THE ORIGIN AND INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE
THE NATURE OF BIBLICAL INSPIRATION
The Bible claims to be a book from God, a message with divine authority. Indeed, the biblical writers say they were moved by the Holy Spirit to utter His very words—that their message came by revelation so that what they wrote was breathed out (inspired) by God Himself.
Two Basic Texts on Revelation and Inspiration
A summary of what the Bible claims about itself is found in two crucial texts. Peter said the writers were moved by the Holy Spirit, and Paul claimed their writings were breathed out by God. Hence the Bible’s claim that Spirit-moved writers uttered God-breathed writings.
2 Peter 1:20–21 declares:
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
In short, the prophetic Scriptures (of the Old Testament) did not originate with man but with God moving on men called prophets of God (see next page).
2 Timothy 3:16, the other classic New Testament text, reads:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
While Peter speaks of the message originating with God, Paul says it becomes the written Word of God. God is the ultimate Cause, and the Scriptures are the authoritative result.
There are numerous passages in the Bible supporting the claim that the message of the Bible came from God through men of God and was inscripturated in the Word of God. Let’s first examine those passages that speak of the inspiration of the Old Testament, and then we’ll look at those pertaining to the New Testament.
Descriptions About the Inspiration of the Old Testament
In Deuteronomy 18:18 God said to Moses: “I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.” On his deathbed David testified, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; his word was on my tongue” (2 Sam. 23:2).1 God spoke to Isaiah of “my words that I have put in your mouth” (Isa. 59:21). Second Chronicles 34:14 tells of “the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been given through Moses.” The prophet Zechariah wrote of “the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets” (Zech. 7:12).
Likewise, in Matthew 22:43 Jesus questioned, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls Him ‘Lord’?” (Ps. 110:1). Peter referred to “God … who spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David …” (Acts 4:24–25). The writer of Hebrews adds, “He [God] … spoke through David as was said before” (Heb. 4:7).
Descriptions About the Inspiration of the New Testament
The New Testament writers considered their writings to be inspired Scripture. Peter, speaking of Paul’s epistles, said they too were “Scripture” (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16) just as the Old Testament was. He wrote,
Our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. (2 Peter 3:15–16
Paul cites the gospel of Matthew as Scripture along with the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, asserting, “For the Scripture says [in Deut. 25:4], ‘Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,’ and, [in Matt. 10:10] ‘The worker deserves his wages’ ” (1 Tim. 5:18).
Paul declared in 1 Corinthians that his “words” are “taught by the Spirit” (2:13), for “God has revealed it to us by his Spirit” (5:10). The apostle concludes his exhortation by saying, “If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Cor. 14:37). He also begins his epistle to the Galatians by reminding them that what he preached came from God: “I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:12).
John the apostle opens the book of Revelation with “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him” (Rev. 1:1), and he concludes the book with the declaration that he is a prophet (alongside the Old Testament prophets): “I [the angel speaking to John] am a fellow servant, with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book” (Rev. 22:9).
The Nature of a Prophet
The biblical authors were prophets and apostles of God. There are many designations of a prophet that are informative about his role in producing Scripture. A prophet is called
(1) a man of God (1 Kings 12:22), meaning that he was chosen by God;
(2) a servant of the Lord (1 Kings 14:18), indicating that he was faithful to God;
(3) a messenger of the Lord (Isa. 42:19), showing that he was sent by God;
(4) a seer (Roʾeh) or beholder (Hozeh) (Isa. 30:9–10), revealing that his insight was from God;
(5) a man of the Spirit (Hos. 9:7 rsv; cf. Mic. 3:8), telling that he spoke by the Spirit of the Lord;
(6) a watchman (Ezek. 3:17), reflecting his alertness for God; and
(7) a prophet (by which he is most commonly called), marking him as a spokesperson for God.2
The prophets received their messages from God in various ways. Some got it by dreams (Gen. 37); others by visions (Dan. 7); some by an audible voice (1 Sam. 3) or an inner voice (Hos. 1; Joel 1). Others received revelations from angels (Gen. 19), and some by miracles (Ex. 3, Judg. 6) or the lot (Prov. 16:33). The high priest used jewels known as the Urim and Thummim (Ex. 28:30). God spoke to still others as they meditated on His revelation in nature (Ps. 19). Whatever the means, as Hebrews puts it, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways” (Heb. 1:1).
The nature of a biblical prophet is described in these vivid terms: ‘The Sovereign Lord has spoken—who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8). He is one who speaks “everything the Lord had said” (Ex. 4:30). Again, God said, “I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him” (Deut. 18:18). He added, “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it” (Deut. 4:2). Jeremiah was commanded: “This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s house and speak to all the people.… Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word” (Jer. 26:2). In brief, a prophet was someone who said what God told him to say, no more and no less.
As a mouthpiece for God bound neither to add to nor take away from His words, the very nature of a prophet guarantees that a prophetic writing is exactly what God wants to say to humankind. Since the Bible is presented as a prophetic writing from beginning to end (Matt. 5:17–18; 2 Peter 1:20–21; Rev. 22:9), it follows that the written record of the prophets was considered inspired of God. This is what the prophet Zechariah meant when he wrote,
They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry. (Zech. 7:12)
To be sure, not all prophets were known by that name. Some were kings, like David; yet he was also a mouthpiece of God, nonetheless—he is even called a “prophet” (in Acts 2:29–39). Others were lawgivers, like Moses; but he too was a prophet or spokesman for God (Deut. 18:18). Some biblical writers even disclaimed the term “prophet” (Amos 7:14), meaning they were not a professional prophet, like Samuel and his “group of prophets” (1 Sam. 19:20). Nonetheless, even if Amos was not a prophet by office, he was certainly a prophet by gift (cf. Amos 7:15), for he was being used as a mouthpiece of God.
Nor did all who were prophets always speak in the first-person style of an explicit “Thus saith the Lord.” Those who wrote historical books—like the prophet Jeremiah, who wrote Kings—spoke in an implied “Thus did the Lord.” Theirs, in such instances, was a message more about the acts of God on behalf of His people than the words of God to His people. Nonetheless, all the biblical writers were channels through which God conveyed His message to humankind.
What the Bible Says, God Says
Another way the Bible claims to be the Word of God is expressed in the formula “What the Bible says, God says.” This is manifested in that often an Old Testament passage will claim God said it, yet when this same text is cited in the New Testament it asserts that the Scriptures said it. Sometimes the reverse is true—in the Old Testament it is the Bible that records it, while the New Testament declares that it was God who said it.
Consider this comparison:
|
What God Says |
The Bible Says |
|
Genesis 12:3 |
Galatians 3:8 |
|
Exodus 9:16 |
Romans 9:17 |
|
Genesis 2:24 |
Matthew 19:4–5 |
|
Psalm 2:1 |
Acts 4:24–25 |
|
Isaiah 55:3 |
Acts 13:34 |
|
Psalm 16:10 |
Acts 13:35 |
|
Psalm 2:7 |
Hebrews 1:5 |
|
Psalm 97:7 |
Hebrews 1:6 |
|
Psalm 104:4 |
Hebrews 1:7 |
|
Psalm 95:7 |
Hebrews 3:7 |
A couple of passages make the point. Consider Genesis 12:1–3:
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.… I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
But when this passage is cited in Galatians 3:8, we read, “The scripture … announced …, ‘All the nations will be blessed through you’ ” (emphasis added).
Likewise, in Exodus 9:13–16:
And the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.… But I [the Lord] have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ ”
However, when the New Testament quotes this passage it says, “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth’ ” (Rom. 9:17, emphasis added).
Again, often the order is reversed; for example, in Genesis 2:24 the author of the book says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Yet when this is cited by Jesus in the New Testament, He says, “Haven’t you read that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?” (Matt. 19:4–5).
The same is true with Psalm 2:1 (nkjv), where it is David who said, “Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?” but when this is cited in Acts 4:24–25 (nkjv) we read: “So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: ‘Lord, You are God, who … said: “Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things?” ’ ”
Commenting on this scriptural phenomenon, B. B. Warfield keenly observed:
It would be difficult to invent methods of showing profound reverence for the text of Scripture as the very Word of God, which will not be found to be characteristic of the writers of the New Testament in dealing with the Old.
Warfield spent a whole chapter dealing with the above kinds of citations, noting,
In one of these classes of passages the Scriptures are spoken of as if they were God; in the other, God is spoken of as if He were the Scriptures. [Thus] in the two taken together, God and Scriptures are brought into such conjunction as to show that in point of directness of authority no distinction was made between them. (IAB, 299.)
The Biblical Writers Claim: “Thus Says the Lord”
Phrases such as “thus says the Lord” (Isa. 1:11, 18; Jer. 2:3, 5, etc.), “God said” (Gen. 1:3, 6, etc.), “the Word of the Lord came to me” (Jer. 34:1; Eze. 30:1, etc.) or the like are found hundreds of times in Scripture. These reveal beyond question that the writer is claiming to give the very Word of God. In the book of Leviticus alone there are some sixty-six occurrences of phrases like “the Lord spoke unto Moses” (cf. 1:1; 4:1; 5:14; 6:1, 8, 19; 7:22).
Countless times Ezekiel records phrases such as “I saw visions” or “the word of the Lord came to me.” In one short section (chapter 12) there are eleven such examples (vv. 8, 10, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25–26, 28 twice), and sometimes there are two in the same verse (Ezek 20:3). The same is true of Jeremiah (cf. 1:2, 4, 11, 13; 2:1, 3, 5, etc.), Isaiah (cf. 1:1, 11, 18, 24; 2:1, etc.), and other prophets. The overall impression leaves no doubt as to the confessed source of their messages.
The Bible Claims to Be the “Word of God”
Many times the Bible claims to be “the Word of God” in these very terms. Jesus told the Jews of His day, “You nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition” (Matt. 15:6). Paul speaks of the Scriptures as “the oracles of God” (Rom. 3:2 nkjv), and Peter declares, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Peter 1:23). And the writer of Hebrews affirms, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword” (4:12).
The Bible Claims to Have Divine Authority
There are many other words or phrases the Bible uses to describe itself that entail the claim to divine authority. Jesus said the Bible has indestructibility in that it will never pass away (Matt. 5:17–18); it is infallible or “cannot be broken” (John 10:35); it has final authority (Matt. 4:4, 7, 10); and it is sufficient for faith and practice (Luke 16:31; cf. 2 Tim. 3:16–17).
The extent of divine authority in Scripture includes:
(1) all that is written—2 Tim. 3:16;
(2) even the very words—Matt. 22:43; 1 Cor. 2:13;
(3) and tenses of verbs—Matt. 22:32; Gal. 3:16;
(4) even the smallest parts of words—Matt. 5:17–18.
That is, even though the Bible was not mechanically dictated by God to man, nonetheless, the result is just as perfect as if it had been. The biblical authors claimed that God is the source of the very words of Scripture, since He supernaturally superintended the process by which they wrote, using their own vocabulary and style message to record His message (2 Peter 1:20–21).
THE LOCUS OF BIBLICAL INSPIRATION—VERBAL
Numerous passages make it evident that the locus of revelation and inspiration is the written Word, the Scriptures (Gk: grapha), not simply the idea or even the writer. Notice that in the texts just cited the reference is to revealed or divinely inspired “Scriptures” (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 3:16), “words” (1 Cor. 2:10–13), “the book” (2 Chron. 34:14), “his [God’s] word” (2 Sam. 23:2), “my [God’s] words” (Isa. 59:21), and “the words” (Zech. 7:12).
When referring to the Old Testament as the authoritative Word of God, the New Testament most often (over ninety times) uses the phrase “it is written” (cf. Matt. 4:4, 7, 10). Jesus described this written word as that which “comes out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). So important were the exact words of God that Jeremiah was told:
This is what the Lord says: “Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the Lord. Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word” (26:2).
So it wasn’t simply God’s message that men were free to state in their words; the very choice of words was from God. Exodus 24:4 records that “Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said. …” Again, Deuteronomy adds, “I [God] will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him” (Deut. 18:18).
Sometimes we are reminded that even the tenses of verbs are stressed by God. Jesus said, “But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am [not was] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living” (Matt. 22:31–32). Paul based his argument on a singular noun versus a plural in Galatians 3:16, insisting “The Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ.” Even one letter (“s”) can make a big difference. Recall that Jesus went so far as to declare that parts of letters are inspired: “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matt. 5:18).3
THE EXTENT OF BIBLICAL INSPIRATION—PLENARY
Biblical inspiration is not only verbal (located in the words), but it is also plenary, meaning that it extends to every part of the words and all they teach or imply.
What Inspiration Guarantees
Inspiration does guarantee the truth of all the Bible teaches, implies, or entails (spiritually or factually). Paul said “all,” not some, Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16), and Peter declared that “no prophecy of Scripture” came from man but that all came from God (2 Peter 1:20–21).
Jesus told His disciples that “the Counselor, [which is] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26). He added, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). As a matter of fact, the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20). And the early church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42), which was recorded for us in the pages of the New Testament and was considered “Scripture” along with the Old Testament (cf. 2 Peter 3:15–16; 1 Tim. 5:18).
The inspiration of God, then, extends to every part of Scripture, including everything God affirmed (or denied) about any topic. It is inclusive of not only what the Bible teaches but what it touches; that is to say, it includes not only what the Bible teaches explicitly but also what it teaches implicitly, covering not only spiritual matters but factual ones as well. The omniscient God cannot be wrong about anything He teaches or implies (see volume 2).
What Inspiration Does Not Guarantee
There are, however, many things that inspiration does not guarantee.
(1) It does not guarantee that every part of a parable is conveying a truth (as opposed to the truthfulness of the point the parable is illustrating—Luke 18:2);
(2) nor that everything recorded in the Bible is true (as opposed to only what is taught or implied—Gen. 3:4);
(3) nor that no exaggerations (hyperboles) can be used (Col. 1:23);
(4) nor that all statements about God and creation are purely literal (Heb. 4:13; Job 38:7);
(5) nor that all factual assertions are technically precise by modern standards (as opposed to accurate by ancient standards—2 Chron. 4:2);
(6) nor that all statements about the universe must be from a modern astronomical perspective (as opposed to a common observational standpoint—Josh. 10:12);
(7) nor that all citations of Scripture must be verbatim (as opposed to faithful);
(8) nor that all citations of Scripture must have the same application as the original (cf. Hos. 11:1; Matt. 2:15), rather than having the same interpretation (meaning);
(9) nor that the same truth can be said in only one way (as opposed to many ways, such as in the Gospels);
(10) nor that whatever a writer personally believed (as opposed to merely what he actually affirmed in Scripture) is true (Matt. 15:26);
(11) nor that truth is exhaustively revealed or treated (as opposed to adequately presented) in the Bible (1 Cor. 13:12);
(12) nor that quotations imply the truth of everything in the source it is citing, rather than only the part cited (Titus 1:12);
(13) nor that the grammatical construction will always be the customary one (rather than an adequate one to convey the truth).
How do we know that these are not included in what inspiration covers? The answer is called “the phenomena of Scripture”; that is, what the Bible says must be understood in view of what the Bible shows. What it preaches must be read in view of what it practices. The doctrine of Scripture is to be understood in the light of the data of Scripture.
All thirteen things listed above are part of the data of Scripture. For instance, the Bible uses round numbers; thus, when the Bible claims to be true it does not mean to exclude the use of round numbers. The same is true of hyperboles, figures of speech, observational language, and literary genre (poetry, parable, etc.). In short, everything the Bible affirms is true, but what is meant by truth must be understood in the light of the phenomena or data of Scripture (see chapter 12).
THE DEGREE OF BIBLICAL INSPIRATION—EQUAL
Are there different degrees of inspiration in the Bible? That is, are some things more inspired than others? The answer to this is best understood in terms of what is meant by inspiration, namely, that whatever the Bible affirms (or implies) is true, God affirms (or implies) is true. This being the case, there can be no degrees of inspiration any more than there can be degrees of truth: Something is either true or false. One thing is not more or less true than another any more than a woman can be more or less pregnant.
Thus, the affirmation that “Jezebel died” is as inspired as “Jesus died.” However, while everything in the Bible is equally true, not everything is equally important. The death of the perfect Christ is much more important than the death of the wicked queen. Likewise, the resurrection of Christ is more important than the raising of Lazarus (John 11). In short, there are no degrees of truth, but there are degrees of importance of one truth over another.
A BIBLICAL DEFINITION OF INSPIRATION
In view of what the Bible says and shows about itself, a definition of divine inspiration can be formulated. First, the elements of a definition will be set forth; then, the definition will be derived from them. There appear to be six basic elements stated or implied in the Bible.
The Bible Has a Divine Origin
The ultimate source of a divinely inspired Bible is God Himself, for the Scriptures are “breathed” (inspired) by Him (2 Tim. 3:16): “Every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). Scripture did not originate from human impulse, “for prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20–21).
The Bible Came Through Human Agency
With the exception of a few occasions, like the giving of the Ten Commandments—which were “inscribed by the finger of God” (Deut. 9:10)—the Bible did not come directly from God but only indirectly from Him through the instrumentality of His prophets. Hebrews 1:1 declares: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways.…” The Holy Spirit “moved” on “holy men of God” (2 Peter 1:21 nkjv). David said it well: “The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; his word was on my tongue” (2 Sam. 23:2; see also Deut. 18:18; Isa. 59:21; Zech. 7:12; Acts 4:24–25; Heb. 4:7).
Furthermore, judging by the various vocabulary, grammar, styles, figures of speech, and human interests of the various authors, God did not disregard the personality and culture of the biblical writers when He providentially guided them to be the vehicles through which He revealed His written Word to humankind. On the contrary, the Bible is a thoroughly human book in every respect, except that it is without error (see chapter 15).
Regardless of the mystery surrounding how God was able to make His word certain without destroying the freedom and personality of the authors (see chapter 15), several things are clear. The human authors of Scripture were not mere secretaries taking dictation; their freedom was not suspended or negated, and they were not automatons. What they wrote is what they desired to write in the style that they were accustomed to using. God in His providence engaged in a divine concurrence between their words and His so that what they said, He said (see above).
The Bible Is a Written Authority
Inspiration deals with the written text of Scripture; it is the grapha (writings) of the prophets that are inspired (2 Tim. 3:16). The phrase “It is written” (cf. Matt. 4:4, 7, 10) reveals that the focus of God’s authority for His people was in His written Word. Nowhere does the Bible speak of inspired ideas or of inspired persons. To be sure, God moved on the writers (2 Peter 1:20–21), but this was to insure that their writings were inspired. The repeated references to the very “words” of the prophets being from God stresses this point (cf. Ex. 24:4; Deut. 18:18; Jer. 26:2).
The Bible’s Divine Authority Is Located in the Autographic Text
This important fact of the divine inspiration of the Bible is implied from two facts. First, all the biblical references to the God-given authority of Scripture are to what God gave or “breathed-out,” which was the original text. Second, not all copies of the original text are perfect; there are minor errors in them, and these can be seen by comparing parallel passages (cf. 2 Kings 8:26; 2 Chron. 22:2). But God cannot lie (Heb. 6:18; Titus 1:2); His law is “perfect” or flawless (Ps. 19:7). Hence, whatever errors there are in copies of the Bible could not have been in the original text. This leads to another characteristic of an inspired text—its inerrancy.
The Bible’s Original Text Is Inerrant
If God cannot err, and the original text was breathed out by God, then it follows that the original text of the Bible is without error. Hence, any real errors found in biblical manuscripts or in translations of them were not in the original. Copies of the original are only inspired insofar as they are accurate copies of the original. As Augustine aptly put it,
If we are perplexed by any apparent contradiction in Scripture, it is not allowable to say, “The author of this book is mistaken”; but either the manuscript is faulty, or the translation is wrong, or you have not understood. (AF, 11.5.)
The Bible Has Final Authority
When speaking of its divine authority, the Bible makes it clear that this is a final authority, the court of last appeal in everything it affirms (or implies). The psalmist said, “For you have exalted above all things your name and your word” (Ps. 138:2). He added, “Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (Ps. 119:89).
Again, Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matt. 5:18). He rebuked the religious leaders of His day for exalting their teaching above the Word of God (Matt. 15:3–6). Again, the manner in which Jesus and the New Testament writers use the phrase “it is written” in the Scriptures manifests their belief that it was the final court of appeal in all disputes on which it speaks.
The Sixty-Six Canonical Books of the Bible Alone Have This Divine Authority4
One other element of the evangelical view of the inspiration of Scripture should be added here, though it is discussed elsewhere (see chapter 28). This element is one of the distinguishing factors between the evangelical and Roman Catholic views of Scripture: The sixty-six canonical books of the Protestant canon alone are invested with divine authority. No other source equals or surpasses that of Scripture; the Bible, and the Bible alone, is a supremely authoritative book in matters of faith and practice.
SUGGESTED DEFINITION OF INSPIRATION
Inspiration is the supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit, who through the different personalities and literary styles of the chosen human authors invested the very words of the original books of Holy Scripture, alone and in their entirety, as the very Word of God without error in all that they teach or imply (including history and science), and the Bible is thereby the infallible rule and final authority for faith and practice of all believers.
THE MODUS OPERANDI OF INSPIRATION
The mode of operation by which the Holy Spirit worked with the authors in order to assure an infallible and inerrant product is a matter of much speculation among theologians. The mystery remains inscrutable, but the process is intelligible and the parameters are definable.
The Parameters of the Modus Operandi
Two factors define the limits within which legitimate speculation may occur:
(1) The product is infallible and inerrant.
(2) Whatever means is used, different personalities, different styles, and the freedom of the authors manifested in their books must be accounted for.
The first point is known from the doctrine of Scripture supported above by numerous references. The second is known from the data of Scripture, clearly manifested in its human characteristics (see chapter 15).
Problematic Explanations
Like illustrations of the Trinity, no analogies of scriptural inspiration are perfect, some are better than others, and still others are misleading. Several fall into this latter category.
In particular, two illustrations should be avoided: that of a secretary and that of a musical instrument. Early church fathers were particularly known to use the latter (see chapter 17). The problem with these illustrations is that they lend to the false charge that evangelicals believe in mechanical dictation.
The musical instrument illustration is unhelpful because a musical instrument has no free will, no personality, and no literary style—it is an inanimate object, and not an efficient cause of the notes but only an instrumental cause.
The secretary illustration is not much better, because faithful secretaries take dictation. While they are not inanimate or nonfree instruments, nevertheless, by the very nature of their occupation they are not creating the material but merely recording it. The words written are not theirs, nor is their personality expressed. This is not true of biblical inspiration, which, as we have seen, employs the freedom, style, vocabulary, and personalities of the various biblical authors to convey God’s Word to humankind.
In his noted Theopneustia, Louis Gaussen (1790–1863) uses the illustration of an orchestra conductor. This is somewhat better, since all members of the orchestra are freely participating and expressing their distinctive sounds while the master brings them together in unity and harmony, as does God with the Scriptures. Even here the analogy breaks down, however, since the whole sound is not really the result of each member playing his own solo. Further, instrumentalists make mistakes, while the Bible does not.
Many evangelicals have been content to rely on the providentially preplanned personalities model, whereby God preplanned the lives, styles, and vocabularies of the various biblical authors so that they would freely choose to write the correct thing in the right way at the right time, which God, by preordained divine concurrence, has determined would be their part of His Word. While this is no doubt true, even this does not account for the whole story. For one thing, it does not explain how free will fits into the picture. Were the free choices of the various authors causally predetermined? If so, were they really free? Further, how could God guarantee that the results would be infallible and inerrant if the authors were really free to do otherwise?
While some models are better than others, no matter how good the model is there always seems to be some mystery left at the very point where there is a divine/human encounter. This is true of the doctrines of predestination and free will (see volume 2) as well as the doctrines of how the two natures of Christ relate and the mode of inspiration.
Without attempting to solve the mystery, there are meaningful ways to describe it. Thomas Aquinas offered one of these in his teacher/student analogy, arguing that the relationship between God and the human authors of Scripture is more like that of a teacher to his pupil. The value of this analogy is that it preserves the personality of the human authors while at the same time explaining the commonality between what the teacher conveyed and what the student expressed (see ST, 2a2ae 171, 6; 172, 6).
This analogy also makes a distinction between primary (God) and secondary (man) causality, thus avoiding reducing the human authors to mere instrumental causes. A secondary cause is a cause whose power to cause comes from the primary cause, but the exercise of the power of causality rests in its own free expression. But here too there is a difference, since the secondary cause (the student) can and sometimes does deviate from the primary cause (God). Not so when God (the primary cause) worked in and through the human authors of Scripture (the secondary causes).
CONCLUSION
One final comment is in order: The ultimate process, however illustrated, retains an element of mystery. Nonetheless, it is correct to say that while the Bible was not dictated by God to secretaries, the final product is as infallible and inerrant as though it were dictated.
SOURCES
Archer, Gleason. Old Testament Quotations in the New Testament.
Augustine. Against Faustus.
Gaussen, Louis. Theopneustia.
Geisler, Norman, ed. Inerrancy.
Geisler, Norman, and William E. Nix. A General Introduction to the Bible.
Henry, Carl F. H., ed. Revelation and the Bible.
Hodge, Charles, and B. B. Warfield. Inspiration.
Johnson, S. Lewis. The Old Testament in the New.
Lindsell, Harold. The Battle for the Bible.
Nash, Ronald. The Word of God and the Mind of Man.
Packer, J. I. “Fundamentalism” and the Word of God.
Pasche, Rene. The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible.
Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologica.
Turretin, Francis. The Doctrine of Scripture.
Warfield, B. B. The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible.
———. Limited Inspiration.
1 Emphasis in all scriptural citations is added.
2 From Norman Geisler and William Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible, chapter 4.
3 Of course, neither letters nor words are inspired in and of themselves but only as part of a whole sentence, which alone bears meaning (and truth). This was shown earlier, in chapter 6.
4 For a comprehensive treatment of the Protestant principle of Sola Scriptura (the Bible alone), see Keith A. Mathison, The Shape of Sola Scriptura (Moscow, Ida.: Canon Press, 2001).
Geisler, N. L. 2002. Systematic theology, volume one: Introduction, Bible (229). Bethany House Publishers: Minneapolis, MN
