Inspiration

Tod Kennedy

1. The basic principle for the doctrine of inspiration is found in 2 Timothy 3:17, “All scripture is God-breathed.”
   • Greek –
   • The anarthrous pas generally means every, but with abstracts, proper nouns or context indication it may be taken all. Rob. 772.
   • Here contexts indicates the Word of God as a whole. The whole and every part.
   • Scripture in actuality is a proper noun for the writings of the men of God.
   • God breathed – This is a verbal adjective. The product is the scripture. Therefore this word as a predicate adjective gives information about scripture – it is God breathed in the passive sense.
2. We have two stages in this overall God breathing.
   • The first is revelation, the communication of the information to the mind of the writer by God.
   • The second is the writing, what is called inspiration per se. God breathes one big breath, while the author writes down what God has put into his mind.
3. The Bible presents two parties necessary to giving the final product of the Bible. The party in authority is God the Holy Spirit. The party under authority is the author, the human writer. 2 Peter 1:20-21; Also cp. Acts 28:25-27 with Isaiah 6:7-13; Mark 12:36 with Psalm 110; Acts 4:25 with Psalm 2; Hebrews 3:7
4. Therefore the source, the origin, the author of Scripture is God Himself, often specifically delineated as the Holy Spirit.
5. The Scripture as written in the original is complete, perfect, truth, completely without error. (See Doctrine of Essence.) John 17:17; Matthew 5:18; Matthew 22:32 (Impt of present tense); in Matthew 22:31 Christ ascribes to God what Moses wrote; Hebrews 4:12; Luke 24:44.
6. It is important to remember that prior to the written canon there were four areas of revelation in the Old Testament.
   • Spoken word: Isaiah 6:9-10 with Acts 28:25-28.
   • Dreams: Numbers 12:6; Daniel 10:9
   • Visions: Isaiah 1:1; 6:1; 1 Kings 22:19
   • Angelic teaching: Deuteronomy 33:2; Psalm 68:17; Galatians 3:19
7. Definition: God supernaturally directed the writers of Scripture – so that without waiving their human intelligence, literary style, personal feelings, or any other human factor – His complete, perfect, and coherent message to man was recorded with perfect accuracy in the original manuscript. This includes every word and letter of the text.
8. The purpose of inspiration is twofold. First, the presentation of the gospel toward salvation, and second, the equipping of the believer (2 Timothy 3:15-17).
9. Inspiration extends to the entire scripture and therefore the following areas are included.
   • The unknown past – The Bible portrays past historical details unknown to man and unconfirmed by human records as bona fide material. Inspiration guarantees the accuracy of this historical material. Genesis 1-11
   • Ancient history – The Bible is not a text book of history, but any and all historical detail is 100% accurate. This forms the background for the proper interpretation of a passage.
   • Objective type law – The Old Testament contains many laws that pertain to the individual and the nation. These laws perfectly express God’s viewpoint for the people to whom they were given. The repetition and recording of these laws demonstrate the application to other generations. These laws are free from error and perfectly demonstrate the will of God to the recipients.
   • Dictation – Some portions of scripture are direct quotations from God. These are properly recorded exactly as God desired them recorded. They are accurate quotes.
   • Devotional literature – This type of literature has some emotional connotation and the writer is generally facing pressures, problems, or is expressing great happiness. God uses these pressures, problems, triumphs to declare His plan and grace.
   • The Bible records certain falsehoods – When the Bible records a lie, it is guaranteeing that the lie is accurately recorded. Inspiration does not imply in any way that the lie is true. Genesis 3:4
   • Prophecy – Much of scripture deals with future events, unknowable to man by any means of knowledge. Inspiration says that a future prophesied event will occur exactly as it is recorded in Scripture.
   • Figures of speech – Inspiration insures that every figure of speech used in the Bible is used properly and for a definite purpose with definite meaning.
10. False views of inspiration.
    • Natural
    • Mystical or illumination
    • Dictation
    • Partial inspiration
    • Concepts – ideas only
    • Inspired purpose
    • Neo …