Milne - Know the Truth : a Handbook of Christian Belief

Know the Truth

A Handbook of Christian Belief

Third Edition

Bruce Milne

www.IVPress.com/academic

InterVarsity Press
P.O. Box 1400
Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426
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2012 by Bruce Milne

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press.

InterVarsity Press is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, write Public Relations Dept. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, 6400 Schroeder Rd., P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895, or visit the IVCF website at www.intervarsity.org .

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version . NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder and Stoughton, a division of Hodder Headline Ltd. All rights reserved. NIV is a registered trademark of International Bible Society. UK trademark number 1448790. Distributed in North America by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

Images: Stella Salazar/Getty Images

ISBN 978-0-8308-6633-5

Contents

The meaning of authority. The source of authority.

The significance of revelation. The likelihood of revelation. General revelation. Special revelation.

The Bible: the material form of special revelation. Grounds for receiving the Bible as Gods written Word. Inspiration. Canonicity. Other issues. Hermeneutics: the science, and art, of interpreting Scripture.

The grounds for Christian theism. The rational proofs of Gods existence. Presuppositional apologetics. Evaluating the rational approach.

The biblical basis. Understanding the doctrine. The importance of the doctrine.

The glory of God. The lordship of God. The holiness of God. The love of God.

Creation out of nothing. Continuing creation. A question of language. The scientific enterprise. Miracle. The question of origins. Creation of the spiritual world.

The extent of providence. Necessary distinctions. Gods providence and evil.

The perennial question. Humanity in relation to God. Humanity in relation to itself: the nature of humanity. Persons in relation to their neighbours. Humanity in relation to the created order. Humanity in relation to time.

The fall of humanity. The nature and extent of sin. The effects of sin. Further issues. Present debates. Summary.

Jesus Christ, the God-man. The Christian, the new creation in Christ.

His religious life. His limited knowledge. His dependence upon, and submission to, the Father. Temptation. Post-resurrection.

Direct statements of deity. Jesus identity with Yahweh/Jehovah. Other Gospel evidence. The conclusion of this testimony.

The early debates. Other important concepts. Modern interpretation. Further comment.

Atonement in the Old Testament. Jesus the Messiah.

Objective interpretations. Subjective interpretations. Modern interpretations. Pluralism.

Old Testament teaching. New Testament teaching.

The Spirit before Christs coming. The Spirit and Christ.

The foundation: the grace of God. The essence: union with Christ by the Spirit.

Hope. Assurance. Sanctification. Perseverance. Means and end.

Biblical images of the church. Characteristics of the true church.

Worship. Fellowship. Ministry. Witness.

The Word of God. The sacraments. Prayer. Fellowship. Suffering.

Forms of organization. Historical perspectives. The churchs future.

Old Testament background. Jesus and the kingdom. Later New Testament teaching. The kingdom and Christian experience.

New Testament terms. Biblical passages. The nature of the second coming. The purpose of the second coming. The time of the second coming. Related issues.

Death. The intermediate state. The resurrection. Judgment. Hell. The life to come.

The early centuries. The Middle Ages. The Reformation. The nineteenth century. Today.

FOREWORD

It is a privilege to commend so sensible, clear and fruitful an overview of basic Christian belief. Over a quarter of a century has gone by since I wrote those words in the Foreword commendation for the first edition of Know the Truth . Year by year I have used it as a resource in theology classes, and my admiration for the sharpness of mind, biblical exactness and spiritual wisdom of Bruce Milne has grown and grown. Now the book itself has grown, too; amplifying additions bring this third edition abreast of all the main discussions which have been stirring the Christian waters since that first edition appeared.

What have these discussions been about? The understanding of Holy Scripture; the reality and nature of God, and the way to think of creation and providence; human nature and sexuality; the ideologies of postmodernism and religious pluralism; the incarnate personhood and atoning death of our Lord Jesus Christ; the sanctity of human life; the churchs missionary identity and outreach, and the place of preaching and suffering in its ongoing life. Bruce Milnes fresh comments on these themes make what was already a very useful book more useful still.

The author, like myself, is retired now, but his bow abides in strength intellectually, as the reader will soon discover. He leaves me wanting to reaffirm the superlatives of my original Foreword, adding once and again, and now even more so. To those who work through this now updated compendium of the faith I confidently promise: here is something that will do you what back in the UK we used to call a power of good , and I mean these words in a fully spiritual sense. Lord, your precious truth is here; bless it to its readers, I pray, with your glorious power. Amen .

So be it! Taste, now, and see.

J. I. Packer

PREFACE

The publication of this third edition of Know the Truth allows me to put on record once again my deep sense of gratitude. From its very modest beginning in 1980, as a typescript created on an old Olympia typewriter, Know the Truth has astonishingly developed a global ministry spanning nearly thirty years. During this period translations have appeared, or are in process, in eighteen languages, and untold numbers of Christian leaders and students at all levels, in many countries of the world, have used this primer to introduce them to the basic themes of Biblical Theology. The world we inhabit is endlessly dynamic and this third edition is a genuine revision which attempts to hear the timeless message of Scripture within that constantly evolving context.

As in the case of the earlier editions, I am hugely indebted to Inter-Varsity Press (UK) to whose ongoing ministry I gladly dedicate these pages. In the production of this volume I am appreciative of the help of several staunch friends, Dr Phil Duce of IVP for his professional support and theological acumen, Dr Jim Packer for his typically insightful observations and for contributing a new Foreword for this edition, and Jay Hu for submitting to being a sounding board for the text. My wife Valerie, as always, was a loyal support. My chief thanks, however, are directed to our ever-blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the inexhaustible theme of this text, and, by his measureless grace, our present and eternal home.