What is your view of the Bible?

In my first day of Systematic Theology I was presented with an interesting question,  What is your view of the Bible?  The truth is that your view of the truth in Scripture is critical in your Theological Development.  Let me explain the two different views and then try to tie it all together at the end.

Axiopistic


Pisitc refers to the believability of something.  Axio means we look outside of the text to prove its merit.  So a person who is axiopistic would believe that they need to prove the truth of Scripture with outside sources.  The area this is seen in the most is in Creation Science.  We have organizations that spend so much time trying to prove that the Bible is right in its Scientific credibility.  This is backwards, we should be proving Science is true by Biblical research.  If you are axiopistic you approach the truth of Scripture as a skeptic seeking to prove the validity of the truth that is there,  You end up doing things like espousing the Gap Theory to explain how the 6 days could fit the evolutionary model when this is just against the text of Scripture.

Autopistic


Autopistic means that the text is the truth.  You accept the teaching of God as truth and go from there.  So when the Scriptures say, "and the evening and the morning were the first day" you take it to be literal.  This is the view that I would hold to.  I believe like John 17:17 says, "Sanctify them through your truth, Your Word is truth," God's Word is the key to life.  This means when the Bible says something is a sin we do not try to read into whether God really meant that.  This does not mean that all of Scripture is literal and never figurative, but my confidence lies in the fact that the truths taught from Scripture are the truth and determine the truth (Read Song of Solomon for an example of figurative language {her neck is not really and ivory tower is it}).

Theological Implications


This is so important in your view of Theology.  If you seek to prove the truth of Scripture and convince yourself that part of the Scripture is a lie you cannot trust the validity of the rest of the Word.  Here are some specific areas that your view will affect your Theology.

Critics


When you begin to open your mind you possible error in the Word of God you become critical of the truths found in the Bible.  The Word of God clearly tells us to avoid such thoughts.  II Corinthians 10:5 says, "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ."  When the doubt arises you need to search in the Scripture for the truth.  You need to go the source of the truth.

Truth from Other Sources than The Bible


A popular view in modern Christianity is that you can find truth in other places than the Word of God.  There is truth outside of the Bible but only if it is consistent with the truth of the Bible.  For instance the Bible says in Ps 19 that the Heavens declare the glory of God.  A person may look at the heavens and realize that there is something greater than them so they settle for worshipping the sun.  The problem is that on cloudy days there is a stronger force than the sunshine so then they worship the rain god.  They have not found truth until the realization of the presence of a greater God is found in the Creator of the Sun.

Laziness in Study (Philosophy over Exegesis)


If your view of studying the Bible is to read other writings on a text you are actually learning from a person's philosophy about what that text is saying.  It is comical to watch a Christian who studies God's Word and depending on the author they are reading they change their view of the Theological truth.  The key is to use God's Word to explain God's Word.  I am not saying there is no value to reading Commentaries, but do not just adapt their philosophy.  Too many Christians are lazy in their approach to their study and just take someone elses thoughts as truth.  If you went to the doctor and he opened you up for surgery and said, "So and so told me if I cut right here and snip this, but I have never done it before but he seems to know,"  you would leave and not come back.  The same is true when you present the Word of God as truth you need to present it as truth and be able to explain how it is truth based on the Word of God.

Today take a hard text and study it.  Learn to love learning about the one who loved you so much he came and died for you.