For the Mouth of the Lord Has Spoken: The Doctrine of Scripture

by Guy Prentiss Waters

There is no book better than the Bible. It is God’s own word. He breathed it into existence. He does wonderful things in and by it. But there is hardly a book more assailed, mocked, and assaulted than the Bible. New Testament Professor Guy Prentiss Waters delves into the doctrine of Scripture. Addressing the revelation, inspiration, inerrancy, sufficiency and perspicuity of the Bible, he also engages with what some other prominent theologians had to say on the subject.

Genres: Theology

320 pages, Paperback

Published November 6, 2020

About the author

Guy Prentiss Waters (PhD, Duke University) is James M. Baird Jr. Professor of New Testament and academic dean at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson. He is the author or editor of fifteen books and numerous chapters, articles, and reviews. He is a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).

Reviews

[Chase Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a fairly easy read and also challenging at the same time. Exegetical isn’t a joke and I thoroughly appreciate what they do in the book and not just using proof texts. If you read this book you need to absolutely read the footnotes as well. The last two chapters I felt were oddly thrown into the book but nontheless enjoyed the discussion on Karl Barth and Peter Enns. Enns is SUPER progressive and has absolutely departed from orthodoxy.

[Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waters presents a scholarly case of the doctrine of Scripture.
He covers:
General revelation
Special revelation
Inspiration and Inerrancy
The Authority and Clarity of Scripture ("Our Full Persuasion")
The Sufficiency of Scripture
Karl Barth and Scripture ("it becomes God's word to us as we read it")
Peter Enns and the Doctrine of Scripture (borders on heresy, if not actually heresy)

This book is pretty academic. I was able to follow most of it. I got bogged down in the section on Peter Enns but basically he has drifted from historical orthodox understanding of the doctrine of Scripture and has some logical errors in the defense of his position.

The first six chapters I relished. The last two were even more heady for me, a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy.

[Jon Pentecost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to the doctrine of Scripture.
Clear and readable, Waters also does an excellent job of showing the biblical basis of a historic confessional, Reformed view of Scripture.

The last two chapters survey Karl Barth and Peter Enns' views of inerrancy. These are about as much as I want of information about their unique views, and then critiquing them according to Scripture itself.

[Ronnie Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Guy Waters does an outstanding job with the topic of divine inspiration of Scripture. Written in a way that both the layman and pastor alike may grow in their trust and confidence of the Bible as the Word of God you can’t go wrong with his contribution. I’ve read many books on this topic and find this one to be top notch.