The Enfleshed and Written Forms of God's Word

Chapter 7 “The Enfleshed and Written Forms of God’s Word” pp. 11-173

The idea of God’s Word exists in several distinct guises. In this chapter Kolb and Arand discuss the written Word of God and the “enfleshed” Word of God. God has revealed himself through the documents of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. This revelation is sufficient to lead us to faith in Jesus, who is illustrated in detail. Jesus, the Word of God in flesh, is the one in whom we trust. He is the one who holds all creation together. How do we understand him? Only by way of the written Word of God.

We confess the one person of God the Son as possessing two complete natures, divine and human. The two are not mixed or confused, but dwell together in the person of Christ. To grasp this relationship with Jesus rightly, we embrace both natures as described in Scripture.

For Luther and the other Reformers the written Word of God was our sole authority for all doctrine. It is only in the Bible that we come to understand Christ rightly. Yet we do not reject other authorities. While we read Scripture we also bear in mind the way our historic confessions have viewed the Scripture. We also accept input from those who have shown themselves to be responsible interpreters of Scripture. These are safeguards to our reading of the Bible.