Collected Writings on Scripture
Overview
God’s Word has always had enemies, but in recent years the inspiration and authority of Scripture have been attacked with renewed vigor. Respected scholar D.A. Carson has written widely on the nature of Scripture over the past thirty years, and here presents a timely collection of his work in two parts.
In part 1, Carson selects essays written on such themes as how to interpret the Bible, recent developments in the doctrine of Scripture, unity and diversity in the New Testament, and redaction criticism. Presenting a theologically balanced and confessional perspective, Carson defines the terms of a number of debates, critiques interpretive methods and theories, and suggests positive guidelines for future action.
Part 2 presents critical reviews of nine books dealing with the inspiration and authority of Scripture. Though substantial in content, Carson’s detailed reviews will foster careful thought and perspective in those who are relatively new to the debates surrounding biblical inspiration and authority.
This volume is a diverse collection that will prove to be a helpful resource to both seasoned pastors and scholars and those who are just starting serious study of the Bible.
Top Highlights
“The point to emphasize is that a genuinely Christian understanding of the Bible presupposes the God of the Bible, a God who makes himself known in a wide diversity of ways so that human beings may know the purpose for which they were made—to know and love and worship God, and so delight in that relationship that God is glorified while they receive the matchless benefit of becoming all that God wants them to be. Any genuine knowledge human beings have of God depends on God’s first disclosing himself.” (Page 21)
“First, hermeneutics was once understood to be the science and art of biblical interpretation: science, because there were some important rules and principles that could be applied to the task, and art, because there were many calls for mature judgment borne of experience and competence.” (Page 37)
“Inspiration is normally defined (at least in Protestant circles) as that supernatural work of God’s Holy Spirit upon the human authors of Scripture such that what they wrote was precisely what God intended them to write in order to communicate his truth.” (Page 31)
“First, it ‘needs to be strictly subordinate to and dependent upon the broader concept of revelation’ (p. 31);” (Page 242)
“If Jesus Christ never lived, Christianity is destroyed; if he never died on the cross, Christianity is destroyed; if he never rose from the dead, Christianity is destroyed. However much the ultimate object of Christian faith is God, that faith is incoherent if it affirms faith in the God of the Bible but not in the God who according to the Bible discloses himself in history that is largely accessible and testable.” (Pages 24–25)
This book is a road map of pathways to pursue and pitfalls to avoid in handling Scripture. D.A. Carson would be the first to agree that God himself upholds his written word, the Bible. But God uses means. In recent decades, Carson’s voice has been among the most forthright, consistent, rigorous, faithful, and compelling in serving the vital divine end of testifying to Scripture’s veracity. This book guides readers to the priceless destination of confidence in God’s Word through refutation of its critics and commendation of its truth.
—Robert W. Yarbrough, professor of New Testament, Covenant Theological Seminary
D.A. Carson is one of the most prolific and profound biblical scholars of our generation. Perhaps it is not far-fetched to predict that his Collected Writings on Scripture will become a classic as an evangelical defense of Holy Scripture’s authority. Carson courteously but persuasively reveals the weaknesses of arguments designed by critics to discredit or render obsolete the historic teaching of the Western Christian churches, namely, biblical inerrancy. This book is a masterful, must read for those persons who want to understand better the nature of Scripture’s authority. The volume may very well take its place as a benchmark study, side by side with Inspiration (1881), the influential essay penned by A. A. Hodge and B. B. Warfield.
—John D. Woodbridge, research professor, church history and History of Christian thought, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
D.A. Carson is for this generation what B. B. Warfield was for his—the scholarly stalwart for the doctrine of Scripture, possessed of prodigious skills both as an interpreter of Scripture and as a biblical and systematic theologian, critically engaging the most significant arguments of the day and upholding the historic position of the Christian church and the Bible’s own self-attestation. Everything that comes from his pen is worthy of careful attention. Given the current state of the doctrine of Scripture (in theory and practice) in evangelical academia, this is an important and timely volume. Seminarians and pastors alike need to be abreast of present trends in this vital subject. The classic essays and critical reviews in this book offer a bird’s-eye view of the past thirty years of the discussion, as well as world-class scholarship and discernment in articulating rejoinders to sub-biblical theories while positively presenting a faithful view of the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures and their entailments.
—J. Ligon Duncan, chancellor and CEO, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi
- Title: Collected Writings on Scripture
- Authors: D. A. Carson, Andrew David Naselli
- Publisher: Crossway
- Print Publication Date: 2010
- Logos Release Date: 2011
- Pages: 336
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subject: Bible › Criticism, interpretation, etc
- Resource ID: LLS:DCA06CBC1E7B76F8FF58217B8F922014
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-03-23T21:28:36Z
D.A. Carson is a premier New Testament scholar and research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where he has taught since 1978. He is president of the Gospel Coalition, and has written or edited nearly 60 books including Exegetical Fallacies, Second Edition, Showing the Spirit: A Theological Exposition of 1 Corinthians 12–14, and How Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil, and The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism.