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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And when they may deliver you, be not solicitous how or what you may speak: for it will be given unto you in that hour what you may say. For you are not those speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking in you.
but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all things, which I spoke to you.
But when He, the Spirit of truth, may come, He will guide you in all truth: for He will not speak from Himself; but so many things as He hears, He will speak: and will proclaim to you the things which are coming.
But God has revealed them to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who of men knows the things of man, except the spirit of the man which is in him? so indeed no one knows the things of God, except the Spirit of God. read more. But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God; in order that we may know the things which have been graciously given unto us from God. Which things indeed we speak, not in the teachable words of human wisdom, but in the teachable words of the Spirit, expounding spiritual things to spiritual people.
If any one seems to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him understand the things which I write to you, that they are of the Lord;
for I did not receive it from man, neither was I taught it, but through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
All scripture is God-breathed and profitable unto teaching, unto conviction, unto correction, unto instruction which is in righteousness:
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, to show unto his servants the thing which it behooves speedily to come to pass; and he signified having sent by his angel to his servant John;
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet saying, Write what you are seeing in a book, and send it to the seven churches; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. read more. And I turned to see the voice which was speaking with me; and having turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the candlesticks one like the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to his feet, and girded about the breast with a golden girdle. And his head and his hairs were as wool, white as snow; and his eyes were like a flame of fire; and his feet were like brass, as having been burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters, and having in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth is going forth a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance like the sun shines in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man; and he laid his right hand on me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last: the living one, and I was dead; and, behold, I am alive unto the ages of the ages, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which are about to take place after these;
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 God-breathed and profitable unto teaching, unto conviction, unto correction, unto instruction which is in righteousness:
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 truly I say unto you, Until heaven and earth may pass away, one jot or tittle can not pass from the law, until all things may be accomplished.
And when they may deliver you, be not solicitous how or what you may speak: for it will be given unto you in that hour what you may say. For you are not those speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking in you.
For I came to divide a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law:
Truly I say unto you, Among those having been born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist: nevertheless the least in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he.
And He responding said to them, Have you not read, that the one having made them from the beginning made 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 says to them, How then does David in the Spirit call Him Lord, saying,
Search the Scriptures, because in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify concerning me;
And Jesus responded to them, Is it not written in your law, that I said, Ye are gods? If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture is not able to be broken),
If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture is not able to be broken), whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, do you say; Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
You know nothing, you do not consider that it is profitable to you, that one man may die for the people, and the whole nation perish not.
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you always,
but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all things, which I spoke to you.
When the Comforter, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, may come, He will witness concerning me,
But when He, the Spirit of truth, may come, He will guide you in all truth: for He will not speak from Himself; but so many things as He hears, He will speak: and will proclaim to you the things which are coming.
But when He, the Spirit of truth, may come, He will guide you in all truth: for He will not speak from Himself; but so many things as He hears, He will speak: and will proclaim to you the things which are coming. He will glorify me: because He will receive from mine, and proclaim them unto you.
Men, brethren, it behooved the scripture which the Holy Ghost predicted through the mouth of David concerning Judas, the one becoming leader to those arresting Jesus, to be fulfilled;
And suddenly there was a sound from heaven as of a mighty, rushing wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
but this is that which has been spoken by the prophet Joel;
For David says in reference to him, I foresaw my Lord always before me, because he is on my right hand, in order that I may not be moved. Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad, and my flesh shall indeed still rest in hope, read more. because thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades, nor suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt fill me with gladness with thy countenance. Men, brethren, it is lawful to speak to you with boldness concerning the patriarch David, because he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet and knowing that God swore with an oath, that from the fruit of his loins One should sit upon the throne; foreseeing he spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ, that He was not left in Hades, neither did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, whose witnesses we are. Therefore on the right hand of God exalted, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, has poured out this which you both see and hear.
and those things which God proclaimed through the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ should suffer, he hath thus fulfilled.
whom it behooves heaven indeed to receive until the times of the restitution of all things which God spoke through the mouth of all his prophets from the beginning.
the One speaking through the mouth of David, thy child, our father through the Holy Ghost, Wherefore did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
Much every way. For indeed, in the first place, the oracles of God were committed unto them.
To Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery having been hidden during the eternal times, but having now indeed been made manifest, through the prophetical scriptures, and having been made known to all the Gentiles, according to the commandment of the eternal God, unto the obedience of faith;
And my speech and my preaching were not in the persuasive words of wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and the power:
Which things indeed we speak, not in the teachable words of human wisdom, but in the teachable words of the Spirit, expounding spiritual things to spiritual people.
Do not defraud one another, unless it may be with consent for a time, that you may give attention to prayer, and again come together, in order that Satan may not tempt you on account of your incontinency. But I speak this according to knowledge, not according to commandment.
But I proclaim to those who have married, not I, but the Lord, That a wife shall not depart from her husband
But I say to the rest, not the Lord, if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is willing to live with him, let him not send her away. And if any wife has an unbelieving husband, and he is willing to live with her, let her not send away her husband. read more. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified by the brother. Since then your children are unclean; but now they are holy. But if the unbeliever departs, let him or her depart; the brother or the sister has not been enslaved in such things. God has called you in peace.
But concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: but I give knowledge, as one having obtained mercy from the Lord to be faithful. But I consider this to be good on account of the present distress, that it is good for a man so to be. read more. Have you been given to a wife? do not seek separation; have you been separated from a wife? do not seek a wife. But if, indeed you may marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin may marry, she has not sinned; but such shall have trouble in the flesh, but I spare you. But I say this, brethren; that the time is at hand, that moreover indeed those having wives may be as those not having; and those weeping, as those not weeping; and those rejoicing, as those not rejoicing; and those buying, as those not possessing; and those using the world, as those not using it thoroughly: for the fashion of this world is passing away. I wish you to be free from solicitude. The unmarried man cares for the things of the Lord, in order that he may please the Lord: but the one having married cares for the things of the world, in order that he may please his wife. A wife and a virgin truly also differ: the unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and in spirit: but she having married cares for the things of the world, that she may please her husband. I speak this for the profit of you yourselves; not that I may cast a burden upon you, but for that which is pleasing and acceptable to the Lord without perturbation. But if any one considers that he is acting indiscreetly towards his virgin, if she may be marriageable, and thus it ought so to be, let him do what he wishes; he does not sin; let them marry. But whosoever stands firm in his heart, having no necessity, and has the right according to his own will, and has determined this in his heart, to keep his virgin, will do well. So indeed he that marries his own virgin does well; and he that marries her not will do better.
For I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; read more. and they all did eat the same spiritual food; and all did drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God is not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. And these became our examples, in order that we may not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as some of them were; as has been written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and arose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and fell in one day twenty-three thousand. Neither let us tempt the Lord, as some of them tempted Him, and were destroyed by serpents. Neither murmur, as some of them murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
But let two or three prophets speak, and let the others give audience;
Truly the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets;
Truly the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets;
If any one seems to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him understand the things which I write to you, that they are of the Lord;
For we do not write other things to you, but those things which you read and know, and I hope that you will know them perfectly:
For we are not as many, corrupting the word of God: but as of purity, but as from God, we speak in Christ, in the presence of God.
But the Lord is a Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
It behooves me to glory, indeed it is not profitable, I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
since you are seeking the approval of Christ, who is speaking in me, who is not weak towards you, bit mighty among you.
But I make known to you, brethren, the gospel was preached to me, that it is not according to a man; for I did not receive it from man, neither was I taught it, but through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
But the promises were spoken to Abraham and his seed. He does not say, And unto seeds, as of many; but as of one; And thy seed, which is Christ.
because in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him, who is the head of all government and authority:
All scripture is God-breathed and profitable unto teaching, unto conviction, unto correction, unto instruction which is in righteousness:
thou didst subordinate all things beneath his feet. For in subordinating all things beneath him, he left nothing which is not subordinated beneath him.
For both the one sanctifying and they who are sanctified are all of one: on account of which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
Then let us fear, lest at some time, the promise to enter into his rest having been left, some of you may appear to have come short. For we truly have had the gospel preached unto us, as they did also: but the word of hearing did not profit them, not being mixed with faith to those hearing. read more. For we who have believed, do enter into rest: as he has said, As I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest: the works truly having been from the foundations of the world. For he somewhere has spoken thus in reference to the seventh day, And God rested on the seventh day from all his works. And in this again he has said, They shall not enter into my rest. Then since it remains that some do enter into it, and those formerly having had the gospel preached unto them did not enter in on account of unbelief, again he appoints a certain day, saying in David, as has previously been said, This day, after so long a time; If you may hear his voice this day, harden not your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not speak concerning another day after these things. Therefore there is a sabbatism left for the people of God. For the one having entered into his rest has ceased from his works, as God did from his own. Therefore let us hasten to enter into that rest, lest some one may fall by the same example of unbelief.
searching into what, or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them, witnessing the sufferings towards Christ, and the glories after these, did show:
know this in the first place, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation. For in the olden time prophecy did not come by the will of man: but men moved by the Holy Ghost spoke from God.
as also in all his epistles, speaking in the same concerning these things; in which there are some things hard to understand, which the unlearned and unestablished wrest, as they also do the other scriptures, to their own destruction.
and if any one may take from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take his part from the tree of life, and from the holy city, from the things which 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 were delivered unto me by my Father: and no one perfectly knows the Son, except the Father; neither does any one perfectly know the Father, except the Son; and he to whom the Son may wish to reveal Him.
He says to them, How then does David in the Spirit call Him Lord, saying,
And He said to them, O ye foolish, and slow in heart to believe in all those things which the prophet spoke!
but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all things, which I spoke to you.
But when He, the Spirit of truth, may come, He will guide you in all truth: for He will not speak from Himself; but so many things as He hears, He will speak: and will proclaim to you the things which are coming.
And saying this, He breathed on them, and says to them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.
And suddenly there was a sound from heaven as of a mighty, rushing wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them divided tongues, as of fire, and it sat upon each one of them;
But having gifts differing according to the grace given unto us, whether prophecy, it is according to the analogy of faith; or ministry, it is in the ministry; or he that teacheth, in teaching; read more. or he that exhorteth, in exhortation; or he that giveth, with a single eye; he that presideth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.
But the fruit of the Spirit is divine love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, holiness; against such things there is no law.
All scripture is God-breathed and profitable unto teaching, unto conviction, unto correction, unto instruction which is in righteousness:
For in the olden time prophecy did not come by the will of man: but men moved by the Holy Ghost spoke from God.
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 whom God sent speaketh the words of God: for He does not give His spirit by measure.
The Spirit is the One who creates life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and life.
Simon Peter responded to Him, Lord, to whom shall we go away? thou hast the words of eternal life;
The one being of God hears the words of God: on account of this you do not hear, because you are not of God.
And to this corresponds the words of the prophet; as has been written,
Which things indeed we speak, not in the teachable words of human wisdom, but in the teachable words of the Spirit, expounding spiritual things to spiritual people.
But I speak this according to knowledge, not according to commandment.
But I proclaim to those who have married, not I, but the Lord, That a wife shall not depart from her husband
But I say to the rest, not the Lord, if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is willing to live with him, let him not send her away.
But concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: but I give knowledge, as one having obtained mercy from the Lord to be faithful.
All scripture is God-breathed and profitable unto teaching, unto conviction, unto correction, unto instruction which is in righteousness: in order that the man of God may be perfect, having been thoroughly perfected unto every good work.
For in the olden time prophecy did not come by the will of man: but men moved by the Holy Ghost spoke from God.
for God has given it into their hearts to do his mind, and to have one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
I testify to every one hearing the words of the prophecy of this book. If any one may add to these things, God will add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: and if any one may take from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take his part from the tree of life, and from the holy city, from the things which 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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And when they may deliver you, be not solicitous how or what you may speak: for it will be given unto you in that hour what you may say. For you are not those speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking in you.
Going, disciple all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost:
Going, disciple all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things which I commanded you. And lo, I am with you all the days, unto the end of the age.
And He made twelve (apostles) that they may be with Him and that He may send them out to preach,
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Inasmuch as many took it in hand to present a history concerning these things which have been fulfilled among us, as those being eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word have delivered unto us; read more. it seemed good to me also, having followed carefully all things from the beginning, to write unto thee consecutively, O most noble Theophilus, in order that thou mayest know the certainty of the words concerning which thou hast been instructed.
He that heareth you heareth me; he that rejecteth you rejecteth me; and he that rejecteth me rejecteth Him that sent me.
for I will give to you mouth and wisdom, which all who are opposed to you will not be able to gainsay nor resist.
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you always, the Spirit of truth: which the world is not able to receive, because it does not see Him, nor know Him: you know Him: because He abideth with you, and shall be in you.
but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all things, which I spoke to you.
This is my commandment, that you may love one another, as I loved you.
I have many things to say to you, but you are not able to bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, may come, He will guide you in all truth: for He will not speak from Himself; but so many things as He hears, He will speak: and will proclaim to you the things which are coming.
And I not only pray for these, but also for those believing on me through their word; that they may all be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us; that the world may believe that thou didst send me.
Indeed then Jesus also did many other miracles in the presence of His disciples, which have not been written in this book; and these have been written in order that you may believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; and in order that believing you may have life through His name.
This is the disciple witnessing concerning these things, and having written the same: and we know that his testimony is true.
Men, brethren, it behooved the scripture which the Holy Ghost predicted through the mouth of David concerning Judas, the one becoming leader to those arresting Jesus, to be fulfilled;
the One speaking through the mouth of David, thy child, our father through the Holy Ghost, Wherefore did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
Meanwhile journeying to Damascus with power and authority of the chief priests, I saw on the way, O king, about midday, a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun, shining around me and those traveling with me; read more. and we all having fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against goads. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou art persecuting. But rise up, and stand upon thy feet: for unto this have I appeared unto thee, to make thee a minister and a martyr both of those things which thou hast seen, and of which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God, in order that they may receive remission of sins, and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
and they being disharmonious to one another, dispersed, Paul saying one word, that truly the Holy Ghost spoke through the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, saying,
But God has revealed them to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God; in order that we may know the things which have been graciously given unto us from God. Which things indeed we speak, not in the teachable words of human wisdom, but in the teachable words of the Spirit, expounding spiritual things to spiritual people.
If any one seems to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him understand the things which I write to you, that they are of the Lord;
Paul, an apostle, not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead,
for I did not receive it from man, neither was I taught it, but through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
When the one having separated me, from the womb of my mother, and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: read more. neither did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone,
Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas salute you.
And when the letter may be read by you, cause that it may also be read in the church of the Laodiceans; and that you may also read the letter from Laodicea.
And on account of this we also give thanks to God incessantly, because, receiving the word of God from us by hearing, you received it not as the word of men, but, as it truly is, the word of God, who indeed works in you who believe.
All scripture is God-breathed and profitable unto teaching, unto conviction, unto correction, unto instruction which is in righteousness:
searching into what, or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them, witnessing the sufferings towards Christ, and the glories after these, did show:
For in the olden time prophecy did not come by the will of man: but men moved by the Holy Ghost spoke from God.
to remember the words which have been spoken hitherto by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour by your apostles:
and consider the longsuffering of the Lord's salvation; as our beloved brother Paul according to the wisdom which was given unto him has written unto you;
We are of God: the one knowing God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, to show unto his servants the thing which it behooves speedily to come to pass; and he signified having sent by his angel to his servant John;
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet saying, Write what you are seeing in a book, and send it to the seven churches; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. read more. And I turned to see the voice which was speaking with me; and having turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the candlesticks one like the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to his feet, and girded about the breast with a golden girdle. And his head and his hairs were as wool, white as snow; and his eyes were like a flame of fire; and his feet were like brass, as having been burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters, and having in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth is going forth a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance like the sun shines in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man; and he laid his right hand on me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last: the living one, and I was dead; and, behold, I am alive unto the ages of the ages, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which are about to take place after these;
And the wall of the city having twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.