Alden Thompson > Quotes

“If the Lord wishes to use editors and compilers to bring His message to us, that is His decision. And so He has decided. The truth of 2 Peter 1:20, 21 still stands: Scripture has come to us by the Holy Spirit, whether it be through revelation or research, secretary or scribe, editor or compiler – or by large letters written by Paul’s own hand. Any way you write it, it is still God’s Word.”
― Alden Thompson, Inspiration: Hard Questions, Honest Answers

“The words of God’s messengers are treasured by the community to which they are given, perhaps more in later years than when the messenger was alive. In order to preserve the memory for posterity, editors – under the direction of the Spirit – compiled and published new editions of the messenger’s words and works. Sometimes, as in the book of Jeremiah, they placed the messenger’s own words within a historical framework, providing a kind of “glue” that gives consistency to the whole.”
― Alden Thompson, Inspiration: Hard Questions, Honest Answers

“If you can work through the evidence, your faith and your experience will be much stronger in the end – and you won’t have to be afraid anymore of what you might see in Scripture in an unguarded moment. I”
― Alden Thompson, Inspiration: Hard Questions, Honest Answers

“To insist that we all view Scripture alike, or that a particular interpretation of a particular passage be enforced somehow, can easily cripple the spiritual forces of the church.”
― Alden Thompson, Inspiration: Hard Questions, Honest Answers

“Though the evidence from Scripture for editing and compiling is obvious and irrefutable, our failure to deal with it bit by bit in the past places us in jeopardy when we see a rather massive dose of it all at once.”
― Alden Thompson, Inspiration: Hard Questions, Honest Answers

“The evidence for editing and compiling is most obvious in Proverbs and Jeremiah, thus establishing the principle that the words of inspired messengers may in fact be handled in such a manner. Once the principle has been established, we need not be alarmed if we find more subtle clues of editing in other biblical books. Editors may have been at work on them as well. Why not?”
― Alden Thompson, Inspiration: Hard Questions, Honest Answers

“The gospel writers did not simply tell stories for the sake of telling stories, but to touch the lives of their listeners in a saving way. Some of the differences between the gospels are simply due to the fact that human beings are involved in the process of handing on the tradition. But some differences are important, essential to the message the inspired writer wished to share.”
― Alden Thompson, Inspiration: Hard Questions, Honest Answers

“I would also argue against importing alien rationalistic norms to apply to Scripture. When the text speaks of a miracle, for example, let us accept the witness of the text. But by the same token, when the text reveals differences in parallel passages, let us accept that witness, too. To”
― Alden Thompson, Inspiration: Hard Questions, Honest Answers

“Sensing the danger, we pull back as a church and refuse to deal with the evidence at all. Instead of moving ahead, smoothing the way and making the road safe, we have left the boulders in place and not put up guard rails. Thus the way remains dangerous.”
― Alden Thompson, Inspiration: Hard Questions, Honest Answers

“To insist that we all view Scripture alike, or that a particular interpretation of a particular passage be enforced somehow, can easily cripple the spiritual forces of the church. In 1892 Ellen White wrote: “We cannot then take a position that the unity of the church consists in viewing every text of Scripture in the very same light. The church may pass resolution upon resolution to put down all disagreement of opinions, but we cannot force the mind and will, and root out disagreement. These resolutions may conceal the discord, but they cannot quench it and establish perfect agreement.”
― Alden Thompson, Inspiration: Hard Questions, Honest Answers

“God impresses His writers to speak to our needs, to tell us of sin when we need a message of judgment, and to tell us of hope when our hearts are weary. The Old Testament stories are much more than simply stories. They are powerful sermons driven by the conviction that God is Master of the universe and Lord of our lives.”
― Alden Thompson, Inspiration: Hard Questions, Honest Answers