Christianity, generally speaking, is of the opinion
that there are five classifications (or punctuations) of Scripture: 1) the Law,
2) the Prophets, 3) the Psalms, 4) the Gospels, and 5) the writings of the
Apostles. Furthermore, they believe that if a particular piece of religious
literature does not fall into one of these five predefined categories, then it
is NOT to be considered either inspired or authoritative.
The Hebraic
understanding, in contrast, is that Scripture is one continuous flow of
inspiration, starting with Moses and continuing right up to the present day.
Thus we have 1) Moses; 2) Joshua; 3) the Judges; 4) the Prophets; 5) the
Maccabees; 6) Yahshua; 7) the Apostles, and then 'Someone Else,' in each and
every generation. As such, the Tanakh and "inter-testament writings" are loosely
grouped into three categories as follows:
-
First level
inspiration--Torah (Direct instructions as transmitted by Yahweh
through Moses),
-
Second level inspiration--the
Nebi'im or Prophets -- (revelation through the Set-Apart Spirit)
-
Third level inspiration (the
Kethubim--Historical and insightful writings)
These three levels
(or qualifications for a document to be considered "inspired") are reaffirmed
then by the apostle, Paul (or Shaul), in:
2 Timothy 3:16. All
Scripture (literally, "writings"1) inspired of Elohim are
profitable for instruction (Torah), for reproof and setting straight
(prophecy), and for instruction in righteousness (insightful
writings).
Likewise, the "New Testament" (although
Scripturally speaking, there is no division) contains:
-
First level inspiration (Torah) in
the Words of Yahshua
-
Second level inspiration from the
Spirit (such as prophecy in the book of Revelation, and instructions for
certain situations in the Acts of the Apostles and the letters of
Paul).
-
Third level inspiration
(words and opinions of men, as Paul makes clear differentiation in
1 Corinthians 7:1-17).
Although it is
true that the Apostolic writers nowhere self-profess their own writings to be "Scripture", at the same time,
neither did the writers of the Tanakh. Also true is that the apostles repeatedly
refer to the Tanakh as "the Scriptures", but likewise the Tanakh refers to "the
Scripture" (singularly) as the Torah (see Daniel
10:21),
as do the inter-testament Scriptures or Apocrypha (see Sirach
24:23).
Is it possible for
all three levels of inspiration to be equally declared on the same level as the
Torah and direct words of Yahshua? Hardly, but at the same time, neither can the
lesser levels be excluded from the volume of Scripture or said to be
"non-inspired writings".
Isaiah 8:20a. According
to the Torah (of Moses) and the Testimony (of Yahshua): if they speak not
according to this wise....
2 Peter 3:15b. As
also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given him,
[16] as in all his letters, speaking concerning these matters, in which some
things are hard to understand, which those who are untaught and unstable twist
to their own destruction, as they do also THE OTHER SCRIPTURES. [17] You then,
beloved ones, being forewarned, watch lest you also fall from your own
steadfastness, being let away with the delusion of the lawless (Torahless or
Scriptureless).
Ezekiel 13:9. My
hand shall be against the prophets who see falsehood and who divine lies. They
shall not be in the council of My people, nor be written among the
Scriptures2 of the house of Israel, and they shall not
enter into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Master
Yahweh.
For a
writing to be included in the canon of Scripture it MUST BE ERROR-FREE, and the
ultimate test of authenticity is if it withstands the test of time. The is the
reason that the Talmud and Kabbalah, for example, although they are historical
spiritual documents, CANNOT be considered "Scripture", whereas the Tanakh and
Apostolic, as well as certain Inter-testament or "Apocryphal" writings, insofar
as they fulfill the requirements of Isaiah
8:20 and 2 Timothy
3:16 can.
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