Articles
God's Inspired Word
Have you ever taken time to consider the question of the transmission of Scripture through the ages? There are a plethora of topics involved in this discussion and giving them our undivided attention will aid us as disciples of Christ. This is especially true because of the common, reductionistic view of this process as a children’s game of telephone! Our goal in the next several articles will be to discuss several of these factors in order to equip us all to have personal confidence in our own English Bibles. Having this information, we will also be able to convict naysayers. In this first article, let’s consider the inspiration of the Scriptures.
First Corinthians 2:9-13 reads, “but just as it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.’ For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.” A few verses later, the Apostle Paul affirms, by inspiration of the Spirit, that believers have the comprehensible “mind of Christ” in the Scriptures (v. 16; compare Ephesians 3:3-5; 5:17). First Corinthians 2 plainly speaks to the divine process of communication originating in the mind of the Father, then given to the Spirit and the Son, and then in turn written for our benefit by the hands of Christ’s ambassadors. Imperfect human words were the agency by which the Holy Spirit faithfully revealed the faultless mind of God. The Apostle Peter later confirms that Scripture is the cooperative product of men “moved by the Spirit” who “spoke for God” (2 Peter 1:21). These passages tacitly declare that God used fallible human mediators to pen the infallible Scriptures. What a paradoxical blessing!
Another key Scripture in this discussion is 2 Timothy 3:16-17 which reads, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” In conjunction with the passages already cited, this passage verifies that the Scriptures indeed possess verbal and plenary inspiration; in other words, every word in the Bible is inspired of God. Even though God did not hold the pen, when we read the Bible, we should feel His breath and hear His voice. But how exactly did God accomplish this monumental feat?
Theories abound for this process. Emphasizing verbal inspiration, many posit a sort-of mechanical dictation process, which is said to safeguard against the foibles of the human penmen. The weakness of this perspective is that, while maintaining compatibility and a united purpose and vision, the individual books read so differently from one another. The writings of Luke reveal a man who was detail-oriented and highly-educated, a sure fit for the physician Luke. Contrariwise, the Apostle John’s writings are as basic as one would expect of a redneck Jewish fisherman from Galilee. For this reason, others suggest a less rigorous approach. Within reason, this is a wiser approach. Disenchanted with those who take this latter understanding of inspiration too far, others still try to find a middle ground in which the omniscience of God enabled the Spirit to lead certain men to state exactly what God wanted to state.
Whatever the answer may be to this conundrum of a process, we know that if the Bible means anything in what it says, and if the texts above are true, God would absolutely be interested in communicating His will faithfully across languages and cultures. And this is where the faith component plays an indispensable role. If one looks for reasons not to believe in inspiration, they will be found. However, if one is open to all the evidence and lets the evidence speak for itself, there remains only one rational conclusion; namely, that the Old and New Testaments in our Bibles are the product of the mind of God and the hands of men. This process transcended human barriers and should cause us to pause and marvel at the knowledge and wisdom of God.
Ultimately, biblical faith is evidence-based (Hebrews 11:1). Believers should not fear an appropriate and thorough examination of the evidence. In fact, such a commitment and disciplined approach will build one’s faith and give more reason to believe than without that process. Next week, we will add some meat to these bones!
