The Inspiration of the Bible
The Apostle Peter wrote, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.'' (2 Peter 1:20,21) The entire Bible was written under the supervision of the Holy Spirit. He made sure that no mistakes were made.
The Bible claims to be inspired of God. We are not going to argue that issue in this lesson. This lesson will simply present the Biblical view of inspiration.
How did God work to bring about the Bible? As we examine the statements of Scripture, we discover that a variety of methods were used. The Apostle John tells us, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life.'' (1 John 1:1) When John wrote about Jesus, he wrote as an eye witness.
Large sections of the Bible contain history written by eye witnesses. As they wrote about things that they had seen, God prevented them from making any errors. Two of the Gospels, John and Matthew, were written by eye witnesses. The Gospel of Mark was probably written from what Mark learned from the Apostle Peter. So it too was based on the account of one eye witness.
The Gospel of Luke is slightly different than the others in respect to how God brought in about. Luke says, "It seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you might know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.'' (Luke 1:3,4: NAS)
Luke was not an eyewitness of the ministry of Jesus. He also did not base his account on what he learned from any one individual. Rather, it seems that he spoke to many who were eyewitnesses and put together his Gospel from all that he learned. It is believed that he even interviewed Mary, the mother of Jesus. After his careful research, he began to write out what he had learned and God supervised his writing to ensure that it was without error.
Other parts of Scripture were given to individuals by direct revelation. A good example of this is Daniel. He wrote, "And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.'' (Daniel 8:15,16)
The prophets wrote much that God told them directly, some of which they did not even understand! God by different means and through different people brought about the writing of His perfect Word: the Bible. This leads to an important question: Why did God go to all the trouble of providing a perfect inspired book of Scriptures? What is God trying to tell us? What is the message of the Bible? My next post will deal with this subject.
The Bible claims to be inspired of God. We are not going to argue that issue in this lesson. This lesson will simply present the Biblical view of inspiration.
How did God work to bring about the Bible? As we examine the statements of Scripture, we discover that a variety of methods were used. The Apostle John tells us, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life.'' (1 John 1:1) When John wrote about Jesus, he wrote as an eye witness.
Large sections of the Bible contain history written by eye witnesses. As they wrote about things that they had seen, God prevented them from making any errors. Two of the Gospels, John and Matthew, were written by eye witnesses. The Gospel of Mark was probably written from what Mark learned from the Apostle Peter. So it too was based on the account of one eye witness.
The Gospel of Luke is slightly different than the others in respect to how God brought in about. Luke says, "It seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you might know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.'' (Luke 1:3,4: NAS)
Luke was not an eyewitness of the ministry of Jesus. He also did not base his account on what he learned from any one individual. Rather, it seems that he spoke to many who were eyewitnesses and put together his Gospel from all that he learned. It is believed that he even interviewed Mary, the mother of Jesus. After his careful research, he began to write out what he had learned and God supervised his writing to ensure that it was without error.
Other parts of Scripture were given to individuals by direct revelation. A good example of this is Daniel. He wrote, "And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.'' (Daniel 8:15,16)
The prophets wrote much that God told them directly, some of which they did not even understand! God by different means and through different people brought about the writing of His perfect Word: the Bible. This leads to an important question: Why did God go to all the trouble of providing a perfect inspired book of Scriptures? What is God trying to tell us? What is the message of the Bible? My next post will deal with this subject.
posted by David Frank Wilson | 4:57 AM
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