Revelation and Inspiration

Da se živi Bog sam otkrio i nastavlja otkrivati ljudskome rodu, osnova je kršćanske vjere. Sveto pismo, Stari i Novi zavjet podjednako, izvještavaju o načinu na koji se Bog objavio u povijesti čovječanstva – posebice u povijesti Izraela, a konačno u osobi Isusa Krista. Bez ove božanske objave čovječanstvo bi propalo ne poznavajući pravi Božji karakter i volju, otuđeno od Njega grijehom i krivnjom. U Svetom pismu stvaranje svijeta i veličanstvo, ljepota i obilje što ga nudi priroda tumači se kao očitovanje Božje slave, mudrosti i ljubavi ispunjene brigom za Njegova stvorenja. Teologija ovo očitovanje naziva općim otkrivenjem. Međutim, sadašnje stanje ljudskoga roda i ovoga svijeta ispunjenoga grijehom, poremećajima, nedaćama i smrću postavlja ozbiljna pitanja o mogućnosti istinske spoznaje Boga putem svijeta prirode ili ljudskog iskustva. Sveto pismo smatra da mudrost i znanje koje možemo steći iz ovih izvora samo po sebi nije dovoljno da nam pruži pravo razumijevanje Božjeg karaktera ljubavi i Njegove nakane da nas izbavi od grijeha i smrti. Bog se u ovom teškom položaju odlučio osobno otkriti ljudima. Teološkim jezikom to se naziva posebnim otkrivenjem, ono je posebno zato što je otkriveno i zapisano u Svetome pismu. Potpuno svjesni različitih kritika upućenih na račun Biblije – etičkih, povijesnih, lingvističkih, znanstvenih, filozofskih i teoloških – odlučili smo usredotočiti se na tvrdnje koje su sami biblijski pisci izrekli o svojim spisima i spisima drugih, a posebno na Isusov odnos prema Svetome pismu i njegovoj uporabi. Proroci, apostoli i sam Isus prihvaćali su Sveta pisma kao pouzdanu i autoritativnu Božju riječ, danu Svetim Duhom na ljudskome jeziku. Otkrivenje i nadahnuće svakako su priznati kao božanske tajne; međutim, čak i naše ograničeno ljudsko razumijevanje ovih predmeta od presudnog je značenja za zrelu, razumnu kršćansku vjeru.That the living God has revealed Himself and continues to reveal Himself to the human family is foundational to Christian faith. The Scriptures, both OT and NT, present a record of the way God manifested Himself in human history—especially the history of Israel, and supremely in the person of Jesus Christ. Without this divine revelation, human ity would perish, ignorant of God’s true character and will and estranged from Him through sin and guilt. In Scripture the creation of the world and the majesty, beauty, and bounteous provisions of nature are perceived as manifestations of God’s glory, wisdom, and loving care for His creatures. Such manifestations are referred to in theology as general revelation. However, the present condition of humanity and this world, filled with sin, disruption, disaster, and death, raises serious questions about the pos¬sibility of a true knowledge of God through the natural world or through human experience. Scriptural evidence suggests that such wisdom and knowledge as can be gained from these sources by themselves is inadequate to give us a true understanding of God’s character of love and His intention to save us from sin and death. God has met this predicament by making Himself known to human beings on a personal level. In theological language this is called special revelation, particularly as it is revealed and recorded in the Scriptures. Fully aware of the various criticisms of the Bible—ethical, historical, linguistic, scientific, philosophical, and theological—we have chosen to focus on the claims made by the biblical writers regarding their own and each other’s writings, and especially on Jesus’ attitude toward and use of the Scriptures. The prophets, apostles, and supremely Jesus Himself accepted the Scriptures as the trustworthy and authoritative Word of God, given by the Holy Spirit in human language. Revelation and inspiration are ultimately acknowledged as divine mysteries; however, even our limited human understanding of these subjects is of crucial importance for a mature, intelligent Christian faith

Issues in Biblical Inspiration: Sanday and Warfield

This study attempts to clarify the issues involved informulating a doctrine of Biblical inspiration. It does so through a careful analysis and comparative evaluation of two contrasting concepts or models of inspiration. William Sanday and Benjamin Warfield were selected as prominent representatives of a liberal and a conservative approach to the problem. A brief introductory chapter, delineating the aims, method and limitations of the study, is followed by a survey of the history of the doctrine of Biblical inspiration from the sixteenth century onwards. This survey focuses chiefly on the English-speaking world and especially the Anglican and Presbyterian traditions to which Sanday and Warfield belonged. It is seen that the institutions where they taught, Oxford University and Princeton Theological Seminary, respectively, were centers of two opposing trends at the culmination of the debate about Biblical inspiration in the late nineteenth century. The analysis of the two models in the third and fourth chapters deals in each case with the starting-point adopted, the methodology used, and the criteria applied in formulating the respective concepts, as well as the conclusions reached concerning the mode, the extent, and the effects of Biblical inspiration. Sanday, concentrating on the Biblical phenomena, concludes that there are distinct divine and human elements in the Bible and that inspiration is a matter of degrees. Warfield, focusing on Biblical affirmations and especially on the teachings of Christ, infers that Scripture is the product of a concursus of the divine and the human and that Biblical inspiration is best qualified as plenary and verbal. To him the evidence suggests that Scripture is infallible in every aspect, whereas for Sanday infallibility can only be attributed to its spiritual purpose. The comparative evaluation in the final chapter shows that despite apparent similarities--both scholars intend to let Scripture speak for itself and both claim to use the inductive method--the two approaches diverge from the outset. In the conclusion a number of suggestions are presented stressing the need for a Biblical conceptual framework and a clearly defined methodology in order to formulate an adequate doctrine of Biblical inspiration

The authority of Scripture

Autoritet Biblije kao Riječi Božje tijekom posljednjih nekoliko desetljeća bilo je glavno pitanje u kršćanstvu, kao i u Crkvi adventista sedmog dana. Treba li Biblija biti konačni autoritet u svim pitanjima vjerovanja i načina života, ili bi se znanstvenim i sociokulturnim silama trebalo dopustiti da utječu na ono što dopuštamo da Biblija znači? Kao i u drugim kršćanskim Crkvama koje imaju visoko mišljenje o Svetom pismu, povijesni su biblijski stavovi napadnuti i u Crkvi adventista sedmog dana: neki ih potpuno odbacuju ili ih modificiraju gotovo do neprepoznatljivosti. Ovaj se članak bavi prirodom i dokazima autoriteta Boga i Biblije te posljedicama koje oni imaju na biblijsku hermeneutiku.The authority of the Bible as the Word of God has been a major issue in Chrisjtianity, as well as in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, over the last few decades. Should the Bible be the final authority on all matters of belief and of lifestyle, or should scientific and socio-cultural forces be allowed to influence what we permit the Bible to mean? As i n other Christian Churches that hold to a high view o f Scripture, historic biblical positions are under attack i n the Adventist church, either outright rejected by some or modified almost beyond recognition. This article deals with the nature of, and the evidence for, the authority of God and the Bible and with the repercussions this has on biblical hermeneutics

Seabird Migration Strategies: Flight Budgets, Diel Activity Patterns, and Lunar Influence

Every year, billions of birds undertake extensive migrations between breeding and non-breeding areas, facing challenges that require behavioural adjustments, particularly to flight timing and duration. Such adjustments in daily activity patterns and the influence of extrinsic factors (e.g., environmental conditions, moonlight) have received much more research attention in terrestrial than marine migrants. Taking advantage of the widespread deployment in recent decades of combined light-level geolocator-immersion loggers, we investigated diel organisation and influence of the moon on flight activities during the non-breeding season of 21 migrant seabird species from a wide taxonomic range (6 families, 3 orders). Migrant seabirds regularly stopped (to either feed or rest) during migration, unlike some terrestrial and wetland birds which fly non-stop. We found an overall increase for most seabird species in time in flight and, for several species, also in flight bout duration, during migration compared to when resident at the non-breeding grounds. Additionally, several nocturnal species spent more of the day in flight during migration than at non-breeding areas, and vice versa for diurnal species. Nocturnal time in flight tended to increase during full moon, both during migration and at the non-breeding grounds, depending on species. Our study provides an extensive overview of activity patterns of migrant seabirds, paving the way for further research on the underlying mechanisms and drivers.</jats:p