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In one of the previous lessons, we observed that the term "Scriptures" refers to the multitude of writers, thereby highlighting the "human" side of the Bible. This can lead to misunderstandings. Nowadays, there is often talk about the "human element" in the Bible, implying that the Bible should not be absolutely valid and reliable. There are people who regard the Bible as an album of divine and human statements, from which we have to sift out the divine, so to speak. Others view the message of the Bible as something divine, which has been packaged in human descriptions. To understand the divine message, we must first "unpack" it.
In these and similar views, the human element is juxtaposed with the divine one. People see the Bible as a human testament with its inherent mistakes. However, this is no way the case. In this context, we compare
together.
Jesus is the Son of God and at the same time He is truly human. Similarly, the Bible is of divine origin and at the same time a truly human book, but without the fallibility of the human. We will now delve deeper into this comparison.
Jesus Christ came onto this earth, just like every other human being. Galatians 4:4 states that God sent His son
come of woman, come under law.
The Bible did not fall from heaven, as the Ephesians claimed about the image of Artemis (Acts 19:35).
Your response:
It came into existence just like all other books. People took up writing materials - and (2 John 12) or and (3 John 13) - and wrote down the words. This clearly shows the human element.
Jesus of Nazareth was born in a completely natural way, but He was conceived in a supernatural way in the Virgin Mary. He was indeed conceived by the Holy Spirit:
But while he pondered on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, fear not to take to you Mary, your wife, for that which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:20)
And the angel answering said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and power of the Highest overshadow you, for which reason the holy thing also which will be born will be called Son of God. (Luke 1:35)
In this we see the divine side, which also applies to the written word of God. The Bible was also written by men, but not produced by the will of man. Peter writes about this in his first letter:
For prophecy was not ever uttered by the will of man, but holy men of God spake under the power of the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21)
This is also clearly evident from David's words in 2 Samuel 23:2-3.
From a human perspective, the Lord Jesus Christ originates from the people of Israel. In Romans 9:5, Paul speaks of His relatives according to the flesh, the Israelites, and says in relation to Him:
Whose are the fathers; and of whom, as according to flesh, is the Christ, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans 9:5)
Similarly, in the letter to the Hebrews, it talks about His human lineage:
For it is clear that our Lord has sprung out of Juda, as to which tribe Moses spake nothing as to priests. (Hebrews 7:14)
When it comes to the human side of the creation of the Bible, we owe it to the people of Israel. Romans 3:1 asks "What then is the superiority of the Jew?" and the following verse mentions a great benefit.
Christ did not come into this world as an adult, but as a child, and "grew up" or "advanced". Two passages from the Gospel of Luke make this clear:
And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and God’s grace was upon him. (Luke 2:40)
And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2:52)
Even the did not come to us humans as a complete . It was created over the course of about 1500 years. Thus, metaphorically, it could also be said of it that it "grew" or "advanced".
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Bible course: Basic Bible Course 2
