9. Do we use human reason to understand the Bible?
Yes, but human reason must be used within appropriate limits, as a servant of the text. To understand the Bible's meaning properly, the guidance of the Holy Spirit is essential.
A. Because Scripture is given in human language, to read and rightly understand what it says, we must humbly use human reason in such matters as context, grammar, and logic.
Psalm 119:73 Give me understanding that I may learn Your commandments.Matthew 22:37 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Acts 17:11 They received the Word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
B. Because the Bible is God's Word and, unlike all other books, is inspired and inerrant, it is wrong to use human reason to question or deny its truthfulness.
Romans 3:4 Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, "That You may be justified in Your words, and prevail when You are judged."2 Corinthians 10:5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
2 Peter 3:15-16 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
Note: The fact that the Bible is written in human language does not imply fallibility or error. Here, the incarnation guides our thinking. Jesus was true man, without sin, and true God. So also, the Bible is truly human, without error, and truly divine, the very Word of God in the words of men (Hebrews 4:15 and 2 Peter 1:20-21). For this reason, the Bible's truthfulness should not be questioned or denied (as happens, for example, with historical criticism).
Eventual commentary - focus on 2 Corinthians 10:5; 2 Timothy 4:3-4
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