作者: R.C. Sproul 譯者: Maria Marta
在信徒的生命中，聖經的價值在於它的源头和它的功能。在對提摩太的勸誡中，保羅把聖經托付給提摩太：「全部聖經都是 神所默示的，在教訓、責備、矯正和公義的訓練各方面，都是有益的」（提後三16）。
當我還是個小男孩的時候，在我們的社區裡，有一個恃強淩弱，比我大幾歲的家夥。他取笑我，罵我，傷了我的感情。有時我回到家裡，對我的母親哭訴，告訴她另一個男孩的說話使我很煩惱。對此，我的母親特別喜愛這樣回應：她擦去我的眼淚，說道：「當人這樣談論你的時候，兒子，想一想它的起因。」
我母親那點點睿智的建議是我在學術界學到的，一項程度強烈得多的原則。學術研究的其中一項原則，就是追蹤你研究的信息來源，你必須確保這些來源是可靠的。學者們必須「小心謹慎，不要采用表面上有價值的任何信息，因為可靠性與來源直接關聯」。他們必須分析，檢驗，而且任意使用批判機制( critical
apparatus) 來跟蹤真正的源頭。
保羅向提摩太保證，聖經的源頭是上帝。聖經是上帝所「默示」的，意思不是指上帝監督聖經寫作的方式，而是指聖經內容的來源。翻譯成「默示」這個字的希臘文是theopneustos -------字面的意思是「上帝所呼出來的」（God-breathed）。當保羅寫「聖經是上帝所默示的」，其觀念並非指一種靈感，而是指呼氣；也就是說，聖經是上帝所呼出的氣。聖經來自上帝是這裡的關鍵所在。聖經是上帝的話語，具有上帝的權威。保羅希望提摩太明白聖經的來源，而不是它啓發的方式。
在聲明聖經是上帝的呼出之氣後，保羅詳加說明它的目的和價值。他說，聖經在各方面都是有益的，這些方面包括教訓、責備、矯正和公義的訓練。
首先，聖經的價值在於它教導健全的教義。雖然我們生活在一個健全教導遭詆毀的時代，但聖經高度重視純正的道理。許多新約的經卷都與教義有關。教導職事賜給教會，為的是建立教會的肢體。保羅說，「他所賜的，有作使徒的，有作先知的，有作傳福音的，也有作牧養和教導的，為的是要裝備聖徒，去承擔聖工，建立基督的身體」（弗四11–12）。
聖經在責備、矯正方面也是有益的，身為基督徒，我們正需要不斷受責備、得矯正。在一些學術界圈子裡，非常流行對聖經進行學術批判。在這樣做時，學者們便把自己放在聖經之上，試圖矯正它。如果聖經真的是上帝的聖言，沒有比這更傲慢的了。是上帝矯正我們，而非我們矯正上帝。我們不是站在上帝之上，而是在臣服在上帝之下。
以下這些建議對聖經學習有實用的幫助：在閱讀聖經時，手握一支紅筆。我建議，你在所發現的，不清楚或難以理解的經文的邊緣，打上一個問號。同樣地，在冒犯你或讓你感到不安的每一個段落旁打上x符號。然後，你可以專注於你掙紮的領域，特別是標有x符號的經文。這x符號可能是聖潔的指南，因為它迅速向我們顯視，我們的想法與基督的心意不一致的地方。如果我不喜歡我所讀的某些聖經內容，也許我根本不明白這部分內容。如果是這樣的話，再研讀一次。可能會有幫助。事實上，如果我的確理解這段經文，但仍然不喜歡它，這並非表明聖經有一些錯誤。反而，這表明我有錯誤，需要改變。通常，在我們得到正確的東西之前，我們首先需要發現自己的錯誤。
當我們經歷了「心靈的改變」，即是悔改時，我們並不是突然將所有錯誤的想法全清除掉。更新我們的思想是一個終身的過程。專注那些我們不喜歡的經文，我們可以加速這一過程。這就是保羅所說的「公義的訓練」的部分。
最後，保羅解釋聖經學習的首要目的。在最後的分句中，使徒道出這一目的：「為要使屬上帝的人裝備好，可以完成各樣的善工」。就像保羅對提摩太的警告，如果他忽視學習上帝的聖道，他的生命將會不完整。他會失去這巨大的資源，這真理的寶庫，即上帝的聖道。對我們來說也是如此。
本譯文所引用的經文均出自聖經新譯本。
The Value of Scripture
FROM R.C. Sproul
The value of Scripture
in the life of the believer lies in its source and its function. In his
exhortation to Timothy, Paul commended Scripture to Timothy by saying, “All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).
When I was a little
boy, there was a fellow in our community who was a couple of years older than
me, and he was something of a bully. He made fun of me and called me names,
which hurt my feelings. Sometimes I came home crying to my mother and told her
what the other boy had said to upset me. My mother had a favorite response to
this. As she wiped away my tears, she said, “When people talk like that about
you, son, consider the source.”
That little bit of
sage advice from my mother was a principle that I learned to a much more
intense degree in the academic world. One of the rules of scholarship is to
track down in your research the sources for the information you have to make
sure that those sources are reliable. Scholars have to “be careful not to take
anything at face value, because credibility is directly tied to source. They
must analyze, examine, and use the critical apparatus at their disposal to
track down the real sources.
Paul assured Timothy
here that the source of Scripture is God. That Scripture is “given by
inspiration” refers not to the way God oversaw the writing of the Bible but to
the source of the content of the Bible. The word that is translated “given by
inspiration” is the Greek term theopneust—literally, “God-breathed.” When Paul
wrote that Scripture is God-breathed, the idea was not one of inspiration but
of expiration; that is, the Bible was breathed out by God. The whole point here
is that the Bible comes from God. It is His Word and carries with it His
authority. Paul wanted Timothy to understand the source of the Bible, not the
way it was inspired.
After stating that the
Bible is God-breathed, Paul spelled out its purpose and value. Scripture, he
said, is profitable for several things, including doctrine, reproof,
correction, and instruction in righteousness.
The value of the Bible
lies, first of all, in the fact that it teaches sound doctrine. Though we live
in a time when sound teaching is denigrated, the Bible places a high value on
it. Much of the New Testament is concerned with doctrine. The teaching ministry
is given to the church for building up its people. Paul said, “And He Himself
gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and
teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11–12).
The Bible is also
profitable for reproof and correction, which we as Christians continually need.
It is fashionable in some academic circles to exercise scholarly criticism of
the Bible. In so doing, scholars place themselves above the Bible and seek to
correct it. If indeed the Bible is the Word of God, nothing could be more
arrogant. It is God who corrects us; we don’t correct Him. We do not stand over
God but under Him.
This yields a
practical help for Bible study: read the Bible with a red pen in hand. I
suggest that you put a question mark in the margin beside every passage that
you find unclear or hard to understand. Likewise, put an X beside every passage
that offends you or makes you uncomfortable. Afterward, you can focus on the
areas you struggle with, especially the texts marked with an X. This can be a
guide to holiness, as the Xs show us quickly where our thinking is out of line
with the mind of Christ. If I don’t like something I read in Scripture, perhaps
I simply don’t understand it. If so, studying it again may help. If, in fact, I
do understand the passage and still don’t like it, this is not an indication there
is something wrong with the Bible. It’s an indication that something is wrong
with me, something that needs to change. Often, before we can get something
right, we need to first discover what we’re doing wrong.
When we experience the
“changing of the mind” that is repentance, we are not suddenly cleansed of all
wrong thinking. The renewing of our minds is a lifelong process. We can
accelerate this process by focusing on those passages of Scripture that we
don’t like. This is part of the “instruction in righteousness” of which Paul
speaks.
Finally, Paul
explained the overriding purpose for Scripture study. It comes in the final
clause, where the apostle wrote, “… that the man of God may be complete,
thoroughly equipped for every good work.” It was as if Paul was warning Timothy
that if he neglected the study of God’s Word, his life would be incomplete. He
would be missing out on this vast resource, this treasury of truth that is the
Word of God. And the same is true for us.
This excerpt is taken
from 5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow by R.C. Sproul. To learn about this
topic download R.C. Sproul’s free Crucial Questions booklet Can I Turst the
Bible?