Four
Favorites on the Doctrine of Scripture
[1]
by John Frame
1. B. B. Warfield, The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible
(new edition: Kessinger Publishing, 2008). Virtually the same as Revelation and Inspiration (Baker,
2000).
These essays are the most influential in forming the evangelical
and Reformed view of Scripture in the twentieth century. They are around 100
years old, but the exegetical arguments still hold up. The book is a formidable
work of godly scholarship. It is the starting point for most current discussions
of biblical authority and inerrancy. Warfield’s view was not original, though
some have claimed that it was. His was the traditional position of orthodox
Christianity. But he was creative in his powerful defense of that position.
2. Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, volume one of four,
on “Prolegomena.” English translation (Baker, 2003).
Bavinck’s theology is the most important work of Reformed
systematic theology in the past century. The section on Scripture is
marvelously comprehensive and nuanced. In my judgment, there is no difference
between his position and that of Warfield, but his vocabulary and emphasis are
different. He and Warfield give us “two witnesses,” coming from different
cultures, testifying to the truth of Scripture as God’s word.
3. Meredith G. Kline, The Structure of Biblical Authority
(Eerdmans, 1972).
This is the most important breakthrough in the doctrine of
Scripture since Warfield. Shows that Scripture has the character of a written
treaty, of which God is the author, and to which believers must be committed
without reservation. I have disagreed with Kline on some other matters, but I
believe this book contains a powerful argument. Kline shows that the idea of a
written, authoritative word of God is essential to God’s plan of redemption.
4. Ned Stonehouse and Paul
Woolley, eds., The Infallible Word (P&R,
2003).
These are cogent articles by the old (around 1946) Westminster
Seminary faculty, dealing with various aspects of biblical authority. I keep
coming back especially to John Murray’s “The Attestation of Scripture” and
Cornelius Van Til’s “Nature and Scripture.”