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Keep it simple.
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Context is the ultimate authority for all biblical interpretation.
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Interpret the Bible before you apply it!
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Know the "Mind of God / Mind of Man" Chain
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From the Mind of God...
Inspiration -- Transmission -- Interpretation -- Application
...to the Mind of Man
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DEFINITIONS OF KEY WORDS
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Inspiration
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Superintendence of the Holy Spirit to insure that the original Scriptures were
inerrent and infallible intentions of God. The writers of the Bible were not
inerrent or infallible, but the original documents were.
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Transmission
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The accurate propagation of the Scriptures to successive generations and
foreign cultures. The propagation inself was and is not inerrent or infallible,
but most literary scholars agree that the New Testament is the most well
attested document on the face of the earth.
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Interpretation
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The discovery of biblical truth through normal, logical, and literary methods
guided by the Holy Spirit and the individual desire to seek and obey its
Author.
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Application
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The practical significance of biblical truth which spans culture, time and
person.
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OBSERVATIONS AND NOTES
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Original Scriptures
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Only the original Scriptures were inerrent and infallible. All else is
subject to the corruption of depraved man and the evil intents of Satan.
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Inerrency and Infallibility
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Inerrency addresses the issue of consistency; infallibility concerns itself
with the capabilities of the Word to adequately convey God's thoughts.
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Consistency and Adequacy
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If we combine inerrency and infallible together, we conclude that the
original Scriptures were completely consistent with themselves (66 books, 1500
year span of time, over 150 contributing authors, numerous cultures) and they
adequately convey God's will for man (there was no possible interjection of the
writer's will).
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Manner of Inspiration
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"Men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."
(2Pet 1:21)
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