On this program, Michael Horton talks with producer Shane Rosenthal about the plans they have in store for the coming year. In particular, they’ll introduce the new year-long series that they are planning for 2019 on The Gospel of John. This new series will focus on reading this gospel in its original first century Jewish context, and will explore some of the debates about the authorship and dating of the book. More than anything, we hope this series will help you to better understand not only “what you believe” but also “why you believe it!” Read the FREE ARTICLE mentioned on this program: The Fourth Gospel: Authentic Artifact or Fake Reproduction.
SHOW QUOTE
“We always turn to John when we recommend a good place to start in the bible for a new believer but it’s also miles deep. The Evangelist weaves together themes from the Old Testament with Jesus as the fulfillment of Israel’s festivals for example. He emphasizes Jesus as the Eternal Son of the Father, sent to save his people. It’s the Gospel of John that records Jesus’ Upper Room discourse with Jesus’ important teaching on the person and work of the Holy Spirit. There is just so much packed into this gospel that it would take a few years actually to really do it justice. We’ll be exploring John’s Gospel not only in terms of its content and themes, but we’ll go behind the scenes of contemporary debates on the author and dating, on its context and interpretation throughout church history. However, I’ll be joining the journey along with you as a listener. I’m taking a sabbatical from seminary and also White Horse Inn in order to complete a major book project and focus on our new daily Core Radio program. But the White Horse Inn will be in the very capable hands of our very own Shane Rosenthal, our producer over these nearly 30 years. Truth be told, Shane preps me a lot for White Horse Inn programs. I’m always amazed by how much he knows. He studied particular issues especially historical and exegetical ones at a very deep level and has taught me a lot over the years. Shane’s done tons of work on the Gospel of John and he asked if this could be our year-long focus. After hearing his plan, we all jumped on board and I’m sure you’ll find that this is one of the best years of White Horse Inn ever.”
Michael Horton
TERM TO LEARN
“Authority of Christ in Scripture’s Authorship”
Christianity is often called a book-religion. It would be more exact to say that it is a religion which has a book. Its foundations are laid in apostles and prophets, upon which its courses are built up in the sanctified lives of men; but Christ Jesus alone is its chief cornerstone. He is its only basis; he, its only head; and he alone has authority in his Church. But he has chosen to found his Church not directly by his own hands, speaking the word of God, say for instance, in thunder-tones from heaven; but through the instrumentality of a body of apostles, chosen and trained by himself, endowed with gifts and graces from the Holy Ghost, and sent forth into the world as his authoritative agents for proclaiming a gospel which he placed within their lips and which is none the less his authoritative word, that it is through them that he speaks it. It is because the apostles were Christ’s representatives, that what they did and said and wrote as such, comes to us with divine authority. The authority of the Scriptures thus rests on the simple fact that God’s authoritative agents in founding the Church gave them as authoritative to the Church which they founded. All the authority of the apostles stands behind the Scriptures, and all the authority of Christ behind the apostles. The Scriptures are simply the law-code which the law-givers of the Church gave it.
If, then, the apostles were appointed by Christ to act for him and in his name and authority in founding the Church–and this no one can doubt; and if the apostles gave the Scriptures to the Church in prosecution of this commission–and this admits of as little doubt; the whole question of the authority of the Scriptures is determined. It will be observed that their authority does not rest exactly on apostolic authorship. The point is not that the apostles wrote these books (though most of the New Testament books were written by apostles), but that they imposed them on the Church as authoritative expositions of its divinely appointed faith and practice.
(Taken from B.B. Warfield’s “The Authority and Inspiration of the Scriptures”, from The Selected Shorter Writings of B.B. Warfield Volume 2, page 537-539)
