The Inspiration of the Bible

part 1 -- What Does "Inspiration" Mean?


  1. What "Inspiration" Does NOT Mean:
    1. A product of HUMAN genius (e.g., Homer, Dante, Shakespeare) = the natural / intuitive view
      1. The nature of man is to be self-reliant and all-sufficient, yet the Bible condemns all men as sinners and in need of the mercy and grace of a Divine being. Would "smart men" do this?
      2. The content of the Bible is so far above all other written works as to be undeniably Divine in origin.
    2. Inspiration is not only in the THOUGHTS of the writers
      1. Some say God only gave general ideas and allowed the men to write as they saw fit = the conceptual dynamic view
        1. Acts 3:22-24
        2. 1 Peter 1:10-12
      2. The Bible teaches that God gave His Word to men:
        1. "Thus saith the Lord," "the Word of the Lord," "the Word of God" appear 3808 times in the Bible.
        2. Exodus 4:15 (cf Deut 4:2)
        3. Psalm 119:43
        4. Jeremiah 1:7-9
        5. John 17:8
    3. Inspiration is not the Bible "CONTAINING" the Word of God = the liberal / neo-orthodox view
      1. This view denies all miraculous events, calling them "myths"
      2. John 20:30-31
    4. Inspiration is not the Bible "becoming" the Word of God to each one individually = the personal revelation / existential view
      1. John 17:17 -- "Thy Word is truth"
    5. Inspiration is not God making mindless "robots" out of the writers = mechanical dictation view




  1. What does "Inspiration" mean?
    1. literally - "God-breathed" from the Greek theo-pneustos
    2. This type of inspiration is called the plenary verbal view
      1. Plenary = COMPLETE
      2. Verbal = SPOKEN
    3. Psalm 33:6 -- God breathed the universe into existence
    4. Holy Spirit's guidance in the teaching & writing of the Bible:
      1. 2 Samuel 23:2
      2. Acts 7:51-53
      3. 2 Peter 1:20-21
      4. John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13
      5. Acts 15:28 -- the council at Jerusalem
      6. 1 Corinthians 2:13


  2. Of what "scriptures" do we speak? -- scriptures = writings
    1. 2 Timothy 3:15 "the holy scriptures"
    2. The Old Testament
      1. Jesus refers to the O.T. as scripture- Matt 22:29-32
      2. Romans 15:4
      3. 2 Peter 1:20-21
    3. The New Testament
      1. 2 Peter 3:13-16 Peter speaks of Paul's epistles as scripture
      2. Paul equated his own writings with scripture:
        1. 1 Corinthians 14:37
        2. 2 Thessalonians 2:15; 3:6, 14
    4. There are other books noted in scripture, but are not in the Bible:
      1. 2 Samuel 1:18 -- the book of Jashar
      2. 1 Kings 11:41 -- the book of the Acts of Solomon
      3. 1 Chronicles 29:29 -- the Chronicles of Samuel, Nathan, & Gad
    5. The apocrypha is not scripture, as it contains myths, additions to other books (Esther, Daniel), a murder by Jesus as a child (GoT)