“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
~ 2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV
From my early days of going to church at a small independent Baptist congregation, I have heard the above text used to teach a few closely related messages/doctrinal points. From that passage being taught in Sunday School, to sermons from the pulpit, to my initial seminary experience for the sake of gaining the Master of Divinity, that passage has had a tightly focused emphasis: Trust the Bible – The Bible is All You Need.
The Protestant Greek language Bible scholar William D Mounce affirms that “Through the centuries this verse has played a central role in the church’s doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture.”[1] Professor Luke Timothy Johnson expands Mounce’s observation with the recognition that 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “has been systematically tortured by readers less interested in considering what Paul had to say to Timothy than in using these verses to support theological position taking.”[2]
As an example of that use of the text to support a theological position rather than seeking to understand what Paul was telling Timothy is this commentary by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida:
“The Spirit worked through biblical writers to pen God’s Word entirely and exactly as He intended. … He breathed out His Word in Scripture. In fact, a better word than inspiration might be ‘expiration.’ God breathed out His holy Word. What a gift we have in the Bible!
Paul also affirms the total inspiration of Scripture saying that “all Scripture” is breathed out by God. This means we cannot simply pick and choose which parts of the Bible we like, which commands we wish to obey, and which doctrines we will believe.” [3]
The authors Platt, Akin, and Merida then go on to expand the scope of the passage to the entirety of the 66 books of the Bible as canonized among Protestant denominations.
That understanding expressed by Platt, Akin, and Merida is what I grew up with in my church experience through to the end of the MDiv. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 was used repeatedly for the supporting of a “the Bible and the Bible Alone” doctrinal stance. The passage was used in a way to encompass the New Testament, even though, as the Baptist theologians Thomas D. Lea and Hayne P. Griffin Jr explain, “Paul’s reference to the ‘holy Scriptures’ in 3:15 is clearly a statement about the Old Testament. He continued to refer to the Old Testament in 3:16.”[4]
Lea and Griffin’s observation becomes important on multiple fronts, especially when taken in combination with the reasonable proclamation by Platt, Akin, and Merida that “we cannot simply pick and choose which parts of the Bible we like.”
First, when Paul wrote to Timothy and announced that all Scripture is inspired by God and commended its use, to what Hebrew scriptures did Paul refer? What was the body of scripture used at that time which now forms the Christian Old Testament?
Returning to Professor Luke Timothy Johnson, we learn that:
“Paul cannot be making a statement about the Christian Bible, for the New Testament collection was not yet in existence. The term graphē, as everywhere else in Paul, refers to those compositions read and studied in the synagogue from the Law (Torah), Prophets (Nebi’ im), and Writings (Ketubim), in whatever collection then existed in what we now call the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures that was carried out in Alexandria around 250 B.C.E.”[5]
Here it is important to note that the Septuagint (LXX) – the Bible of the day – the “all scripture” which is “God-breathed,” that we cannot simply “pick and choose which parts of the Bible we like” contains the various books of the Deuterocanon (referred to as Apocrypha by most Protestant denominations) that were disliked and therefore removed from the Bible during the Protestant Reformation.
It is also important to note that the books of the Deuterocanon, as canonical inclusions in the Jewish scripture read and studied in the synagogue as a portion of the Septuagint had been in that sacred use from at 250 years Before Christ. Additionally, the Septuagint with the included books of the Deuterocanon remained the sacred text for the Jewish people until the end of the 1st Century and start of the 2nd Century with a clear break and replacement not occurring until AD135.[6] A definitive move prompted by Rabbi Akiba when noting the Christian use of the Deuterocanon after the failed Second Jewish Revolt.[7] That resulted in Akiba’s disciple Aquila produced the Masoretic text excluding the Deuterocanon for Jewish usage.[8]
Therefore, the question is: Just what is meant by the Apostle Paul when he speaks of “all scripture” from which we cannot pick and choose only the bits we like and exclude the bits we do not?
The answer is the Septuagint along with its included books of the Deuterocanon – these Books excluded by some ARE God-breathed scripture “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
One more thing of note when it comes to “picking and choosing” – in my previous education regarding 2 Timothy 3:16-17 the purpose of the passage was to affirm that you needed the Bible and only the Bible as its foundation. Then was added that the Bible was then to be used “for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness” as verse 16 says and was applied in the spirit of Platt, Akin, and Merida who state:
“The Bible also equips us as we seek to lead others to Christ, teach sound doctrine, counsel people, or grow a church. … This charge to continue learning, trusting, and believing the Christ-centered, God-breathed, totally sufficient Scriptures is followed with the charge to proclaim this life-changing message of God, the gospel, the written and living Word declaring the truth about the incarnate Word.”[9]
Of course those are all good things, and all Christians should desire to learn and know the Bible for the sake of sharing the Gospel with others. It does, however, miss a lot of what is said. Once a person is educated in the faith the intended outcome is to be completely equipped for every good work (see verse 17).
To know the Bible – the God-breathed – the cannot pick and choose what you like and leave behind what you do not scriptures is to be fully equipped to do every Good Work.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
~ Isaiah 6:1-3
Which Jesus claimed as His own mission:
Jesus read from the scroll –
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And Jesus rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.
And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
And he began to say to them,
“Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
~ Luke 4:18-21
And, Jesus told Christians to do His works and even to exceed His works.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
~ Jesus
John 14:12
The bottom line is then that we are to believe the scriptures ALL of the scripture of the Old Testament – not deleting anything along the way – and, as Christians be enabled by the faith to do every Good Work that Christ has given us to do. An important point – seeing that our judgement will hang on it.
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
~ Jesus
Matthew 25:34–40
Buen Camino,
Fr Steve
Steven G Rindahl, DMin STM
[1] William D. Mounce, Pastoral Epistles, ed. Bruce M. Metzger et al., vol. 46, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas, TX: Word Incorporated, 2000), 565.
[2] Luke Timothy Johnson, The First and Second Letters to Timothy: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 35A, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001), 422.
[3] David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2013), 199–200.
[4] Thomas D. Lea and Hayne P. Griffin, Jr., 1, 2 Timothy, Titus, ed. David S. Dockery, vol. 34, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1992), 235.
[5] Johnson, 1st & 2nd Timothy, 35A:423.
[6] Luke Timothy Johnson, The Story of the Bible: Course Guidebook (Chantilly, VA: The Great Courses, 2006), 20–21.
[7] Gary G. Michuta, Why Catholic Bibles Are Bigger (Port Huron, MI: The Grotto Press, 2007), 68–70.
[8] Michuta, Why Cath. Bibles, 70.
[9] Platt, Akin, and Merida, Ex. Jesus in 1&2 Tim & Titus, 202.