The Doctrine of the Scripture (Bibliology) | Hosea 4:6 | Message 2
The Bible has always been under attack—and it has always survived. In A.D. 303, the Roman emperor Diocletian ordered every copy of Scripture in the empire to be burned. When the flames died, he erected a monument over the ashes reading, “Extinct is the name of Christian.”¹ But within twenty-five years, Constantine ascended to the throne, professed faith in Christ, and commanded that copies of the Scriptures be reproduced at imperial expense. The Holy Scriptures that Rome tried to eliminate became the book that Rome, in A.D. 331, paid to have copied and distributed by the Emperor Constantine, reversing Diocletian’s decree. The Bible is indestructible (Matthew 24:35).
That indestructibility is written in blood. John Wycliffe—who dared to translate the Bible into English—was branded “a pestilent wretch,” “the organ of the devil,” and “the forerunner of Antichrist.”² His “crime” was giving ordinary people access to God’s Word. Forty-four years after his death, his bones were exhumed and burned in hatred for the influence of Scripture. William Tyndale printed the first English New Testament in 1525 and was executed in 1536 for distributing it to the people.³
The 19th-century American reformer and newspaper editor Horace Greeley, founder of The New-York Tribune, once said, “It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom.”⁴ So why, in a nation filled with Bibles, are we still biblically illiterate?
Doctrine Is Not Optional
The New Testament constantly stresses doctrine. After Jesus taught, “the people were astonished at His doctrine” (Matthew 7:28; 22:33). He declared, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me” (John 7:16). Even His enemies questioned Him about “His doctrine” (John 18:19). Jesus did not merely inspire feelings—He taught absolute truth. The early church grasped this. Acts 2:42 records that believers “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Doctrine came first. They did not sit in circles asking, “What does this verse mean to you?” They submitted to the authoritative teaching of the apostles. When churches trade truth for opinions, heresy soon follows. Acts 5:28 shows how central doctrine was to the apostles: “You have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine.”
Seven Essential Truths About the Bible
To overcome biblical illiteracy, believers must know what Scripture is. The doctrine of the Bible—called Bibliology—rests on seven pillars.
Revelation: God has spoken. “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1–2).
Inspiration: God’s Spirit moved human authors to record His revelation. “Prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).
Illumination: The Holy Spirit opens Scripture to believers. “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Canonicity: The early church recognized—not invented—which books carried divine authority. The word “canon” is of Christian origin and means “measuring rod.” “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him” (Proverbs 30:5).
Authority: The Bible alone (sola Scriptura) is the final rule for faith and practice.
Preservation: God has kept His Word intact. Jesus promised, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35). More than 5,000 ancient Greek manuscripts confirm its miraculous preservation.
Interpretation: Scripture must be rightly understood and handled, “correctly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Misusing verses to support human ideas is the seedbed of false teaching.
Evidence for the Bible’s Reliability
Prophetic Accuracy: Roughly 27 percent of the Bible is predictive. Every prophecy has either been fulfilled or awaits fulfillment. Peter Stoner calculated that the probability of one person fulfilling just eight Messianic prophecies by chance is one in 10¹⁷.⁵ Jesus fulfilled hundreds, from His virgin birth to His resurrection.⁵
Historical Accuracy: Sir William Ramsay, a Cambridge archaeologist, once tried to disprove the book of Acts. After years of research, he confessed, “Luke’s history is unsurpassed in its trustworthiness… you may press the words of Luke in a degree beyond any other historian.”⁶
Archaeological Confirmation: Excavations have repeatedly supported Scripture’s historical claims. Archaeologist William F. Albright concluded, “Nothing has been discovered which can disprove a single theological doctrine; the Bible can stand for itself.”⁷ From the walls of Jericho to discoveries near the Dead Sea suggesting the ruins of Sodom, archaeology continues to affirm the Word.
Scientific Insight: Although not a science textbook, the Bible anticipates scientific discovery. It reveals that the earth is round (Isaiah 40:22) and suspended in space (Job 26:7). It describes the innumerable stars (Genesis 15:5), ocean currents and hydrologic cycles (Ecclesiastes 1:6–7), and principles of health and sanitation centuries ahead of medicine.⁸
Unity of Composition: Over 1,500 years, more than 40 authors wrote in different languages and cultures—yet the Bible tells one consistent story: creation, fall, redemption, and restoration through Christ.
Universal Influence: The Bible shaped Western civilization. It inspired education, human rights, and democracy. The first textbook in America’s public schools was the Bible. Abraham Lincoln’s phrase “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” echoed John Wycliffe’s New Testament introduction.⁹
Transforming Power: Scripture changes lives. The regenerative power of God’s Word in the conversion of innumerable people is indicated by divine inspiration (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Christ’s Endorsement: Jesus affirmed Scripture as authoritative, resisting Satan’s temptation by quoting “It is written” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10; cf. Deuteronomy 8:3). The sinless Son of God validated the Old Testament.
Unique Message: Only the Bible declares that God loves humanity personally: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
A Call to Return to the Word
Biblical illiteracy is not a minor weakness—it is a spiritual crisis. Churches that neglect doctrine drift into deception. Christians who ignore Scripture grow spiritually anemic. Lewis Sperry Chafer, founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, warned: “Doctrine is the bone structure of revealed truth; the neglect of it must result in a message characterized by uncertainties, inaccuracies, and immaturity.”¹⁰ The stronger the doctrine, the stronger the believer. It is time to return to the Word—to read it, memorize it, live it, and let it renew our minds. Only then will God’s people cease to be biblically illiterate and once again become Christian Strong.
Footnotes
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 8.2, recounts Diocletian’s destruction of Scriptures in A.D. 303.
“Condemnation of Wycliffe,” cited in John Foxe, Acts and Monuments (London, 1563).
David Daniell, William Tyndale: A Biography (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994), 379–381.
Horace Greeley, quoted in The American Educator, vol. 3 (Philadelphia: National Publishing Company, 1897), 179; also cited in John Bartlett, Familiar Quotations, 16th ed. (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1992), 324.
Peter W. Stoner and Robert C. Newman, Science Speaks (Chicago: Moody Press, 1958), 106–109.
Sir William M. Ramsay, The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1915), 81.
William F. Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of Israel (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1942), 176.
S. I. McMillen, M.D., None of These Diseases (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1963), 21–23.
John Wycliffe, The Wycliffe New Testament (1382), Prologue; echoed by Abraham Lincoln, “Gettysburg Address,” 1863.
Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. 1 (Dallas: Dallas Seminary Press, 1947), vii–viii.
