Some quotes and other thoughts provoked by Timothy Ward's excellent book Words of Life.

• "The words of the Bible are a significant aspect of God's actions in the world" (p. 14)
• In "much evangelical writing ... the doctrine of Scripture has not been integrally related to the primary Christian doctrines: the doctrines of God, Christ, the Spirit, creation and salvation" (p. 16). This is a particular danger when the doctrine of Scripture is reduced to a discussion of Scriptures attributes, such as "sufficiency, clarity and authority" (p. 17).
• In Genesis 1, "verses 6 and 7 give two different aspects of the single divine act of creation. The rest of Genesis 1 follows the same pattern" (p. 23).
• "In giving Abraham the words of a promise [in Gen 12], God commits himself to a course of faithful action" (p. 25), and indeed establishes a relationship between himself and man.
• "The same equation of divine speaking and acting is evident in Psalm 29[:5, 8]" and in "Isaiah 55:10-11" (p. 26).
• "God and his word share the same divine infallibility to perform their purpose; human words often fail to perform their intended purpose, but God's words do not" (p. 27).
• Thus by fixing his words in writing, God commits himself to act in personal faithfulness towards his people. The existence of a written word is precisely a guarantee of divine fidelity and steadfast love. God's love is transparent and known, not hidden, precisely because he has testified to it in written words.
• Note the contrast with Pagan religions, where the gods are viewed with uncertainty. No one knows quite what they're going to do - they appear arbitrary, even capricious, precisely because they have not spoken.
• "When Adam and Eve disobey God's spoken command, they fracture their relationship with God himself ... To disobey the words God speaks is simply to disobey God himself ... God has invested himself in his words ... God has so identified himself with his words that whatever someone does to God's words (whether it is to obey or to disobey) they do directly to God himself" (p. 29)
• "To trust God's covenant promise is not to enter an agreement with an absentee God; it is to trust the God who has come to you ... God's actions, including his verbal actions, are a kind of extension of him" (p. 33).
• "To put your trust in the words of the covenant promise God makes to you is itself to put your trust in God: the two are the same thing. Communication from God is therefore communion with God, when met with a response of trust from us" (p. 34).