Inspiration of scriptures

I believe the inspiration of scriptures to be God’s superintending of human authors so that, using their own individual personalities, they composed and recorded without error in the words of the original autographs His revelation. The thoughts of scripture are inspired.

Some people believe that divine inspiration equates to divine dictation. Others believe that the message it divinely inspired, but the actual words used are not.

In the very least, all must accept a plenary view of scriptural inspiration (that is, that Scripture is complete in all respects). The plenary view asserts God's divine influence on the writers, by which they were qualified to communicate God's moral or religious truth with authority.

Plenary inspiration (inspiration which excludes all defect in the utterance of the inspired message) differs from verbal inspiration (inspiration which extends to the very words and forms of expression of the divine message).

 

I personally believe that the "thoughts" of scripture are completely inerrant. Human language however, as a vehicle, is incapable of holding God's truth absolutely. Consider Hebrew which is much more primitive gramatically and syntactically than Greek. Context sometimes has to determine the exact meaning of some Hebrew and Palestinian Aramaic constructions.

As such I think that the bible is the "inspired word of God" as much as our pencil marks on paper can hold such a thing.

Several corollaries:

The original "autographs" are not MORE inspired than this - why would they be? Why would God inspire an "original" perfectly and then allow it to decay without being replicated?

Having several different words here and there does not necessarily change the "essence" of the word and does not per se compromise the integrity of God's revelation.

Different languages have different verbal systems in terms of time, aspect, person etc. If a passage was absolutely inspired in one language how could it be so in another since no 2 languages line up exactly?

It is clear that God has promised to preserve His word. The Greek "logos" and Hebrew "emer/imrah" do not necessarily mean a literal written word - they often mean the essence of speech!

Just look at the hundreds of angry posts back and forth about individual words in versions! Is this what God intended?? I think not!

 

I believe that inspiration applies also to the words themselves (of the originals). Jesus talked about jots and titles which are letter/particles of the Hebrew language.

"God-breathed" to me means that there was a filling of the Holy Spirit of the inspired writer so that the Spirit flowed throw the being of the writer motivating the thoughts and enlightening the mind and memory, while protecting from error as well (but not dictating as to a secretary).

HankD

 

How can I say this??

When God "breathed" scripture, holy men spake as they were moved... The MEN spake.

If I read:

"Wayiqqtol YHWH pesel melekh"

What is the translation of this? There are multiple possibilities.

1. And God will kill the king of the idol.
2. And God killed the king of the idol.
3. And God will kill the idol of the king.
4. And God killed the idol of the king.

Human language is limited - agreed? God is NOT.

 

Very interesting, I had never thought of it that way.
I have never considered the limitation of human speech when thinking about versions.

A simple, and I do mean simple illustration to this is humans communicating to dolphins. We have the better ability to communicate, (at least some of us lol)
If we are communicating to a dolphin we must limit ourselves in what we "say" to them.
The same way God had to limit what he told us.

His ways are definately higher than ours.
Some things for me to consider.
Thanks a lot!!

 

I don't think it's a necessary requirement for "inspiration of scriptures" to be so, no. I personally don't think the words written on paper can truly contain God's truth perfectly. The message, however, contained in the context of what is written, is completely inspired and inerrant.

 

Yes, we know.

Are you using your own thoughts to determine what is completely inspired and inerrant?

Let me say that I believe in the inspiration of scripture, from the day they were first penned to 1611, which was the day the inspired, infallible, inerrant word of God was put in my language for me to read.

Johnv, I highly recommend reading Foxes book of Martyrs and maybe then you'll see how men and women died defending those spritures that you believe are not God's truth perfectly.

 

Amen, Brother JohnV -- Preach it!

To bad some will tie God's hand
by limiting God's inspired
and inerrant written word to one edition
of one English version
Fortunately God is bigger than some
concieve of Him being.

 

HomeBound:"Let me say that I believe in the inspiration of scripture, from the day they were first penned to 1611, which was the day the inspired, infallible, inerrant word of God was put in my language for me to read."

Duh...the first complete English Bible translation distributed among the people, albeit illegal in the eyes of the RCC, was Tyndale's 1535 Bible, 90% of which was used in the AV 1611. Why was that Bible abandoned? What about the 10% not used for the AV?

Tyndale translated the Scriptures into the most modern English of his time, and NOT the archaic English of the 1100s. And he indeed died for his work. The AV was made under the authorization of a king who hated the standers English Bible at the time, the Geneva Bible. Unlike Tyndale, the AV makers were honored and well-paid. They were so well-paid that they took their good ole country time in completing their work, lest they kill their cash cow.

The KJVO seeks to LIMIT GOD, telling us that the BVs that followed the AV 1611 are not valid, much as KJ blasted the Geneva Bible, which was barely 40 years old at the time.

 

Another poster said recently that she did not serve a powerless God. Well put - neither do I!! The idea is that God has given us what He wanted us to have - that makes it sufficient!!

When we read the words of scripture the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts and thereupon are the verses written. It is the truth of scripture that is God's inspired word.

Consider Matthew 12:1. The disciples were hungry so they were pulling off ears of corn and eating them and thus breaking the Sabbath. The Pharisees were upset because they broke the letter of the Law. Were the Pharisees ignorant of the LETTER of the law? Certainly not - they knew it by heart!! But Jesus basically says to them that they don't get it - they know not the spirit of the Law. Men were not made for the Sabbath!

In addition whenever the OT is quoted in the NT the text reading is usually more similar to the LXX than the BHS (of today). These are not word for word the same!

Regarding us today - we've got multiple English versions from which to choose. I personally like the KJV but most of the MVs are sound. The versions are a little different, the manuscripts are a little different, the LXX is a little different than the BHS. Thus we cannot assert that any particular version or manuscript or language is absolutely WORD FOR WORD inspired.

Beware the leaven of the "Pharisees"!! They miss the forest for the trees.

 

Russell55

I think that the scriptures contain the Word of God. Multiple words or letters here and there are a little different in different manuscripts - that's what happens when people copy stuff!

I assert that the GOSPEL has not been altered. The KERYGMA is unchanged from version to version. There are some slight differences in places but none that affect salvation. There are many who would nit pick here but the point is clear. The GOSPEL is not changed. Why is it this way? I don't know but it is!!

Regarding the guidance of the Spirit... A believer prayerfully reading will get the ESSENCE of the passage if he/she is open to it. Now if someone sits down and reads it and then goes and beats another believer over the head with a verse because he/she interprets it differently then I doubt that first believer had a correct frame of mind anyway!

Paul said we see through a glass darkly now but...
We'll never understand everything until we get there. But God WILL give us what we NEED. The other stuff theologians can debate!

 

This is not a KJVO topic. It's an inspiration definition topic.

 

Here is what inspiration in the Bible is not:

God told the writers the exact letters to use to
make the words AND to encode the hidden messages.

Since inspiration is NOT like that, translations
can also be "inspired by God" if they are faithful
to God's meaning in the Bible.

"Bible Codes" are an Abomination before God and
using them to divine your future is a deadly.