************ Sermon on Belgic Confession Articles 4 & 6 ************
Doctrine: A Closed Canon
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on February 8, 1998
B.C. 4,6
Hebrews 1:1-4; Revelation 22:18-19
"Scripture is Closed"
Introduction
Paul wrote 4 letters to Corinth (1 Cor 5:9; 2 Cor 2:4; 7:8). Only two of them are in our Bible. What must the church do if Paul's two lost letters to Corinth are ever found? Must they or can they be added to the Bible? Paul also wrote a letter to the church at Laodicea (Col 4:16). That letter too is not in the Bible. What must the church do if this lost letter is ever found? Must it or can it be added to the Bible?
Article 4 lists the books of the Bible for us. In giving us this list of Bible books, is Article 4 telling us the Bible is closed? Is article 4 telling us that to this list of recognized, authoritative, God-breathed books none may be added and none may be withdrawn?
We believe in a closed Bible. By that I mean that to the Bible no books may be added. And, from the Bible no books may be withdrawn. What we have in our Bibles are the books "with which there can be no quarrel at all." Or, to put it another way, we may not and can not expect any new revelation today.
I Attempts to Add to the Bible
A The Bible is closed, says Article 4. Yet, many, many attempts have been made and are being made to open the Bible and add to it. Many sects and cults claim to have received revelation which they place alongside of or even above Scripture. The Mormons have the Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, the Doctrine of the Covenants, and other writings. In every Christian Science service the writings of Mary Baker Eddy are read and accorded the same honors as the Bible. The Seventh Day Adventists revere the writings of Ellen White. Every sect and cult which has one of these extra writings are guilty of adding to the books of the Bible.
B Article 6 speaks to us of the apocryphal books. The term "apocryphal" comes from a Greek word which means "hidden." The term was applied to writings the Jews withdrew from general circulation because they were judged to be inferior. Since the Jews hesitated to destroy any copies of even inferior religious writings, they adopted the habit of depositing them in a secret place or burying them. We know the Jews had many hidden, apocryphal, writings withdrawn from general circulation.
The Christian church used that word "apocryphal" in much the same way as did the Jews. It refers to those books which are excluded from public use in the church because they are judged to be inferior. In the days of the Reformation the word was applied only to the writings specifically mentioned in Article 6: 3 & 4 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Jesus Sirach, Baruch, the addition to Esther, the Song of the Three Children in the Furnace, the Story of Susannah, the Story of Bel and the Dragon, the Prayer of Manasseh, and 1 & 2 Maccabees. All of these are included in the Roman Catholic Bible!
How did the apocryphal books come to be included in the Roman Catholic Bible in the first place? In the days of the early Christian church, Greek was the universal language. The early church fathers quite naturally used the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, what we know as the Septuagint. The Septuagint, which was completed in 132 B.C., included the Apocryphal books. We are not sure why they were included in the Septuagint because the Jews never recognized these books as part of their Bible and did not use them in worship. So, as far as the Jews were concerned, the apocryphal books were in the Bible but were not part of the Bible. Most of the early Christians, however, could not read Hebrew and therefore had no access to the Hebrew Bible. They simply took for granted that what was included in the Septuagint was divinely inspired and therefore authoritative.
Many scholars in the ancient church were opposed to including these apocryphal writings as part of the Bible. But in its practice the church refused to follow the teachings of its scholars. The Septuagint had been used so long in the churches, that the common people were accustomed to readings from the apocrypha and insisted on their inclusion in the Bible.
The apocryphal books listed by article 6 are not the only apocryphal books. With archaeological discoveries like that of the Dead Sea scrolls, we now know there are hundreds of apocryphal books. In my office I have a translation of 63 of them. We have to say that those who consider any of the apocryphal books to be part of the holy and divine Scriptures are guilty of adding to the Bible.
C Last week I mentioned the heresy of Montanism — a heresy which claimed new revelation from the Spirit over and above that given by Scripture. This heresy still exists today. All of you, I am sure, know that Oral Roberts claims to talk with God. "God has told me," he said one day, "that He is going to call me from this life if I don't raise 6 million dollars." Oral Roberts, is guilty, I am afraid, of adding to what God has revealed in the Bible. I was flipping through TV channels the other day. I came across a preacher on one of the channels. "God told me ...," he said. The second I heard that I stopped listening and continued flipping. Or, like me, you might have heard of people who claim that God speaks to them in a dream or vision. These people too are guilty of adding to what God has revealed to us in the Bible.
We can't pat ourselves on the back and say it is only the non-Reformed who are guilty of Montanism. A couple of years ago I read a paper written by a Christian Reformed theologian. This person argued we have authoritative revelation today that leads us beyond the teachings of Scripture. What we have to do, he said, is listen to and follow the leading of the Spirit in our hearts and minds.
D Within the Christian Reformed Church today there is also the emergence of an extra-biblical theology. This theology says that the church can go beyond the text of Scripture and regulate its life by what it thinks is the "overall sweep" of Scripture. Even though specific Bible texts may seem to forbid something, the overall sweep of Scripture allows us to go beyond the text of Scripture to determine the church's worship and government (cf the Headship Report, Synod 1990). This kind of theology was used with the women in church office issue. Do you know what this kind of Biblical interpretation is? It is but a sophisticated version of Montanism in which Scripture is used to give us revelation that goes beyond Scripture.
II A Closed Bible
A From the beginning of its history the church has always championed a closed and complete Bible. To the list of recognized, authoritative, God-breathed books none may be added. From it none may be withdrawn. We can not and may not expect any new revelation today which goes over and beyond what the Bible says.
Take the matter of the apocryphal books. The Belgic Confession takes the position that these apocryphal books, however religious they may be, are not part of the Bible. Accordingly, the church may read the apocryphal books, but she must read the Biblical books. The church may take instruction from the apocryphal books; she must take instruction from the sacred ones. The church may use the apocryphal books, but only "as far as they agree with the canonical books." The Bible books alone are our standard of faith; all other books have no authority in matters of faith.
Even the Roman Catholic Church agrees with us that the Bible is closed. They maintain with us that to the Bible no books may be added and from it no books may be taken.
B In speaking of a closed Bible and no new revelation it needs to be understood we are speaking about a certain time: the time between the last of the apostles and the return of Christ. You see, we can't speak of a closed Bible and a lack of new revelation as a permanent state. For, we know that the second coming of Christ will reveal many new things about which the Bible is silent.
In speaking of a closed Bible and no new revelation it also needs to be understood we are not denying the work of the Spirit in other spheres. We must distinguish new revelation from such activities as the inner testimony of the Spirit, the illumination of the Spirit as we approach Scripture, the Spirit's regeneration of the sinner, the Spirit's work in sanctification, and the guidance of the Spirit through prayer. A denial of new revelation also does not mean that we deny God's directing of history and persons in and through providence.
In speaking of a closed Bible and no new revelation it also needs to be understood this does not mean that we don't have revelation today. For we do: the Word of God. It isn't that we are without revelation today; rather, it is that we are without new revelation.
C The Bible is closed. There is no new revelation today. That's the message of Scripture in Revelation 22:
(Rev 22:18-19) I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. (19) And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
Revelation warns us against two errors. The first is the error of many liberals who have a cut and paste Bible. There are many things that liberals cannot or will not believe: the creation account of Genesis, the miracles and resurrection of Christ, the parting of the Red Sea, the destruction of Jericho's walls, the judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and anything else that has even a hint of the miraculous. So liberals cut all of this out of their Bibles. Unless they repent, the judgment described in the book of Revelation awaits these liberals because they take away from the Bible.
The other error is that of those who just love to add to Scripture. Consider the scribe who thought the Bible was not clear enough on the doctrine of the Trinity so he added to 1 John 5:7 the following proof text:
For there are three who testify in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.
We can't say that this text is unbiblical, yet it is clearly an addition to the Bible. Or, consider the scribe who added to John's Gospel the story of the woman caught in adultery (7:53-8:11). Remember how everyone, stone in hand, was lusting for blood. And Jesus said, "Whoever is without sin, let him throw the first stone." Then one by one everyone left and Jesus was left alone with the woman. He forgave her with the command to sin no more. This is a beautiful story, and it sounds like something that Jesus would have said and done, yet it is not part of the Bible. I think also of those today who take the Genesis account and force it to say the age of the earth. When we do this, do you know what we are doing? We are taking our interpretation of the Bible and trying to add and impose it upon the Bible.
D The Bible is closed. There is no new revelation today. That's also the message of Scripture in the opening verses of Hebrews:
(Heb 1:1-2) In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, (2) but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son ...
Hebrews tells us that in times past God spoke through the prophets. The word "prophets" is used in the widest possible sense, so that Moses as well as David and Isaiah are included. But in these last days God spoke to us in His Son!
We are living in the last days. The "last days" is a Biblical expression referring to the time between Christ's two comings. During the last days God has spoken by the Son. The Letter to the Hebrews explains that what God has said to us in Christ is indeed His last Word. Every chapter emphasizes this central fact.
God's message in Christ is His last Word because it is His deepest Word. It is not just the truth; it is all of the truth. In Christ God has told us "all His heart." Nothing remains hidden. He has said it all.
Some people suspect that there might be dark and hidden facts about God, things you never know, things which may fill us with fear. But that is not true. In Christ, God has told us all that we need to know for His glory and our salvation.
God's message in Christ is His last Word because it is also His final Word. It is His last will and testament. We should not expect any further revelation.
There are always some who look for a new revelation that is more exciting than what we already have. I've already mentioned the many attempts to add to the Bible. We can't let such claims deceive us. We must realize that what God has said and done in Christ is His last Word for the last days.
E When I took science courses in High School and College I learned about laws and theories. You don't hear such talk in science courses today. Rather, you learn about models. What's the difference?
Laws and theories are absolute statements, fixed and unchangeable assertions of the truth. Scientists asserted laws and theories because they genuinely believed they had at their disposal all the relevant data. They thought they were studying a complete and closed system of truth. However, as scientific advancements multiplied and as scientific tools became more sophisticated, scientific laws and theories began to explode. Scientists began to realize that they hadn't considered all the data, that a system was very much open rather than closed.
So the age of scientific models has come. A model takes the place of a law. A model is an open system of truth that can be and is modified as new data and knowledge becomes available. Truth is still obtainable, but it is never proclaimed to be the final word anymore because something new might be discovered which changes the model.
What happens when this approach to truth is applied to the Bible? The result is simply devastating. If we have an open system of truth then we can no longer declare anything as being the final word. If we say there is other or new revelation, then there is neither moral nor theological absolutes. Consider what this means:
-is adultery or pre-marital sex wrong? Right now it seems it is, however we might get a revelation that tell us it is not wrong.
-is God really triune? That is our conclusion now, however a new revelation might lead us to conclude that God really exists in 4 rather than 3 persons.
-how are we saved? Our present conclusion is by grace through faith. Future revelation may teach us that all paths lead to God.
-right now we believe in the future resurrection of our bodies. Other revelation may lead us to conclude that the Hindus are correct and are goal in life is to be reincarnated as a cow.
Do you see what happens if we believe in an open system of truth?
The Bible is closed. There is no new revelation today. Therefore the scientific "model" approach cannot be used with the Bible. There should be no confusion in this area. The orthodox teaching of Christianity has always affirmed that God's special, saving revelation to mankind is restricted to the teachings of Scripture. I just love what the Westminster Confession of Faith says:
The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, is ... expressly set down in ... Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. (I, VI)
Conclusion
If the Bible is complete, then it represents a closed system of truth. If it is a closed system of truth, then the teachings of the Bible may be asserted as the final and authoritative word. But if God is still granting new or other revelation, then the truth of God is still being progressively revealed, and our understanding of the truth is not yet complete.