The Inspiration of the Bible (Pt 1)

I. Definition of Inspiration

A. The 5 Aspects of Biblical Inspiration

1. Revelation

a. Definition of Revelation

1) Communication of truth that cannot be otherwise discovered

b. God has been revealed through:

1) Nature

2) History

3) Conscience

4) His Son

5) His Word

2. Inspiration

a. having to do with the recording of the truth

1) Holy Spirit moved upon human beings to write the 66 books of the Bible

3. Authority

a. The Bible is the divine authority of God

1) It’s authority affects all humanity

b. God has spoken; we must submit

4. Inerrancy

a. The Bible (as a whole) is inerrant and infallible

1) It is without error in the original manuscripts

5. Illumination

a. No one can understand the Scripture

b. The Holy Spirit enlightens the mind of the believer to understand the Bible

B. Erroneous Concepts/Theories of Inspiration

1. ’Natural inspiration’ or ‘intuition theory’

a. Inspiration is just a superior insight of a human mind

1) This would put great worship songs on the same level as the Bible

2. ‘Dynamic’ or ‘partial-inspiration theory’

a. The Bible is infallible on subjects of faith and practice but it can be wrong about history or science

1) How can we know then which parts are true?

2) How can we tell the difference between which parts are essential to faith and practice and which parts are not?

3) II Tim 3:16 à all Scripture is God-breathed!

3. Thoughts, not the words, are inspired

a. God suggested the thoughts of the revelation but left the words up to the writer

1) I Cor 2:13 “not in words taught by human wisdom, but… by the Spirit.”

2) Pache: “Ideas can be conceived of and transmitted only by means of words.”

4. The Bible contains the Word of God

a. The Bible is a human book which God can make his Word at the moment of personal encounter

1) This is a very subjective approach to Scripture

2) This position takes away the objective approach to Scripture

3) Man’s interpretation is often fallible… the Scripture is infallible

5. The ‘dictation theory’

a. The authors of the Scripture were nothing more than pens

1) This view ignores the differences in style of the writes

2) The beauty of the Bible is that it is a God-breathed book, that has a human character

C. The Biblical Doctrine of Inspiration

1. Inspiration is unexplainable

a. It is an act of the Holy Spirit

2. Inspiration is limited to authors of Scripture

3. Inspiration is essentially guidance

a. The Holy Spirit supervised the selection of words to be used in writing the Scriptures

4. The Holy Spirit kept the authors from error and omission

5. Inspiration includes the words, not just thoughts and concepts

a. This is only in the original autographs

1) Not in any of the versions (ancient or modern)

2) Nor in any Hebrew or Greek manuscripts in existence

3) All but the originals contain some errors

- No doctrine is affected by this