What We Mean When We Say It’s True

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By Timothy George on October 8, 2009 ,

What We Mean When We Say It's True

Evangelicals are gospel people and Bible people. Indeed, as their critics might put it, they are hot gospelers and Bible thumpers. The gospel they proclaim is news so good they feel compelled to share it: it is the message of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. And what they declare about Jesus Christ —the gospel—they learn from what God has told the world about himself, using human language, in a collection of ancient documents providentially preserved and revered by Chris­tians everywhere as the Holy Scriptures. As evangelicals cele­brate God’s love in redemption, so they celebrate God’s wis­dom in providing a sure source of knowledge about it. The authenticity of the gospel is established by the authority of the Bible.

Evangelicals agree with Martin Luther and John Calvin that the Bible is the standard by which all other religious authorities must be judged. They also believe with John Wesley that the Scriptures are “a most solid and precious system of divine truth, wherein is no defect, no excess. It is the fountain of heavenly wisdom.” In the two centuries since Wesley’s death, evangelical theologians have defended the truth-telling character of biblical revelation against both accommodationist theologies and destructively critical methodologies of various types. Carl F. H. Henry’s God, Revelation and Authority (1976-83) remains unsurpassed as a theological epistemology and epitome of the evangelical case against these skeptical trends . . .

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Timothy George

Professor

Timothy George, is the founding dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford University and serves as Research Professor of Divinity. He teaches church history, historical theology, and theology of the Reformers. He earned his Th.D. and M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School. On May 5, 2020 he was named distinguished professor by the Samford University Board of Trustees. He has served as senior theological advisor for Christianity Today. A prolific author, he has written more than 20 books and regularly contributes to scholarly journals. His textbook, Theology of the Reformers, is the standard textbook in many schools and seminaries on reformation theology. An ordained minister, Dr. George has pastored churches in Tennessee, Alabama, and Massachusetts.

 

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