LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1965, Page 292

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

REVISION OF THE STUDY DOCUMENT ON REVELATION,
INSPIRATION, AND INERRANCY

Introduction
When the Commission on Theology and Church Re-

lations issued its “Study Document on Revelation, In-

spiration, and Inerrancy,” it proposed to deal with issues
in the understanding and interpretation of the Holy
’ Seriptures with which the Christian church as a whole
is occupied in our time. For the purpose of setting forth
some aspects of contemporary thinking in these areas,
the study document summarized them in a so-called
Position Two in contrast to more traditional views as
expressed in Position One. At no time did the commis-
sion say, or intend to say, that either of these positions
represented the stand of any one individual. By re-
questing the members of the church to give careful con-
sideration to this material and to send their reactions
to the commission, the commission clearly emphasized
the preliminary character of the study document. That
document has now served its purpose and is no longer
before the church for action.

The commission herewith presents a partial revision,
dealing with inspiration and inerrancy. It will be noted
that the structure of the original study document has
been superseded by a single, positive treatment of the
subject. These statements on inspiration and inerrancy
do not claim to be exhaustive or definitive. Special com-
prehensive studies in all aspects of the doctrine concern-
ing the Scriptures and their interpretation are being
undertaken and should produce results of lasting value
and benefit to the church. In any event the commission
is not attempting to write a dogmatic treatise but rather
“to indicate the limits within which and the lines along
which our common study of these issues should move
and so give stimulus and direction to a concerted inves-
tigation of the problems on the part of all members of
our Synod” (Study Document, p.2) [Italics not in the
original].

A STATEMENT ON THE INSPIRATON
OF THE SCRIPTURES

A. Inspiration Is the Work of God the Holy Spirit

1. What is inspiration? The Scriptures use the word
“inspired” in only one passage (2Tim.3:16); they do
not analyze the process; they say simply that men who
are inspired speak or write “in the Spirit” (Matt. 22: 43;
Rev. 1:10), as men “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke
1:67; Micah 3:8), or as men “moved [or impelled] by
the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). The Scriptures are
speaking clearly when they speak in this way, for they
are speaking to people who know (or can find out) from
the rest of the Scriptures what the power, work, and
blessing of the Holy Spirit is; from that knowledge they
can get an idea what it means to be in, filled with, or
moved by the Spirit. Paul uses the phrase “in Christ”
and can count on being understood because his readers
know the power, the work, and the blessing of Christ.

If we want to understand inspiration more fully, we
therefore turn to what the Scriptures say about the
power, work, and blessing of the Holy Spirit in general
and apply the knowledge gained in this way to our
understanding of inspiration. This is letting Scriptures
interpret Scripture. The Nicene Creed is operating in
this way when it places the statement on inspiration
(“Who spake by the prophets”) in series and in connec-
tion with its other descriptions of the power and works
of the Holy Spirit.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of
Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who
with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and
glorified, who spake by the prophets. And I believe one
holy Christian and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one
Baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the

resurrection of the dead; and the life of the world to
come,

B. The Holy Spirit Is the Spirit of Power

2. The Nicene Creed calls the Spirit “the Lord and
Giver of Life.” The Creed is thereby ascribing to the
Spirit the highest power; there is no greater power than
the power to create life. The Scriptures speak of the
Spirit as having and exercising this creative power (Ps.
104:30; Gen. 1:2). As at the beginning of the world, so
at the end of this age it is the power of the Spirit which
will create the new world of God, the world to come
(Is. 11:2, 6-9; 32:15; 44:3, 4). The creative power of the
Spirit will restore the dead to life (Rom. 8:11; cf. Ezek.
37:1-14). The new, immortal body of the resurrected
dead will be a body renewed by the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:44).

3. This creative power lived and worked in prophets
and apostles. The prophet Micah says: “As for me [in
contrast with false prophets], I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice, and might”
(Micah 3:8); and he connects this Spirit of power di-
rectly with his word when he goes on to say: “to declare
to Jacob his transgressions and to Israel his sin.” The
apostle Paul says: “My speech and my message were
not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and power, that your faith might not rest
in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Cor.
2:4, cp. 2:13). And again: “Christ has wrought through
me... by Word and deed, by the power of signs and
wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that...
I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ” (Rom. 15:
18, 19).

4. What does this mean for our understanding and
teaching of the inspiration of the Scriptures: It means
that we recognize that the Spirit of power was at work
in the apostles and prophets when they wrote the words
of the Holy Scriptures. We also recognize that the Spirit
of power is at work in and through these words now
when they are read, spoken, preached, or sung. We
know that the inspired word is a divinely created word,
not a word produced by men but a word given by God.

292