their leaders, maybe they choose someone to go to a constituency meeting and they voted to accept nominated people on a committee but that is about as close to an election as SDA members get. But what is the Word of God that the SDA leadership brings? I know what the writer of Hebrews is talking about but I don’t know what Bill Knott is talking about.
We use the phrase “word of God” a lot, in fact it is our subject for this quarter’s Lesson Study Guide. It is mainly used in the New Testament while “word of the Lord” is mainly in the Old Testament except for the book of Acts which also uses the word of the Lord a lot.
From Strong's Lexicon 3056 logos (log'-os);
from 3004; something said (including the thought); by implication a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive; by extension, a computation; specifically (with the article in John) the Divine Expression (i.e. Christ):
KJV-- account, cause, communication, X concerning, doctrine, fame, X have to do, intent, matter, mouth, preaching, question, reason, + reckon, remove, say (-ing), shew, X speaker, speech, talk, thing, + none of these things move me, tidings, treatise, utterance, word, work.
Most famous use:
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (NIV)
I searched the Adult Teacher’s guide lesson study Guide for the definition of the “Word of God” without success. The following is the results of a search of the Adult Teachers Lesson Study Guide through April 27 for the definition of the term Word of God. Unfortunately the folks in charge while able to print the Lesson study guide and send them out can’t manage to post them all for the quarter but instead just offer a couple weeks of lessons in advance. The only reason I can think of for that is that they don’t want the lessons to be searchable in a computer format which could readily show contradictions or biases in the lesson:
Though all these have their role in showing that the Bible is the Word of God, perhaps the greatest evidence for the Bible is the influence and impact for good it has had and still continues to have on the lives of those who apply its teaching to themselves. p-2 Introduction
With such claims made for the Bible, it’s no wonder that people have challenged its authenticity and reliability. Is it truly the Word of God? p-2
April 5 teachers comments quote by karl Barth
But it does not live in the inner movement of these tensions. In them we see rather the process of decay to which the Church is at once subject when it ceases to live by the Word of God, which means by Holy Scripture.”—Page 75. April 7 But why should any one of us put ourselves under the authority of a book? The answer is that the Bible isn’t just a book; it is, instead, the Word of God.
Teacher’s comments April 8
Teach the Class to:
Know: That the Bible is the inspired Word of God.
Feel: Assured that the Holy Spirit inspired each Bible writer.
Do: Choose to live our lives in accordance with God’s Word.
Lesson Outline:
I. The Inspired Word of God (1 Pet.
The Spirit of God inspired the messages given in the Scriptures. How can we be sure of this? Bible writers themselves attribute their messages to the Lord. Give some examples.
April 9
As a result of this divine revelation, the Bible also is called “the book of the Lord” (Isa. 34:16), “the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1), “the oracles of God” (Rom. 3:2), “the word of Christ” (Col. 3:16), and “the good word of God” (Heb. 6:5).
April 11
The apostles were solidly convicted that the Scriptures were the Word of God. At Pentecost Peter said, “ ‘This Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David’ ” (Acts
April 12
With Peter’s reference to Paul’s writings as Scripture, we see internal evidence for the validity of both Testaments; both were considered the Word of God (see also 1 Thess.
April 13
The divine mind and will is combined with the human mind and will; thus the utterances of the man are the word of God.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 21.
April 13 discussion question
No doubt there are some things in Scripture that are difficult to understand.Why should that not be surprising when one considers what this book is about and the themes it deals with? What can you do to help one another maintain faith in the Scriptures as the Word of God, despite some things in it that can be hard to
grasp?
April 14
This week we’ll take a look at some of the great prophecies in Scripture. What can we learn from them? What is the principle behind prophecy? How does prophecy help us learn to trust in the Bible as the Word of God?
April 22
Hence, the arrival of what’s known as higher criticism, which has been very successful in destroying faith in the Bible as the Word of God. For many scholars, the Bible is just another ancient text, a Jewish version of, for instance, the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Full of historical interest, for sure, but not divinely inspired.
Suppose someone were to ask you, “Why do you trust the Bible? Why do you think the Bible is the Word of God? Why do you live according to what the Bible says?” How would you answer, and why?
April 22 teachers comments
Teach the Class to:
Know: That the Bible is the inspired Word of God and that it will stand
forever.
How can we help others accept the Bible as the true Word of God?
Summary: We have good reason to believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and has been preserved with accuracy through divine intervention.
April 24
How firm is your faith in the Bible as the Word of God? Also, ask yourself this question: “If I can’t trust the Bible, what can I trust?” What’s left?
April 25
What other evidence can help us trust in the Bible as the Word of God, besides what we’ve looked at in the past few days?
April 25 Teachers comments
Thought Questions:
Most Christians believe that the Bible is the Word of God. Does this mean that the Bible is true and infallible down to the letter, that it is verbally inspired? Or can it be said that the Bible is not the Word of God as such, but contains the Word of God (prophecies, direct statements from God Himself, etc.)? What is wrong with either or both views? What alternative is there?
April 26 teachers comments
“Accepting the Bible as the Word of God means first recognizing that the biblical writers do not expound their own views (2 Pet.
April 27
“God has faithful witnesses, to whom He committed the truth, and who preserved the Word of God. The manuscripts of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures have been preserved through the ages by a miracle of God.”—Ellen G. White, Letter 32, 1899.
The closest to providing any definition is that on April 26 but it is also the most troublesome. April 26 teachers comments:
“Accepting the Bible as the Word of God means first recognizing that the biblical writers do not expound their own views (2 Pet.
It is actually pretty obvious that the Bible includes the views of those who wrote the various books, some like Paul plainly say this is their view. Others write from their perspective of the religion such as Ecclesiastes or the reference to counting Israel by David one book saying God caused David to do it another book saying Satan caused it; both actually reflecting the ancient Jewish belief that both good and evil come from God. So the first part of his statement does not work in reality.
The second line saying the words conveys God’s will is also problematic. How do we look at that will, is it the same for ever or is it restricted to the contextual time and place. If it is not independent of human acceptance then should we not be killing Sabbath breakers and those who commit adultery and all the other commands of God given in the books of the law?
We must have a workable definition of the word of God if we intend to use the phrase apart from its own Biblical usage. The Bible writers wrote of specific messages that they said were the word of God but they did not ever call their whole book and certainly not the accumulation of books the word of God. This is a foundational subject to the quarter’s lesson yet it is completely ignored by the lesson. Possible this is why they did not chose and actual Bible scholar to write the lesson.
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