Dogmatic Theology Vol 1 - Shedd - VII - Chapter 1 (Revelation and Inspiration) continued

Required readingDogmatic Theology Vol 1 by William G.T. Shedd (Available from Amazon or free here) - Continue Chapter 1 (Revelation and inspiration) by reading up to the paragraph starting with 'The objections urged against the plenary inspiration of the Bible are the following:' (Page 93 of my edition).

My summary

Today Shedd continues speaking about special revelation.  Last week we started considering inspiration.  

Now we start today's reading by considering revelation proper. Revelation 'in the restricted sense...denotes the communication of truth or facts hitherto unknown to man, and incapable of being deduced from the structure of the human intellect, or derived through the ordinary channels of human information'.

Shedd gives examples from the Old and New Testament of revelation proper, in contrast to inspiration and even to philosophy ethics and natural theology.

Then Shedd returns to defend infallible inspiration, not just infallible revelation.  He asserts that inspiration is not:

(i) sanctification;

(ii) omniscience;

(iii) necessarily completely comprehensible

Rather, inspiration is the influence of the Holy Spirit upon a human person, whereby he is infallibly moved and guided in all his statements while under this influence.

Shedd then affirms the connection of ideas and words as this teaching of inspiration depends upon such a connection.  He says that words are not arbitrary signs of ideas, having no natural connection and affinity with the ideas expressed by them.  This is proved:

(i) by Scripture;

(ii) by comparing the sounds of human language with other sounds;

(iii) by the fact that shades of an idea suggest varieties of words;

(iv) by the fact that men think in words;

(v) by the fact that a peculiar kind of thought expresses itself spontaneously in a particular kind of phraseology.

What grabbed me

I appreciated this clear summation of the difference between revelation proper and inspiration: 'To determine then how much of the Bible is revelation proper, and how much is only inspiration, we have but to examine its contents. Anything in its pages that may indisputably be deduced by human reasoning, or be drawn from human sources of information, is not revealed. But everything else is. The genealogical tables in Matthew and Luke are not revelation. Much of the historical narrative in the Old Testament and New Testament is not revelation. Geographical and statistical data are no part of revelation in distinction from inspiration.'

Next week's reading

Conclude Chapter 1 (Revelation and Inspiration).

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.