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Chapter 1
Of the Holy Scriptures
| Paras | |
| 1 | I. Its necessity (or indispensability) |
| A. The sphere of its indispensability: “all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience” | |
| B. The basis for its indispensability | |
| 1. Because of the insufficiency of general revelation | |
| What general revelation does do | |
| What general revelation cannot do | |
| 2. Because of the inscripturation of special revelation | |
| The background to inscripturation: redemptive revelation | |
| The description of inscripturation (a) Its period; (b) its purposes; (c) its extent | |
| The impact of inscripturation | |
| 2-3 | II. Its identity |
| 2 | A. Defined positively or inclusively — “all the books of the Old and New Testament” |
| 3 | B. Defined negatively or exclusively — not the Apocrypha |
| 4-5 | III. Its authority |
| 4 | A. In itself (or the fact of its divine authority) |
| 5 | B. With us (or the authentication of its divine authority) |
| 1. The nature of the evidence | |
| The external evidence of the testimony of the church | |
| The internal evidence of the excellencies of Scripture | |
| 2. The efficacy of the evidence (“from the inward work of the Holy Spirit. . .”) | |
| 6 | IV. Its sufficiency |
| A. The statement of its sufficiency | |
| 1. The scope of its sufficiency | |
| 2. The mode of its sufficiency | |
| 3. The implications of its sufficiency | |
| B. The qualifications of its sufficiency | |
| 1. As to the illumination of the Spirit | |
| 2. As to sanctified common sense | |
| 7 | V. Its clarity |
| A. Its qualification | |
| B. Its articulation | |
| 8 | VI. Its availability |
| A. The fact of its availability: its preservation | |
| B. The necessity of its availability: its translation | |
| 1. The need for its translation | |
| 2. The warrant for its translation | |
| 3. The extent of its translation | |
| 4. Th purposes of its translation | |
| 9-10 | VII. Its finality |
| 9 | A. For scriptural interpretation in particular |
| 10 | B. For religious questions in general |
From: Samuel E. Waldron, A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, (Evangelical Press, 1989), p. 28-29. Used by permission.
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