INSPIRATIONThe Scriptures are more than just wise or well-written or accurate, it is the inspired Word of God. That is why we call it the Holy Scriptures or the Holy Bible. What does it mean to be inspired by God? Is that like when we are inspired to paint a painting or write a poem? When penning the books of the Bible, were the authors taken over the by Holy Spirit and writing in a subconscious and trance-like state?
Let's look at a few Bible references:
2 Timothy 3.16 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”
What some translations have as “by inspiration”(e.g. KJV), the NIV renders “God-breathed”. The inspiration for writing the Bible wasn't just a creative disposition the apostles and prophets woke up with one day, but rather the message contained in Scriptures came directly from the mouth of God.
2 Peter 1.20,21 “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
The manner by which God used the biblical authors are seen in the words “carried along”. Peter says that these men of God “spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
The word used in the original Greek is the same used in Acts 27 when the ship Paul was in was being conducted by the wind and storm. In other words, the ship in Acts was being carried by the windy storm even though the sailors were doing everything in their power to control the ship's course. They were unloading cargo, lowering anchors and trying to steer the ship safely through the storm, but in the end, the wind was taking the ship where it pleased. In the same way, God did not take captive the bodies of His spokesmen and use them like human typewriters to produce His Word. These biblical writers still had a functioning mind and a vocabulary at their disposal to express themselves even though in the end it was the Holy Spirit that was carrying them along to produce God's Word.
That is why though the Bible is the Word of God, we still see in the original Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic a reflection of the authors command of the language and personal style. Isaiah is written with a very powerful literary style while John's writings are usually clear and simple. Some of Peter's writings expose a weak command of the Greek of his time.
Go to the next post in the series - Bible : Date and authors
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