1. The Bible is a collection of books, rather than a single book.
2. The authority of the Bible is less than the authority of Christ.
3. The Old Testament is for historic Israel, not for the Church.
To address each of these in turn:
1. The Bible is a collection of books, rather than a single book.
Recognizing the Bible as a collection of books–with various writing styles and points-of-view from various authors–is not wrong, but the fundamental unity of the Bible should not be downplayed. And it seems that Stanley is trying to downplay the unity of Scripture. Regarding the canon of Scripture, Stanley asserted:
This statement ['all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me'] has been reduced to simply another statement or another verse in the Bible–equated with every other statement or verse in the Bible–and that is tragic, because Jesus said this 300 plus years before the first Bible was ever assembled.
In response to this, we should note:
- Obviously, the Old Testament was already assembled before the time of Christ, and it was cited by Christ as Scripture.
- Even while the New Testament was still being written, we see writings of the New Testament being accepted as having canonical status. This is evident in Paul's quotation from the Gospel of Luke along with Deuteronomy, found in 1 Timothy 5:17-18 and in Peter's reference to Paul's writings as Scripture in 1 Peter 3:15-16.
- Historian W.H.C. Frend notes that the collection of the four gospel accounts and the Apostle Paul's epistles were commonly used in Church worship–being understood to have divine authority–by about A.D. 80.
Therefore, we see that the canon was largely recognized long before the time-frame Stanley seems to indicate.
Stanley's placing the 'assembly' of Scripture at a late date is done in service of seeing the Bible as fragmentary, rather than unified. And seeing the Bible as fragmentary, rather than unified, is done in service of his next (and main) point:
2. The authority of the Bible is less than the authority of Christ.
Regarding the authority of the Bible vs. the authority of Christ, Stanley asserted:
If you use this language [because "the Bible" is a term invented by men long after Matthew wrote this passage]: the Bible says that Jesus is our ultimate authority, not the Bible.
The words and works of Christ, recorded in the Bible, bring clarity to the rest of the Bible. The types and shadows of the Old Testament become clear in Christ. The way that the Old Testament should be applied (and should not be applied) within the Church is set forth in how Jesus referred to the Old Testament.
However, to set the authority of Christ against the authority of Scripture is unChristlike. When overcoming the temptations of Satan, Jesus appealed to the authority of Scripture, and the devil's erroneous use of Scripture did not cause Jesus to switch to another strategy (see Matthew 4:1-11). When answering the Pharisees' erroneous views of divorce, Jesus appealed to the authority of Scripture, and the religious leaders' erroneous use to Scripture did not cause Jesus to switch to another strategy (see Matthew 19:1-9). When explaining His death, burial, and resurrection to His followers, Jesus took them to the Scriptures (see Luke 24:26-27).
The apostle Paul, commissioned by Jesus, taught,
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV).
It is Scripture that allows the man of God to "be complete, equipped for every good work". Considering Scripture as a whole, it is Scripture that allows us to know the words and (specific) works of Christ. As the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, the New Testament had not yet been completed, and so the primary idea of "Scripture" for him would have been the Old Testament. The Old Testament is "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness". And this brings us to Stanley's next point:
3. The Old Testament is for historic Israel, not for the Church.
In addition to the way "Scripture" is used in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, the Apostle Paul wrote:
"For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Romans 15:4 ESV, emphases added).
Earlier in Romans, quoting from Genesis 15:6 ("Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness"), the Apostle Paul noted:
"But the words 'it was counted to him' were not written for [Abram's] sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord" (Romans 4:24 ESV, emphases added). The Old Testament shows us that righteousness was always imputed to God's people through faith alone.
Applying a specific verse from the law of Moses (“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain”), the Apostle Paul wrote:
"Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake" (1 Corinthians 9:10a ESV).
The Old Testament is a book for the Church, better understood by those who read it after the promised Messiah has come. Parts of the Old Testament scriptures are applied to the Church in different ways than they would have been applied to national Israel. The sacrificial system has been fulfilled in Christ, who is the final, perfect sacrifice, so we no longer keep the ceremonies of Old Testament worship. We are not under the same governmental structure as Israel was in Old Testament times, so we look to the principles of the law to guide our decision-making, without necessarily trying to implement details of the Old Testament law. However, there are moral laws (especially in the Ten Commandments) that are repeated verbatim as still binding upon people in the New Testament era (see Ephesians 6:1-3).
The Church must not "unhitch" from the Old Testament (as Stanley has previously asserted); rather, we should look to the Bible to see how the Old Testament should be applied in light of the completed work of Christ.
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