THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE
1. What is meant by the term “Inspiration” This question is best answered by Scripture itself. It defines its own terms. Let us turn, then, “to the Law and to the Testimony.” In 2 Tim. 3:16–”All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” The word “inspired” means literally “God-breathed.” It is composed of two Greek words–theos═God; and pnein═to breathe. The term “given by inspiration” signifies, then, that the writings of the Old Testament, of which Paul is here speaking, are the result of a certain influence exerted by God upon their authors. The meaning of the word “breathed,” as here used, is brought out very forcibly by the comparison of two other words translated in the same way. The one is the Greek word psuchein═to breathe gently, while in 2 Tim. 3:16 the term denotes a forcible respiration. The other is the Hebrew word ah-ayrh═to breathe unconsciously, while 2 Tim. 3:16 denotes a conscious breathing. Inspiration, then, as defined by Paul in this passage, is the strong, conscious inbreathing of God into men, qualifying them to give utterance to truth. It is God speaking through men, and the Old Testament is therefore just as much the Word of God as though God spake every single word of it with His own lips. The Scriptures are the result of divine inbreathing, just as human speech is uttered by the breathing through a man’s mouth. 2 Pet. 1:21–”For not by the will of man was prophecy brought at any time, but being borne by the Holy Spirit, the holy men of God spoke.” (This is a literal rendering, and brings out the sense more clearly.) The participle “moved,” AV, may be translated “when moved,” so this passage teaches that holy men of God wrote the Scripture when moved to do so by the Holy Spirit. Further, the participle is passive, and denotes “to be moved upon.” This distinctly teaches that the Scripture was not written by mere men, or at their suggestion, but by men moved upon, prompted, yea indeed, driven by the promptings of the Holy Spirit. This declaration of Peter may be said to intimate that the Holy Ghost was especially and miraculously present with and in the writers of the Scriptures, revealing to them truths which they did not know before, and guiding them alike in their record of these truths, and of the transactions of which they were eye and ear witnesses, so that they were enabled to present them with accuracy to the minds of others. The statements of the Scriptures regarding inspiration may be summed up as follows: Holy men of God, qualified by the infusion of the breath of God, wrote in obedience to the divine command, and were kept from all error, whether they revealed truths previously unknown or recorded truths already familiar. In this sense, “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” the Bible is indeed and in truth the very Word of God, and the books of the Bible are of divine origin and authority.
THE GREAT DOCTRINES OF THE BIBLE BY WILLIAM EVANS
Copyright © 1912, 1939, 1949, 1974 by
THE MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE
OF CHICAGO ISBN-10: 0-8024-3096-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-8024-3096-0
