Copyright © 2012 Matthew Scott Wireman All Rights Reserved. the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Has Permission to Reprodu
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Copyright © 2012 Matthew Scott Wireman All rights reserved. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has permission to reproduce and disseminate this document in any form by any means for purposes chosen by the Seminary, including, without limitation, preservation or instruction. THE SELF-ATTESTATION OF SCRIPTURE AS THE PROPER GROUND FOR SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY ___________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary ___________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy ___________ by Matthew Scott Wireman December 2012 APPROVAL SHEET THE SELF-ATTESTATION OF SCRIPTURE AS THE PROPER GROUND FOR SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY Matthew Scott Wireman Read and Approved by: __________________________________________ Stephen J. Wellum (Chair) __________________________________________ Michael A. G. Haykin __________________________________________ Chad Owen Brand Date ______________________________ To Ashley, Like a lily among thorns, so is my Beloved among the maidens. Song of Songs 2:2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE . x Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION . 1 Thesis . 2 The Historical Context for the Doctrine . 5 The Current Evangelical Milieu . 15 Methodology . 18 2. A SELECTIVE AND HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF SCRIPTURE’S SELF-WITNESS . 31 Patristic Period . 32 Reformation . 59 Post-Reformation and the Protestant Scholastics . 74 Modern . 82 Conclusion . 95 3. A SUMMARY AND EVALUATION OF THE POST-FOUNDATIONAL THEOLOGICAL METHOD OF STANLEY J. GRENZ AND JOHN R. FRANKE . 97 Introduction . 97 iv Denying Foundationalism and the Theological Method’s Task . 98 The Spirit’s Scripture . 116 Pannenbergian Coherentism and Eschatological Expectation . 123 Situatedness . 128 Communal Key . 131 Conclusion . 141 4. THE OLD TESTAMENT PARADIGM OF YHWH’S WORD AND HIS PEOPLE . 144 Sui Generis: “God as Standard in His World” . 145 God’s Perfect and Comprehensive Knowledge Communicated to His Covenant People . 156 The Spirit in the World . .. 160 As YHWH Commanded and Men Wrote: The God-Scripture Relationship . 164 God’s Earthly Presence Through His Prophet . 181 The Word of YHWH, Jeremiah, and Authority in the Old Testament . 190 Canonical Considerations . 205 Conclusion . 212 5. NEW TESTAMENT PROTOCOL FOR AUTHORITY AND INSCRIPTURATION . 215 Jesus as Revealer . 218 Jesus’ Authority . .. 223 Jesus: The Prophet to Come and His Word . 236 v New Testament Witness to the Old Testament . 250 Canonical Consciousness of the New Testament . 253 Divine Foundation of the Apostolic Appointment . 255 Communicating the Divine Acts and Its Interpretation . 258 Apostolic Office . 268 Pavsa grafh\ qeo¿pneustoß kai« wjfe¿limoß . 276 Conclusion . 281 6. SELF-ATTESTATION, SPEECH-ACT THEORY, AND THE ECONOMIC TRINITY . 283 God’s Aseity . 284 God’s Triune Communicative Action . 287 God’s Agents . 293 Scripture’s Authority . 295 Scripture’s Self-Witness as Theology’s Ground . 299 7. DEFINITION AND APPLICATION OF AUTOPISTIA . 308 Definition of Scripture’s Self-Attestation . 309 Application of the Doctrine to Tradition and Culture . 313 Post-Conservatives, Tradition, and Theological Method . 316 The Community and Its Canon . 329 Reorienting (Reformed) Epistemology . 335 Application of the Doctrine to Theological Method . 349 Application of the Doctrine to Apologetics . 360 Conclusion . 367 vi BIBLIOGRAPHY . 370 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ANE Ancient Near East ANET Ancient Near Eastern Texts, ed. J. B. Pritchard. Princeton, NJ: Princeton, 1950. ANF1 The Ante-Nicene Fathers.1st Series. Translated and ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2004. CD Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics 1.1: The Doctrine of the Word of God, G. W. Bromiley, trans., (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2010) EvQ Evangelical Quarterly HTR Harvard Theological Review Int Interpretation JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JEH Journal of Ecclesiastical History JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament LS Louvain Studies NPNF2 The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. 2nd Series. Translated and ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2012. NT New Testament OT Old Testament viii Pesik. Rab Kah. Pesikta de-Rab Kahana. Pesikta De-Rab Kahana: R. Kahana's Compilation of Disourses for Sabbaths and Festal Days. Translated by William G. Braude and Israel J. Kapstein. Philadelphia: Jewish, 2002. PG Jacque-Paul Migne, Index alphabeticus omnium doctorum, patrum, scriptorumque ecclesiasticorum quorum opera scriptaque vel minima in Patrologia Latina reperiuntur. Ridgewood, NJ: Gregg, 1965. PRRD Richard Mueller, Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics. 4 vols. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003. RE Reformed Epistemology SJT Scottish Journal of Theology JES Journal of Ecumenical Studies VC Vigilae Christianae WCF Westminster Confession of Faith WorksStAug1 The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century. Hyde Park, NY: New City, 2002. WTJ Westminster Journal of Theology ix PREFACE The first place to attack the Christian faith is at the foundation of Scripture— both for the skeptic and for the believer. God has chosen to reveal himself to us by way of a Book, a Book that is also a sword. I have had countless discussions with people who struggle with the Christian faith in our present milieu due to a lack of confidence in Scripture’s testimony. When I have doubt, it more often than not resides in my doubting God’s promises as revealed in Scripture. If I cannot trust God’s words to me, then I am left hopeless and lost. I have no interpretation for the world around me. I have no direction and basis for morality. My love for Scripture began from childhood when we sang, “Jesus loves me, this I know; for the Bible tells me so.” The ground for my knowing that Jesus loved me was the Bible telling me so. God has graciously told us that he is merciful and slow to anger. We would not know this, even though the heavens declare the glory of God. We would know his immensity, but not his intimacy, save for him graciously revealing himself. In light of this, I can think of no other doctrine to which I could dedicate myself for the work of being called a doctor. God has been abundantly kind to cause me to persevere and produce this dissertation. It is a privilege to be able to submit this dissertation to the faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I am forever indebted to the investment made in my life both in theological training and practice. As the old adage goes, I have never had an original thought in my life; I hope to merely repeat the refrain of the Gospel that has x been parsed out from my teachers until I die. I hope to rehearse the beauty of that Gospel from the men I have learned it from at the seminary. This work would not have been possible without the labors of others who served the church and me by offering their time and talent in this work. Any discrepancies in this work, however, are wholly mine. Micah McCormick read rough drafts of each of the chapters and offered invaluable insight and critique for how to organize and strengthen this work. Toby Jennings was a constant encouragement and helped in thinking through style guide issues. Sarah Lewis tirelessly worked on each chapter to make sure that it cohered with Southern’s Style Manual—work worthy of a doctorate itself! Marsha Omanson tirelessly worked on several drafts of this dissertation, ensuring with her ever-capable eye, to make sure it followed the proper formatting required by The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. CrossPoint Church in Clemson, SC graciously blessed me with a financial gift for a semester so that I would feel less strain while studying full time and working full time. I pray that your labors as a church continue to train an ever-new generation of mature disciples. Sovereign Grace Ministries has been overflowing in encouragement and assistance toward my family and me so that this dissertation might be finished. I pray that God continues to bless this ministry, of which I am now a part. John Franke took the time both to read a very rough draft of my chapter treating his and Stanley Grenz’ post-foundationalism and to talked with me on the phone regarding his views of Scripture, culture, and tradition. Dr. Franke, I admire your charity and willingness to help someone that not only disagrees with you but critiques your view. xi That, truly, is an example of Christian love. Nicholas Wolterstorff graciously read the final three chapters of this dissertation to ensure that I understood his position well—a position from which I hoped to build. For no benefit of his own, but for the sheer dedication to scholarship in the church, he offered helpful insight into Reformed Epistemology. I count it the highest honor to have been able to know and learn from Stephen Wellum, as well as grow in my personal Christian discipleship by observing him. I have told many people that Steve’s hermeneutics class changed my life; and it became the impetus for this dissertation. I have also told many people that I pursued my doctorate at Southern because of Steve. I remember walking with him to his car one day talking about academia and pastoral ministry. He turned to me and said, “I don’t need the world to know my name. I just want to be a faithful husband and father.” I can attest that he is both, in addition to being a first-rate theologian. By God’s grace many people may not know your name, Steve, but your influence will extend to innumerable people as pastors and theologians have learned from you and will teach their families and congregations what you have imparted to them. Thank you for showing me what it means to forebear and serve in the midst of adversity. Thank you for showing me what it means to be faithful.