The means God uses to bring about this personal relationship with him are primarily his prophets and apostles, their inspired writings and deeds and, finally and completely, his Son. Secondary means of special revelation from God would include dreams and visions (Gen. 31:24; Acts 9:10); divinely wrought events in history (Ex. 10:19; Acts 3:6,7); God's people ministering to others by their divinely enabled giftedness (Rom. 1:11; 1 Cor. 14:12); and theophanies, or special appearances of God (Jud. 13:22; Lk. 3:22). Furthermore, God makes himself known to the unbelieving world through believers' testimony to his saving grace (Is. 49:6; 2 Cor. 5:20); to believers by directly communicating with them (Ex. 20:1; Phil. 3:15); and perhaps even pain and evil and/or material blessing (Deut. 7:12-15; 2 Sam. 12:15; Is. 30:30; Jn 9:1-3).

The manner of God disclosing himself in special revelation has been thought of in one of two ways. First, truths about the communication of God are considered propositional. That is, descriptions about the character or activity of God that universally and timelessly hold true are propositions that exist. These propositions are culture-specific, utilizing common thought forms and the vernacular of the day for expression and understanding. Others have said God can only be known personally. In the midst of crisis and confusion, somehow God emerges into personal life experiences and reveals himself

Rather than choose between these two, it would appear that both propositional and personal truths are viable modes of knowing God. One would not necessarily exclude the other. For example, in order to describe an experience of knowing God personally in some crisis situation, one must use words that communicate. Thinking of an experience with God, in so far as that experience is genuinely with the God of Scripture, would preclude the capability of thought forms that are common. It seems that both modes are reliable means of knowing God's special revelation. Succinctly put, one cannot know God without knowing something about God. Likewise, one cannot know something about God without knowing God.

Without question, Christianity throughout the centuries has held that the eternal Son of God is the consummate revelation of God to the world. The author of Hebrews claims God's Son is the "exact representation of his being" (Heb. 1:3). Jesus spoke propositional truth (Jn. 7:16-17; 12:49; 14:6, 10) and personal truth (Jn. 3:3; 6:47; 11:25). The incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are God's special revelation rooted in history (Jn. 1:14; Acts 2:23; Mt. 28:6). Taken together, these claims constitute redemptive truth (Eph. 1:7; Rom. 5:9; Mt. 26:28; Heb. 9:12; 1 Pt. 1:19). The person and work of God's Son are where propositional and personal truths intersect in the fullest sense.

There are, however, both revealing and concealing aspects of God's special revelation. On the one hand, the Spirit of God enables believers today to be a manifestation of God's revelation as their witness goes out into the entire world (Mt. 5:14; Acts 1:8; 1 Thess. 1:8). Yet, God's special revelation is also veiled. In spite of the extensive revelation of God in Christ, the world did not know him (Jn. 1:10); the Son chooses to whom he will reveal the Father (Mt. 11:27); the knowledge of who Jesus really is only comes from God (Mt. 16:17); satanic blindness overshadows the gospel light (2 Cor. 4:4); and spiritual truths are imperceptible to those without the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:14).

The purpose of God in special revelation is to bring about a loving and personal relationship with those whom he has graciously chosen. Though Jesus is the "Savior of all men" (1 Tim. 4:10), he's not everyone’s Savior. As the people of God keep in step with the truth of God, then he expressly continues revealing himself to the redeemed. Special revelation, therefore, remains today in the form of the Spirit-inspired writings of God's Word and the Spirit-filled people of God. As for the unredeemed, God illuminates his moral precepts in the hearts of all (Rom. 2:14-15), which enables them to occasionally perform those things which are in conformity to His will, albeit not unto salvation.

Inspiration
For nearly twenty centuries Christianity has had the inspired and authoritative Word of God as its rule of faith and practice. The Bible is the standard of truth as it relates to God's relationship with humankind. Specially chosen people were used to declare God's Word through the medium of their own language and culture. Inspiration means that God expressed himself through human authors precisely what he intended to communicate.

Exactly how inspiration occurred has been difficult to understand. Nevertheless, Christians have continually affirmed what the Bible says about itself, viz. "all Scripture is God-breathed. . ." (2 Tim. 3:16). Paul does not say which books of the Bible he had in mind, neither does he give an exhaustive list of their benefit. The context certainly suggests those books that are "able to make [one] wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:15). Granted, Paul's letter to Timothy was penned prior to the completion of the New Testament, and, no doubt, he primarily had the Old Testament in mind. However, Paul specifically meant those portions that have to do with "faith in Christ Jesus."

Another important passage is 2 Peter 1:19-21. Here Peter speaks of the origin of Scripture. Along with Paul, he primarily has in mind the entire Old Testament. However, Peter implies the writings of Paul are on a par with "the other Scriptures" (2 Pt. 3:16) intimating that Paul, too, was "carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pt. 1:21). Peter does not say the faculties of the prophets were bypassed. What he does affirm is that Scripture is from divine origin through human means. The human authors were supervised by the Spirit of God in such a way that what was written is exactly what God intended. Contrary to a dictation theory (God commanding every word so the human authors were merely secretaries), the idea of inspiration means that Scripture originated with God and the human author's tendency to err (when they were writing Scripture) was overcome by God's Spirit.

What Scripture says God says. Therefore, the Word of God is authoritative in the original writings. While the original documents are no longer available, we do have responsible translations from a variety of copies which are remarkably close to the original. Also, it is essential to distinguish between what Scripture is teaching and what is being learned from it. Incidental themes from human insights should never overshadow divine wisdom found in God’s Word.

Scripture is both infallible (cannot err) and inerrant (does not err). Error is that which intends to defraud, deceive, or knowingly represent falsehood. Infallibility has to do with possibility, whereas inerrancy has to do with actuality. All sixty-six books cannot contain error and do not contain error. All of the affirmations and denials in God’s Word correspond to reality and are therefore true. This is not to say there are no unresolved difficulties in Scripture. Sixty-six books written over 400 years would not harmonize so easily. While human understanding of Scripture (hermeneutics) is evolving, Scripture in se stands true for all times, everywhere, and for all people. Not only do infallibility and inerrancy apply to every word of Scripture, but to Scripture in its entirety.

The Bible's Completion
Since it is true that Scripture is God's truth, then how is it that Christianity came to have the Old and New Testaments? Who approved the sixty-six books? Why not sixty-five or sixty-seven? What about other writings during biblical times? What criteria was used to distinguished between human voice and divine voice? How the sixty-six books of the Bible came to be recognized as God's Word is the topic of the canon of Scripture. Canon means a standard or rule against which to measure something.

The canon of the Old Testament was not officially identified until the councils of Jamnia (A.D. 90, 118). However, in Jesus' day he referred to the OT writings as "scripture" (Jn. 10:35); "law and prophets" (Mt. 7:12; 22:40); and "Law of Moses . . . Prophets . . . Psalms" (Lk. 24:44). This indicates that recognition of God's Word precedes an official canonized list. Likewise, the early Church had a body of trustworthy documentation prior to it being recognized by any organized group or institution. Oral tradition regarding Jesus' teaching (e.g., 1 Cor. 11:23; 15:3; also known as kerygma), Paul's epistles and the first three Gospel accounts were circulated throughout the Roman Empire by the middle of the second century. These sources were recognized as faithful to the person and work of Christ and began the process of a completed canon.

The Muratorian Fragment contains a list of books to be read publicly to the whole Church. Dated ca. A.D. 200, twenty-two of the NT books are included. In addition, Eusebius' canon (C. A.D. 260-340) is significant as the Arian heresy was hotly disputed during his time. Both Arias and Athanasius held to the authority of the Scriptures and turned to them in an attempt to reach a settlement on the meaning of Christ's deity and humanity. This surely indicates the importance of a standard whereby truth and error can be discerned.

The most significant and complete canon of the NT was recognized by Athanasius (A.D. 367). He acknowledged all twenty-seven books as Scripture and fully authoritative for faith and practice. Also, at about this time Jerome (ca., A.D. 386), a scholar of the biblical languages, included all twenty-seven books.

The first official recognition of a complete NT canon consisting of all twenty-seven books by the Church in the West came at the Third Council of Carthage in A.D. 397. Later (ca., A.D. 508) the Church of the East recognized all twenty-seven books. By the beginning of the sixth century the Church in all the known world recognized a completed NT.

This long process of the complete and final authoritative Word of God has been scrutinized and questioned time and again by the scholarly world. A major concern remains: Are the books of the Bible trustworthy to give an accurate account of God's dealings with humanity? To answer one must turn to the criteria used by the early Church in deciding what books to include.

One such criterion used for the NT canon is the consistency of the message and its broad scope of application. The four Gospels were regarded as accurate and authoritative by virtually every believer. Had the Gospel accounts been in question, those close enough to Jesus or his disciples could have made corrections before they were so widely circulated. Authorship by an apostle was another criterion used in determining trustworthy writings for the Church. Paul was acutely conscious of his authority (1 Cor. 14:37), so much so that rejecting his teaching was tantamount to rejecting the teaching of God (1 Thess. 4:8).

Apostolic authorship was not the sole means available to the Church in recognizing the inspired books of the NT. It does not explain the works of Mark, Luke-Acts, James, Jude and, possibly, Hebrews. Close association with an apostle was also important. Paul puts Luke's Gospel on par with Scripture (1 Tim. 5:18 quoting Lk. 10:7). The apostles themselves included the OT as canon for the Church and therefore did not insist that their writings alone be considered authoritative. In short, whatever books the apostles imposed as canonical are those works that the Church included.

Those who were charged with recognizing which books to include as Scripture did not so much determine the canon as identified it. If apostolic authorship or association, internal consistency of the message and the broad scope of application are the basis of knowing which books were to be included in the Bible, then all the Church was left to do was recognize those books that fit the criteria.

The canon of Scripture has never been the product of individual or institutional arbitration. Rather it came about as a result of many processes that contributed to its formation. The internal consistency of the Bible's message and the Church's use of it in defense of orthodox teaching has changed lives throughout history. Taken together, this evidence affirms the inspiration, authority and reliability of the written Word of God.

 The Being of God, the Character of God, and the Trinity