Nearly forty years ago, I was part of a group known as the International Biblical Inerrance Council. Concerned about the impact of high liberal criticism, we come together to define what it means to say that the Bible teaches no mistakes and articulate a defensible argument. position regarding the reliability of the Word of God that Christians could use to combat misunderstandings and false statements about the church’s historical position with respect to the Bible The Council developed the Chicago Declaration on Biblical Inerrance, which addresses many issues related to inspiration and truth Article XVII of this statement establishes , in part, that “the Holy Ghost testifies of the scriptures, giving believers the certainty of the truth of God’s written Word. “
With this article, we wanted to clarify that the Bible is the book of the Holy Spirit; He is not only involved in the inspiration of the Scriptures, but he is also a witness to the truth of the Scriptures; This is what we call an internal testimony. In other words, does the Holy Spirit provide a witness that occurs in us? It testifies to our mind that the Bible is the word of God, just as the Spirit testifies to our mind that we are children of God (Rom 8,16), it gives us the certainty of the sacred truth of his Word.
- Despite its importance.
- The inner testimony of the Spirit is subject to misunderstandings.
- One of these misunderstandings is how we defend the truth of the Bible.
- Do we need to present apologetics? From Sacred Scripture based on archaeological and historical evidence.
- In demonstrating the internal coherence of the Bible and in a logical argument?Some misunderstand the doctrine of inner testimony by saying that presenting evidence of the truth of the Bible is unnecessary and even counterproductive.
- All we have to do is trust in the fact that the Holy Ghost tells us that the Bible is the Word of God in both direct biblical statements and his inner work to confirm the truth of the scriptures.
Those in this position often want to emphasize that the authority of God’s Word depends on God Himself and believe that to subject His Word to empirical evidence is to make the truth of the Bible dependent on our own ability to evaluate their claims about the truth. some level, this concern is commendable. The authority of the scriptures depends on whether it is the revelation of God Himself, above which there is no greater authority; But when we talk about the proof of scripture truth, we are not talking about the authority of God’s Word, but about how we know which books, which claim to be the Word of God, actually come from Him. Here, subjective experience cannot be our only court of appeal. We need some kind of objective testimony to determine whether the Bible, Qur’aan, or Bhagavad-Gita is the Word of God, because everyone claims to be the Word of God.
That’s where Joo Calvin comes in called hints. Indicators are verifiable, analytical, falsifiable or verifiable aspects of evidence. They include elements such as archaeological evidence, the conformity of Scripture with what we know about the history of other sources, its internal coherence, its majesty. beauty, etc. Such things give us an objective confidence that the Bible is, in fact, the Word of God. Calvin and the Westminster Confession of Faith tell us that such indicators are sufficient in themselves to convince people that only Scripture is the Word. God.
However, these two authorities recognize the difference between evidence and persuasion, and that is really the work of persuasion that we discuss when we look at the inner testimony of the Spirit. Human beings are experts in rejecting objective evidence when they do not confirm their prejudices no matter how clear or persuasive, some people will not be persuaded by any evidence in the world because they are not really open to evidence.
My experience as an apologist and minister has shown me that the real reason most people reject Christianity is not a lack of evidence. Evidence from outside sources about the truth of the biblical narrative is overwhelming. No, the real problem is moral. The person who is not reconciled with God in Christ and who lives in disobedience does not want the scripture statement to be true that God has full and definitive right to his life, wants to get rid of this book as soon as he can.
This is where the inner testimony of the Spirit comes in. Only those whom God the Holy Spirit has regenerated will submit to the scriptures as His infallible and infallible Word. The Holy Ghost does not give us a new argument for the truth of the Bible, but confirms in our hearts the truth of Scripture, as demonstrated both in the inner marks of Scripture (harmony and majesty of its content) and in the external marks of Scripture. Writing (historical precision). The objective evidence of the Bible is numerous and convincing, but it cannot force people to believe against their will. Sinners are only persuaded to receive the Bible as the Word of God when the Holy Ghost changes their hearts and gives them the security that they can trust. what Scripture says.