AN
EXPLANATION OF THE BIBLICAL CONCEPT
OF
THE INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE,
ITS CHARACTER AND
CONFIRMATION
BY JESUS AND THE APOSTLES.
Special thanks for
these books;
John F. MacArthur
FROM GOD TO US
Geisler & Nix
SOLA SCRIPTURA
Various Authors
CALVIN’S INSTITUTES
John Calvin
Prepared by;
David L. Kooyers
(707)-895-3212
Spring of 2000
AN EXPLAINATION OF THE BIBLICAL CONCEPT
OF THE INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE,
ITS CHARACTER AND CONFIRMATION
BY JESUS AND THE APOSTLES.
How we view the inspiration of the Bible directly impacts the value we place upon Scripture and how it affects our life. If it is human in origin then it should be placed on a list of great literature of the world. If it is partly human in origin and partly from God then it should be regarded even higher. But, if it is truly God’s Word, as held by orthodox Christians since the time of Christ, then it demands the highest regard and must direct our daily affairs. In this paper we will examine what the Bible, Jesus, and the authors say about the inspiration of Scripture.
What
exactly do we mean by “inspiration”? Webster’s Dictionary defines it (in a
worldly sense) as, “a) an inspiring influence; any stimulus to creative
thought or action b) an inspired idea, action, etc. [or] a prompting of
something to be written or said.” Or theologically as “a divine influence upon
human beings, as that resulting in the writing of the Scriptures.”[1][1]
Let’s examine what the Bible says about God’s
“divine influence upon human beings…. in the writing of the Scriptures.” First,
we find that in three cases God wrote without human intervention,
Ex 31:18
When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the
two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of
God, Dan 5:5 …. The king watched the
hand as it wrote, John 8:6 But Jesus bent down and started to write on
the ground with his finger.
Next
we notice that hundreds of passages seem to be direct dictation from God, they
are usually prefaced by “thus says the Lord,” etc. Others indicate direct
revelation because the human writer would have no knowledge of the event
recorded, such as,
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God.
But
the majority of Scripture reveals the vocabulary, grammar, style, and
personality of the human writer, while still declaring itself to be God’s Word.
How can it possibly be that God could use sinful, error-prone human writers to
record His inerrant word without a wooden, or robotic type of dictation? The
biblical/evangelical position on this issue is well stated by H. Wayne House,
“The entire text of Scripture, including the very words, are the product of the
mind of God expressed in human terms and conditions.”[2][2] That is, every sentence, thought or
concept, and including every word in Scripture has been supernaturally brought
forth by God, through His servants to such a precise degree that every word in
all 66 books is God’s word. God accomplished this by sovereignly directing
every aspect of His servant’s lives, to mature their own personalities,
vocabularies, experiences, and writing style to accomplish God’s set purpose.
This is brought out in the Bible in
many passages; one of the clearest is,
2 Tim 3:16-17 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.
The word “God-breathed” (NIV) or “given by inspiration of God” (KJV) is translated from the Greek word “theópneustos”. This is derived of two other Greek words, the word theos (a deity), and pneo (pneh'-o); a primary word; to breathe hard, i.e. breeze: or blow (KJV).[3][3] This means that God “breathed out” His word and that the original autographs actually were the very words of God written down by men. We can also see that it is the “Scripture” that is “God-breathed” or inspired, not the authors. Also this verse refers to “All Scripture” not as some have said, that only the parts where you experience God are inspired. It is God’s revealed Word, regardless of what we think of it or how we respond to it.
God allowed men to express their own personality in their writings while every word was still God’s Word. We gain more insight into how God did this from,
2 Peter 1:21 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.
Barnes' Notes on 2 Peter 1:21 explain this phrase “carried along”. He says it “means, "borne along, moved, influenced" by the Holy Ghost. The idea is that in what they spake they were "carried along" by an influence from above. They moved in the case only as they were moved; they spake only as the influence of the Holy Ghost was upon them. They were no more self-moved than a vessel at sea is that is impelled by the wind….”[4][4] Other passages declare that God supernaturally moved His authors,
Jer 1:9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and
touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth.
Ezek 3:10 And he said to me, "Son of man, listen
carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you.
Ex 4:11 The LORD said to him [Moses], "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
Clearly the Bible indicates that the Scriptures are the very words of God, yet penned by men who were moved by God.
Let’s now examine the testimony of Jesus about God’s word. Jesus said in,
Matt 15:4 For God said, `Honor your father and
mother' and `Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'
Notice that Jesus said “God said” He did not say “Moses said”, even though Moses was the human penman. Jesus declared this quote from Exodus 20-21, Deuteronomy 5, and Leviticus 20 to be God’s words. Another time Jesus rebuked the Pharisees by quoting Psalm 110, and He positioned His whole argument upon the use of the word “Lord”,
Matt 22:44-46 "`The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet." ' If then David calls him `Lord,' how can he be his son?" No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Jesus also used the authority of God’s Word to rebuke Satan three times in Matthew (Matt 4:4, 7, 10), when He was tempted by the devil,
Matt 4:4 Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Jesus did not rebuke Satan by the authority of the Temple, Hebrew tradition, His position as the Son of God, or even the authority given Him by the Father; no, He quoted Scripture. We can see the importance Jesus placed on the Bible also in,
John 10:34-35 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written
in your Law, `I have said you are gods'? 35 If he called them `gods,' to whom
the word of God came-and the Scripture cannot be broken…
Here
He is quoting from Ps 82:6 and He builds His entire case on just one word out
of the Scriptures. Robert P. Lightner also says about this verse, “Jesus
ascribed His quotation from Psalm 82:6 to the law, but the psalms are not in
that portion of the Jewish canon known as the law. Our Lord considered all of
Scripture to be the law and therefore binding.”[5][5] Then Jesus adds that “the Scripture
cannot be broken”, meaning that the Scriptures could not be invalidated,
annulled, or set aside. He emphasized this in,
Matt 5:18 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.
Jesus also quotes from most of the books of the Old Testament, thereby validating them as the Word of God. Here are a few examples,
Luke 4:26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but
to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.
Matt 24:38 For in the days before the flood, people
were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah
entered the ark;
Matt 24:15 "So when you see standing in the holy place `the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel-let the reader understand-
So we can see that Jesus regarded the Scriptures as the very words of God, He affirmed their authority and power, right down to single words and small letters and marks, and that the historical accounts are trustworthy.
Now let’s now examine what the apostles taught about God’s word. In Acts 2, Peter quotes Joel and attributes it to what “God says”;
Acts 2:16-17 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet
Joel: "`In the last days, God says….
Paul builds his argument on the use of a singular as opposed to plural,
Gal 3:16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to
his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many
people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.
Paul quotes the writings of Moses, and in the same verse quotes Luke 10:7, calling it Scripture,
1 Tim 5:18 For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages."
Paul says the apostles’ words are words taught by the Spirit,
1 Cor 2:13 This is what we speak, not in words taught
us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual
truths in spiritual words.
Peter considers the writings of Paul as Scripture
2 Peter 3:16 He [Paul] writes the same way in all his
letters…. as they do the other Scriptures, ….
Clearly Jesus, the apostles, and the Bible itself declare the Scriptures to be the infallible, inerrant Word of God. Other concepts of inspiration wrongly present the Bible as either partially or not at all inspired by God, some hold that only the concepts are inspired. However, specific concepts require specific words, if you change the words in a covenant you change the covenant. Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer says, “all forms of partial inspiration leave the reader the final judge, and accordingly, the authority of Scripture becomes the authority of the person reading the Scripture with no two readers agreeing exactly as to what is truth and what is not.” [6][6]
[1][1] Webster’s New World Dictionary, “inspiration”
[2][2] Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine, H. Wayne House, Page 23
[3][3] Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance
[4][4] Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft
[5][5] HANDBOOK OF EVANGELICAL THEOLOGY, Robert P. Lightner, Page 16
[6][6] Major Bible Themes, Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer/John F. Walvoord, Page 19