stöckhardt what does scripture say about itself

8/12/2019 Stckhardt What Does Scripture Say About Itself

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What Does Scripture Say About Itself?1

(Taking into account the current and recently raised objections of modern theology.)

I.Regarding the nature and origin of Scripture, modern theologians deny what the

Church has always believed: Scripture is God's Word in the proper sense, inspired byGod, has combined an account of revelation which is prepared by God and humanauthors. Their own testimony of Scripture is contrary to that. Because

1. Scripture testifies the Old Testament as God's Word.a. The Old Testament specifies itself as God's Word.2b. The New Testament gives witness to the Old Testament. Christ and the

apostles refer to the Scriptures, the Holy Scriptures, God's Word, theScriptures, given by God.3

2. The New Testament specifies itself as God's Word and Revelation.a. According to the testimony of the New Testament the words of the

apostles stand on an equal footing with the words and writings of theprophets.4

b. According to the testimony of the New Testament the oral proclamationof the apostles is God's Word and revelation.5

c. According to the testimony of the New Testament the apostles have thesame Gospel laid down in their writings that that preached orally.6

3. Scripture testifies that the Holy Spirit has not only supplied the holy men ofGod the thoughts, but also the words, that all of Scripture and all individual

1A presentation for the Pastoral Conference of the state of Missouri, printed by decision of theConference.

2Exodus 24:4, 7; 34:27; Deuteronomy 31:9-13, 24-26; Joshua 1:7-8; Nehemiah 8:8, 18; Isaiah 8:16; Daniel12:4; Isaiah 1:1; Jeremiah 1:1; 2 Chronicles 32:32; Psalm 40:8; Isaiah 29:11; 34:16; Zechariah 7:12; 2 Samuel

23:1-3; Psalm 1:2; 119:105.3Luke 16:19; John 5:39; Matthew 21:42; 22:29; 26:54; Luke 24:32, 44-45; Matthew 4:4, 7, 10; 22:43 - Matthew2:17, 23; John 19:24; James 2:23; Romans 4:17, 3; 9:17; Galatians 4:30; 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Galatians 3:8- Matthew 1:22; 2:15; Romans 9:25; 1:2; 3:2; Hebrews 1:1; 8:8 - Hebrews 3:7-8; 10:15; Acts 1:16; 28:15; 1Peter 1:10-12; 2 Peter 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:16.

4John 5:46-47; Acts 26:22; Romans 1:1-2; 1 Peter 1:10-12; 2 Peter 3:2; Ephesians 2:19-20.51 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:24-25; 1:12; 1 Corinthians 15:1; Romans 1:1.6Romans 1:1ff. 1 Corinthians 1:1, 10; 2:6-13; 3:1-3; Galatians 1:9-10; 6:11, 14; 1 Peter 5:12; 1 John 1:1-4; 5:13;John 20:30-31 - 2 Thessalonians 2:2; 2 Peter 3:15-16; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 2 Corinthians 13:3.


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parts are inspired, and that therefore no tittle of Scripture may be broken orchanged.7

II.

As evidence for their view and against the Church's dogma of inspiration, themodern theologians refer to theform and nature of Scripturelying before their eyes.Nevertheless, nowhere does it contradict what Scripture testifies about itself. That self-witness of Scripture is not abolished nor diminished:

1. neither through their own research and efforts of the authors of the individualbooks8,

2. nor through the various individuality of the prophets and apostles9,3. nor through "even to unimportant details" that are mentioned in Scripture10,4. nor through alleged, natural history, chronological, historical inaccuracies

interspersed in Scripture11,

5. nor through supposed contradictions contained in Scripture12,6. nor through different readings of the Hebrew and Greek text.

III.As to thepurpose and meaningof Scripture, modern theologians apprehend

Scripture, the document of salvation of history, as Canon that the Church needs as awhole for her historical development, and accept only oral preaching, in contrast fromScripture, as means of grace that is useful and necessary for faith and salvation.According to its own testimony, however, Scripture is the supreme and final authority

in matters of faith and conscience, namely:1. source and norm of all sound doctrine.132. foundation of faith, rule and norm of faith and life.143. guide and means for salvation.15

71 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Samuel 23:2; Psalm 45:2; Jeremiah 1:9; Luke 1:70; Acts 3:21; Galatians 3:16; Matthew22:43-44; John 10:34-36 (Matthew 10:19-20; Luke 12:11-12) - Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:5-6;Revelation 22:18-19; Matthew 5:17-19; Luke 16:17; Acts 24:14.

8Luke 1:1-4.9

1 Corinthians 12:6.102 Timothy 4:13.11Acts 7:16.12Numbers 25:9 and 1 Corinthians 10:8.132 Timothy 3:16; Romans 15:4; John 5:39; 1 Peter 1:10-11; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 16:25; Acts 17:2;

26:22; 18:24, 28; 17:11.142 Timothy 3:15; John 20:30-31; 1 John 5:13; Romans 10:17; 2 Peter 1:19; Ephesians 2:19-20; Joshua 1:7;

Isaiah 8:20; Psalm 119:105; Galatians 6:16.15John 5:39; 2 Timothy 3:15; John 20:30-31; Luke 10:25-26.


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The question of inspiration of the Holy Scriptures has recently again claimed theinterest of Lutheran theologians, in Lutheran Christianity in general. In the "Forward"of the current volume of "Lehre und Wehre" is the aforementioned lectures ofProfessors Dr. W. Volck and Dr. F. Mhlau in Dorpat16in February, 1884, in which theyexplained before a publicly gathered audience their opinion of the origin, nature, andimportance of the Scriptures. Both lectures appeared in print in the same year. Volck'slecture has the title: "To what extent is inerrancy ascribed to the Bible?" Mhlau's lecturedeals with the subject: "Do we have the original text of the Scriptures?" At the placealready cited it has also been reported that the Synod of the Livonian island sel17hasprotested against those enunciations of the Dorpat university lecturers. Still othercounter-testimonies have been raised. On the other hand, Dr. Th. Harnack, the highlyrespected Professor emeritusin the Lutheran Church of Germany, has announced whatshould be a "word of peace" to the assembly of his previous colleagues in a pamphlettitled "On the Canon and Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures" (Dorpat, 1885). Even

Luthardt has given his Placet18in his "General Church News". A year later Volckfollowed up with three more specific lectures for Lutheran Christians, particularlyscholars, under the inscription, "The Bible As Canon" (Dorpat, 1885). What Volck,Mhlau, Harnack, Luthardt deny and affirm concerning the Bible is indeed nothingnew in the Lutheran Church. It is the so-called Hofmannian19theory that the entireHofmannian school endorses. And independently of Hofmann, Kahnis 25 years ago hadalready subjected the ancient Church and Old Lutheran dogma of inspiration to asharp, spirited criticism, at that time to the horror of the entire Lutheran Church ofGermany. But now that Volck, Mhlau, and Harnack recently express and defend with

special emphasis the modern doctrine of inspiration and just want to make itcomprehensible to Christians, it is, of course, a sad sign of the times. Precisely menwhose names have previously had a good reputation in the Lutheran Church, yes, whostill now are regarded as representatives of "confessional" theology in so-called"Lutheran" circles in Europe, deliberately contribute to destroy the foundation of theChurch, the principle of Scripture.

The theologians mentioned emphatically refer to Scripture itself, to the presentcondition of Scripture, in order to justify their point of view. Because it is the first andnext thing to consult Scripture, whether or not it bears witness about its nature, itsorigin, its meaning. And this is indeed the case. Precisely these scriptural passages in

which the Scripture testifies of itself must determine above all things our judgment ofScripture. However, we also then have to consider in the second place, whether the

16Modern day Tartu, Estonia. - DMJ17Modern day Saaremaa, the largest island in Estonia. - DMJ18Vote of assent. - DMJ19Johann Christian Konrad von Hofmann (1810-1877) was a Lutheran theologian and historian. - DMJ


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other characteristics of Scripture does not contradict that self-witness of Scripture. So itis now our task, with consideration of the objections of modern theology, to measurethe known ecclesiastical doctrine of inspiration of Scripture itself and answer thequestion: "What does Scripture say about itself?" Although, thank God, in our churchcircles no sympathy with the modern theological wisdom is still noticeable, we shouldthus never forget that the seed of doubt, of unbelief, is sunk into all our hearts bynature. And doubt that continually bubbles up from the natural heart has chosen as itsobject from time immemorial precisely Scripture, the source of all divine Truth. Suchdoubt is best defended when we always are aware anew of what Scripture says aboutitself than what it gives to us and represents to us.

I.

Regarding the nature and origin of Scripture, modern theologians deny what the Church

has always believed: Scripture is God's Word in the proper sense, inspired by God.

That the Holy Scripture is God's Word in the proper and unique sense, that HolyScripture is inspired by God according to content and form, that not only the thoughts,but also the words, that all individual parts of Scripture are inspired, consequently thatScripture is, of course, infallible, free from errors - this universally known dogma thathas been the faith and confession of Christians of all times is contested, denied, bitterlyfought, yes, doused with derision and contempt by modern theologians. And here weare not talking about Rationalists or Union theologians - of which we ignore all of them- but those so-called "Lutheran" theologians, those representatives of modern"Lutheran" theology who reportedly want to serve the Church, who have particularly

chosen the slogan: "God's Word remains forever."First, let's hear some evidence of these modern "Lutherans" about the "olddogmaticians", i.e., the old and genuine Christian doctrine of inspiration.

Kahnis20writes in his "Testimony of the fundamental truths of Protestantismagainst Dr. Hengstenberg: (Leipzig, 1862), page 113: "If the old dogmaticians implementa concept, they do not ask what is historical, what is practical, what can go and standaccording to human intellect, but always trace their straight lines, it may now go overmountain or valley, over water or fire, over hedges or fences. One particularly sees thisin the concept of inspiration. They start from the judgment: God is the actual author ofScripture. This is of course a very unproven premise that has its basis neither in

Scripture nor in Christian consciousness. From these unproven judgments until nowthey then determine inspiration as meaning that God the Holy Spirit incites the sacredwriter partially to write (impulsus ad scribendum), partly gave them utterance both thingsas well as words (suggestio et rerum et verborum). If the old dogmaticians would haveinspiration that is still an historical fact, according to the Bible, as it is historical, and not

20Karl Friedrich August Kahnis (1814-1888) was a German neo-Lutheran theologian. - DMJ


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determined by the terms, then they would have soon seen that it is thus impossible toapprehend inspiration."

Hofmann judges in his last work, "The Holy Scripture of The New TestamentPart One", page 9: "It is not much different with the rest of the organization of doctrine.It is a mere logical implementation of the concept of inspiration asserted by Chemnitz.Everything, everything that is necessary to know about their salvation, is foundperfectly in Holy Scripture, which has arisen as the written Word of God by aninspiration of the Holy Spirit, that extends, without distinction of human authors, overeveryone and all individuals: thus this was not the view from Holy Scripture, butspringing from the doctrine of the terms of the written Word of God. What this means,when one calls Scripture inspired, here is brought to light in perfect clarity and security.But it was a mere illusion which dissolves as long as one holds toward the real nature ofHoly Scripture: one must put on the same power in order to keep it upright, as thehistory of the New Testament canon, in order to make indifferent the distinction

between homologoumena and antilegomena."Accordingly, Volck now expresses himself in his first lecture: "To What Extent is

Inerrancy Ascribed to the Bible?" page 9 as follows: "But what is it (the Bible)? The mostcommon answer to this question is that it is the one book that teaches in a clear andsatisfactory manner about what you must believe and do to inherit eternal life. As abook of this content, the Bible is the revelation of God. This answer has been prevailingin Lutheran theology of the 17th century and one still sees this today in theological andlay circles. Is it true? Does this coincide with those defining the nature of the Bible as wehave it? It does not take much reflection to answer in the negative."

Further, page 10: "Add to that another defect that adheres to this definition. Itsets Bible and revelation equal to each other; it sees in the Bible a direct expression ofGod for the purpose of instruction of people. As soon as one advocates thisidentification, one must necessarily assume complete inerrancy of the Bible on all sides,even in the slightest and smallest and most external things - for God certainly cannoterr; one must make the biblical writers into completely mindless tools of the revelatoryGod; one must perhaps compare their spirit, as this has recently happened again, with aspindle that the Holy Spirit set in motion or whose very passive service He Himself hasprovided, with repression of the human spirit. It can be shown without difficulty thatjust as little as that definition of the Bible, so this idea of the influence of the divine

Spirit can be correct to its authors."What Volck remarks in his second pamphlet, "The Bible As Canon", page 48,

borders on blasphemy: "The Lutheran dogmaticians of the 17th century have carriedover the evolved doctrine of verbal inspiration from Reformed soil. It has itsrepresentatives up to the latest time among theologians and laymen. Unfortunately,even youth are often still taught in this sense, and so built their belief in the Book ofBooks on sand from the outset."


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This is the negation. And what is now the correct position? What is the Bible,when it is not for what is unfortunately held by so many theologians and laymen andeven from tender youth?

Hofmann gives the following answer to this latter question on page 49 of thework cited above: " For the time between the conclusion of the exemplary history ofsalvation and the attainment of its antithesis the necessity appears to me that thecommunity of the former possesses a consistent and corresponding monument of thesame, through which it is prepared for the latter. And for the time between theconclusion of the time of origin of the Christian Church and the end of the presentcourse of the world, the necessity appears to me that the Church has a consistent andappropriate monument to their early history by which it is transferred from itsbeginning to its goal. The emergence of these two monuments of sacred historytherefore belongs to these themselves, and that they were what they should be for thecommunity of God has hereafter been for a determining operation of the Holy Spirit, as

He Himself has ruled in sacred history."Therefore Scripture is according to Hofmann a "monument of sacred history".

"Sacred history" or "salvation history", which Christ, Christ's work has for a middlepoint, is a cornerstone of the Hofmannian system. This history is designed by God,permeated by the Spirit of God. And the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments isnow a "monument" or a "certificate" of this history. Scripture simply reports that sacredhistory, as otherwise a history book tells history. Of course, this monument has arisenaccording to Hofmann under the "action of the Holy Spirit", the same Spirit that hasruled in sacred history. However, the operation of the Holy Spirit, as Hofmann further

explains in the following, essentially consisted in nothing else than that the individualwritings, which the prophets and apostles wrote, were also united under the intentionof the writers as a whole, which then evolved into a corresponding canon for thecommunity of God. The activity of the Holy Spirit, according to Hofmann, is reduced todivine providence that prevailed over the production of these documents, and theireffect eventually was this well-ordered, complete whole.

That's the wisdom that Volck now strives to instill into Christian laity andChristian youth. He never tires in his first lecture to inculcate his hearers and readers tothis dear, newly found, i.e. inherited from Hofmann axiom: the Bible is the instrumentof sacred history, nothing else. "I emphasize that the Bible is not revelation, but the reportof revelation."21But one must not get the wrong idea about that "revelation" of which isreported to us in the Bible. He continues on page 13: "I do not understand revelation asa supernatural disclosure of teaching, but a progression of history." So sacred history,whose design God's Hand has acted, is basically essentially only revelation. Theteaching of the prophets and apostles is abstraction from history, reflection about

21Page 13.


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history configured by God. And now the Bible gives us a lecture about that history andthe teaching developed from it.

Volck gives the following information about the origin of this report in the samelecture: "Therefore, the Bible is divine and human; divine because it originated throughthe self-activity of the Holy Spirit and developing God's thoughts, human because it iswritten by men and bringing to expression human thinking, willing, and feeling of theirauthors. But if the Bible is now a work of God written by man, then their relative abilityof error results from it." The phrase "a work of God written by man" is repeated in laterlectures. A horrendous phrase! Who then essentially is the author? Men or God? Menhave written the Bible, expressed their thinking, willing and feeling. And theproduction by men yet is, after all, a work of God? Then it is evidently not a work ofGod in the sense in which every simple-minded hearer and reader understands theexpression. No, what God has done here is nothing other than that He led the activity,writing, thinking, willing, feeling of the people who wrote independently of themselves

from these writings, directed to a simple goal. Men have carried out the work. And Godhas made this work, as other works of men, subservient to His purposes and intentions.Because according to Volck's and Hofmann's theory everything here was situated in themaking of this whole.

Harnack says this in plain words in his pamphlet quoted above, page 26: "On theother hand, one spirit prevails over all these writings and binds them all by one contentto one final work, so that the divine influence is overarching and cohesive." The sacredwriters were, as page 27 expresses, in "independent activity". They have expressed theirown thoughts independently. Only that they, like other believers, when they organize

their works, received the impulse of the Spirit of God, and that the one object, namelythe sacred history or Christ, formed the subject of their reflection and the content oftheir reporting. The particular thing that the Holy Spirit, or rather God has wroughtaccording to His providence, is the combination of all these writings to a final purposeor to a suitable harmonious whole as canon of the Church. Harnack puts all theemphasis in this context on "the absolute unity and wholeness of Scripture, in spite ofthe fact that it is written in the course of fifteen or sixteen centuries, from very differentauthors, in different languages and countries, and under entirely differentcircumstances."22And he adds, "The resulting (i.e. from the absolute unity andwholeness) visible particular activity of the Holy Spirit is likewise a necessary

requirement of the faith of the Church in her canon of Scripture.

1. Scripture testifies the Old Testament as God's Word.

a. The Old Testament specifies itself as God's Word. We turn to it as it is andexamine step by step Who actually is the Person Who speaks to us here.

22Page 26.


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The Law of Mosesis the beginning. The Law is given through Moses, but given byGod through Moses. The law is God's Word and revelation in the truest sense of theword. There can be no doubt about that. God Himself has spoken down the tencommandments from Mount Sinai. God the Lord has all the rights and customs whichIsrael should hold, made known to His servant Moses in the darkness of the cloud.Moses has then written in a book precisely these words that God Himself spoke.Accordingly, Exodus 20 is thought of as the legislative power, i.e. of the Law of the tencommandments, and Exodus 21-23 are called the principal judgments that Israel shouldsubmit to Moses, we are told in Exodus 24:3ff.: "Moses came and told the people all thewords of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voiceand said, 'All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.'" It continues: "And Moseswrote down all the words of the Lord."23The words of the Lord that the Lord had saidnow lay written before them. And this document is called "the Book of the Covenant"."Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And

they said, 'All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.' AndMoses took the blood."24The written Law was henceforth the foundation of thecovenant between God and His people. What Moses read aloud from the book beforethe ears of the people was what God had to say to His people. And the people praisedGod, precisely to obey the words which it had heard read from the book. What Moseswrote down in the book was regarded from that point on as Word and Law of the Lord.In other words, it was God's will to litigate and act in the future with Israel according tothe written Law. So He Himself gave to Moses the command to write down all thewords of the Law that He had revealed to him. "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Write

these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you andwith Israel.'"25At the end of the law of Moses is once again quite clearly stated that Israel had to

abide by the law, and precisely by the written Law: "Then Moses wrote this law andgave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD,and to all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, 'At the end of every sevenyears, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comesto appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read thislaw before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones,and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD

your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, and that their children, whohave not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live

23Exodus 24:4.24Exodus 24:8-9a.25Exodus 34:27.


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in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.'"26Therefore precisely "thisLaw", which God has revealed to Moses and through Moses to Israel, is written downby Moses. The written Law, the book of the Law should be read yearly before the earsof all the people. What is read, what is in the book, means and is "this Law", the Lawthat God gave through Moses, i.e. the Law of the Lord, God's Word. The people shouldlearn from the book, children and grandchildren should learn, what is the will of theLord their God. This is present in the book. When the children of Israel heard the bookof the Law read, then they hear the Lord's command. Israel, children andgrandchildren, should fear the Lord their God. And what is the fear of the Lord? Thatthey do and hold all the words of the Law that are read from the book. It is said in thesame context: "When Moses had finished writing the words of this Law in a book to thevery end, Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of theLord, 'Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of theLord your God, that it may be there for a witness against you.'" The Law of God, in

which God the Lord has clearly testified His will to His people, is a witness againstIsrael in the event that Israel sins and transgresses. Precisely the written Law, the bookof the Law, is now a witness against Israel. This very book testifies to Israel, to futuregenerations, the holy will of the Lord their God, and therefore accuses Israel if it doesnot obey the will of God.

The later writings of the Old Testament likewise put the book of the Law on thesame level with the Law itself. According to Joshua 1:7-8 the Lord exhorts his servantJoshua, and through him and together with him all the people: "Only be strong andvery courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant

commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may havegood success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth,but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do accordingto all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then youwill have good success." Moses the servant of God had died. The work to which Moseswas appointed as a mediator, the legislative power, was completed. God henceforthgave His people no more new commandments. But, however, He bound His peoplewho now dwelled in the promised land to the Law of Moses. Only if they thereafter doall things and would neither deviate to the right nor to the left, they should havehappiness, blessings, and success. The Law of Moses should be Israel's rule and norm

for all times. But how? God no longer spoke to his people now, as formerly by Moses.God no longer repeated and acknowledged, as during the wilderness wandering, theearlier words that He had spoken on Sinai. So He instructed his people henceforth tothe written Law, "the book of the Law". This book, in which Moses wrote down all thewords of the law, should Joshua the prince, and his people consider day and night,

26Deuteronomy 31:9-13.


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considering, praying moving their lips, and do all things according to what was writtenin them. When Joshua when Israel indeed gave attention to everything that was written,then it walked in obedience to the Law, in obedience to God and acted wisely and hadblessings and success. "The book of this Law" for Israel after Moses' death was simplythe Law of the Lord. Thus Nehemiah 8:8, 18 expressly emphasized that Israel was read"the book of the Law of God". Actually: "They read in the book, namely in the Law ofGod." The book that Moses wrote bears the title "Law of God", . This verybook, as we say, the five books of Moses, is truly and really the Law of God itself. Asoften as one reads this book, reads, recites, one hears precisely God's will and commandfrom it. In this book, through this book, and by no other means, God now lets us know"His glorious Law and judgment" etc.

It scarcely needs remarking that the Torah of Moses or Torah of God, as it wasnow the custom among Israel, contains in itself the written Torah, everything that westill now find in the Pentateuch, including the history of Israel and of the patriarchs

until the death of Moses, just as the apostle cites from "the law" the history of Sarah andHagar.27

Thus the book of the Law, according to Scripture, is the writings of Moses, notmerely a report of the legislative power on Mount Sinai, not merely an instrument ofthat great revelation of God that Moses mediated, but is itself the Law of the Lord,God's Word and revelation. God the Lord has revealed from heaven to men what theyshould do and not do, and has explained His will first orally and then in writing, inorder that all families on earth would have it in mind. Everything that now is writtenbefore us is God's will, order, and command for us. God's will is that we do and act

according to all that is written.As with the law, so it is with theprophets. The prophets speak to Israel in thename of the Lord. It is said that the Word of the Lord came to them. They appearedbefore the people and said: "Thus says the Lord of Sabaoth." The proclamation of theprophets was God's revelation. This is no doubt. But the prophets have only merelywritten down the words that God initially informed the people about the command ofGod, in order that their offspring would receive it. The prophet Isaiah received themandate: "Bind up the testimony; seal the Law among my disciples."28And Daniel: "Butyou, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shallrun to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."29

The written word of the prophets therefore is equally, as their oral preaching,"prophecy". The book of Isaiah has the inscription "Vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz."30

27Galatians 4:22.28Isaiah 8:16.29Daniel 12:4.30Isaiah 1:1.


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This is the title of the book. The writing of the prophets is called and is "vision","prophecy", that is, revelation. The prophet Jeremiah begins his writing with the words:"These are the words of Jeremiah...to whom the word of the Lord came etc."31The wordof the Lord that he made known and made manifest he will give an account of in hisbook. The prophets, as the content of their books proves, have written down even someof what they have not first delivered orally. But their word has always been, whetherthey spoke or wrote it, "word of the Lord", "prophecy". In 2 Chronicles 32:32 we find theremark: "Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds, behold, they arewritten in the vision of Isaiah the prophet." Reference is made here to the book of theprophecy of Isaiah32and this book, according to all its content, including the interwovenhistories, is considered as "vision", as God's revelation. The Messiah says in Psalm 40:7:"Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me." The meaning is thatthe Messiah comes in order to fulfill the prophecy of the prophets. This exists, set downin writing, in the book. The book is identical with the prophecy. The prophet Jeremiah

says33about disobedient, stubborn Israel that the history of all the prophets are like asealed book to them that one, whoever receives it to read, could not read it. It isassumed there that the history, the prophecies of all the prophets, are written inScripture. The writing of the prophets is called the "book of the Lord" in Isaiah 34:16.Israel could and should be certain of the future of the Messiah, because it was written inthe book about Him. In the writing, through the writing the witness of God was sealed.

The Psalms, as they exist in the Canon, give themselves as God's Word. In his lastPsalm34David the psalm writer says: "These are the last words of David: The oracle ofDavid, the son of Jesse...the sweet psalmist of Israel. "The Spirit of the Lord speaks by

me; His word is on my tongue. The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has saidto me." Here David describes his speech, his song quite deliberately as the Word of theLord. But he means the song that he here35lays down in writing. "These are the lastwords of David" etc. This is the title of this memorable piece of writing.

Finally, when in the Old Testament Scriptures, especially in the Psalms, the"Word of God" is so often praised and glorified, then we must contemplate everythingthat God made known to His people at various times and in various ways and whatwas present as writing and book in clear, solid form. When David praises the blessedman "who has delight in the Law of the Lord, and speaks about His Law day andnight"36; when he confesses about it, "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my

31Jeremiah 1:1-2.32Isaiah 36-39.33Jeremiah 29:11.342 Samuel 23:1-3.352 Samuel 23:1-6.36Psalm 1:2.


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path"37, he has Holy Scripture in mind, with which he was familiar from his youth, theTorah of Moses. He asks God to open his eyes that he may see wondrous things out ofHis Law.38What he has in mind, reads and looks day and night, he would like to graspand understand right. That is why he calls on God, that He might open the inner eye tohim. The "rights", "customs", "witnesses", "commandments", "paths" of the Lord, whereDavid has his whole desire, are precisely those words of the Lord that we still todaylearn from book of the Law of Moses. The "Law of the Lord" had gained a distinct, firmform in this book. God revealed no new rights and commands in the time of David. Wemust only still accept, in order rightly to understand the praise of God's Word and Law,that the Book of the Law, the Torah, was not a sealed book in David's time, that theIsraelites proper manner, what they heard and learned from this book, constantlymoved from their lips. What men, women, and children read and were inculcated fromthis book lived in people and resounded in constant praise and confession.

b. The New Testament gives witness to the Old Testament. Christ and the apostles refer

to the Scriptures, the Holy Scriptures, God's Word, the Scriptures, given by God.Christ, the true Witness, Who spoke God's Word from His own, pointed people

to the Scriptures. There God revealed to them what they needed to know for theirsalvation. "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them."39To the Jews whorefused to believe Him, He proved from the Scriptures that He is the One Who shouldcome. The Jews recognized the Scriptures of the Old Testament as God's Word, as theWord of Truth. But they also had to recognize Christ as the Messiah because theScriptures gave testimony of Him. In this sense the Lord says to them: "You search theScriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear

witness about Me."40

He warned the Pharisees: "Have you never read in the Scriptures:'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord'sdoing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"41He replied to the Sadducees, who denied theresurrection of the dead: "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures northe power of God."42The Sadducees condemned themselves by saying that they neitherknew nor understood the Scriptures, the Word of the living God. Thus to them also thepower of God, thus God Himself, the living, almighty God, was hidden to them.

How often did the Lord recall that the Scriptures must be fulfilled? The meaningis there that what God has said, He must also give out, forasmuch as God cannot lie. Hethus said, as He gave Himself into the hands of His enemies and resisted Peter to strike

37Psalm 119:105.38Psalm 119:18.39Luke 16:29.40John 5:39.41Matthew 21:42.42Matthew 22:29.


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with the sword: "But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?"43Itwas God's counsel and will that Christ should suffer and die. And this counsel and willof God was made known and fixed in Scripture. That is why Scripture, what Scripturesays about the suffering of the Messiah, had to be fulfilled, because God's counsel andforeknowledge cannot be changed and overturned. Even after His resurrection the Lordapplied all diligence to them, "to open the understanding of Scripture to His disciples".44Even now, after everything was done, the Lord took the sum of the gospel of Christ'sdeath and resurrection, of repentance and forgiveness of sins, from the Scriptures of theOld Covenant. "And said to them, 'Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer andon the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins shouldbe proclaimed in his name to all nations.'"45Everything lay on Him to demonstrate tofriends and enemies that His teaching is from God. So He taught from the Scriptures.For what was in Scripture was everything said and taught by God. Christ honored HisFather in all things. This is why He so earnestly emphasized the Scriptures. For He saw

in Scripture nothing else than the Word and the will of his Father. He even invokedScripture against Satan. With the one Word, "It is written" He rejected the temptationsof the devil.46That means as much as: "God has said it." Thus the matter was decided.

Finally it should be pointed out that Christ has expressly stated that David hadspoken "in the Spirit" when he wrote Psalm 110.47So according to Christ's judgmentScripture is absolutely the speech of God's Spirit.

Christ has given witness to all of Scripture, to the entire canon of the OldTestament, when He remarked to His disciples: "Everything written about me in theLaw of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."48

Like Christ, the Lord, the apostleshave thus adopted the Old TestamentScriptures as the Deus locutus est49in their speech. The evangelists repeatedly emphasizethat Scripture has been fulfilled: "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by theprophet"50or "in order that Scripture might be fulfilled, which says".51The same formulais customary in the apostolic epistles. "And the Scripture was fulfilled that says,"Abraham believed God etc."52"as it is written, 'I have made you the father of many

43Matthew 26:54.44

Luke 24:32, 45.45Luke 24:46-47.46Matthew 4:4, 7, 10.47Matthew 22:43.48Luke 24:44.49"God has spoken."50Matthew 2:17.51John 19:24.52James 2:23.


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nations' etc."53It is a common way of speaking: "Scripture says." For example, "For whatdoes the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him asrighteousness.'"54Scripture says, speaks, like a person speaks. It is precisely God Whospeaks here. So instead of the subject "Scripture" the other subject "God" automaticallyhappens in speaking. "For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I (God)have raised you up, that I might show my power in you.'"55We read in Galatians 4:30:"But what does the Scripture say? 'Cast out the slave woman and her son!'" WhatScripture says here is God's command.

Thus the words of Scripture are simply established with , for example, inGalatians 3:16: - . Luther has correctly translated: "He(God) does not say,'through seeds', as through many, but as through One, 'through your seed', who isChrist." Similarly 2 Corinthians 6:2: "For Hesays, I have heard you in an acceptable timeetc." What Scripture says, God says. "Foreseeing" in Galatians 3:8 is attributed toScripture: "There Scripture foresaw that God justified the Gentiles by faith; it

proclaimed to Abraham: 'In you all nations shall be blessed.'" Scripture appears here asa rational, thinking subject, yes, as a omniscient person. It is precisely the living GodWho is thought of together with Scripture.

Now it is also often noted expressis verbis56that God has spoken through theprophets, through Scripture. "All this happened that it might be fulfilled what the Lordsaid through the prophet, who said etc."57"This was to fulfill what the Lord had spokenby the prophet, 'Out of Egypt I called My Son.'"58"As He (God) said through Hoseaetc."59"Which (the Gospel of God) He promised beforehand through His prophets in theholy Scriptures."60"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our

fathers by the prophets etc."61

"For He (God) finds fault with them when He says:'Behold, the days are coming, etc.'"62The apostle remarks in Romans 3:2 that the Jewswere entrusted with , "the Word of God", and obviously there meansthe Holy Scriptures. Modern theologians reject with contempt the "dogmatic formula":"God is the true author of Scripture". They deny that God is the true subject Who hasspoken through the prophets, through the Scriptures. They thus deny what Scriptureemphatically affirms and asserts. Scripture asserts and repeats the assertion: "God has

53Romans 4:17.54

Romans 4:3.55Romans 9:17.56In express words, expressly.57Matthew 1:22.58Matthew 2:15.59Romans 9:25.60Romans 1:2.61Hebrews 1:1.62Hebrews 8:8.


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spoken through the prophets, through the Scriptures." God is the speaking subject. Theprophets and their writings are the means God uses to speak to people. It is reallySatanic when one merely negates what God affirms. God spoke to Adam "For in the daythat you eat of it you shall surely die." Blinded by the devil, the modern scribes have theaudacity to push aside as untenable the simple, unambiguous self-testimony ofScripture, that God has spoken through the prophets, that therefore God is the trueauthor of Scripture.

The Holy Spirit in particular is referred to as the author of Scripture. "Therefore,as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts' etc." 63"And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 'This is the testament'etc."64"The Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by themouth of David etc."65"And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paulhad made one statement: 'The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers' etc."66TheHoly Spirit could not give clearer testimony about the nature and authorship of

Scripture. Whoever does not understand these clear words or understood otherwisethan Christianity has understood them from the very beginning has a corrupt mind.

We follow up with three loci classici67that deal with the divine inspiration of OldTestament Scripture.

Saint Peter writes: "Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesiedabout the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring whatperson or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted thesufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they wereserving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you

through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent fromheaven."68We are talking about the prophecy of the prophets, indeed about theprophecy that they announced to us, with which they have served us, the children ofthe New Testament, i.e. in the present prophecy in the writings of the prophets. Andfrom here it is said that the Spirit of Christ was in them and wrote down precisely whatthey prophesied, had previously testified future grace, Christ's suffering and glory.Therefore the Spirit of Christ was the One Who testified, witnessed, through theprophets. The speech, the witness of the Spirit, that exists in the writings of theprophets, is explicitly distinguished from their own affairs, from the search andresearch of the prophets. They have sought and researched with all diligence when the

time of fulfillment may perhaps come and how this time is obtained, to what and what

63Hebrews 3:7-8.64Hebrews 10:15-16.65Acts 1:16.66Acts 28:25.67Classic places.681 Peter 1:10-12.


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manner of time alluded by the Spirit of Christ, Who enabled them to proclaim theprophecy, have in their writings, researched in their own writings, that they had inmind such a strange magnitude. But their research had no result. They knew justenough no more, no less, than the Spirit of Christ revealed and uttered to them. Thistestified to them and through them the grace of the New Testament, Christ's sufferingand glory, but revealed to them nothing about the time and hour when all this shouldhappen.

The well-known passage is found in 2 Peter 1:21: "For no prophecy has everspawned from the will of man; but holy men of God have spoken, impelled by the HolySpirit." This phrase is used to justify the previous statement: "And this know first, thatno prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation", i.e. is dependent on its own,human interpretation and explanation (). The sentiment is: mancan understand and interpret for himself no prophecy, no part of Scripture, but ratherSomeone else, the Holy Spirit, must open and interpret the Scriptures, the prophecy.

And this is because no human mind and human will, but the Holy Spirit, has spawnedthe prophecy. The prophecy of Scripture, the Holy Scriptures - the speech is in contextfrom this - is no product of mankind, of the human will. That "independent activity" ofthe holy men of God have spoken, impelled by the Holy Spirit. Of course, those holymen, the prophets, were the ones who spoke it, who wrote it - because the apostle dealswith the Old Testament Scriptures in verse 19 - but they wrote it, wrote down theprophecy, they were impelled, moved, carried () by the Holy Spirit. Theystood entirely in the service, were tools of the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit Whohere made known His thoughts, His wisdom, in prophecy, and the prophets and used

their speech, writing as mediumwhat He would want the people to know to do. TheHoly Spirit, no one else outside or near Him, is the Author of Scripture, the prophecy.Scripture is the product of the Holy Spirit, and exclusively the product of the Spirit, nota "human-authored work of God".

Saint Paul writes: "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable forteaching" etc.69Everything lies on the single term , with which the apostlecharacterizes Scripture, even the Scripture of the Old Testament that Timothy haslearned from infancy. All interpreters, old and new, have unanimously translated it"inspired by God" or "breathed by God". Only Cremer has recently challenged thistraditional meaning in his New Testament dictionary.70He gives that compound an

active sense "God breathing". We confess that we do not understand the deduction ofthat linguist. The adjectiva verbalia71of always have passive meaning in the Greeklanguage. can only mean "breathed, inspired" according to the rules of692 Timothy 3:16.70Hermann Cremer (1834-1903),"Biblisch-theologisches Wrterbuch der neutestamentlichen Grzitt"71verbal adjectives.


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grammar, not "breathing, inspiring". And the structure with does not change this.All composites of a similar nature have passive sense: ,,,,,and so also "taught by God".72Even in thetwo places cited by Cremer from profane scribblers is obviously meantpassively: Plutarch: andPseudophocylides: . In short, it is statedlinguistically: means and can mean nothing else than breathed by God. AllScripture of the Old Testament is breathed by God according to the statement of theapostle, all words of Scripture are the result of God's breath and spirit, as words andwritings of men go forth from the spirit of men. What Scripture blows on us from allsides is God's breath, what confronts us in Scripture is God's Spirit, God's thoughts.Everything here is nothing but God's Word.

2. The New Testament specifies itself as God's Word and Revelation.

a. According to the testimony of the New Testament the words of the apostles stand onan equal footing with the words and writings of the prophets.

Christ says to the Jews: "For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for hewrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"73The Lord here demands the same recognition for His words as for the words andwritings of Moses. If the writings of Moses are God's Word, which no Jew denied,which deserves and requires faith, then Christ's doctrine is God's speech and is worthyof acceptance.

The apostle has taught what they have received from Christ. But they now

emphasize not only the mandate that they have received from Christ, but also placespecial emphasis on its conformity with the prophets. In the beginning of Romans St.Paul writes: "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for thegospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holyScriptures."74Peter indicated in the previously cited passage that they, the apostles, whohave proclaimed the Gospel, have proclaimed nothing else than what the prophetsestablished, namely that they, like those, have spoken by the Holy Spirit. And inanother place he reminds Christians: "that you should remember the words that werepreviously said to you by the holy prophets and on our commandment, that we areapostles of the Lord and Savior."75The commandments and teachings of the apostles

have hereinafter the same value, the same meaning as the words of the holy prophets.Prophets and apostles appear coordinated to each other in the famous passage: "So then

721 Thessalonians 4:9.73John 5:46-47.74Romans 1:1-2.752 Peter 3:2.


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you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints andmembers of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone."76

In all these passages the writingsof the prophets are meant, because it is theprecisely the prophets who continue to live in their writings and also speak toChristians. If "the prophets" are designated as the foundation of the New TestamentChurch, especially the Gentile Church, then the written Word of the prophets can onlycome into consideration. But this is, as we have proved from Scripture, God's Word andrevelation. Thus the same is true of the words of the apostles, who stand in the samerank with the words and writings of the prophets. And as St. Paul in Ephesians 2:19-22generally describes the Church of the New Testament, which was and is gathered fromJews and Gentiles, which extends beyond the days of the apostles and grows towardscompletion, i.e. the Church of all times, he thus reflects here with the term "built on thefoundation of the apostles" on the living and powerful word of the apostles through all

times, i.e. on the written word of the apostles. He even comprehends Romans 1:1-2under the "Gospel of God", to whose service he is set apart, and which is identical andequivalent to the writings of the prophets, likewise the written proclamation of theGospel that the Roman Christians should now hear from him.

b. According to the testimony of the New Testament the oral proclamation of the apostlesis God's Word and revelation.

St. Paul reminds Christians who are won through the preaching of the apostlesthat they received from the apostles "the Word of divine preaching" and that they tookin the word of the apostles "as God's Word", "not as the word of men but as what it

really is, the Word of God."77

St. Peter extols the Word of the Lord that remains ineternity the living, imperishable seed, and adds: "And this word is the good news thatwas preached to you", namely has been preached by the apostles.

The Word that the apostles preached was the Gospel . And the apostlenow stresses in 1 Peter 1:12 that they, the apostles, have preached the Gospel "by theHoly Spirit Who was sent from heaven." The apostles were eyewitnesses andearwitnesses of all that the Lord had taught, done, and suffered. What they taught, theyhad from the Lord. However, they did not just draw from their memory when theyproclaimed the Gospel. Their preaching happened through the Holy Spirit. The HolySpirit determined, permeated their witness, in every case made available to them what

and how they should speak, made the things already previously known to them livingall over again in them. What the apostles spoke was the speaking of the Holy Spirit. TheHoly Spirit has spoken through them. The preaching of the apostles was inspired in thetrue sense of the word. St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:1: "Now I would remind you,

76Ephesians 2:19-20.771 Thessalonians 2:13.


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brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand" andthen gives the following for consideration to the Corinthians, that what he gave themwhat he has received from the Lord. What he taught was therefore revelation andindeed revelation for the purpose of communication to others. In Romans 1:1 Paullabels his Gospel with the honorific title: "Gospel of God".

The unique dignity, the divine authority of the apostles is beyond all doubt. Theywere, as it was said above, "Apostles of the Lord and Savior". How often Saint Paulreminds in his letters, in Corinthians, Galatians, of the fact that he had his office directlyfrom God, from Christ. This implies that the apostles, when they preached as apostles,by virtue of their office, spoke in God's Name, on God's behalf. They approached Jewsand Gentiles with the claim that their preaching should be listened to and believed to betrue as the living God's own words.

c. According to the testimony of the New Testament the apostles have the same Gospellaid down in their writings that that preached orally.

If the oral preaching of the apostles was "truly God's Word", not the word of menbut God's Word in the proper sense of the word, then the same applies about theirwritten witness. For it stands precisely on the same line with their oral preaching.

Especially in their writingsthe apostles appear as apostles, as they that have thecall to teach the entireChurch and to set up the obedience of faith among Jews andGentiles and, those who believe, to strengthen in faith.

Thus St. Paul in the letter to the Romans. In Romans 1:1 he calls himself: "Paul, aservant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God." Hewrites this letter as such. He has not yet been personally among the Romans, has not

verbally preached the Gospel of Christ to them as other Gentiles. He thus gives in thisepistle a replacement, a brief summary of his gospel, of the Gospel of God.First Corinthians carries a similar title at the beginning: "Paul, called by the will

of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus" etc. In 1 Corinthians 1:10 he begins an urgentadmonition and admonishes the brethren in Corinth "by the name of our Lord JesusChrist". They should receive his admonition as Christ's Word, as God's Word. He haspreached the crucified Christ to the Corinthians as to the rest of the Gentiles.78And herepeats and reiterates precisely this sermon in this epistle, particularly in the firstchapters. According to 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 he has preached to them "the testimony ofGod" and not "with lofty speech or wisdom", but "in demonstration of the Spirit and of

power". From 1 Corinthians 2:6 on he generally says: "We impart a secret and hiddenwisdom of God."79"God has revealed to us these things through the Spirit."80"We

781 Corinthians 1:23.791 Corinthians 2:7.801 Corinthians 2:10.


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impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit."81This isespecially true of his present words. He now speaks to the Corinthians in writing. Thefact that he understands this with his epistolary speech about his apostolic preaching,"the divine preaching" proves the connection with chapter 3:1-3. It says, "But I, brothers,could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you arenot yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife amongyou, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?" Since the apostle wasamong the Corinthians and orally preached to them, he could not give them solid foodbecause they were still carnal, but had to give them milk to drink as young children inChrist. But even now, as he writes, they cannot tolerate solid food. Even now they needmilk. So the apostle now gives to them, in this letter, as before in his preaching, milk,the simple Gospel of Christ the Crucified. His epistolary speech is thus the continuationof his oral speech. What he does now that he writes, he subsumes under his "speaking".

In his epistles, as in his preaching, St. Paul maintains his apostolic office. What hespeaks or writes as an apostle is the "wisdom of God", "God's revelation."

In the introduction to Galatians, the apostle rails against the false apostles whoperverted the gospel of Christ which he had preached and confused the Galatianchurches and turned them away from the one true Gospel, outside of which there is noother Gospel. As he writes: "As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone ispreaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed!"82Divinely certain that his gospel is God's gospel, the apostle cursed every other gospel.He preaches the gospel as an apostle not called by or from man, but from God. By

virtue of his apostolic authority he now curses, as he writes, every other gospel.Therefore he brings to bear his apostolic office in his letters as good as in his preaching.The apostle Peter argues about the same purpose at the end of his first epistle:

"By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhortingand declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it"83, actually in what youcame to stand. The apostle Paul had first preached the grace of God in his oralpreaching in those parts of Asia Minor and introduced into the state of grace even thoseto whom Peter sends his epistle. Peter continues the work and the preaching of Paul bysecuring those hard tempted Christians through his epistolary encouragement in thegrace of God. The oral preaching of the apostles appears as the beginning, their written

speech as a continuation of apostolic efficacy. Talking and writing complement eachother, form a whole, a continuum.

811 Corinthians 2:13.82Galatians 1:9.831 Peter 5:12.


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St. John brings to light the meaning of his epistle at the beginning of his firstepistle. He writes: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, whichwe have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands,concerning the word of life -- the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, andtestify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and wasmade manifest to us -- that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, sothat you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Fatherand with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may becomplete." The oral proclamation and the writing of the apostle has the same content,Christ, the Word of Life, and pursues the same objective, that those who hear thepreaching, read the epistle, have communion with the Son and with the Father and thiswill always complete their joy. We now have in the writings of the apostles quite thesame thing that the first Christians had in their preaching, precisely what the apostlesthemselves had heard, seen, touched: Christ, the Word made flesh, and in Him the

Father. As God revealed Himself in Christ to the apostles so that they saw, heard,grasped with hands the eternal Word, He thus reveals Himself to us today in thewritings of the apostles. Here we find Christ, God's Son, and eternal life.

As with preaching, the intent of the apostolic writings was faith, that men believeand are saved. "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of Godthat you may know that you have eternal life."84It has the same explanation with theepistles as with the Gospels. "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of thedisciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you maybelieve that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life

in his name."85

We see that oral and the written witness of the apostles are two coordinatedparts of apostolic efficacy. The latter is, like the former, "truly" God's Word. It makesabsolutely no difference whether the apostles speak or write. St. Paul observes: "We askyou, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or aspoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us...."86Word and letters of the apostles areon the same level.

The fact that the epistles of the apostles are Holy Scripture, such as those of theOld Covenant, that God's Word is present in the apostolic Scriptures, that the Lordspeaks through the apostles even when they write, is also witnessed expressis verbisin

Scripture. We read in 2 Peter 3:15-16: "...just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote toyou according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks inthem of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand,

841 John 5:13.85John 20:30-31.862 Thessalonians 2:2.


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which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the otherScriptures." Paul's epistles therefore are Scripture in the same sense, i.e. Holy Scripture,as "the other Scriptures". Whoever lays hands on such Scriptures, perverts and confusesthem, he does it to his own destruction because he lays hands on the Word of the livingGod. Paul himself judges about the same Scriptures: "If anyone thinks that he is aprophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are acommand of the Lord."87Paul does not here refer to previously given commandments,but he himself confers in this regard all sorts of directives to Christians, and noticesfrom this, but in general about everything that he writes, as an apostle writes toChristians: "These are the Lord's commandments." He is aware that Christ speaksthrough him. That is why he writes another time: "...that even you may be aware ofWho speaks in me (or through me), namely Christ."88The previous verse ("and I warnthem now while absent") shows that Paul here means his written speech.

3.Scripture testifies that the Holy Spirit has not only supplied the holy men ofGod the thoughts, but also the words, that all of Scripture and all individual parts are

inspired, and that therefore no tittle of Scripture may be broken or changed.

If we examine the scriptural passages in which Scripture bears witness of itselfand about its divine origin, we then find that it emphasizes inspiration not only ofthoughts, but also of words. Thus in the well-known passage: "Now we have receivednot the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understandthe things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by humanwisdom but taught by the Spirit."89The fact that in this context even the written speech

of the apostles is meant has been shown above. So even from the apostolic writings thedivine inspiration of thought, as words, is attested. The Spirit of God has administeredto the apostles, as they spoke, as they wrote, has given the things that they themselvesknow and should do to know other things; but also the words, in which the apostlesbrought those spiritual, divine things, are taught by the Holy Spirit. Thus the apostles"combined", as Paul adds, "spiritual with spiritual". This is the notion of the words:. In the apostolic, even in the Holy Scriptures,spiritual thoughts are with spiritual words, spiritual content is connected with spiritualexpression. Content and form, both are taught from God, is administered by the Spiritof God.

Holy Scripture strongly emphasizes that God, that the Holy Spirit had spoken bythe tongue, by the mouth of the holy men of God. We read in 2 Samuel 23:2: "The Spiritof the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue." That is the title of the last song of

871 Corinthians 14:37.882 Corinthians 13:3.891 Corinthians 2:12-13.


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David, which David has written, written down in verses, at the end of his days forfuture generations. Psalm 45:1 states: "My tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe." Thisis the headline of that psalm that is before us in the book of Psalms. The Lord spoke toJeremiah: "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth."90These are the words that areimmortalized in the book of the prophecy of Jeremiah. Luke 1:70 refers to the priestZechariah, in Acts 3:21 the apostle Peter refers to "what God has spoken by the mouthof His holy prophets", i.e. to the prophecy of the prophets, how the same Israel stoodbefore the eyes at the time of fulfillment, i.e. to prophecy written in Scripture. Andprecisely by the written word of God that is wrought by the prophets is emphasizedhere, that God, that the Holy Spirit has spoken by the tongue, by the mouth of holymen. The tongue, the mouth shaped the words, the expression of thoughts. And it isprecisely this expression, the form and shape, in the speech and revelation of God setbefore our eyes in Scripture, is from God, is God's work, the Holy Spirit's action.

Where Christ and the apostles refer to Scripture, they not only introduce general

writing thoughts, not just individual sayings, they often put the finger on an individualWord of Scripture and draw evidence for their cause from it. St. Paul writes in Galatians3:16: "Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say,'And to seeds,' referring to many, but referring to one, 'And to your Seed,' who isChrist." He puts all the weight on the one word, "your Seed", 91, on the singular of that name and proves from this that Christ was promised to Abraham and remarks thatHe, that God therefore had spoken, that God intentionally had chosen this expression.Christ testifies and witnesses His divinity from Psalm 110 to the Pharisees from the oneword "my Lord" in Matthew 22:43-44. John 10:35 lays all emphasis on the term ,

, "gods", that title which Psalm 82 ascribes to authority. If He ascribes this name topersons of authority, how much more to the One Whom the Father has sanctified andsent into the world! Every sentence, every word that they found and read in Scriptureapplies to Christ and to the apostles as God's Word in the truest sense of the word.

In Matthew 10:19-20 and Luke 12:11-12 it is only casually referred to as ananalogy. There the Lord promises His disciples, believers in general, that at the time ofpersecution and responsibility the Holy Spirit will give them what and how they shouldspeak. As in this particular case, as in other cases, particularly in drafting of HolyScripture, the Holy Spirit indeed has the power to put His words on lips, His thoughtsin the heart of men.

The now so evilly reputed verbal inspiration, this "insignificant thing ofdogmatics", also has firm ground in Scripture. Yes, inspiration that is not also verbalinspiration is in truth not inspiration. Thought and expression are so closely bound inany rational speech, like body and soul. The person speaking gives their thoughts the

90Jeremiah 1:9.91Genesis 22:18.


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corresponding expression. Scripture is the speech of the living God. God has hereindisclosed his secret wisdom in language understandable to mankind. Everythinggushed out from the Spirit of God.

Certainly, all Scripture is God's Word, speech of the Holy Spirit, in its individualparts. Everything that is written in the books of Moses falls under the title "Law of theLord". The books of the prophets are from beginning to end "prophecy". Everythingstands here under the rubric: "Thus says the Lord." Christ, the Lord, and the apostlesinvoke the Scriptures as such, the whole of Scripture of the Old Testament. Everythingthat is recorded in the Gospels, is "Gospel of Christ", "Gospel of God". Each letter of theApostles from the entrance greeting to the ending votum is apostolic testimony. Each ofHoly Scripture is a whole in which all individual parts belong into. It is basically acompletely absurd notion when one here distinguishes essential and non-essential, as ispopular among modern theologians, and only the former are considered as God'sWord, the latter can be subject to error. This is a "mechanical" construction. Then the

Holy Spirit has sometimes, as good Homer, celebrated and slept if there wereunimportant things to report, and the human pen has written further about himself andoften rambled because he was abandoned by the Spirit. But the moderns truly canhardly believe that the essential thing, the salvation of humanity, is inspired by theHoly Spirit. This is only a human report of salvation that God has purchased mankind,of salvation history shaped by God. People have made everything itself, brought it forthfrom their will and thoughts, expressed it with their words, and the Holy Spirit hasthereby made them only a vague assistant and kept watch over it, that the individualpieces eventually merged into a harmonious whole.

Now if everything that is written in Scripture is inspired by God, spoken by God,then it follows of itself that not one letter can be changed. Each word is an inviolablerelic, is infallible, unchangeable Word of God. Scripture expressly confirms this. Fourtimes we encounter in Scripture the stern warning to those who add something or takesomething away from what God has commanded and spoken.92Every addition issacrilege because God's Word is mixed with man's word. Every warning isaccompanied by the threat: "Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you! I warneveryone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them,God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away fromthe words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the book of

life." Christ raises His voice and says: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Lawor the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say toyou, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Lawuntil all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of thesecommandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of

92Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32; Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:18-19.


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heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom ofheaven."93We let ourselves be warned and confess with Paul: "I believe everything laiddown by the Law and written in the Prophets."94

II.As evidence for their view and against the Church's dogma of inspiration, the modern

theologians refer to the form and nature of Scripture lying before their eyes. Nevertheless,

nowhere does it contradict what Scripture testifies about itself.What Scripture says about itself, about its nature and its origin, is crucial for us.

The self-testimony of Scripture is clear and, when one reviews it in context,overwhelming. The modern day scribes have a blanket over their eyes, lest they see thisbright light. They ignore the pertinent words of proof. Volck is content in his book "TheBible As Canon" with a brief reference to 2 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 8:8, 10:15.95Or if they engagein a discussion of them, they thus instantly move the simple-minded, unequivocal

statements of the Bible under their own confused notions and refuse the investigation,in which sense there is spoken about the "Word of God", the "speaking of the Lord", the"inspiration of the Holy Spirit". Thus it is answered ex professoby more or less settingaside those Scripture passages in which the question about what is Scripture, theygenerally refer to the "nature" of Scripture lying before their eyes, on the Bible, "as it ishistorically". We now want to take a look at the accordingly taken abstractions andexamine whether the previously adduced Scriptural reasons for the Church's dogma ofinspiration are somehow refuted. We will recognize:

That self-witness of Scripture is not abolished nor diminished:

1. neither through their own research and efforts of the authors of the individualbooks.96

Kahnis writes in his Testimony of the Basic Truths of Protestantism against Dr.Hengstenberg: "I must repeat that one cannot be better convinced about the perfectimpossibility of that theory than by one quite vividly gradually accustoms himself to it.The evangelist Luke, who insures in the introduction of his Gospel that after many tookit upon themselves to write down the Gospel facts, he also(i.e. placing himself in thatsame line) wants to do this, after he carefully examines everything (i.e. on the basis ofhistorical research) - the evangelist Luke, who no doubt has used both oral as well aswritten sources (according to my opinion also Matthew), who is said to have written

down what the Holy Spirit dictated to him?97

93Matthew 5:17-19; Luke 16:17.94Acts 24:14.95Page 33.96Luke 1:1-4.97Page 114.


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One can only thus wonder if one attributes to the orthodox teachers a childish,grossly sensual idea of the dictation of the Holy Spirit. The dictation of the Holy Spiritwas not a mechanical audition, to which a mechanical writing out would have goneapart. The holy men of God have not slept and dreamed, as they talked, as they wrote,were moved by the Holy Spirit. Their interior, will and mind was in motion. They haveactually spoken, written. And that is a reasonable activity of reasonable people. Theyhave observed the common human way when writing, have made use of means thatwriters also usually tend to use. Luke, however, has wanted to report the deeds ofChrist, as he accurately explores the histories before everything from the beginning, asthus given in Israel, as he himself testifies in Luke 1:1-4. Matthew, John, who had beeneyewitnesses and earwitnesses, had what they had saw and heard quite well in theirmemory as they wrote their Gospels. The apostles have followed a specific plan andpurpose with their writings. Matthew wanted to demonstrate in his Gospel that Christhad fulfilled the prophecy of the Old Testament. John has recorded in his Gospel the

proof that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior of the World. So not only the style,also the spirit of the holy scribes was active in the origin of the Scriptures.

But with all this they were moved, carried () by the Holy Spirit. TheHoly Spirit has set in motion this whole apparatus, human research, thinking, planning,taken into His service, for the medium of its effectiveness, its speaking. Not the pen,paper, or parchment with which the prophets and apostles wrote on, no, the prophetsand apostles themselves, the living people with their willing, thinking, researching,designing, were pens, calami, of the Holy Spirit. As they write, the Holy Spirit has notmerely preserved it from error or led their writing back perhaps only to a certain goal,

no, the Spirit of God has made His heavenly wisdom, eternal thoughts, and even theright words available to them among the research, thinking, writing, as it were,backhandedly inputted to them. This is what the ancients mean by suggestio rerum etverborum.98An incomprehensible mystery is present here that human understandingcannot weigh. We believe and confess according to Scripture the fact thatthe Holy Spiritis the actual author of Scripture and has spoken by the prophets and apostles. The"How?" is hidden. How inspiration happens, how the Holy Spirit has conveyed throughHis own holy men, we cannot fathom. No man has seen into this workshop of the HolySpirit. We have enough on the final result, on the words of the prophets and apostles,which is truly God's Word. Our faith, our salvation, depends on it. It is of no interest to

our faith, to our salvation, to follow step by step the way in which it has come to thisresult. A person can move not more than a "scientific" interest to ponder over it. Butbeyond such scientific musings one loses only that safe conclusion. We hold firmaccording to the Scriptures, renouncing any rational mediation, the two propositions:that the Holy Spirit is the true author of Scripture, but that the Holy Spirit has spoken

98Suggestions and language.


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through men, prophets and apostles. Everything that we read in Scripture is the speechof the Holy Spirit; but the Spirit of God has spoken through organs and then of coursethus spoke that the organs and their peculiarities were in no way injured. Thus theSpirit of God, however, has in no way influenced will and thought, yet , Hehas, as the ancients say, suaviter, leniter,99almost imperceptibly, as secretly, incorporatesinto their minds His divine wisdom, spiritual thoughts, spiritual words. The spirit ofthe sacred writers has moved freely according to His kind and nature, flowed freely inHoly Scripture. But yet he was entirely in the hands of the Holy Spirit. What gushedforth from the mind, from the mouth, the pen of the prophets and apostles, was nottheir own, not human wisdom, human word, but from beginning to end was theoutpouring of the Holy Spirit. From the first conception of the idea to the finalexpression was all product of God's Spirit. An analogue of this wonderful process isroughly the miracle of conversion. The conversion of a sinner is in solidum100a work ofthe Holy Spirit, to which man does not contribute in the least from his own. And yet

conversion is no forced activity, no mechanical change, but a mysterious unexplainedeffect of the Spirit of God on the will, the thoughts of man, that the will, the thoughts ofman thus determines that man now wants and gladly only wants what God wants, andthinks what is divine.

Precisely the nature of Scripture, as it is historical, the nature e.g. of the Gospels,in order to stop at this initial example, is, when one rightly looks at it, a testament to theinspiration. Precisely the report of those facts which the apostles have seen and heardand then recorded, is inspired. The consistency proves it. We find long speeches of theLord in Matthew and in John. These behave as speeches of Jesus. If the Lord has often

further explained the thoughts in His utterances that are found expressed in theGospels, then the words are still precisely those that we now read in Scripture, the verywords101of Jesus. The title of the speeches of Jesus show this: "He said". What then? Didthe apostles also write down, take shorthand or excerpt those speeches when they heardthem? Certainly not. Did they memorize word for word those long speeches? That isimpossible. Then their memories would have been raised above human limitations. No,they wrote it and certainly exercised their power of thought and memory, the HolySpirit reproduced all this and brought to life what they had once heard from the Lord.He has reminded them of everything that Jesus had taught them. Thus only in theassumption that the Holy Spirit taught and supplied everything that the holy men

wrote, explains the consistency of the accounting of the deeds and miracles of the Lord,in which even the slightest incidental circumstances are mentioned. The Gospels as theyexist are obviously a special work of God. The Spirit of God has here set down in

99Pleasantly, gently.100Solidly.101Verba ipsissima.


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writing through his organs, the apostles, the words and deeds of Christ and broughtinto a short, fixed form in which they should be passed on to the memory of allsucceeding generations.

What the Scripture testifies about itself is also not altered:

2. nor through the various individuality of the prophets and apostles, 1

Corinthians 12:6.Kahnis judges in the mentioned work: "One cannot indeed fail to recognize that,

for example, that the apostle Paul wrote just the same as he spoke in life, indeed as thecomparison of his letters shows with his speeches in Acts. If he has spoken and writtenfrom revelation, but not so that now every word is revelation, but that he had workedthrough on the basis on the revelation coming through him, that he conceptuallyworked through under the assistance of the Holy Spirit - hence one talks of a Paulineteaching concept - then he wrote as he spoke: under the assistance of the Holy Spirit,

but not as a mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit, but as a personality standing in the HolySpirit. The dialectic, the style, the many personals, etc. in Paul's letters is only thusexplained. Those who only a sense of style, who indeed sense how Paul often wrestleswith concepts and words. These are really elementary truths."102

Similarly Hofmann: "One could neither be satisfied with the questions arisingfrom the nature of language, not the literary peculiarities of the author, nor theimpending purposes and the characteristics of the individual writings derived from it,not the variety of teaching methods, nor the differences in the historical reports, withoutcoming into conflict with those dogmatic statements that are about the divine

inspiration of the Holy Scriptures."103

And Volck remarks in his first lecture: "If the individual peculiarities of theBiblical writers do not appear displaced, then the nature of the divine action must bequite different on it, as it conducts itself after that (namely the ecclesiastical)explanation."104

What is said here about the different teaching concepts of the author of the HolyScriptures has no support and reason in Scripture itself. The so-called Pauline, Petrine,Johannine doctrinal concept only exists in the head of modernists interpreters of theapostles. Here is not the place to dwell on this very popular topic in modern theology.But that the authors of Holy Scripture, that, for example, the apostle Paul, Peter, John,

each has its particular language, his particular style, his particular way of presentation,that in their writings their particular individuality finds it expression, is clear as day.Paul, for example, throws into sharp relief the arrangement and connection of ideas by

102op. cit. pages 113-114.103ibid, First Part, page 9.104Page 10.


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frequent use of particles, John simply adds sentence on sentence, one sentence onanother, Peter brings weighty thoughts toward a short, concise expression as possible.But how far this fact should contradict according to its full extent the divine inspirationof Holy Scripture so clearly and strongly attested by Scripture is not foreseen. The HolySpirit has spoken through the Prophets and the Apostles, has made these livingpersons, with their will, thinking, even with their particular qualities and skills, into Hisorgans. As little as the Holy Spirit removes or changes or infringes and decreasesnatural powers and faculties of men in conversion, in the sanctifying of the nature, solittle has He in inspiration stripped the men who He chose as His tools of their nature,their peculiar character; the Word also applies here: "There are diversities of gifts, butone Spirit".105The Spirit of God Who works all in all has taken into His service and usedfor His purpose the various talents of the apostles, as well as the prophets, their naturalgifts, as spiritual gifts. Therefore, it seemed good to Him to make known the divinemysteries not with inexpressible words, as Paul heard them in the third heaven, not

with tongues of angels, but in human language, entirely in the way as otherwise mencare to share their thoughts, in order to bring the understanding near to men. He haspoured His heavenly wisdom into the manifold gifts of men and thus to signify thesame to men in their own way.

It is pure distortion when one makes the "dogmatic" version of the accusationthat the sacred writers are reduced to mere mouthpieces of the Holy Spirit. One willthen have nothing of it, that that dogmatic theologians expressly accept anaccommodation of the Holy Spirit to the individuality of human authors. And that isnot meant as the Holy Spirit might only borrow their particular way, as He might

accept here only a foreign coloring. No, what the old dogmaticians wanted is the factthat the Holy Spirit lowered Himself to men's ways and precisely through men whothought and wrote according to their usual way, His own had informed men.

An example may illustrate what was just said. One rightly extols the sharpdialectic of the apostle Paul. This is the Pauline nature and characteristic. In his epistles,for example, in Romans, he lets one thought follow from the other, inserts a term in theother, raises questions that he then answered, brings objections that he then rejects,explains the position by contradiction. In this way he sets apart according to all sidesthe main theme in Romans, about justification by faith, shows the right understandingof divine doctrine, excludes misunderstanding. Now does it follow from this that this

chief proposition, that a man is justified without works of the Law, was given onlyperhaps to the apostle from on high and that he then independently "worked through"this theme with his thoughts and thus essentially produced his own work to the RomanChristians? We would perhaps thus conclude, if Paul himself did not testify, that heserves God in the Gospel, that Christ speaks through him. What he preaches and writes

1051 Corinthians 12:6.


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is truly God's Word, God's speech. God speaks through him. God the Holy Spirit hastherefore thus guided and turned his thoughts in that dialectical movement of speechthat precisely that particular form and shape of doctrine emerged from it whichknowledge and edification was particularly beneficial for the reader. Therefore, it is thedialectic of the Holy Spirit that is apparent to us in the Pauline epistles. The conclusionsdrawn by the apostles and guided proofs are absolutely binding and obligatory,because Paul was also impelled and defined to that end by the Holy Spirit.

That self-witness of Scripture is also not diminished:

3. through "even to unimportant details" that are mentioned in Scripture.

One such quite insignificant detail, about which the newer scribes cannot reallylive down, is Paul's cloak left behind in Troas.106Here is brought to light, one thinks, themere human character of so many parts of Scripture. How, if it has now pleased theHoly Spirit, rightly to discuss with men about such purely human things? Has the Spirit

of God not the power, great and small, important and seemingly unimportant, in short,to make known to man what He wants? Do we want to impose to the Holy Spirit whatand how He should talk, teach Him what would be solely worthy of Him? We mustthen also take offense that the great, immense God created the mosquitoes and thecreeping things of the earth. What penetrates through all of us is what the Holy SpiritHimself has revealed to us in Scripture about His attitude to Scripture. And we haveseen precisely there that each of the Holy Scriptures proffers itself in its full extent asprophetic or apostolic Scripture, as God's Word and speech. We do not find the slightestevidence in Scripture in order to eliminate from the context of speech, speech of the

Holy Spirit, individual purely human, weak portions. And if we ask in the second place,what the Holy Spirit have probably had for an interest in the communicating of suchinsignificant data, then we will know, when we look more closely, that they are at leastbeneficial for teaching, for edification, or that they help clarify a salutary doctrine oradmonition or a history that is woven into it.

Regarding the items Paul left behind in Troas, which incl

stöckhardt what does scripture say about itself

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