Introduction
After finally settling methodology, definitions, and establishing the principia of theology, bibliology is next on the ordering of loci. Bibliology is the study of God’s Word and Scripture. Many different doctrines must be addressed in this loci and many controversies arise in this topic with the papists, enthusiasts, and non-believers. The topic includes the necessity of supernatural revelation, its properties, the canon, versions of Scripture, and methods of interpretation. A succinct outline will be given at the end of this article to provide the flow of discussion regarding bibliology. Here, we will begin with a discussion of the Word as a principium of supernatural theology.
The Word of God: Principium Cognoscendi
Identifying the Word of God as the epistemic principle in theology places the priority on God’s Word as the means of knowing supernatural theology (use of the term theology will be assumed as the specific species of supernatural theology unless otherwise noted). It is such a foundational principle that, without it, we would be left with no salvific knowledge of God and other divine things. Because of this, the principium cognoscendi precedes the principium essendi. Without such an epistemic principle, we could not know God regarding the personal triunity of him. However, the existence of the Word of God presupposes the existence of God; and therefore, the two principia are so inseparably tied that discussion of one presupposes the other. However, discussion of the Word will come before discussion of God since our supernatural knowledge of him rests upon his own divine self-revelation. The Word of God can be taken in four senses as Richard Muller notes: “Word is, first of all, the eternal Word of God, the personal and archetypal self-knowledge of God. Second, Word is the unwritten revelation of God given to the prophets and the apostles. Third, it is the Word written and, fourth, it is the inward Word of the Spirit which testifies to the heart of truth of Scripture” (PRRD, 155). Despite the multiple senses in which we can use Word, there remains one foundation as to substance but multiple as to the mode. Thus, the Word of God as a principium can be further divided into the internal Word and external Word. The internal Word provides the subjective foundation of knowing God’s Word which is done by the Spirit internally testifying to the truth and divinity of Scripture in our hearts. On the other hand, the external Word provides the objective foundation which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. The Scriptures are themselves the written form of the second sense of the Word of God (i.e. unwritten revelation given to the prophets and apostles). Moreover, the unwritten revelation only comes by the first sense of the Word of God (i.e. through Christ). To further elucidate Scripture as principium, three terms can be used all with different meanings: instrument, foundation, and ground. The Word of God is an instrument insofar as it is the function which conveys salvific knowledge of God. It is a foundation since all following doctrine rests upon the Word and stands prior to rational demonstration. And finally, it is the ground inasmuch as it acts as the ultimate foundation for fundamental articles and all theological argumentation. Thus, the importance of the Word of God cannot be understated in the discipline of theology. However, two further distinction can be used to better comprehend this principium. When Scripture is used to denote the Word of God, we do not mean the external characters themselves (the conventional signs), but rather the concepts signified by them and in turn the objects signified by the concepts. Therefore, the syllables on the pages are not themselves the Word of God but only that which is signified by them. Secondly, we can distinguish between Scripture and the science and wisdom of theology which expounds Scripture. Scripture itself is not theology, rather theology is the science and wisdom which draws forth truths from Scripture. Insofar as theology is a science, the discipline draws forth conclusion from the principium. Inasmuch as theology is a wisdom, the discipline draws forth ends and goals of the principium. From these various terms and distinction, we have established the different senses of the Word of God as the epistemic principle of theology which entails the Word of God being instrumental, foundational, and grounding to theology. Two things have been properly excluded from the principium cognoscendi: human authority and reason. It has already been explained how both of these ought not be considered a principium of theology.
Outline of Bibliology
Having laid out the Word of God as a principium of theology, the rest of the sub-topics in bibliology logically follow. Here, I will provide the outline as I have it now, but it can be changed in the future.
- Introduction: The Word of God as the Principium Cognoscendi of Theology
- Revelation and its Necessity
- Natural/Supernatural Revelation
- Verbal/Written Revelation
- Necessity of Verbal Revelation
- Necessity of Written Revelation
- Foundation and Scope of Scripture
- Fourfold Causality of Scripture
- Divinity of Scripture
- Divine Origin
- Inpiration
- Authority
- Authenticity
- Evidences of it Being Divine
- Divine Origin
- Further Attributes of Scripture
- Truthfulness, Certainty, Infallibility, Purity/Holiness, Sufficiency/Perfection, Perspicuity, Efficacy
- Relationship Between Faith and Scripture
- Scripture as the Sole Infallible Source/Rule of Faith
- Authority of church fathers and oral tradition
- Authority of councils
- Authority of the pope
- Other Alleged Scripture that do not have Divine Authoirty
- Quran
- Talmud
- Canon of Scripture
- Canon
- No Canonical Book has Perished
- Canonization
- Content
- Old Testament Authoirty
- Apocryphal Writings
- Controversial Books
- Canon
- Purity of the Text We Have Today (Textual Criticism)
- Authentic Versions (autographs)
- Translations/Versions
- Necessity of Translations and Their Authoirty and Wether We Ought to Translate into the Vernacular Languages
- Authenticity of Certain Veriosns
- Masoretic Text
- Septuagint
- Latin Vulgate
- King James
- Can the Scriptures be read by any believer profitably?
- How to interpret the Scriptures
- Reading and Exposition-Public and Private
- Senses of Scripture
- Hermeneutics
- Disposition of interpreter
- Context of interpretation
- Concerning the narrow scope
- Original languages
- Grammatical/syntactical sense of the words
- Narrow scope
- Circumtances
- Concerning the broader scope
- Comparing similar/dissimilar passages
- Broader scope
- Analogia Fide
- Good and necessary consequences