THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF INSPIRATION

Although those holding many theological viewpoints would be willing to say the Bible is inspired, one finds little uniformity as to what is meant by inspiration. Some focus it on the writers; others, on the writings; still others, on the readers. Some relate it to the general message of the Bible; others, to the thoughts; still others, to the words. Some include inerrancy; many don’t.

These differences call for precision in stating the biblical doctrine. Formerly all that was necessary to affirm one’s belief in full inspiration was the statement, “I believe in the inspiration of the Bible.” But when some did not extend inspiration to the words of the text it became necessary to say, “I believe in the verbal inspiration of the Bible.” To counter the teaching that not all parts of the Bible were inspired, one had to say, “I believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible.” Then because some did not want to ascribe total accuracy to the Bible, it was necessary to say, “I believe in the verbal, plenary, infallible, inerrant inspiration of the Bible.” But then “infallible” and “inerrant” began to be limited to matters of faith only rather than also embracing all that the Bible records (including historical facts, genealogies, accounts of Creation, etc.), so it became necessary to add the concept of “unlimited inerrancy.” Each addition to the basic statement arose because of an erroneous teaching.

I. THE BIBLICAL DATA CONCERNING INSPIRATION

The doctrine of inspiration is not something theologians have forced on the Bible. Rather it is a teaching of the Bible itself, a conclusion derived from the data contained in it. And, whatever one may think of the Bible, it, like any other witness, has the right to testify on its own behalf. Some take exception to the validity of such evidence on the grounds that it is self-testimony and therefore may not be true. Granted, self-testimony may or may not be true, but it needs to be heard.

Here is the relevant data the Bible presents and confronts us with.

A. 2 Timothy 3:16

In this verse the apostle Paul declared that all Scripture is inspired of God and is profitable for a number of things. Notice three important claims in this statement.

1. All Scripture, the entire Bible, is inspired and profitable. This is the extent of inspiration. The New Testament uses this word “Scripture” fifty-one times and always in reference to some part of the Bible. Sometimes it refers to the entire Old Testament (Luke 24:45; John 10:35); sometimes, to a particular Old Testament passage (Luke 4:21); sometimes, to a particular New Testament passage (1 Tim. 5:18); and sometimes to a larger portion of the New Testament (2 Peter 3:16, referring to Paul’s writings).

These last two references, 1 Timothy 5:18 and 2 Peter 3:16, carry a great deal of importance. In 1 Timothy 5:18 Paul combined an Old and a New Testament reference and designated them both as Scripture. The Old Testament quotation is from Deuteronomy 25:4, and the New Testament one is Luke 10:7 (although that sentiment is found in Lev. 19:13 and Deut. 24:15, Luke was clearly not quoting either verse; indeed, the emphasis in Lev. 19 and Deut. 24 is on not withholding wages overnight). To join a quotation from Luke to a canonical Old Testament quote is highly significant. Remember too that probably only five or six years had elapsed between the writing of Luke and the writing of 1 Timothy.

In 2 Peter 3:16 Peter labeled Paul’s writings as Scripture, showing their early acceptance and recognized authority. Though it is true that not all of the New Testament was written when Paul wrote 2 Timothy 3:16 (2 Peter, Hebrews, Jude, and all of John’s writings were not), nevertheless, because those books were eventually acknowledged as belonging to the canon of Scripture, we may conclude that 2 Timothy 3:16 includes all the sixty-six books as we know them today. Not any book nor any part is excluded; all Scripture is inspired of God.

Most do not deny that 2 Timothy 3:16 includes all of the canonical books. Those who wish to try to reduce the amount of Scripture included in the verse do so by translating it this way: “All Scripture inspired by God is also profitable” (instead of “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable”). In other words, whatever parts of Scripture that are inspired are profitable, but other uninspired parts are not profitable. That translation indicates that only part of the Bible is inspired.

Such a translation is possible, but not required. Actually either translation can claim to be accurate. Both translations have to supply the word is since it does not appear in the original. The matter becomes a question of whether to supply “is” only one time or two times (“Every Scripture inspired by God is also profitable” or “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable”). The preference goes to the latter translation for three reasons. First, by supplying “is” two times, both adjectives (“inspired” and “profitable”) are understood the same way, as predicate adjectives, which is more natural. Second, the connective word, though it may be translated “also,” much more frequently means “and.” Third, a similar construction occurs in 1 Timothy 4:4 where both adjectives are clearly predicate adjectives. Thus the preferred translation makes it quite clear that all the Bible is inspired.

2. The entire Bible is God breathed. This expresses the means of inspiration. The form is passive, meaning that the Bible is the result of the breath of God. If, by contrast, the form were active, then it would mean that the Bible exudes or speaks of God. Of course, that is true, but it is not what Paul said in this verse. Our English word “inspire” carries the idea of breathing into something. But this word tells us that God breathed out something, namely, the Scripture. To be sure, human authors wrote the texts, but the Bible originated as an action of God who breathed it out.

3. The entire Bible is profitable. This expresses the purpose of inspiration. Its profit consists in teaching, reproving, correcting, restoring, and training in righteousness in order that the believer may be fitted, capable, or proficient, and furnished completely in every area of his being. The Bible is not to be put in a museum to be admired; rather, it is to be used in our lives.

To sum up: putting the three ideas of 2 Timothy 3:16 together, the verse teaches that the entire Bible came from God in order to show us how to live.

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B. 2 Peter 1:21

This verse tells us as much as any single verse how God used the human writers to produce the Bible. The Holy Spirit moved or bore them along. The use of the same verb in Acts 27:15 illuminates our understanding of what is meant by “bearing” or “moving” the human writers. Just before the ship that was taking Paul to Rome was wrecked on the Island of Malta, it ran into a fierce storm. Though experienced men, the sailors could not guide it, so they finally had to let the wind take the ship wherever it blew. In the same manner as that ship was driven, directed, or carried about by the wind, God directed and moved the human writers He used to produce the books of the Bible. Though the wind was the strong force that moved the ship along, the sailors were not asleep and inactive. Similarly, the Holy Spirit was the guiding force that directed the writers who, nevertheless, played their own active roles in writing the Scriptures.

But this verse also makes another important point. It declares that the wills of the human authors did not direct the writing of the Bible. The same verb, “moved” or “bore,” appears in the latter part of the verse as well. Thus prophecy was not borne by the will of man. The Spirit did it, not the will of man. This statement bears in an important way on the question of the inerrancy of the Bible. Man’s will, including his will to make mistakes, did not bring the Scriptures; rather, the Holy Spirit, who cannot err, brought us the Scriptures. To be sure, the writers were active in writing, but what they wrote was directed, not by their own wills with the possibility of error, but by the Spirit who is true and infallible.

B. B. Warfield, commenting on 2 Peter 1:21, emphasized this point well:

In this singularly precise and pregnant statement there are several things which require to be carefully observed. There is, first of all, the emphatic denial that prophecy—that is to say, on the hypothesis upon which we are working, Scripture—owes its origin to human initiative: “No prophecy ever was brought—‘came’ is the word used in the English Version text, with ‘was brought’ in the Revised Version margin—by the will of man.” Then, there is the equally emphatic assertion that its source lies in God: It was spoken by men, indeed, but the men who spoke it “spake from God.” And a remarkable clause is here inserted, and thrown forward in the sentence that stress may fall on it, which tells us how it could be that men, in speaking, should speak not from themselves, but from God: it was “as borne”—it is the same word which was rendered “was brought” above, and might possibly be rendered “brought” here—“by the Holy Spirit” that they spoke. Speaking thus under the determining influence of the Holy Spirit, the things they spoke were not from themselves, but from God.

To sum up: 2 Peter 1:21 states that God used men and gave us a completely truthful Bible.

B. 2 Peter 1:21

This verse tells us as much as any single verse how God used the human writers to produce the Bible. The Holy Spirit moved or bore them along. The use of the same verb in Acts 27:15 illuminates our understanding of what is meant by “bearing” or “moving” the human writers. Just before the ship that was taking Paul to Rome was wrecked on the Island of Malta, it ran into a fierce storm. Though experienced men, the sailors could not guide it, so they finally had to let the wind take the ship wherever it blew. In the same manner as that ship was driven, directed, or carried about by the wind, God directed and moved the human writers He used to produce the books of the Bible. Though the wind was the strong force that moved the ship along, the sailors were not asleep and inactive. Similarly, the Holy Spirit was the guiding force that directed the writers who, nevertheless, played their own active roles in writing the Scriptures.

But this verse also makes another important point. It declares that the wills of the human authors did not direct the writing of the Bible. The same verb, “moved” or “bore,” appears in the latter part of the verse as well. Thus prophecy was not borne by the will of man. The Spirit did it, not the will of man. This statement bears in an important way on the question of the inerrancy of the Bible. Man’s will, including his will to make mistakes, did not bring the Scriptures; rather, the Holy Spirit, who cannot err, brought us the Scriptures. To be sure, the writers were active in writing, but what they wrote was directed, not by their own wills with the possibility of error, but by the Spirit who is true and infallible.

B. B. Warfield, commenting on 2 Peter 1:21, emphasized this point well:

In this singularly precise and pregnant statement there are several things which require to be carefully observed. There is, first of all, the emphatic denial that prophecy—that is to say, on the hypothesis upon which we are working, Scripture—owes its origin to human initiative: “No prophecy ever was brought—‘came’ is the word used in the English Version text, with ‘was brought’ in the Revised Version margin—by the will of man.” Then, there is the equally emphatic assertion that its source lies in God: It was spoken by men, indeed, but the men who spoke it “spake from God.” And a remarkable clause is here inserted, and thrown forward in the sentence that stress may fall on it, which tells us how it could be that men, in speaking, should speak not from themselves, but from God: it was “as borne”—it is the same word which was rendered “was brought” above, and might possibly be rendered “brought” here—“by the Holy Spirit” that they spoke. Speaking thus under the determining influence of the Holy Spirit, the things they spoke were not from themselves, but from God.

To sum up: 2 Peter 1:21 states that God used men and gave us a completely truthful

C. 1 Corinthians 2:13

Here Paul made the point that God’s revelation came to us in words. This counters the contention of some that inspiration only relates to the thoughts that God wanted us to know, but not to the words in which those thoughts were expressed. Holding such a view relieves one of holding to the inerrancy of the text, for one could supposedly have truthful thoughts (God’s) conveyed in erroneous words (man’s). But Paul insisted that God’s message came in the words of the text.

The fact that Paul says he spoke in words does not mean that he is not referring to his writings. Notice that Peter said that Paul “spoke” in his writings (2 Pet. 3:16). So “speaking in words” can certainly refer to Paul’s written letters.

To sum up: this verse teaches that the actual words of the Bible are inspired.

D. A Group of Data

These data demonstrate some of the variety of material that God moved the human authors to include in the Bible.

1. Material that came directly from God. The two stones on which the Ten Commandments were written came directly from God (Deut. 9:10).

2. Researched material. Though some parts of the Bible were written straight off (like some of Paul’s letters), some were researched before they were written. The Gospel of Luke is an example of this (Luke 1:1–4). Luke was not an eyewitness of the events of the life of Christ. So either God would have had to give him direct revelation of those events in order for Luke to write his Gospel, or Luke would have had to discover them through research. In his prologue, Luke told us that (a) he consulted eyewitnesses of Christ’s life and ministry; (b) he used available written accounts of parts of His ministry; (c) he carefully investigated and sifted through all those sources; (d) he planned out the orderly arrangement of his material; and (e) the Holy Spirit moved and bore him along in the actual writing so that all he wrote was accurate and truthful.

3. Prophetic material. Approximately one fourth of the Bible was prophecy when it was written (though, of course, some of that material has been fulfilled). True prophecy can come only from the true, all-knowing God. No human writer could devise 100 percent true prophecy.

4. Historical material. Much of the Bible records history and does so accurately. Most of the historical portions were written by those who had personally lived through the events (e.g., Luke who was Paul’s traveling companion on many of his travels, Acts 16:10–13; 20:5–21:18; 27:1–28:6, or Joshua who experienced and then wrote about the Conquest of Canaan in the Book of Joshua). Something like the history of Creation, of course, had to be revealed by God to Moses, since no human being was an eyewitness and Moses wrote about it long after it occurred.

5. Other material. The Bible does record things that are untrue, like the lies of Satan (Gen. 3:4–5), but it records them accurately. The Bible contains some quotations from the writings of unsaved people (Titus 1:12). It also has some passages that are strongly and vividly personal and emotional (Rom. 9:1–3). But this variety of material is accurately recorded.

To sum up: God sometimes revealed things supernaturally and directly; sometimes He allowed the human writers to compose His message using their freedom of expression. But He breathed out the total product, carrying along the authors in various ways, to give us His message in the words of the Bible.

II. A DEFINITION OF INSPIRATION

A proper definition must, of course, be formed on the basis of the data of Scripture on the subject as examined above. The “bare bones” of a definition is this: God carried men along so that they wrote His message in the Bible.

Putting some meat on those bones leads to a definition like this: God superintended the human authors of the Bible so that they composed and recorded without error His message to mankind in the words of their original writings.

Notice carefully some of the key words in that definition.

(1) The word “superintend” allows for the spectrum of relationships God had with the writers and the variety of material. His superintendence was sometimes very direct and sometimes less so, but always it included guarding the writers so that they wrote accurately.

(2) The word “composed” shows that the writers were not passive stenographers to whom God dictated the material, but active writers.

(3) “Without error” expresses the Bible’s own claim to be truth (John 17:17).

(4) Inspiration can only be predicated of the original writings, not to copies or translations, however accurate they may be.

Observe: The procedure used in this chapter has been to examine the biblical data concerning inspiration and then to formulate a definition that incorporates that data. The definition, then, attempts to be a statement of the Bible’s own claims for itself. We did not start with a definition and then impose it on the data, and in the process, force or select only the data that would fit it.

Finally, we should never lose sight of the incredible claims the Bible makes for itself in this matter of inspiration. No other book can compare with it. God breathed it; men wrote it; we possess it.