As part of my counseling training/certification, {which I am two classes shy of finishing, by the way}, I had to complete a very lengthy theology exam. In this exam, I had to formulate and clearly write the biblical basis for my beliefs on a number of questions under the headings of bibliology (the Bible), theology proper (God), anthropology (man), Christology (Christ), soteriology (salvation), pneumatology (Holy Spirit), and ecclesiology (the Church). I decided I would share some of that content on the blog (one question at a time of course), and I chose to post questions on Thursdays because it makes for a nice alliterative title. 🙂 Some questions have relatively concise answers while others have rather lengthy answers.
That said, I can’t make a commitment for weekly posting at this point in my life, so “Theology Thursday” posts might be regular, or they might be sporadic. I make no promises. The first series of questions falls under the bibliology heading (Bible).
1. The Bible is spoken of as “inspired.” What does this mean?
The Bible is a book written by human men, but it is also the very Word of God. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” The inspiration of Scripture means that Scripture was literally breathed out by God so that what is written in our Bibles is as much His Word as an audible voice would be. (1)
God, however, did not dictate words to the human authors of Scripture. These men freely wrote what they wanted to write in their individual styles but were kept from error by the superintendence of the Holy Spirit. In referring to the Bible, Jay Adams says, “The Christian counselor has a Book that is the very word of the living God, written in the styles of the individual writers, who (through the superintendence of the Holy Spirit) were kept from errors that otherwise would have crept into their writings, and who, by His providential direction, produced literature that expressed not only what they themselves wanted to say, but what God wanted to say through them . . .” (2)
1. Jay E. Adams, A Theology of Christian Counseling: More than Redemption (Zondervan, N.D.), 17.
Gospel-Shaped Womanhood 