Handout - Western Christadelphian Bible School

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1 Direct Statements “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). “To him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward ...” (Eccl. 9:4, 5). Both of these examples state in precise, unambiguous language exactly what they intend to convey, and any figurative language (eg “living dogs” and “dead lions”) is explained in terms of the direct statement. Direct statements clearly confer the highest level of “reliability” to conclusions drawn from the <strong>Bible</strong>. In this connection it is interesting to look through the supporting scripture given for each proposition in the Statement of Faith. Each is based on direct statements. Because of this, we have found it possible to agree that the statements are fundamentals. At first sight we might think it self evident that a direct statement gives total precision to any conclusion drawn from it. This is not quite so. It is necessary first to be sure that it is a direct statement - and not a figure; or is not qualified elsewhere in scripture. For example, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his (Jesus’) voice and shall come forth ...” (John 5:28, 29). If this were the only statement on the subject we would conclude that all who had ever lived would be subject to resurrection. In fact, however, we know that this quite explicit direct statement is qualified by an earlier verse. The “all” who will hear the voice of Jesus and come forth from the graves is limited to those who had previously heeded the preaching of Jesus: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” (John 5:24, 25). Qualifying the first statement (vss 28, 29) in terms of the second (vss 24, 25) makes its teaching consistent with the rest of scripture. For example, “... at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:1, 2). Words like, “all” and “never” probably require more careful scrutiny in this connection than most others. There is a temptation to seize on all-inclusive statements because they are convenient. Their validity must be tested against the rest of scripture. There is need, too, to recognise figurative language when it occurs. Some figurative passages appear remarkably like direct statements. Think, for example, of some of the figures found in the book of Revelation. These must be handled by one of the other methods - to be discussed. Direct statements, then, are our most reliable source of information. But we need to take care that they really are direct statements and that we have gathered all relevant scripture to bear on the subject. Page 8
2 Inference Moses did not teach resurrection by direct statement. But his record implies it: “Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him” (Luke 20:37, 38). In this wonderful deduction, based on Sadducee premises, Jesus confuted their stilted views about the power of God. There are many inferences within the scripture record. The writer to the Hebrews inferred Abraham’s belief in Isaac’s resurrection (Heb. 11:19 - probably from Gen. 22:5). Eli never literally kicked at God’s sacrifices, although his actions implied as much (1 Sam. 2:29). Aaron’s subservience to Melchisedec is inferred from Abraham’s paying tithes to Melchisedec (Heb. 7:1-10). Most of the spiritual teaching behind the Law of Moses is implied; as, for example, Paul’s inference that God will reward our efforts and sacrifices - from the law about muzzling oxen (1 Cor. 9:9). The list is very long. Inspiration has elevated such inferences to the level of reliability of direct statements. We may use the same process, but our conclusions will be more cautious. A deduction may never be more reliable than its premises, nor more sound than the logic by which it is formed. We are at risk, sometimes, of overlooking shaky premises because of the elegance of the logic. Although correct logic is true whether or not it is perceived in the human mind, the mind must enter the process whenever logic is used. To that extent, then, the logic is questionable - inconsistencies may go undetected. So, although we may infer what scripture implies, we must look behind the deduction - testing the soundness of the premises and of the logic that links them to the conclusion. 3 Parallel Passages This is a peculiarly scriptural method, and we use it automatically. When faced with a passage the meaning of which is unclear, we identify some characteristic subject matter, language or figure, and use it to align the passage with another showing the same peculiarity, but whose meaning is less obscure. The second passage is then used to explain the first on the assumption that both are saying the same thing. Evidently we are intended to do this. None would attempt a study of the life of the Lord from, say, Matthew, without also referring to Mark, Luke, John and comments elsewhere. And who would study the kings of Judah without reference to Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Isaiah, Jeremiah and many others of the prophets? Even when confronted with a direct statement, we “instinctively” (actually, we’ve learned to do this) turn to parallel passages to throw more light on the subject, if possible. And - with good reason - few of us are truly comfortable with an idea that is supported by only one or two contexts. Fundamental teachings are frequent themes in scripture - they rarely rely on isolated texts. Some <strong>Bible</strong> themes are of enormous breadth and complexity. For example, Latter Day Prophecy. Yet even here - indeed, especially here - a systematic approach, assessing the reliability of each step, can pay handsomely. We may decide, say, that Ezekiel 38 is a direct statement about Russia’s invasion of the land, and use that as a reference against which to explore other similar passages such as Joel’s prophecy, Zechariah 14, Daniel 11 and 12, 2 Thessalonians 2, the Olivet prophecy and so forth - by identifying parallel events and figures of speech. Arranging parallel passages “alongside” each other, “vertically”, so to speak, and then drawing “horizontal” links through their similarities or identities enables a more complete view to be gained without recourse to guesswork. Page 9
Page 1 and 2: Notes on Systematic Prophecy Mauric
Page 3 and 4: OHP 1: The Structure of The Prophet
Page 5 and 6: What is Truth? As a first step it i
Page 7: Session 1: Learning From The Word D
Page 11 and 12: afraid” - clearly a description o
Page 13 and 14: This passage is interesting because
Page 15 and 16: Much of the spiritual teaching of t
Page 17 and 18: Australia won the first match, New
Page 19 and 20: (iii) I shall point out that prophe
Page 21 and 22: (d) The idea of the tribulation, li
Page 23 and 24: (d) Followed Daniel 7 into Revelati
Page 25 and 26: (d) (i) Alexander’s four generals
Page 27 and 28: OHP 5: Titus Did Not Entirely Fulfi
Page 29 and 30: (vii) These kinds of statements are
Page 31 and 32: as representative of such arguments
Page 33 and 34: temple as had Antiochus Epiphanes:
Page 35 and 36: (b) While, of course, we would not
Page 37 and 38: 3. Jewish days begin at sunset and
Page 39 and 40: the tower of Antonia and that night
Page 41 and 42: OHP 3: Examples of Structure in Pro
Page 43 and 44: OHP 6: Structure in the Book of Rev
Page 45 and 46: 2 Daniel 7:25 Moving anticlockwise
Page 47 and 48: 4 Revelation 11:2 The 42 months dur
Page 49 and 50: But it may also be that the two wit
Page 51 and 52: The woman certainly seems to be Isr
Page 53 and 54: These 1260 days, 42 months or 3 1 /
Page 55 and 56: (d) Evil will fall on Israel for tu
Page 57 and 58: sacrifice. The time-periods form a
Page 59 and 60:
1 Jesus’ comments to the effect t
Page 61 and 62:
events that are happening under the
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Handout - Western Christadelphian Bible School

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