Don Stewart :: What Conclusions Can We Make about the Bible’s Divine Inspiration and Authority?

What Conclusions Can We Make about the Bible’s Divine Inspiration and Authority?

False Views of the Bible – Question 10

Having looked at what the Bible says about the subject of divine inspiration, as well as some of the inadequate theories that have been proposed, we can make the following conclusions about the authority of the Bible:

1. The Bible Is Both a Divine and Human Book

The Bible is not merely a human book, but rather a divine book written by human authors. These authors were supernaturally guided by God to record His truth to humanity. The words of Scripture were the words of the human authors, but the truth they recorded is God’s Word to us. Therefore, we have the Word of God given to humanity in the words of humans.

2. The Bible Is a Unique Book

The Bible is unique—it is different from all other books; having no like or equal. No book is even close by comparison. Scripture, therefore, should never be compared to other human writings that show spiritual insight and wisdom. The Bible is not merely an insightful book—t is the Word of God.

3. The Process of Writing Scripture Was Living, Not Mechanical

Divine inspiration occurred using the writer’s personality and vocabulary. The writers were not merely passive stenographers recording what was dictated to them by God. Exactly how this process occurred is a mystery that God does not explain.

However, what we do know is that the end result, the written word of God, is completely trustworthy and error-free.

4. Scripture Is Fully Authoritative, Not Partially Authoritative

We should also emphasize that divine inspiration covers every part of the Bible. There are not some parts that are more divinely inspired than others. Neither are there divinely uninspired parts of Scripture. The Bible does not contain the Word of God—it is the Word of God.

If someone argued that the Bible merely contains God’s Word, then it would cause uncertainty to everyone. Who determines what is divinely inspired and what is not? How could anyone be confident that the portion they were reading was actually the divinely inspired part? Scripture is clear. The Bible is, in all parts, divinely inspired.

5. God’s Authority Concerns the Wording of Scripture, Not Merely the Concepts

It is not merely the concepts that are found in the Bible which are divinely inspired, but the very way in which the actual words are used to relate the concepts, is also divinely inspired. Thoughts are expressed in words. Words make up sentences. It is the way these words were used in the phrases, sentences and paragraphs that are divinely inspired.

6. The Writing of Scripture Was Unique—It Is Not the Same Thing as Illumination

Scripture makes the distinction between the God of the Bible filling a person with His Holy Spirit to supernaturally write divinely authoritative Scripture, and illumination, the ability to understand the things that are already written.

Summary – Question 10
What Conclusions Can We Make about the Bible’s Inspiration and Authority?

The Bible is a book that is both divine and human. It is God’s revelation to humanity, written by human beings who were led by the Spirit of God. Scripture is unique in the fact that it is the only divine revelation that humanity has been given.

The Bible is on a different level than every other book—it has no equal. The divine inspiration of Scripture occurred by God using the authors’ own personality and vocabulary. There is no idea of the entire Scripture being the result of some sort of divine dictation. In addition, divine inspiration is complete—covering all parts of Scripture. Finally, divine inspiration concerns the very words used by the writers, as well as the concepts they recorded.

The Bible has both infallible truth and divine authority in everything that it teaches. The Bible is also the product of human beings. It has all the evidences of human authorship as clearly as any other book that was ever written. This human/divine authorship extends to every part of Scripture. It is the Word of God in the words of human beings.