Fear and Trembling

(This article was originally written for my local newspaper.) Our most recent series of articles for Soli Deo Gloria has looked at the basic rules of interpretation and some practical suggestions to help understand the Scriptures.   We will close the series with a brief exhortation to read the Bible more. We have abundant evidence to prove that the Bible is God’s Word given to us.   The books of the New Testament were written by eyewitnesses of the events they describe and their message has been accurately communicated to us through the centuries of copying and translation.   (See : Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony by Richard Bauckham and The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? by F. F. Bruce)   Those eyewitness testimonies tell us about Jesus’ teaching that the Old Testament was true (Matthew 4:4, John 17:17) and His teaching that the New Testament would be true (John 14:25-30, 16:12-15).   They also tell of the...

(This article was originally written for my local newspaper.) “All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all…” – WCF Chapter 1, Section 7 This phrase from the Westminster Confession of Faith has been a great comfort to me as I approach one of the most difficult areas of the Bible to interpret: predictive prophecy.   Predictive prophecy is about the claims that the Bible makes about what will happen in the future.   It especially focuses on eschatology, the study of the end times and what will transpire at the end of the world.   This brief article will discuss the ‘ground rules to use when confronting this difficult area. R. C. Sproul made a classic understatement when he said, “We must approach prophecy very carefully with a sober attitude.”   Sproul makes some interesting points, either directly or indirectly: First, avoid two extremes.   The first is the “skeptical, naturalistic approach” that does away with pr...