The Holy Scriptures
As taught in the Seventh-day Adventist tradition
Understanding the Bible as the written Word of God, given by divine inspiration and serving as the only unerring rule of faith and practice.
The question that defines the Seventh-day Adventist approach to the Holy Scriptures is one of ultimate authority and reliable communication: In a world of conflicting voices, shifting philosophies, and the inherent limitations of human reason, how can the finite mind truly know the character, will, and purposes of an infinite God? For the Adventist tradition, the answer is not found in the collective wisdom of tradition, the subjective impulses of individual experience, or the cold deductions of human logic alone. Instead, it is found in the self-revelation of God through the written Word. This subtopic serves as the epistemological foundation for the entire Adventist movement; without a high view of Scripture as the objective, infallible rule of faith and practice, the distinctive doctrines of the sanctuary, the Sabbath, and the Second Advent would lose their anchor.
By the end of this lesson
- **Identify** the dual nature of biblical inspiration, recognizing both the divine initiative and the human agency involved in the production of the Holy Scriptures.
- **Distinguish** between the "thought inspiration" model and the "mechanical dictation" model, explaining why the former is central to Adventist hermeneutics.
- **Explain** the role of the Holy Spirit in both the original writing of the Bible and its current illumination for the modern believer.
- **Articulate** the *Sola Scriptura* principle as it applies to the testing of all doctrines, spiritual gifts, and ecclesiastical traditions.
- **Trace** the historical development of the Adventist commitment to the Bible as the final authority, particularly in contrast to the rise of historical-critical methods.
- **Defend** the Bible as a reliable and objective standard of truth in an age of moral and philosophical relativism.
- **Apply** the principles of the "grammatical-historical" method of interpretation to specific biblical passages to derive sound doctrine.
- **Compare** the Adventist view of the Bible's relationship to extra-biblical revelation (such as the writings of Ellen G. White) with other Christian views on continuing revelation.
Scripture
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