Appreciation and Awe
Reflection Paper #1
Christian Doctrine
September 14, 2023
Over the course of the last few weeks, the course material we have covered has had a
large impact on my understanding of the Bible. I’ve grown in my understanding in the ideas of
revelation, whether it’s “Special,” or “General,” the doctrines of Inspiration and Inerrancy, the
importance and depth of study of the Word of God, as well as the necessity to believe, teach, and
speak biblical truth, according to how the Word of God alone commands us.
One of my favorite examples we’ve discussed in this course so far was the example of the
tennis court. A tennis court has distinct lines drawn out to establish boundaries according to the
rules of the game, and if those boundaries are broken, changed, distorted in any way, or removed
completely, it’s no longer a game of tennis! This example applies greatly with what I’ve grown to
understand about the Bible is that if we don’t obey exactly what God has revealed and
commanded to us through the Bible, we are disobedient, dishonoring, and not even living in
Christianity anymore. The Word of God is our authority, and we can’t bend the rules to adjust to
our liking. Many go against this in our world today, which makes it even more important to stick
to scripture. I’ve also developed more understanding of the importance of reading scripture and
studying theology, and it boils down to our faith relationally, experientially, and apologetically. I
had known for quite a long time before this course that the relational aspect of our faith, which is
our personal relationship with God, is the deepest level and should be aligned with biblical
truths. What I hadn’t dove into much before was the importance of the experiential aspect of our
faith and the high importance scripture alignment also has within this aspect of our faith.
Studying doctrine gives us a foundation for when we do experience God personally, because we
will know if it flows from truth. Apologetically, doctrine is also highly important. Defending our
faith is such an important piece of being a believer, because if we can’t understand our beliefs,
how can we share it with others? Revelation has been a topic we’ve talked about in class that I
wasn’t super familiar with before the course. I’d known about special, specific revelation, as well
as general, but not nearly in as much depth as we’ve learned in this course. Learning about
general revelation increased my understanding greatly on how God has revealed Himself to all
people. Previously, I can admit that it was easy for me to see God in everything because I already
believe in Him, and have from a young age, but I never understood how others are supposed to
experience Him and believe in Him if they never hear the Gospel. However, throughout this
course up to this point, I’ve been able to grow in my understanding of how God has shown
Himself to all people in some form or another, through “nature, history, and the constitution of
the human being.” (pg. 65) This is also where Erickson quotes Romans 1:20, where Paul
discusses that no one has an excuse because God has revealed Himself in some way to everyone.
Special revelation also interests me deeply, and I’ve grown in deeper understanding regarding
this type as well. Erickson explains that “…God’s manifestation of himself to particular persons
at definite times and places, enabling those persons to enter into a redemptive relationship with
him…” is what special revelation is. (p.52) It is God revealing himself specifically to certain
people to be used by Him or be redeemed by Him according to His will. I’ve known about the
many ways in which He’s specifically revealed Himself in scripture, whether personally,
historically, or divinely through prophets or in dreams and visions, and most importantly, through
the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Inspiration and Inerrancy has also been a topic that I’ve grown
my understanding of. I’ve already been familiar with the doctrine of inerrancy, but inspiration is
one that interests me, and I’ve learned a lot about it through this course. “Since God does not
ordinarily repeat his revelation for each person, there has to be some way to preserve it,” says
Erickson. (pg. 111) I’ve learned a lot about the doctrine of inspiration not only about how all of
scripture is God-breathed, but also learning the many ways in which each book or writing was
inspired by God. I never understood the idea of different varieties of inspiration, and the many
ways in which God has inspired scripture before this course.
The aspect of our study of the Bible in this course that means the most to me personally is
the depth we go into when discussing the inspiration and inerrancy. I love apologetics, and
inerrancy ties right into it, and it all leads back to me studying my Bible on an even more indepth level than before, finding answers, not just for my own faith, but to be able to defend and
share it with others. The inspiration is an aspect that as impacted me as well because I’ve always
questioned how exactly God went about writing the Bible, considering it is His “Word,” after all.
Learning about the doctrine of inspiration has interested me greatly and it has developed an even
greater appreciation of God within me, as I’ve been in awe of the many ways He was wholly
involved in the Bible’s writing.
I will admit, my application of the Bible and its teachings haven’t changed much because
of this course, as I already daily strive to apply the Word of God and His truths to my every
action, and I study it deeply daily. However, my appreciation has certainly grown deeply through
learning about the depth of doctrinal beliefs that we hold as Christians, and the importance of
them. Overall, this makes me not only appreciate the Lord more but stand in even more awe of
Him as well.