![Hundie Jo [Dot] Com](http://www.hundiejo.com/wp-content/plugins/ttftitles/cache2/7d6a910bbe08845c0836a517a70936d5.png){kind=small}
Henry Imler August 18th, 2008
If Jesus is the “Word,”1 and we don’t want to be sloppy with our language and steer ourselves away from confusing the Word with the Bible, then what ought we call the Bible to emphasize it’s nature as God-breathed scripture?
I don’t like using “the word of God” because it confuses the Bible and Jesus and I want to stay as far away from that as possible. Using the word “scripture” is what I end up doing, but it just does not carry the weight that I want it to carry. The closest thing that I can think of for the Bible internally referring to itself (and I recognize the problems with even typing that sentence.) is in 2 Timothy 3:16 where the author refers to writings that are inspired of God.
The author of 2 Timothy uses γραφή (gra-phay), lit - “a writing” a term that can mean anything from sacred writing, to a painting, to a legal document. The author equates these “writings” with Θεόπνευστος (theh-o-neus-tahs). This is a curious word, which only shows up in the NT and LXX here in 2 Tim 3:16 and is a combination of θεο + πνευστος, or God + spirit. Thus, Θεόπνευστος becomes “inspired by God” or “[having]2 the spirit of God.”
So, it Bible and Scripture the best terms to use for the collection of books that we Christians consider to have been inspired by God? What other options are there? What do you use?
- ‘Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. –> In [the] beginning was the Word, and the word was beside the God, and God was the Word. – John 1:1 [↩]
- since in this context there is an “is” before the word because we have two nominatives being equated. [↩]
- Christianity , language , vocab
- Comments(5)
Do you think Hebrews 4:12 is talking about the Bible? I don’t think it is. The passages before and after it are all about Jesus and scripture is not mentioned anywhere near it.
I think scripture is a good word. The literal meaning is “writing,” but it carries a religious connotation.
Danny,
I don’t see Heb 4:12 talking about the Bible at all. It is a reference to Jesus and, as you mention, there is no mention of scripture before or after but instead references to Jesus.
I think Bible and scripture are the only good terms that we can use without running into problems.
Has it been your experience that many people apply 4:12 to the Bible?
It has been my experience that just about everyone applies this to the Bible or at least the OT.
What about you?
Hank, at this post on MT, argues that it does in fact apply to the Bible or at least God’s word, or the good news as there is some warrant early on in this chapter Hebrews for it and he suggests that the author of Hebrews is not aware of Johannine λογος = Jesus theology.
Yeah, that’s been my experience, too. It’s commonly applied to the whole Bible, including the NT, which seems silly to me. Hank makes some good points. Maybe ‘message’ is the best translation of <em>logos</em> in Hebrews 4:12.
I looked up <em>logos</em> in my Greek NT glossary and the definition includes a reference to Hebrews 4:13. Apparently that clause was unusual enough to warrant a special phrase definition.