Quotes about Scripture

The jubilation of God's salvation corresponds to man's very real condition of lostness ... In Scripture, there is never any mention of a relativizing of sin since any such relativizing of sin would also automatically relativize the unspeakably wonderful nature of salvation.

The church's ... certainty is bound to certain norms and ... a feeling of subjective certainty does not guarantee irrefutable certainty ... it is not the certainty, but the truth in the certainty that makes us free ... there is a way of understanding Holy Scripture that does not estrange us from the gospel.

We must warn against an incorrect conception of theology, a conception which considers it possible to discuss Holy Scripture apart from a personal relationship of belief in it, as though that alone would constitute true 'objectivity'.

The purpose of the God-breathed Scripture is not at all to provide a scientific gnosis in order to convey and increase human knowledge and wisdom, but to witness of the salvation of God unto faith. This approach does not mean to separate faith and knowledge. But the knowledge that is the unmistakable aim of Scripture is the knowledge of faith, which does not increase human wisdom, but is life eternal.

Theology is not an excursion into the stratosphere that lies beyond scriptural sppech in time: it may not travel beyond the borders of faith's perspective. Beyond the word of Scripture we dare not go, in speech or theological reflection; for it is in this word that God's love in Jesus Christ is revealed. There is nothing beyond that.

When "the concept of error in the sense of incorrectness is … used on the same level as the concept of erring in the sense of sin and deception … we are quite far removed from the serious manner with which erring is dealt in Scripture … (as) a swerving from the truth and upsetting the faith (2 Tim. 2:18)

The Holy Spirit … does not lead us into error but into the pathways of truth … The Spirit, with this special concern, has not failed and will not fail in this mystery of God-breathed Scripture

The authority of Scripture is never established by means of a rationalistic apologetic. It is established through the testimony of the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of Biblical authority as not a conservative testimony in fear of facts, but … a conviction of faith.

Scripture is the Word of God because the Holy Spirit witnesses in it of Christ. This understanding of the relation between the Spirit and Scripture opens up a perspective that is not locked in the past.

Faith is decisively determined by the object of faith, namely, God and His Word. This does not ... imply that Scripture ... derives its authority from the believer's faith: this idea is already rendered untenable by the very nature of faith, which rests on and trusts in the Word of God.

The authority of God's Word is not an arbitrary, external authority. It is a wooing and conquering authority. Scripture's authority does not demand blind obedience, rather a subjection that spells redemption, a subjection to Christ whereby he is never out of view in which acceptance occurs with joy and willingness.

The story of Isaac and Rebekah is an account of what was, but not necessarily of what should be for all of God's people.