Book Review: Words of Life

It is probably true that nothing in American Christianity during the Twentieth Century was as important as the battles over the Bible fought in nearly every denomination.  The results of those battles seem to be clear as well. Evangelical denominations that agreed on the authority, infallibility, and inerrancy of the word of God have continued to be viable into the 21st Century.  Denominations that have married themselves to liberal theology that questions the very authority of God’s word find themselves in steep decline.

On the heels of these battles, Timothy Ward, writing from the UK, has given a book that needs to be read as a reminder that the Word of God is not merely a line in the sand to be fought for, it is indeed the living and active word of God that can transform lives and that must be obeyed.  Words of Life is a book on the doctrine of Scripture that keeps God in the forefront and as the central focus.  Ward reminds us that the Word of God is indeed the Word of God.  It is important, not primarily because someone says it is, but because God is its author.  The word is life.

Ward’s first three chapters focus on the biblical, theological, and doctrinal outlines for Scripture.  These outlines help the reader to see that God is present in his word, active in his word, and that his word is clear, sufficient, necessary and authoritative. His main premise, through these chapters and the subsequent two, however, is that God is a God who acts through his speech.

Drawing on the speech act theory, ward sets out to show that the Bible is not merely a collection of words, but that the very words of God are spoken with a purpose and that purpose is to reveal God to its readers and to align readers with the very will of God. With this in mind, Ward argues against the central place of inerrancy and infallibility in most doctrines of Scripture, because, in his mind, they are not sufficient.  He argues that if we believe God to be active in his word (literally, in his speech acts) then we have a great confidence that the inspired word of God (which he prefers) will be absolutely correct (inerrant) and that it will accomplish all of exactly what it is intended to accomplish (infallibility). Ward admits that his opinion on this issue might differ if he were in the American context where the battle for the Bible has been so intense, but his arguments still have weight for all believers. If God is the author of Scripture then it is inspired, and if it is inspired, it is necessarily infallible and inerrant.

One major problem I have with Ward’s work is that his insistence upon the speech act as the basic unit of communication, leads him to assume that the sentence and not the word is the most basic unit of language.  This naturally leads him to view proper translation of Scripture as dynamic (NIV), and not literal word for word translations (ESV, HCSB, NASB).  Sentences only have meaning because the words of which they are constructed have meanings, therefore I believe Ward is wrong on this point.

However, I still found this book to be very informative and helpful.  It is a great introduction for anyone wanting to know more about speech act theory and the Word of God, and in light of the coming celebration of Reformation Month (I am trying to make that an official holiday), this is a good read to refocus on the reformer’s claim of sola scriptura.