The Enduring Authority of the Christian Scriptures

Edited by

D. A. Carson

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, U.K.

© 2016 D. A. Carson

All rights reserved

Published 2016 by

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 /

P. O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Carson, D. A., editor.

Title: The enduring authority of the Christian scriptures / edited by D. A. Carson.

Description: Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016. |

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015038502 | ISBN 9780802865762 (cloth: alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Bible—Evidences, authority, etc.

Classification: LCC BS480.E53 2016 | DDC 220.1—dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015038502

www.eerdmans.com

Contents

Abbreviations

Preface

INTRODUCTION

1. The Many Facets of the Current Discussion

D. A. Carson

HISTORICAL TOPICS

2. “The Truth Above All Demonstration”: Scripture in the Patristic Period to Augustine

Charles E. Hill

3. The Bible in the Reformation and Protestant Orthodoxy

Robert Kolb

4. Natural Philosophy and Biblical Authority in the Seventeenth Century

Rodney L. Stiling

5. German Pietism and Scriptural Authority: The Question of Biblical Inerrancy

John D. Woodbridge

6. Wesleyan Theology and the Authority of Scripture: Historic Affirmations and Some Contemporary Issues

Thomas H. McCall

7. The “Old Princetonians” on Biblical Authority

Bradley N. Seeman

8. Accommodation Historically Considered

Glenn S. Sunshine

9. The Answering Speech of Men: Karl Barth on Holy Scripture

David Gibson

10. Roman Catholic Views of Biblical Authority from the Late Nineteenth Century to the Present

Anthony N. S. Lane

BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL TOPICS

11. The Old Testament Canon, Josephus, and Cognitive Environment

Stephen G. Dempster

12. “Competing Histories, Competing Theologies?” Reflections on the Unity and Diversity of the Old Testament(’s Readers)

V. Philips Long

13. Ehrman’s Equivocation and the Inerrancy of the Original Text

Peter J. Williams

14. E pluribus unum? Apostolic Unity and Early Christian Literature

Simon Gathercole

15. Why a Book? Why This Book? Why the Particular Order within This Book? Some Theological Reflections on the Canon

Graham A. Cole

16. God and the Bible

Peter F. Jensen

17. God and the Scripture Writers: The Question of Double Authorship

Henri A. G. Blocher

18. Myth, History, and the Bible

Bruce K. Waltke

19. Biblical Authority and Diverse Literary Genres

Barry G. Webb

20. The Generous Gift of a Gracious Father: Toward a Theological Account of the Clarity of Scripture

Mark D. Thompson

21. Postconservative Theologians and Scriptural Authority

Osvaldo Padilla

22. Reflections on Jesus’ View of the Old Testament

Craig L. Blomberg

23. The Problem of the New Testament’s Use of the Old Testament

Douglas J. Moo and Andrew David Naselli

24. May We Go Beyond What Is ...