Inspiration of the Bible (2)

Articles

Mike Willis
06/23/23 - Public Articles

Mike Willis

In this article, I want to show that one is not claiming more for the Bible than it claims for itself when he believes it to be an inspired revelation from God. I intend to show the following: (1) that the Bible claims to be inspired (2) that the degree of inspiration claimed by the Bible includes the very words in which the text is written. This is not circular reasoning since I am not using the Bible’s claim for inspiration as proof of its inspiration. This is only used to be sure that we do not claim more for the Bible than it claims for itself.

1. The Bible claims to be inspired of God. Rene Pache wrote, “The Old Testament alone affirms 3,808 times that it is transmitting the very words of God” (The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture, 37).

2. One can also learn about Scripture from how Jesus’s used the Old Testament scriptures. Here are some of the ways Jesus used them:

He used them to defend Himself against Satan (Matt. 4:1-11).
He used them as sufficient proofs of truth in His confrontations with the Jews (Matt. 22:32).
He affirmed that “scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). He used the scriptures as a final court of appeal. What they say will stand forever and cannot be annulled.
He believed they prophesied of Him (Matt. 26:54; Luke 24:44).
He believed every word was important (Matt. 5:17-18; 22:32).
He submitted to the scriptures (Gal. 4:4).

3. The following verses describe the Bible’s explanation of the divine inspiration of the Bible:

“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 Tim. 3:16-17). The significance of this passage is that it shows the Bible’s claim for itself: The Scriptures are a product of the breath of God.
“. . . For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21). This verse is saying that the Scriptures are not a product of a person’s private reasoning, i.e. the result of individuals investigating into matters and writing down their own findings. The Scriptures are not of human origin. Rather, the Scriptures are a product of men being borne along by the Holy Spirit.
“For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual” (1 Cor. 2:11-13). The things God prepared through Jesus were “revealed to us (the Apostles and prophets, mw) through the Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:10) to the extent that the very words selected were a product of the Holy Spirit’s work.
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons. . .” (1 Tim. 4:1). What Paul wrote was what “the Spirit expressly says.”

4. The Bible doctrine of inspiration is not “mechanical dictation.” The authors of the Bible were not mere stenographers. The writers used their own style and vocabulary. (Contrast the style of David and Paul.) The writers were expected to work in the production of the inspired books (Luke 1:3; the writers of 1 and 2 Chronicles cite several sources used by its author; 1 Chron. 29:29; 2 Chron. 9:29; 12:15; etc.). Like any other miracle, inspiration cannot be logically explained. Just as the incarnate Jesus was fully human and fully God, the Scriptures are likewise the product of humans while also being the product of Divinity.

Let us remember that the autograph (the original document) is what was inspired, not the always fallible copies that were made from that original, nor any English translation of it. We have an inspired Bible only so far as it is transmitted and translated correctly.