Wayne Grudem: Chapter Nine: The Existence of God

In chapter nine of Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, Grudem addresses the question of how we know that God exists. Scripture, particularly in Romans 1, teaches that "all persons everywhere have a deep, inner sense that God exists, that they are his creatures, and that he is their Creator" (Grudem, 141). Not every person acknowledges this sense because they "suppress the truth" (Romans 1:18) and deny his existence. Sin blinds humanity to their Creator. While the created world, human nature that reflects the image of God, and Scripture testify to God's existence, Satan and sin (2 Cor. 4:4) impair humanity's ability to see the truth about their Creator's existence. Apart from God's gift of redemption, humans are mentally and spiritually handicapped. 

The mental and spiritual impairment that results from sin can only be cured by the grace of God. No argument can succeed where the ability to reason and see are still corrupted by sin. God's effective call must precede the success of any argument that will lead to saving faith. Grace that gives sight is the movement of God to sinful and blind people that must take place if any argument will ever produce a knowledge of God. 

Yet, God's grace does work in and through the carefully considered arguments for his existence. Arguments for God's existence can strengthen the faith of believers by providing further evidence and support for belief in God. Philosophical arguments for God's existence can also remove intellectual objections that unbelievers have to the gospel. 

According to Grudem, there are four traditional categories of argumentation that seek to demonstrate the rationality of the Christian faith. These argument types are:

• Cosmological arguments: These are arguments that relate to cause. It poses the question: how did all that exists come into existence? As Greg Koukl puts it, a Big Bang seems to require a Big Banger. Cosmological arguments lay out why it is rational to think that God was the first cause of all things.
• Teleological arguments: These are arguments that relate to design. How did the complexities of the universe come to be? Teleological arguments argue from evidence of design to the existence of the designer. 
• Ontological arguments: These are arguments that relate to being. Ontological arguments argue that existence is built into the definition of God (a definition that, among other things, could be summarized as the greatest imaginable being).
• Moral arguments: These are arguments that relate to morality. What is morally right and morally wrong? Moral arguments argue that there is a universal moral law and that such a moral law requires a law giver. 

For those interested in further introductions to the philosophical arguments for the existence of God, I would refer you to: 

Geisler, Norman L. Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1998.  An 864 page volume that provides academic entries on each of these four major arguments.

Strobel, Lee. The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005. In books aimed at a popular audience, Lee Strobel investigates the evidence for faith. In The Case for a Creator Strobel examines the evidence for the belief that the universe had a Creator.

Taylor, James E. Introducing Apologetics: Cultivating Christian Commitment. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006. This is the textbook used in the Christian Apologetics courses at Tyndale University College and Calvin Theological Seminary. The book is a helpful introduction to some of the arguments for the existence of God and the truth of Christianity. 

Note: I would welcome other recommendations of books that provide introductions to arguments for God's existence. Please share these in the comment section below.

Wayne Grudem: Chapter Seven: The Means By Which We Know God

Can someone know that God exists apart from the Bible? Yes, in fact, the Bible itself says very clearly that God reveals himself to all people. God's glory is revealed in creation:

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1 ESV).

God's goodness is revealed by his provision and preservation of humanity. He continues to provide the things we need to live, such as food and the means necessary to grow it. 

"In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness”
(Acts 14:16-17 ESV). 

God's law is written on our hearts. All people have a degree of moral awareness, though this is suppressed and distorted by sin.

"For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus" (Romans 2:14-16 ESV).

This revelation to all is referred to as general revelation, since it is revealed generally (without exception) to all. General revelation is unlimited in who receives it, but limited in what it reveals. Wayne Grudem writes, "People can obtain a knowledge that God exists, and a knowledge of some of his attributes, simply from observation of themselves and the world around them" [Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 121]. The Belgic Confession, one of the three major teaching documents of the Christian Reformed Church, defines general revelation as follows:  

"We know [God] by two means: First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God: his eternal power and his divinity" (Belgic Confession, Article 2).

Special revelation is God's specific self-revelation through his own speech (personal address), his self-revelation in Christ the Incarnate Word, or through his words of self-revelation spoken through the prophets and apostles.

"Second, he makes himself known to us more openly by his holy and divine Word, as much as we need in this life, for his glory and for the salvation of his own" (Belgic Confession, Article 2). 

The limitations of general revelation are important to note. Saving faith involves the obedient response to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:13-17), whereby the just penalty for our rebellion is incurred by the sinless Son of God and we receive his righteousness. The gospel of Jesus dying in our place and for our sins is not revealed by general revelation, and therefore, general revelation is not sufficient for producing saving faith, which is the trusting response to this gospel. Again, the words of Grudem are helpful:

"The repeated occurrences of the 'rain and fruitful seasons' mentioned in Acts 14:17 may even lead some people to reason that God is not only holy and righteous but also loving and forgiving. But how the holiness and justice of God can ever be reconciled with his willingness to forgive sins is a mystery that has never been solved by any religion apart from the Bible. Nor does the Bible give us any hope that it ever can be discovered apart from specific revelation from God. It is the great wonder of our redemption that God himself has provided the way of salvation by sending his own Son, who is both God and man, to be our representative and bear the penalty for our sins, thus combining the justice and love of God in one infinitely wise and amazingly gracious act. This fact, which seems commonplace to the Christian ear, should not lose its wonder for us: it could never have been conceived by man alone apart from God's special, verbal revelation" (Grudem, 123).

Wayne Grudem: Chapter Five: The Inerrancy of Scripture

Following up his previous chapter on the authority of Scripture (the first of four major attributes of Scripture), Wayne Grudem argues for the inerrancy of Scripture. Inerrancy, as Grudem defines it, "means that Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact" (Grudem, 91). The original writings of the Bible are completely true. Several points must be made in order to properly convey the meaning of inerrancy (for a fuller treatment of these refer to the Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, chapter five). 

1. The Bible remains inerrant (without error) while still using the ordinary language of everyday speech. For instance, when the Bible says the sun rose (rather than the earth rotated) or 8,000 men died (when it was 7,932 or 8,211) the text may not be precise, but it does not err. If I say that my house is one mile away, it may not be as precise as saying my house is 1.36523 miles away, but it is not false to say so. I am merely giving an approximation. 
2. The Bible can still be inerrant though the quotations may not be word-for-word representations of a direct quote, since it is the content of the speech which is important for determining truth from falsehood. Written Koine Greek (the language that the New Testament was written in) did not have quotation marks. What was important is whether the quoted speech accurately reflected the content of what was originally said. 
3. The inerrancy of Scripture affirms that the authors of Scripture were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Inspiration is more than saying, "Whoa! Dude, that poem is like, so inspired!" Inspiration means that the Holy Spirit guided the writing process of the biblical authors, while still allowing their personalities and styles to emerge in the text. The Scriptures were written as a joint project. 
4. The inerrancy of Scripture refers to the original copies (or autographs) of Scripture, and to subsequent copies only in so far as they accurately represent the original manuscripts. Inerrancy does not mean the New International Version, English Standard Version, or King James Version are without error, but that they are without error as long as they represent the words originally written by Moses, Paul, etc. According to Grudem, "...it may first be stated that for over 99 percent of the words of the Bible, we know what the original manuscripts (the autographs) said" (Grudem, 96). He continues, "For most practical purposes, then, the current published scholarly texts of the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament are the same as the original manuscripts. Thus, when we say that the original manuscripts were inerrant, we are also implying that over 99 percent of the words in our present manuscripts are also inerrant for they are exact copies of the originals" (Ibid). 
5. The inerrancy of Scripture also means that Scripture is a unity and internally consistent. 
6. Inerrancy implies that the Bible is true in matters of faith and practice, but that it is also true with respect to all other matters as well. For one thing, the New Testament's treatment of the Old Testament does not seem to suggest that Scripture was true with respect to manners of faith and practice only (Grudem, 93).

The argument that Grudem makes for inerrancy goes as follows:

 

PREMISE ONE: If they are words of God, they are necessarily true (because God cannot lie; c.f. 2 Samuel 7:28; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18)  

PREMISE TWO: All the words of Scripture are the words of God (in that he inspires them; c.f. 2 Timothy 3:16; for more Scriptural proof, see Grudem, chapter 4).

CONCLUSION: Therefore, Scripture is necessarily true.

For a formal statement on inerrancy, please read The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. 

Wayne Grudem: Chapter Two: The Word of God

Christians are people who submit themselves underneath the authority of the Word of God. It is important to note that the "word of God" is more than the King James Bible, red letter edition. First, a distinction must be made between the word of God as the speech of God and the Word of God as the person of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word. 

In at least two instances, the Bible speaks of the Divine Son of God as "the Word of God". Revelation 19:13 gives the title, "the Word of God" to the rider on the white horse. The Word of God, who is also called Faithful and True, is the one who will exercise God's wrath (v. 15) and rule the nations as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. This, of course, is Jesus.

The other instance of the Word of God referring to the person of Jesus occurs in the famous prologue to John's gospel, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (1:1). The second member of the Trinity is given this title, for he uniquely communicates the character and will of God to his people. 

More commonly though, the word of God is used to refer to the speech of God. Biblically, the word of God is used to speak of God's speech to us in four ways: 

1. God's decrees. "A decree of God," Grudem says, "is a word of God that causes something to happen" (Grudem 48). By the word of God-- that is, God's spoke command-- the created order came into being. "Let there be light..." (Genesis 1:3). 
2. God's address. God speaks directly to a person(s), in a way that is clear, understandable, and demands obedience. God is not chatty, speaking idle or unnecessary words. By the words of God's personal address, individuals are called to participate in the work and life of God. "And God spoke all these words, saying, 'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me'" (Exodus 20:1-3). Other examples are Genesis 2:16-17, Genesis 3:16-19, and Matthew 3:17. 
3. The word of God communicated through his human agents. The office of prophet in Scripture carries with it the responsibility to speak the words given to him by God with absolute precision. People in Israel, and people today for that matter, are not free to give added force to their opinions by saying, "Thus saith the LORD..." God threatens punishment on those who misrepresent him (Ezekiel 13:1-7 and Deuteronomy 18:20-22). This is because he has chosen to speak through human prophets and when some falsely claim to speak for God, they obscure the testimony of those who truthfully speak the words he has commanded. Such messengers messengers are Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 1:7), Moses (Exodus 4:12), Samuel (1 Samuel 15:3), and Isaiah (Isaiah 30:12-14). 
4. The word of God is also written. The first instance of this is when God wrote for Moses the tables of the law in Exodus 31:18 (see also Exodus 32:16; 34:1, 28). Later, Moses copied this law, the commands (or words) of God writing it down for the priests (Deuteronomy 31:9-13), Joshua (Joshua 24:26), Isaiah (Isaiah 30:8), and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 30:2) are also commanded to write down the words of the LORD. In the New Testament, according to Jesus' promise, the disciples, by the help of the Holy Spirit, would remember the words Jesus said to them. According to Paul, his words to the Corinthians are "a command of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 14:37). 

The word of God spoken to human beings demands absolute obedience. It opposes apathy, indifference, and compromise. The only appropriate response is obedience. For this reason, the author of Hebrews says, that if we hear the word of God, we should not oppose it, but immediately recognize his power, we should submit in humble obedience.

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (Hebrews 4:12–13).

What is your response this day to the Word of God?

Why All Christians Should Study Systematic Theology

In chapter one of Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem suggests five reasons why Christians (not just academics or pastors, but all Christians) would benefit from studying systematic theology:

1. Jesus commands his followers to teach all nations about what he has commanded them. In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus tells his disciples (including us today) to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them his words. In order to teach others what Jesus has said in the Bible we must learn for ourselves what the Bible says by collecting and summarizing what the Bile says (27).
2. Studying systematic theology will help give biblical instruction and biblical answers truthfully and effectively for our benefit and the benefit of others. Proper systematic theology derives its conclusions straight from the biblical text. Knowing what Bible verses pertain to a subject and how those verses can be summarized as a conclusion will help us learn and grow, but also it will help us teach and grow alongside of others.
3. Studying systematic theology will help us discover where we are wrong. Human beings are not perfect and our judgments are often affected by sin and selfish motivation. Systematic theology allows us to compare our words, thoughts, and deeds with those of God as revealed by his holy Word, the Bible; thus, our errors are exposed, we become free from lies, and may further seek the truth of God.
4. Studying systematic theology trains and equips us for thinking theologically and biblically. When issues arise in our lives, our churches, and our communities, even if we have not thought through this issue specifically we will be familiar with biblical truths that should inform our conclusions and responses.
5. Studying systematic theology aids Christian growth and maturity. If you put garbage in, you will get garbage out. Don’t put garbage in your life. Think instead about the magnificence of God and the awesome things he is doing (Philippians 4:7-9). Thinking about God and what his plan to redeem creation means will unavoidably give depth to our life as Christ-followers. The apostle Paul makes this point, arguing that greater knowledge of who God is will change the way we live, “…the teaching which accords with godliness…” (1 Timothy 6:3) and “…for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness…” (Titus 1:1).

Wayne Grudem: Chapter One: "Introduction to Systematic Theology"

I have just set out on a long, probably difficult, journey. Sitting on my bookshelf for some time now has been Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology: An introduction to Bible Doctrine. My hope is to slowly make my way through Grudem on your behalf, summarizing highlights from the 1291 pages in a much smaller space. 

The book is both a textbook and a devotional resource. Perhaps you're unlikely to read the chapter on election and reprobation to your five-year-old daughter as you're putting her to bed, but the book is devotional in the sense that every chapter written and every topic studied is intended to draw readers into a greater amazement at who God is, what he has done, and what he is doing now. This, I anticipate, will be a strength of Grudem's book. Each chapter includes a Bible verse for memorization and meditation, as well as a hymn pertaining to the doctrine being discussed. I hope that the readers of this blog will benefit from Grudem as I do. 

What is Systematic Theology? 

Chapter One begins by introducing what Systematic Theology is. Here is Grudem's definition (taken from John Frame): "Systematic theology is any study that answers the question, 'What does the whole Bible teach us today?' about any given topic" (21). For instance, what does the Bible say about Jesus? Or, does the Bible say anything about marriage? If so, what? At this point it may strike you that systematic theology is something you have done before if you have thought about what the Bible says about a subject. Systematic theology is the project of Christians and spiritual seekers everywhere. 

Systematic theology is systematic because it attempts to organize the finds of the Bible on a particular topic (e.g. organize or summarize what the Bible says about God), but also to organize these topics in a way that best illustrates how they work together in a consistent manner. Again, this is something all Christians do when they make statements that summarize the teaching of the Bible on a particular subject. Anyone who has ever read the Apostles' Creed was reading systematic theology! Anyone who has tried to explain a subject by saying, "The Bible says that..." was doing systematic theology! 

Lastly, for those questioning why anyone would want to slog through over a thousand pages of a theology textbook, I'll refer you to these party animals: