Sufficiency of Scripture Conference - Session 2 (12/10)

The following are  my notes and thoughts during the talks at the Sufficiency of Scripture Conference so they may not be the exact wording of the speaker but their words and the ideas I took from the speaker.  Also I apologize for typos as this was done so as to get it online ASAP:

The Defining Battles in the War Against the Sufficiency of Scripture - Doug Philips

• Psalm 119:1-16
• Prov 30:5-6
• Every word of God is tested and is proven
• As fathers how we raise our children with regards to the SoS can have generational implications of vast proportions
• The first battle was the battle against Satanic Deceptions as seen in the garden and dealt with the word of God and the questioning of it
• There is also a battle against Greek rationalism and it infests all areas of life
• There is the battle against Roman Syncretism
• We also have the battle against Neo-Evangelical Revivalism
• That of relying on mans methods rather than God’s word
• There is also the battle against Evolutionary Hegemony
• We also have a battle over Christian Orthodoxy

• From this comes the question over the “Authority of All of Scripture”, or only parts of it
• There is also from this a struggle over the regulative principle of worship
• If we do not rely on the SoS where do we get our ethics from
• We need to find out how the Christian family is to function via the SoS
• There may disagreements over the answers but the goal is that all would be found in Scripture
• Our basis for freedom derives from men who sought scripture for the answers and thus the SoS
• The great Commission and the Dominion Mandate are derived from the SoS because it is scripture that we are to use to disciple the nations

• This all comes back to what is our answer to “hath God said”
• We are to be rational as truly only those changed by God can be rational but we are not to be rationalists and rely on our autonomous rationalism for answers but are to rely on God’s word
• This issue has infiltrated the church
• The church all to often questions if God has spoken to various issues and thus they feel it is allowed to do as it feels is right
• The SoS says that God does speak to these issues
• The church has created neutral zones that truly do not exist and created lawlessness and chaos

• The world and unfortunately the church seem to look everywhere for answers to what to do in life everywhere but in the bible
• Theology by Maxim
• “The Bible is silent on that subject”
• “God told me to do it”
• “Jesus is about grace not law”
• Etc

• God’s word covers in explicitly, by precept and in principle in all areas of life
• So God’s word and thus the SoS touches all areas of life 
• It is God’s world and He is sovereign over all of it
• God speaks to everything
• Other world views speak to every area of life but for many in the church they fail because they do not think the word of God speaks to everything

• The Christian View of Reality
• The View of the One and Many
• There is no higher authority on which to judge God’s word
• Christ is the central principle of interpretation for every fact and all reality and nothing is truly understandable apart from HIm
• There is no neutrality
• Three viewpoints
• The Rationalist - Autonomous mind is sufficient
• The Semi-rationalist - Mind is sufficient on some things (such as Aquinas)
• The Revelationist - Those who see God’s word as sufficient for faith and practice.  So as to have orthodoxy and orthopraxy