SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY ————————— DR. NORMAN GEISLER VOLUME ONE ————————— INTRODUCTION ————————— BIBLE ————————— Minneapolis, Minnesota Systematic Theology, Volume One Copyright © 2002 Norman L. Geisler Senior Editor: Steven R. Laube Managing Editor: Julie Smith Content Editor: Christopher Soderstrom Copy Editor: Nancy Renich Editorial Assistant: Elizabeth Anderson Art Director: Paul Higdon Cover and Page Design: Eric Wallijasper Production Manager: LaVonne Downing Indexing Services: Bruce Tracy Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society. Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible. Scripture quotation identified NKJV are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982, by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations identified RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Copyright 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owners. Published by Bethany House Publishers 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 Bethany House Publishers is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Volume One: Introduction, Bible (Hardcover) ISBN-13: 978-0-7642-2551-2 ISBN-10: 0-7642-2551-0 Volume Two: God, Creation (Hardcover) ISBN-13: 978-0-7642-2552-9 ISBN-10: 0-7642-2552-9 Volume Three: Sin, Salvation (Hardcover) ISBN-13: 978-0-7642-2553-6 ISBN-10: 0-7642-2553-7 Volume Four: Ecclesiology, Eschatology (Hardcover) ISBN-13: 978-0-7642-2554-3 ISBN-10: 0-7642-2554-5 ———————————————————————————————————— Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Geisler, Norman L. Systematic theology: volume one : introduction, Bible / by Norman Geisler. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-7642-2551-0 (alk. paper) 1. Theology, Doctrinal 2. Bible--Introduction. I. Title. BT75.3 .G45 2002 230´.04624—dc21 2002000913 ———————————————————————————————————— DR. NORMAN L. GEISLER has taught at university and graduate levels for forty-six years and has spoken, traveled, or debated in all fifty states and in twenty-six countries. He holds a B.A. and M.A. from Wheaton College and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Loyola University, and he has served as President of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is author or coauthor of more than sixty books and hundreds of articles. Dr. Geisler’s writings and schedule are found on the Southern Evangelical Seminary Web site (ses.edu) and at normgeisler.com. VOLUME ONE PART ONE: INTRODUCTION PART TWO: BIBLE Three persons deserve special recognition for the final state of this volume. First, my wife, Barbara, has provided detailed and meticulous proofing of the entire manuscript. Likewise, my assistant, Jason Reed, has done voluminous research for citations from the great teachers of the church. Finally, Christopher Soderstrom of Bethany House has performed dedicated, gracious, and extensive editing of every page. To each, I express my sincere and heartfelt thanks. TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME ONE: INTRODUCTION AND BIBLE Part One: Introduction (Prolegomena) Chapter One: Introduction Chapter Two: God: The Metaphysical Precondition Chapter Three: Miracles: The Supernatural Precondition Chapter Four: Revelation: The Revelational Precondition Chapter Five: Logic: The Rational Precondition Chapter Six: Meaning: The Semantical Precondition Chapter Seven: Truth: The Epistemological Precondition Chapter Eight: Exclusivism: The Oppositional Precondition Chapter Nine: Language: The Linguistic Precondition Chapter Ten: Interpretation: The Hermeneutical Precondition Chapter Eleven: Historiography: The Historical Precondition Chapter Twelve: Method: The Methodological Precondition Part Two: Bible (Bibliology) I. Section One: Biblical Chapter Thirteen: The Origin and Inspiration of the Bible Chapter Fourteen: The Divine Nature of the Bible Chapter Fifteen: The Human Nature of the Bible Chapter Sixteen: Jesus and the Bible II. Section Two: Historical Chapter Seventeen: Church Fathers on the Bible Chapter Eighteen: The Historical Church on the Bible Chapter Nineteen: The History of Destructive Biblical Criticism Chapter Twenty: Liberalism on the Bible Chapter Twenty-One: Neo-Orthodoxy on the Bible Chapter Twenty-Two: Neo-Evangelicals on the Bible Chapter Twenty-Three: Evangelicals on the Bible Chapter Twenty-Four: Fundamentalism on the Bible III. Section Three: Theological Chapter Twenty-Five: The Historicity of the Old Testament Chapter Twenty-Six: The Historicity of the New Testament Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Inerrancy of the Bible Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Canonicity of the Bible Chapter Twenty-Nine: Summary of the Evidence for the Bible Appendices Appendix One: Objections Against Theistic Arguments Appendix Two: Do Historical Facts Speak for Themselves? Bibliography Subject Index Part 1 – Introduction (Prolegomena) PART ONE INTRODUCTION (PROLEGOMENA)