The Preterist Blog ~ 100% Hyperpreterist Free|we can haz rezurekshun?

I am once again attempting to listen straight through Dr. Bahnsen’s audio series on Revelation. I tried this before but my life got very busy, and I didn’t get very far. So I am starting again, and will post the nuggets here.

Dr. Bahsen warned against “flattening” our theology when we compare Scripture to Scripture and to remember that it is not always true that similar phrases mean the same thing. They can…. but they always sometimes don’t. This is of course part of the interpretative error of the hyperpreterists who shoehorn everything into an AD70 mold, which error is sometimes ignorantly propogated by my orthodox preterist brethren.

Specifically Dr. Bahnsen pointed this out:

Romans 8:9 - But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit….

Revelation 1:10 - I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day….

“In the Spirit” in these two passages are not the same thing, but they are related.

In a related issue, J.A. Schep noted in his work The Nature of Resurrection Body:

As is the case with Paul’s usage of the word “sarx,” the term “body of Christ”? isused with different conclusions. It can denote Christ’s personal, literal body, in which he dies, rose from the dead, went to heaven, and will come again; the Church; and the bread in the Lord’s Supper. Though the three are related, they are not identical.

Gentry makes the same point:

Beyond the introduction of this matter relative to the philosophy of language, it is important to realize that A.D. 70 is not unrelated to the Second Advent. As the ending of the era of sacrificial rituals and Israel-exalting redemptive history, A.D. 70 is a pre-consummational type of the Second Advent’s history ending, consummational conclusion. Hence, the similarity of language and the mixing of ideas is justified on the basis of the relationship of type (A.D. 70) to antitype (Second Advent) [This phenomenon of type/anti-type is very common in Davidic/Messianic passages. In such references, what is said of the historical King David often applies to the Messianic King Jesus.]

Even so come Lord Jesus.

Originally posted March 26, 2005

SolA Scripura OR SolO Scriptura? This is the common error of many cults and heretics, a pathetically reductionist view of this doctrine. Here are two very good articles on the subject:

Sola Scriptura Extremis

A Critique of the Evangelical Doctrine of Sola Scriptura

My friend Rusty Entrekin of Things to Come wrote me and several other friends the following comments on the second article (by Mathison which is actually part of his book The Shape of Sola Scriptura)

Amen to Keith Mathison’s article! Here are some additional thoughts regarding this.

Ephesians 4:11 - And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head, Christ.

Prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have been given to us by God to equip us so that we will not be “carried about with every wind of doctrine,” as Ephesians 4:12-14 teaches. Note that all of these offices are mentioned together as a group, and in the plural. It is these all of these men together who equip the church (”the saints”) to discern sound doctrine. It follows that sound doctrine can be more reliably discerned by the collaboration of gifted leaders than by single individuals acting alone. Thus church-wide councils of gifted leaders, such as Nicea, have better discerning ability than local, denominational, or provincial councils.

The canon of the Bible was recognized by the church primarily by the aid of men who occupy the five equipping offices. How did they do this? By discerning, through the aid of the Holy Spirit, which manuscripts contained only sound, error-free doctrine, and which contained errors. If we affirm that these church leaders were gifted by God with the ability to do this, we must also affirm that they had the ability to make statements of sound doctrine, such as the creeds.

If God did not grant to gifted church leaders the ability to correctly interpret scripture, He would not command us to allow ourselves to be persuaded by the sound reasonings of our leaders (Hebrews 13:17).

Related to this, scripture teaches us that there is such a thing as sound doctrine:

2 Ti 4:3 - For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears

Titus 2:1 - But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine

Sound doctrine simply means “correct teaching.” If God holds us accountable to adhere to sound doctrine, this means two things:

1) He often grants to gifted teachers the ability to properly interpret scripture, and

2) He often grants to believers the ability to accurately recognize the truthfulness of teachings.

(Although scripture is infallible and inerrant, as individuals we can be fallible and errant in our interpretations. There are many factors mentioned in scripture that can aid us in discerning correct doctrine.)

If correct teaching exists, then so does correct interpretation. If correct interpretation exists, then the interpretations of men (including the creeds) may accurately represent the truth. When the interpretations of gifted teachers do represent the truth (i.e.., agree with scripture), then they cannot logically be dismissed on the grounds of sola scriptura.

To use Sola Scriptura as justification to discount the relevance of “sound doctrine” is to deny Sola Scriptura of any meaning. If we could not be certain that anything was an accurate interpretation of scripture, then scripture would be of little use to us, because we could never know for sure what it means!

What Sola Scriptura means is that the interpretations of men must always be considered subject to the scrutiny and test of scripture. Sola Scriptura leads us to reject some interpretations, but to affirm others. It therefore has the effect of affirming the importance of statements which pass the test of scripture. The early creeds have always been rightly subject to the test of scripture, and they have stood that test for over one and a half millennia. Thus, the doctrine of sola scriptura leads us to affirm the importance of the early creeds, not to discount their importance.