Sufficiency of Scripture

by Noel Weeks

Book by Weeks, Noel

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction

309 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1988

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found the first few chapters very helpful as he lays the groundwork for the sufficiency of Scripture, especially showing that it does not have to be exhaustive in order to be authoritative. He argues that the structure of Biblical law enables it to speak to things it does not mention directly by name (e.g. arson). It does this by giving principles and enough details to make clear how those principles may be worked out so that we can apply those principles to our lives even when there is not a verse specific to that topic. This is helpful because we too often find two extremes: insisting that something is a liberty just because it is not mentioned by name in Scripture and insisting that something is wrong based on a tenuous verse of Scripture which has a superficial relation to the question at hand. The strangest thing is that these extremes can often be found in the same person depending on what they want to believe. If they want a verse to justify their position, they’ll find it somewhere. If they want to justify their position from the Bible’s “silence” then they will argue from the fact that it is not mentioned by name no matter how many clear verses there are that shed light on that issue. Thinking carefully through Week’s teaching on law can help us avoid these extremes.

The rest of the book is more academic and, though I found it somewhat interesting, I did not find it particularly helpful personally. It is written to defend the Bible from those inside the church who would undermine it, often while claiming to uphold it. Weeks talks about relativism, creation, politics, church government, women in church leadership, Bible translation, etc and how truly upholding the Bible’s authority in these areas will affect the conversation.

One of the things I did find thought provoking was when he challenged the basic rightness of some conservative principles. Esp this quote: “The Biblical view does not at all support those whose faith is in the state. Yet neither may we approve the slogan, ‘The best government is the government that governs least.’ That comes out of a belief in the innate goodness of man.” He is not arguing for a liberal or socialist form of government, only challenging the assumptions of so many Christians that the conservative way is the Biblical way.

In another place he says, “The reading of Scripture to ascertain what it really says means trying to allow the text to speak for itself against both secular science and ‘Christian’ science, against secular philosophy and ‘Christian’ philosophy.”

Weeks practices what he preaches and gives us a very well thought out book that avoids cookie cutter and band aid answers in order to grapple honestly and reverently with a number of the questions and issues that were faced in his day (publ. 1998) and continue to be with us today.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though it is written in 1988, it is still incredibly contemporary.
Many of the issues addressed are still relevant in the church today.
The idea of the sufficiency of Scripture for the Christian in all areas of life may be proclaimed but little understood and even less lived out.

[Isaac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good. The title is a little misleading, it’s not so much an analysis and defence of the doctrine. It is more of a learned discussion of issues relating to the doctrine. A good book.