Quote Source – Jeff Hilles
A Biblical Christian worldview perspective – The quote below comes from a theologian who was attempting to equate extra-Biblical writings and the Bible.
“The early church fathers, in their writings, referred to material that we either don’t have any more or that didn’t make it into the canon as Scriptures. The book of James 4:5 copies a phrase from the book of Eldad and Medad, which is echoed in 1 and 2 Clement. James 4:5 actually quotes directly from this book, “Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us” referring to it as Scripture with 1 and 2 Clement as well as the Shepherd of Hermas providing us the source and the quote, and attributing to ‘The Scriptures of the Prophets’.”
My Response
Just because the Bible includes a small number of quotes from other documents does not make those writing in total, divinely inspired.
One either believes what we hold today was divinely written and canonized by God, or they don’t. If we accept the source of the Bible is from God, then other writings that fall OUTSIDE of the closed canon are not inspired. This is true even if small portions are divinely inspired because they are quoted or paraphrased within Scripture. If we believe the Bible was written by man and the books that were to be included was decided by man, then there is open season on whatever one wishes to believe and include in their unique version of the Scripture. That includes the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ version) or the Thomas Jefferson Bible (details here). We can throw 1 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Eldad, Medad, Clement, the gospels of Thomas, Barnabas, Phillip, and the Apocalypse of Peter into the mix as well.
If God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, He would not allow His instruction manual for life on earth and the hereafter to be slapped together by sinful mankind. What is contained in the Bible is inerrant and divinely inspired. What falls ouside of Scripture is an attempt to understand God through the sin nature of man.
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
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