Reference: Inspiration
American
That supernatural influence exerted on the minds of the sacred writers by the Spirit of God, in virtue of which they unerringly declared his will. Whether what they wrote was previously familiar to their own knowledge, or, as in many cases it must have been, an immediate revelation from heaven; whether his influence in any given case was dictation, suggestion, or superintendence; and however clearly we may trace in their writings the peculiar character, style, mental endowments, and circumstances of each; yet the whole of the Bible was written under the unerring guidance of the Holy Ghost, 2Ti 3:16.
Christ everywhere treats the Old Testament Scripture as infallibly true, and of divine authority-the word of God. To the New Testament writers inspiration was promised, Mt 10:19-20; Joh 14:26; 16:13; and they wrote and prophesied under its direction, 1Co 2:10-13; 14:37; Ga 1:12; 2Pe 1:21; 3:15; Re 1:1,10-19.
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But when they deliver you up, be not anxious how or what you shall speak; for that which you shall speak shall be given you in that hour: for it is not you that speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father that speaks in you.
But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have spoken to you.
But when he, the Spirit of the truth, has come, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak of himself; but what he hears, that will he speak, and he will show you things to come.
But God has revealed them to us through his Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of man, but the spirit of man which is in him? Even so, the things of God no one knows, but the Spirit of God. read more. And we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God: which things also we speak, not in words taught by man's wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things.
If any one has the reputation of being a prophet, or spiritual man, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.
for neither did I receive it from man, nor was it taught me, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished for every good work.
THE Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, that he might show to his servants the things that must shortly come to pass; and he sent it by his angel, and made it known to his servant John,
I was in spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great voice like that of a trumpet, saying: What you see, write in a book, and send to the seven churches; to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. read more. And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me: and having turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like the Son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to his feet, and girded about the breast with a golden girdle. His head and his hair were white as white wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet were like fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace: and his voice was like the voice of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went a sharp, two-edged sword: arid his face was as the sun when it shines in its strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead; and he laid his right hand upon me, saying: Fear not, I am the First and the Last, and I am he that lives; and I was dead, and be hold, I am alive from age to age: and I have the keys of hades and of death. Write, therefore, the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and those which shall be here after;
Easton
that extraordinary or supernatural divine influence vouchsafed to those who wrote the Holy Scriptures, rendering their writings infallible. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (R.V., "Every scripture inspired of God"), 2Ti 3:16. This is true of all the "sacred writings," not in the sense of their being works of genius or of supernatural insight, but as "theopneustic," i.e., "breathed into by God" in such a sense that the writers were supernaturally guided to express exactly what God intended them to express as a revelation of his mind and will. The testimony of the sacred writers themselves abundantly demonstrates this truth; and if they are infallible as teachers of doctrine, then the doctrine of plenary inspiration must be accepted. There are no errors in the Bible as it came from God, none have been proved to exist. Difficulties and phenomena we cannot explain are not errors. All these books of the Old and New Testaments are inspired. We do not say that they contain, but that they are, the Word of God. The gift of inspiration rendered the writers the organs of God, for the infallible communication of his mind and will, in the very manner and words in which it was originally given.
As to the nature of inspiration we have no information. This only we know, it rendered the writers infallible. They were all equally inspired, and are all equally infallible. The inspiration of the sacred writers did not change their characters. They retained all their individual peculiarities as thinkers or writers. (See Bible; Word of God.)
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All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished for every good work.
Fausets
The supernatural action of the Holy Spirit on the mind of the sacred writers whereby the Scriptures were not merely their own but the word of God. Scripture not merely contains but is the word of God. As the whole Godhead was joined to the whole manhood, and became the Incarnate Word, so the written word is at once perfectly divine and perfectly human; infallibly authoritative because it is the word of God, intelligible because in the language of men. If it were not human we should not understand it; if it were not divine it would not be an unerring guide. The term "scriptures" is attached to them exclusively in the word of God itself, as having an authority no other writings have (Joh 5:39; 10:34-36). They are called "the oracles of God" (Ro 3:2), i.e. divine utterances.
If Scripture were not plenarily and verbally sanctioned by God, its practical utility as a sure guide in all questions directly or indirectly affecting doctrine and practice would be materially impaired, for what means would there be of distinguishing the false in it from the true? Inspiration does not divest the writers of their several individualities of style, just as the inspired teachers in the early church were not passive machines in prophesying (1Co 14:32). "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty" (2Co 3:17). Their will became one with God's will; His Spirit acted on their spirit, so that their individuality had free play in the sphere of His inspiration. As to religious truths the collective Scriptures have unity of authorship; as to other matters their authorship is palpably as manifold as the writers. The variety is human, the unity divine. If the four evangelists were mere machines narrating the same events in the same order and words, they would cease to be independent witnesses. Their very discrepancies (only seeming ones) disprove collusion.
The solutions proposed in Harmonies, being necessarily conjectural, may or may not be the true ones; but they at least prove that the differences are not irreconcilable and would be cleared up if we knew all the facts. They test our faith, whether on reasonable evidence we will unreservedly believe His word in spite of some difficulties, designedly permitted for our probation. The slight variations in the Decalogue between Exodus 20 and its repetition Deuteronomy 5, and in Psalm 18 compared with 2 Samuel 22, in Psalm 14 compared with Psalm 53, and in New Testament quotations of Old Testament, (sometimes from Septuagint which varies from Hebrew, sometimes from neither in every word), all prove the Spirit-produced independence of the sacred writers who under divine guidance and sanction presented on different occasions the same substantial truths under different aspects, the one complementing the other.
One or two instances occur where the errors of transcribers cause a real discrepancy (2Ki 8:26, compared with 2Ch 22:2). A perpetual miracle alone could have prevented such very exceptional and palpable copyists' mistakes. But in seeming discrepancies, as between the accounts of the same event in different Gospels, each account presents some fresh aspect of divine truth; none containing the whole, but all together presenting the complete exhibition of the truth. Origen profoundly says: "in revelation as in nature we see a self concealing, self revealing God, who makes Himself known only to those who earnestly seek Him; in both we find stimulants to faith and occasions for unbelief." The assaults of adversaries on seemingly weak points have resulted in the eliciting of beautiful and delicate harmonies unperceived before; the gospel defenses have been proved the more impregnable, and the things meant to injure "have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel."
When once it is admitted that the New Testament writers were neither fanatics nor enthusiasts, (and infidelity has never yet produced a satisfactory theory to show them to have been either,) their miracles and their divine commission must also be admitted, for they expressly claim these. Thus, Paul (1Co 14:37), "if any man think himself a prophet, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." And not only the things but the words; (1Co 2:13) "we speak not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth." The "discerning of spirits" was one of the miraculous gifts in the apostolic churches. His appeal on the ground of miracles (1Co 2:4) which are taken for granted as notorious rather than asserted, (the incidental mention being a clear mark of truth because it excludes suspicion of design,) and to persons whose miraculous discernment of spirits enabled them to test such claims, is the strongest proof of the divine authority of his writings.
Peter (2Pe 3:16) classes Paul's epistles with "the other Scriptures"; therefore whatever inspiration is in the latter is in the former also. That inspiration excludes error from Scripture words, so far as these affect doctrine and morals, appears from Ps 12:6, "the words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." As our Lord promised the disciples His Holy Spirit, to teach them how and what they should say before magistrates (Mt 10:19-20), much more did the Spirit "abiding" with the church "for ever" (Joh 14:16) secure for the written word, the only surviving infallible oracle, the inspiration of the manner as well as the matter. So (Joh 16:13) "the Spirit of truth will guide you into all (the) truth," namely, not truth in general but Christian truth.
Also (Joh 14:26) "the Holy Spirit shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you." "He shall testify of Me" (Joh 15:26) "He will show you things to come ... He shall receive of Mine and shall show it unto you" (Joh 16:13-14). Paul (2Ti 3:16) declares that no part of the written word is uninspired, but "ALL" (literally, "every scripture," i.e. every portion) is "profitable" for the ends of a revelation, "doctrine, reproof (conjuting error: the two comprehending speculative divinity; then follows practical), correction (setting one right, 1Co 10:1-10), instruction (disciplinary training: De 13:5; 1Co 5:13) in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works"; as it makes him "perfect" it must be perfect itself.
Some parts were immediately communicated by God, and are called "apocalypse" or "revelation," as that to John, and to Paul (2Co 12:1; Ro 16:25). Others, as the historical parts, are matter of human testimony. But inspiration was as much needed to write known facts authoritatively as to communicate new truths; else why should certain facts be selected and others be passed by? Inspired prohibition is as miraculous as inspired utterance. Had the evangelists been left to themselves, they doubtless would have given many details of Jesus' early life which our curiosity would have desired, but which divine wisdom withheld, in order to concentrate all our attention on Christ's ministry and death. The historical parts are quoted by Paul as God's "law," because they have His sanction and contain covert lessons of God's truth and His principles of governing the world and the church (Ga 4:21).
Considering the vast amount of Mariolatry and idolatry which subsequently sprang up, the hand of God is marked in the absence from the Gospel histories of aught to countenance these errors. Sacred history is like "a dial in which the shadow, as well as the light, informs us" (Trench). The Spirit was needed to qualify the writers for giving what they have given, a condensed yet full and clear portraiture of Messiah, calculated to affect all hearts in every nation, and to sow in them seeds of faith, hope, and love. The minor details, such as Paul's direction to Timothy to "bring his cloth and parchments," and to" drink a little wine for his stomach's sake and his infirmities," are vivid touches which give life and nature to the picture, making us realize the circumstances and personality of the apostle and his disciple, and have their place in the inspired record, as each leaf has in the
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For verily I say to you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one yod or one point shall in no way pass from the law till all be fulfilled.
But when they deliver you up, be not anxious how or what you shall speak; for that which you shall speak shall be given you in that hour: for it is not you that speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father that speaks in you.
For I have come to set a man at variance with his father, and the daughter with her mother, and the daughter-in-law with her mother-in-law:
Verily, I say to you, Among those born of women, there has not risen a greater than John the Immerser. But the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
He answered and said to them: Have you not read that the Creator, at the beginning, created them male and female,
I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
He said to them: How then does David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
You search the scriptures, because in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify concerning me:
Jesus answered them: Is it not written in your law, I said, you are gods? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God was committed, (and the scripture can not be made void,)
If he called them gods, to whom the word of God was committed, (and the scripture can not be made void,) do you say of him, whom the Father has sanctified, and sent into the world, You speak impiously, because I said, I am the Son of God?
nor do you consider that it is profitable for us, that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.
and I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete, that he may dwell with you forever;
But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have spoken to you.
But when the Paraclete has come, whom I will send to you from my Father, the Spirit of the truth, which proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me;
But when he, the Spirit of the truth, has come, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak of himself; but what he hears, that will he speak, and he will show you things to come.
But when he, the Spirit of the truth, has come, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak of himself; but what he hears, that will he speak, and he will show you things to come. He will glorify me; for he will take of mine, and show it to you.
Brethren, it was necessary for this scripture to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit had before spoken by the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was a guide to those who took Jesus:
And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a rushing, violent wind, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.
For David speaks with reference to him: I saw the Lord always in my presence: for he is at my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue sang praise. Moreover, my flesh shall rest in hope; read more. because thou wilt not leave my soul in hades, nor suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou didst make known to me the ways of life; thou wilt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Brethren, I may say to you plainly of the patriarch David, that he died, and was buried, and his sepulcher is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn to him with an oath, that he would cause one from the fruit of his loins to sit on his throne; foreseeing this, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul was not left in hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus has God raised up, of which we all are witnesses. Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from his Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear.
But the things which God fore told by the mouth of all his prophets, that the Christ should suffer, he has thus fulfilled.
whom heaven must retain, till the time for restoring all things that God has spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets of ancient times.
Why did the heathen rage, and the people devise vain things?
Much in every respect; but chiefly that the oracles of God were intrusted to them.
Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel, even the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was concealed during the times of the ages, but is now made manifest, and through the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, made known among all nations for the obedience of faith,
and my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
which things also we speak, not in words taught by man's wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things.
Debar not one another, unless by agreement for a time, that you may have leisure for prayer; and come together again, lest Satan tempt you through your incontinence. But this I say by permission, not by commandment:
But to the married I give commandment, not I, but the Lord: Let not the wife leave her husband:
But to the rest, I, and not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife that believes not, and she is well pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And if any woman has a husband that believes not, and he is well pleased to dwell with her, let her not put him away. read more. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; for if not, then are your children unclean; but now they are holy. But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart; the brother or sister is not bound in such cases. But God has called us to live in peace.
But with respect to virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment as one that is enabled, by the mercy of the Lord, to be faithful. I think, then, that this is good for the present affliction that it is good for a man to be as he is. read more. Are you bound to a wife? Seek not a separation. Are you loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife. But if you should marry, you would not sin. And if a virgin should marry, she would not sin. But such will have affliction in the flesh. But I spare you. Now, this I say, brethren, the time is fraught with trials. It remains that those who have wives be as though they had them not; and those who weep, as though they wept not; and those who rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and those who buy, as though they possessed not: and those who use this world, as not abusing it; for the outward show of this world passes away. But I would have you to be without anxiety. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord: but he that is married, is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife. There is a difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and in spirit; but she that is married, is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. I speak this for your own profit; not that I would entangle you, but that you may decorously and devotedly wait upon the Lord, without distraction. But if any man thinks he would treat his virgin daughter amiss, should she pass the bloom of life, and it is necessary that it should be so, let him do as he pleases, he does not sin; let them (the suitor and the daughter) marry. But he that stands firm in his purpose, having no necessity to give his daughter in marriage, but has liberty with respect to his own will, and has thus decided in his own heart, that he will keep his daughter a virgin, does well. So then, even he that gives her in marriage, does well; but he that gives her not in marriage, does better.
Now, brethren, I do not wish you to be ignorant, that all our fathers were under the cloud, and that all passed through the sea, and were all immersed into Moses, in the cloud and in the sea; read more. and did all eat the same spiritual food, and. did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was the Christ. But with the most of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we should not desire evil things, as they, also, desired. Neither be you idolaters, as some of them were, as it is written: Tho people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to engage in idolatrous sport. Nor let us be guilty of lewdness, as some of them were guilty, and fell, in one day, twenty-three thou sand. Nor let us tempt the Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents. Nor do you murmur, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge:
and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets;
and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets;
If any one has the reputation of being a prophet, or spiritual man, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.
For we write to you nothing else than what you recognize, or even acknowledge; and which I hope you will acknowledge to the end;
For we do not, as the many, adulterate the word of God; but, as from sincerity, but, as from God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
To boast is not suitable for me; I will come to visions and revelations from the Lord. -
since you seek a proof of Christ's speaking in me, who toward you is not weak, but who is mighty in you:
But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which is preached by me, is not according to man: for neither did I receive it from man, nor was it taught me, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his offspring; he does not say: And to offsprings, as if he spoke of many; but as of one, And to your offspring, which is Christ.
Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do you not understand the law?
that by revelation was made known to me the mystery, (as I briefly wrote above,
which, in other generations, was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
for in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhood bodily. And you are complete in him who is the head of all principality and authority:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished for every good work.
thou hast put all things under his feet. For, in putting all things under him, he left nothing that is not put under him: but now we do not yet see all things put under him.
For both he that sanctifies, and those who are sanctified, are all of one Father: for which reason, he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying:
Let us fear, therefore, lest, as a promise of entering into his rest still remains, any of you should seem to come short of it. For we have had the good news preached to us, even as they had: but the word preached did not profit them, for it was not mixed with faith in those who heard it. read more. For we who have believed are to enter into rest, as he said: So I swore in my anger, they shall not enter into my rest; namely, that rest from his works which had been finished from the foundation of the world. For he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day, thus: And God did rest on the seventh day from all his works; and in this place again: They shall not enter into my rest. Since, then, it remains that some must enter into it, and they, to whom the good news was first preached, did not enter in on account of unbelief, again, he determines a certain day, saying in David, after so long a time, To-day, as it is said, To day, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not, after this, have spoken of another day. There remains, therefore, a sabbath state for the people of God. For he that has entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us earnestly strive, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any one fall after the same example of unbelief.
inquiring what things, and what time, the Spirit of Christ that was in them did signify, when it testified, before hand, the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them;
knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture came from private interpretation: for the prophecy came not at any time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.
And if any one take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life, and from the holy city; which things are written in this book.
Hastings
The subject comprises the doctrine of inspiration in the Bible, and the doctrine of the inspiration of the Bible, together with what forms the transition from the one to the other, the account given of the prophetic consciousness, and the teaching of the NT about the OT.
1. The agent of inspiration is the Holy Spirit (see p. 360) or Spirit of God, who is active in Creation (Ge 1:2; Ps 104:30), is imparted to man that the dust may become living soul (Ge 2:7), is the source of exceptional powers of body (Jg 6:34; 14:6,19) or skill (Ex 35:31); but is pre-eminently manifest in prophecy (wh. see). The NT doctrine of the presence and power of the Spirit of God in the renewed life of the believer is anticipated in the OT, inasmuch as to the Spirit's operations are attributed wisdom (Job 32:8; 1Ki 3:28; De 34:9), courage (Jg 13:25; 14:6), penitence, moral strength, and purity (Ne 9:20; Ps 51:11; Isa 63:10; Eze 36:26; Zec 12:10). The promise of the Spirit by Christ to His disciples was fulfilled when He Himself after the Resurrection breathed on them, and said, 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost' (Joh 20:22), and after His Ascension the Spirit descended on the Church with the outward signs of the wind and fire (Ac 2:2-3). The Christian life as such is an inspired life, but the operation of the Spirit is represented in the NT in two forms; there are the extraordinary gifts (charisms)
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All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son, but the Father; nor does any one know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
He said to them: How then does David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
And he said to them: inconsiderate, and slow of heart to believe all things that the prophets have spoken!
But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have spoken to you.
But when he, the Spirit of the truth, has come, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak of himself; but what he hears, that will he speak, and he will show you things to come.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit.
And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a rushing, violent wind, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues like fire, which distributed them selves, and sat one on each of them.
Since, then, we have gifts which differ according to the grace that is given to us, whether we have the gift of prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith; or, if we have a ministry, let us be active in our ministry; if any one teaches, let him attend to his teaching; read more. or, if any exhorts, let him attend to exhortation; if any one gives, let him do it with sincerity; he that rules, with diligence: he that shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
And God has placed some in the church, first, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers; then mighty deeds; then gifts of healing; helps, governments, kinds of tongues.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished for every good work.
for the prophecy came not at any time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Morish
Though this word occurs in the Bible but once in reference to the scriptures, yet the one statement in which it is found is important and full of deep meaning: "Every scripture is divinely inspired literally, 'God-breathed', and is profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, fully fitted to every good work." 2Ti 3:16-17. This places all scripture on one basis as to inspiration, whether it be historical, doctrinal, or prophetic. We learn by this passage that not simply the persons who wrote were inspired, but the writings themselves are divinely inspired. Cf. 2Pe 1:21.
All writings are composed of words, and if these writings are inspired, the words are inspired. This is what is commonly called 'verbal inspiration.' Other passages speak of the importance of 'words:' Peter said, "To whom shall we go? thou hast the words (??????) of eternal life," Joh 6:68: and we find those words in the Gospels. When it was a question of Gentiles being brought into blessing without being circumcised, James in his address appealed to the 'words' of the prophets. Ac 15:15. Paul in writing to the Corinthian saints said, "Which things also we speak, not in the 'words' (?????) which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth." 1Co 2:13. The Holy Spirit taught Paul what words to use. The whole of scripture forms the word of God, and both in the O.T. and in the N.T. we read of 'the words of God.' 1Ch 25:5; Ezr 9:4; Ps 107:11; Joh 3:34; 8:47; Re 17:17. Neither must His word be added to, or taken from. De 4:2; 12:32; Re 22:18-19.
The above passages should carry conviction to simple souls that every scripture is God-inspired. As nothing less than this is worthy of God, so nothing less than this would meet the need of man. Amid the many uncertain things around him he needs words upon which his faith can be based, and in the inspired scriptures he has them. The Lord Jesus said, "The words (??????) that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." Joh 6:63. He had the words of eternal life; and, through the grace of God, many a soul has found them to be such, and has no more doubt of the plenary inspiration of scripture than of the existence of God Himself.
It may be noted that scripture records the sayings of wicked men, and of Satan himself. It need scarcely be said that it is not the sayings but the records of them that are inspired. Paul also, when writing on the question of marriage, makes a distinction between what he wrote as his judgement, and what he wrote as commandments of the Lord. "I speak this by permission," he says; and again, "I give my judgement." 1Co 7:6,10,12,25. He was inspired to record his spiritual judgement and to point out that it was not a command.
Some have a difficulty as to what has been called the human element in inspiration. If the words of scripture are inspired, it has been asked, how is it that the style of the writer is so manifest? John's style, for instance, being clearly distinguishable from that of Paul. The simple answer is that it is as if one used, so to speak, different kinds of pens to write with. God made the mind of man as well as his body, and was surely able to use the mind of each of the writers He employed, and yet cause him to write exactly what He wished. God took possession of the mind of man to declare His own purposes with regard to man.
Further, it has been asserted that the doctrine of verbal inspiration is valueless, because of diversities in the Greek manuscripts, which in some places prevent any one from determining what are the words God caused to be written. But this does not in any way touch the question of inspiration, which is, that the words written were inspired by God. Whether we have a correct copy is quite another question. The variations in the Greek manuscripts do not affect any one of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, and only in a few places are the words doubtful.
Another objection to the value of verbal inspiration is that most persons read scripture in a translation, the words of which cannot, it is alleged, be said to be inspired. But if the translation conveys exactly the same meaning as in the original, the words can be said to be inspired: for instance, the words 'God is love,' may surely be said to be the same as ? ???? ????? ?????, or Deus caritas est, Dieu est amour, or Dio ? carit?, to those who can read them. It may be that the translations from which the above are taken cannot in all places be said to be the same as the Greek; but this only shows the great importance of each having a correct translation in his vernacular tongue. And it must not be forgotten that the Lord Himself and those who wrote the New Testament often quoted the Septuagint, which is a translation from the Hebrew; and they quoted it as scripture.
Nothing can exceed the importance of having true thoughts of the inspiration of scripture. As no human author would allow his amanuensis to write what he did not mean, so surely what is called the word of God is God's own production, though given through the instrumentality of man. Though there were many writers, separated by thousands of years, there is a divine unity in the whole, showing plainly that one and only one could have been its Author. That One can only have been the Almighty
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For he whom God has sent, speaks the words of God; for God gives not the Spirit by measure to him.
It is the spirit that makes alive; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I speak to you are spirit and life.
Simon Peter answered him: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life;
He that is of God, hears God's words. For this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.
And with this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,
which things also we speak, not in words taught by man's wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things.
But to the married I give commandment, not I, but the Lord: Let not the wife leave her husband:
But to the rest, I, and not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife that believes not, and she is well pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.
But with respect to virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment as one that is enabled, by the mercy of the Lord, to be faithful.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished for every good work. #VALUE!
for the prophecy came not at any time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
For God has put into their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and to give their kingdom to the beast, till the words of God be accomplished.
I testify to every one that hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one add to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any one take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life, and from the holy city; which things are written in this book.
Smith
Inspiration.
Dr. Knapp given as the definition of inspiration, "an extra-ordinary divine agency upon teachers while giving instruction, whether oral or written, by which they were taught what and how they should write or speak." Without deciding on any of the various theories of inspiration, the general doctrine of Christians is that the Bible is so inspired by God that it is the infallible guide of men, and is perfectly trustworthy in all its parts, as given by God.
Watsons
INSPIRATION, the conveying of certain extraordinary and supernatural notices or thoughts into the soul; or it denotes any supernatural influence of God upon the mind of a rational creature, whereby he is formed to a degree of intellectual improvement, to which he could not have attained in his present circumstances in a natural way. In the first and highest sense, the prophets, evangelists, and Apostles are said to have spoken and written by divine inspiration. This inspiration of the Old Testament Scriptures is so expressly attested by our Lord and his Apostles, that among those who receive them as a divine revelation the only question relates to the inspiration of the New Testament. On this subject it has been well observed:
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But when they deliver you up, be not anxious how or what you shall speak; for that which you shall speak shall be given you in that hour: for it is not you that speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father that speaks in you.
Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, immersing them (the disciples) into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit;
Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, immersing them (the disciples) into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you: and lo; I am with you all the days, even to the end of the age.
And he appointed twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
He that believes and is immersed, shall be saved; he that believes not, shall be condemned.
SINCE many have undertaken to compose a history of the things that are fully believed among us, even as they were delivered to us by those who were, from the beginning, eye-witnesses and. ministers of the word; read more. it seemed good to me also, having obtained exact information of all things from the very first, to write them in order for you, most excel lent Theophilus, that you might know the certainty of the things in which you have been instructed.
He that hears you, hears me; and he that rejects you, rejects me; and he that rejects me, rejects him that sent me.
for I will give you a mouth, and wisdom, which all your opposers shall not be able to gainsay or withstand.
and I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete, that he may dwell with you forever; the Spirit of the truth, whom the world can not receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, because he dwells with you, and shall be in you.
But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have spoken to you.
This is my commandment: That you love one another, as I have loved you.
I have yet many things to say to you; but you can not bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of the truth, has come, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak of himself; but what he hears, that will he speak, and he will show you things to come.
I pray, not for these only, but for those also who shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life through his name.
This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true.
Brethren, it was necessary for this scripture to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit had before spoken by the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was a guide to those who took Jesus:
Why did the heathen rage, and the people devise vain things?
While I was engaged in these things, and was going to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, while I was on the road, I saw, King, a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and those who journeyed with me. read more. And when we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking to me, and saying, in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? He replied, I am Jesus, whom you persecute. But arise, and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness of the things which you have seen, and of those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom now I send you, in order to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins, and an inheritance among the sanctified, by faith in me.
And not agreeing among themselves, they departed, after Paul had spoken one word: Well did the Holy Spirit speak to our fathers by Isaiah the prophet,
But God has revealed them to us through his Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
And we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God: which things also we speak, not in words taught by man's wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things.
If any one has the reputation of being a prophet, or spiritual man, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.
PAUL, an apostle, (not from men, nor by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead,)
for neither did I receive it from man, nor was it taught me, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
But when God, who chose me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Sou in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I at once declined all conference with flesh and blood: read more. nor did I go up to Jerusalem, to those who were apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and then returned to Damascus.
having been builded upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone,
And when this letter has been read among you, cause that it be read in the church of the Laodiceans also; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea;
For this reason, also, we thank God without ceasing; be cause, when you received the word of God, as preached by us, you embraced it, not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually works in you that believe.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished for every good work.
inquiring what things, and what time, the Spirit of Christ that was in them did signify, when it testified, before hand, the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them;
for the prophecy came not at any time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
that you may be mindful of the words formerly spoken by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior:
and count the long-suffering of our Lord, salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, has written to you;
We are of God: he that knows God, hears us: he that is not of God, does not hear us: by this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
THE Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, that he might show to his servants the things that must shortly come to pass; and he sent it by his angel, and made it known to his servant John,
I was in spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great voice like that of a trumpet, saying: What you see, write in a book, and send to the seven churches; to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. read more. And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me: and having turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like the Son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to his feet, and girded about the breast with a golden girdle. His head and his hair were white as white wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet were like fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace: and his voice was like the voice of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went a sharp, two-edged sword: arid his face was as the sun when it shines in its strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead; and he laid his right hand upon me, saying: Fear not, I am the First and the Last, and I am he that lives; and I was dead, and be hold, I am alive from age to age: and I have the keys of hades and of death. Write, therefore, the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and those which shall be here after;
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.