Session 2, Mark Dever

May. 25 2008

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Mark Dever gave the message for Session 2, The Authority of Scripture. Mark began his message by establishing the importance of the issue of authority, quoting J.I. Packer, “The problem of authority is the most fundamental problem Christianity ever faces. This is because Christianity is built upon a foundation of truth.” Christians continue to understand and insist that the Scripture is and must be our authority, even in an age and generation that rejects authority of all kinds.

Mark then spoke to both the Christians and non-Christians in the audience, asking a series of questions:

What do you believe?
What will you do?
How will you answer the questions of authority?

Mark’s message was divided into two parts. First, a case for the reliability of the Bible directed primarily towards Christians who have doubts on this topic and non-Christians who are skeptical of the Bible. Second, a case for the authority of the Bible, directed primarily towards Christians.

I. The Reliability of the Bible

Here Mark urged skeptics to concentrate on the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) in thinking through the reliability of the Bible. A close examination of the Gospels is where one should start in wrestling with the reliability of the Bible.

Mark argued that when people question the reliability of the Bible, they typically are questioning four different areas of reliability:

1. What about all the different Bible translations?
2. Is what we have now (our 21st century translations) really what was written down all those years ago?
3. Is what was written down by the original authors accurate?
4. Is it true, is the Bible true? (Mark said that this fourth question is the one to really spend your time working through)

You’ll want to listen to the audio (which should be available within the hour) to hear Mark’s thorough answers to these four questions and to listen to Mark share his story of how he came to believe in the reliability of the Bible.

II. The Authority of the Bible

Here Mark had the audience repeat, several times, the phrase: ”Just because I don’t know everything doesn’t mean I don’t know anything.” Mark used this phrase to critique the present tendency in academic circles to assert that one doesn’t know the truth of something unless one knows everything there is to know about a subject. Mark stated that human knowing, human knowledge, doesn’t work that way--one’s knowledge of a subject doesn’t need to be exhaustive in order to be reliable. Mark then highlighted texts and truths from the Old Testament, New Testament, and the lips of Jesus that assert the authority of the Bible. Below are most of the texts Mark mentioned.

OT:
Exodus 24:4
Deuteronomy 4:1-2
Deuteronomy 17:19
Psalm 119:11, 89, 105, 140

NT:
Acts 1:16
Acts 17:11
2 Timothy 3:16
John 16
2 Peter 3:15-16
Matthew 5:17-18

Jesus:
Jesus took the Bible to be true.
Jesus responded to temptation with Scripture (quoting Deut. 8:3).
Matthew 19:5--quoting from Genesis, Jesus clearly takes God, not Moses, to be the ultimate author of Genesis.
John 10:35--Jesus believed the Scriptures couldn’t be broken.
Luke 24--Jesus asserted that the OT Scriptures were true and were about him.

At the end of his message Mark reminded us of the persecution and suffering men and women of history experienced because of their belief in the Word of God, urging us to cherish the present access we have to God’s Word and to be prepared for persecution that could come our way in coming years.

After Mark’s message, Eric Simmons encouraged us to think through a question Mark asked us, “What part of the Word am I not putting into practice?”

Here are my favorite quotes from Mark’s message:

“If you think you’re following Jesus, if you collect his words like a butterfly collector collects butterflies, but you don’t put them into practice, you’re in danger.”

“If I am to be Jesus’ disciple, I must treat Scripture as Jesus treated Scripture.”

“Bible study is one of the main ways you can encourage yourself in your walk of faith.”

“God is active in his Word...Far more is going on in your quiet time than you are aware of.”

Finally, near the top of his message Mark highly recommended three books dealing with the authority and reliability of the Bible. You might want to pick up one, two, or all three of these books:

1. F.F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents, Are They Reliable?
2. J.I. Packer, Fundamentalism and the Word of God
3. John Wenham, Christ and The Bible

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