Bibliology - Week 3 - Inspiration

Welcome to Week 3 of our class on Bibliology, the study of the Bible. Let’s pray and then we’ll get started. (Pray)

Last week, we talked about the subject of revelation. We defined revelation as anything that God discloses to humanity that could not be known any other way. We said that there are two major categories of revelation - general and specific. General revelation includes things that are apparent to all people, at all times. Creation is a good example of that.

tells us that everyone should be able to notice the world around them and recognize that it all had to come from somewhere. And those who reject the notion of God, in spite of this evidence, are simply suppressing what should be obvious. says, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse."

So we said from this verse that general revelation is sufficient to show us that there is a creator, and because of that, it is also sufficient to condemn us, because 1. many reject what should be apparent, and 2. once we know that there is a God, it should also be apparent that we fail to worship him as we ought. And yet, last week we also said that even though general revelation is sufficient to convict us, it is insufficient to save us. That is, looking at creation tells us that there is a God, but it doesn’t tell us how we can know that Creator.

But that leads us to special revelation - special instances where God has revealed specific information to certain people and at certain places. Special revelation is sufficient to save, and examples of special revelation include: dreams, visions, angels, miracles, appearances of God (such as the burning bush), Jesus Christ himself, and ultimately, the Bible. Jen Wilken, a popular Christian author has said, “The Bible is our burning bush.” That is to say, it is God’s way of speaking directly to us.

So all in all, we talked about the WHAT, not the HOW, of the Bible. We established that the Bible is God’s revelation to us. The next question we have to ask is “HOW did that take place?” “How did God communicate the revelation of the Bible to human beings?” “How did God communicate the words of Scripture to Moses and David, and Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, and others, so that when they actually sat down, they wrote exactly the words that God wanted them to write?” Did he beam it into their heads as they wrote? Did he take over their bodies? Did God record it in a book that appeared out of the sky, the writers picked it up and passed it on to others? How did it happen? The answer to these questions is the subject of today’s lesson: inspiration. Inspiration talks about HOW God communicated the words of the Bible to its human authors.

established that the Bible is God’s revelation to us. God revealed himself through the writing of the Bible. The next question we have is “How did that take place?” “How did God communicate his words to Moses and David, and Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, - all of the writers of Scriptures, so that when they actually sat down, they wrote exactly the words that God wanted them to write?” Did he beam it into their heads as they wrote? Did he take over their bodies? How did it happen? The answer to these questions is the subject of today’s lesson: inspiration. Inspiration talks about how God communicated the words of the Bible to its human authors.

What exactly do we mean when we say that the authors of the Bible were ‘inspired’? Let’s start out first by defining what we do NOT mean. The biblical authors were NOT “inspired” to write the books of the Bible in the same way that artists are inspired to paint.

(Picture of Bob Ross)

We say nowadays that that sunset ‘inspired me’ to write a poem, or paint a canvas. But the biblical authors did not look at the countryside and feel ‘inspired’ to write a religious book about God.

Rather, we define inspiration this way:

Inspiration = the act of God “breathing out” Scriptures through human writers so as to ensure its authority and perfection.

That definition comes from a central text for the doctrine of Inspiration:

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

(‘breathed out also is rendered as ‘inspired by’ in the NIV)

let’s look at how our own church defines inspiration:

“Inspiration is:

a special act of the Holy Spirit

by which He guided the writers of the Scriptures

· by which He guided the writers of the Scriptures

so that their words would convey the thoughts He wished conveyed,

· so that their words would convey the thoughts He wished conveyed,

would bear a proper relationship to the thoughts of the other inspired books

· would bear a proper relationship to the thoughts of the other inspired books

and would be kept free from error of fact, doctrine, and judgment.”

· and would be kept free from error of fact, doctrine, or judgment.”

Let’s break this down a bit… Look at the definition above for the answers to the following questions.

Which Person of the Trinity inspired the authors of the Bible to write? The Holy Spirit

Did God write the Bible by having a magical hand appear out of thin air and write out all of the books of the Bible on blank paper? No

1. Did God write the Bible by having a magical hand appear out of thin air and write out all of the books of the Bible on blank paper? ___NO__

How did inspiration take place? The Holy Spirit guided the writers of Scripture so that their words would convey what God wanted to convey.

1. How then was the Bible written through the Holy Spirit? _______the Holy Spirit guided the writers of Scripture (either consciously or unconsciously) so that their words would convey what God wanted to convey.

Based on the answers to the previous questions, the doctrine of inspiration says that there were two main authors of the Bible. They are: 1. God 2. Man

1. Were the biblical authors inspired to write their own words or God’s? ___God’s thoughts using their own words___

says that there were two main authors of the Bible. They are:

Were the biblical authors inspired to write their own words or God’s? God’s words conveyed through human agents.

2. If there are many human authors to the Bible, how is it that none of their books contradict each other? Mere coincidence? Or something more? ____God guided them so that they wouldn’t contradict each other.

If there are many human authors to the Bible, how is it that none of their books contradict each other? God guided the authors to prevent contradictions.

Because the Bible is ultimately made up of God’s words, can there be any errors in them? No.

3. Because the Bible is ultimately made up of God’s words, can there be any errors in them? __No__

Just so you know… The Bible Fellowship Church holds to a position of verbal plenary inspiration.

(Verbal = words | Plenary = all). This is in contrast to God guiding the general thoughts of the writers. We don’t just hold the Bible to generally accurate, or generally true, but completely. All of the words that were written were chosen by God for a reason.

John 20:30–31 ESV

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

So everything story and event was chosen for a reason. But even more specifically, every word was chosen for a reason. So hence, when Pastor preached through Philippians recently, he even spent time on the greetings, and the wording of that section. Why? Because it arises out of a belief that every word matters.

So now you know what our church teaches on inspiration. But I don’t want you to just believe it because that’s what our church teaches. Rather, my hope is that you will see Inspiration as something that the Bible claims about itself. So to study this doctrine of inspiration, let’s look at one of our key texts for today: , .

We are going to study a central passage in the doctrine of Inspiration, ,, using a four step method, represented by the letters O.I.C.A. (Observation, Interpretation, Correlation, Application).

"1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people."

"14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."

This was the basic method that I was taught at Lancaster Bible College, it can be used for any passage of Scripture.

First, let’s talk about Observation. You begin by observing what the text says. For example, if you you are reading the book of Jude, you might say, “Who was Jude?” Using basic observation of the text, you would conclude, “Jude was the brother of James, and he describes himself as a bondservant of Christ”. How would you know that? Because says, “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James..." That’s all there is to this first step of observation. It may seem obvious, but really it is just observing what is there. It’s nothing fancy, just writing down what you see.

Interpretation goes a step further. In this second step, you would take what you have observed and try to interpret or understand it further. So for example, we would learn in step one that Jude was a brother of James. Interpretation would ask, “Which James?” You might look for different people in the Bible who are named James and ask if there would be any clues that would give you an idea as to which James this might be. For example, Jesus had a brother named James. Might this Jude be a brother to that individual, and therefore, also a brother of Jesus? Or, when Jude says he is a ‘servant’ of Christ, what does that mean?

Correlation closely related to interpretation, and might even be considered a part of interpretation. Correlation is when you bring in other passages of Scripture to help explain the one you are looking at. For example, this is where you look up other individuals named James in other passages of Scripture. Or, you might look up the concept of a ‘servant’ to help you understand what Jude means when he says he is a “servant of Christ.”

Finally, we come to step 4 - Application. This is where you apply the passage to your life. You only proceed to this step after you have done the other three. Otherwise, you might arrive at the wrong application, if you fail to interpret the passage correctly. For example, let’s say we are reading , where God appears to Gideon, Israel’s judge, and tells him that he will have victory over the Midionites. Gideon then places a fleece on the ground and asks God to make it wet and the ground dry, so that he can know for sure that God will be with him. If we simply read the text, and then conclude, “I should test God every time I’m not sure what do to, like Gideon did”, that would be the wrong conclusion. That would be jumping into application, without properly interpreting the text. However, if you spend careful time in Interpretation, you’ll learn that Gideon’s test was not a good thing. It was not meant to be an example of how to discern God’s will, but rather, is a negative example of a lack of faith on Gideon’s part. So be careful that you do not jump to application before you interpret.

Lord willing, we will get to talk about this method in greater detail in November. But for now, we are going to get a brief chance to experiment in interpreting the Bible, using the OICA method.

I’d like you break up into groups of about 5 or so. (It can be more than that. That’s not a strict number). Read the text that I have given you. , . Then answer the questions as a group. Afterwards, we’ll come back together.

How does Paul describe the men who will come in the “last days”? (v2-3) They will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—."

What is Timothy to do in contrast to these men? (avoid them, have nothing to do with them (v5)), and continue in the things he has learned and been convinced of” (v 14)

What “Scripture” is Paul talking about in ? (look at the verses before it): the sacred writings he has known since childhood (v15)

What does Paul say about “all Scripture”? it is God-breathed/inspired by God (v 16)

What does Paul say about “all Scripture”? (look in an NIV) it is God-breathed/inspired by God (v 16)

What is Scripture good for? teaching, reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness (16)

What are the “sacred writings” that Timothy has known since childhood (v15)? the Old Testament

What does Paul mean when he tells Timothy to “continue in the things you have learned” (v14)? to continue to live a godly life (contrary to what these men are like) and continue to study the Scriptures which you have learned

Why did Paul tell Timothy to “continue in the things you have learned” (v14)? So that he will not follow the conduct or thoughts of the people in verses 2-3

Why would Paul tell Timothy that “all Scripture is God-breathed (inspired by God)”? so that he would know that it is trustworthy and adequate for training in life

What does Paul mean by “God-breathed”? That God is the ultimate author behind it.

(Correlation) Read . (Observation question) What 2 passages is Paul quoting? ,

(Observation) What does Paul call these two passages in verse 18? Scripture

What is Paul saying about Luke by placing his words right next to those of an Old Testament passage? They both are Scripture and therefore both are equally inspired by God, and authoritative

(Observation) What does Paul call these two passages in verse 18? Scripture

Now read . When the author says that the people distort the rest of the Scriptures, what is he really saying about Paul’s letters? that Paul’s letters are Scripture too

What is Paul saying about Luke by placing his words right next to those of an Old Testament passage? They both are Scripture and therefore both are equally inspired by God, and authoritative

What can you deduce by comparing your findings from these two verses (, ) with ? that all of the New Testament is inspired by God

Now read . When the author says that the people distort the rest of the Scriptures, what is he really saying about Paul’s letters? that Paul’s letters are Scripture too

Read . What would this verse seem to imply about the way the biblical authors wrote the Bible? That they were carried along by the Holy Spirit

What can you deduce by comparing your findings from these two verses (, ) with ? that all of the New Testament is inspired by God

Read . What would this verse seem to imply about the way the biblical authors wrote the Bible? That they were carried along by the Holy Spirit

So, taking everything we have learned from these texts and these three steps (Observation, Interpretation and Correlation), what does Scripture say about how the Bible was written? That God (the Holy Spirit) inspired the writers of the Bible (Both Old and New Testaments) to write what he wanted them to write so that the result would be something totally sufficient for life and godliness.

That God (the Holy Spirit) inspired the writers of the Bible (Both Old and New Testaments) to write what he wanted them to write so that the result would be something totally sufficient for life and godliness.

So, taking everything we have learned from these texts and these three steps (Observation, Interpretation and Correlation), what does Scripture say about how the Bible was written? That God (the Holy Spirit) inspired the writers of the Bible (Both Old and New Testaments) to write what he wanted them to write so that the result would be something totally sufficient for life and godliness.

-- This is the doctrine of inspiration! --

Why should you care about inspiration (based on the original passage)? It is useful for everything in teaching, in correction and training in righteousness.

Inspiration is actually never found in the Bible. It is a translation of from the Latin Vulgate Bible (around 400 A.D.), from the word inspiro.

The actual word behind it is the Greek word theopneustos (θεόπνευστος) which literally means, “God-breathed”. This comes from two Greek words, Theos (θεός) which means “God”, and pneo (πνέω), which means “to breathe”.

The Holy Spirit was the means by which they were inspired.

θεός = “God” | πνέω = “to breathe”

The prophets’ words were guided by the Holy Spirit ()

Solomon was given wisdom inspired by God ()

David spoke “in the Spirit” in the (, )

is called Scripture (, and also where it is attributed to the Spirit)

is called Scripture, spoken by David through the Holy Spirit ()

The Holy Spirit Spoke through Isaiah in ()

§ Isaiah’s words are said to be from the Lord in ()

Isaiah’s words are said to be from the Lord in ()

§ Joel’s words are said to be “God declares” in ()

Joel’s words are said to be “God declares” in ()

2. Yet, the writers kept their own styles of writing

Yet, the writers kept their own styles of writing

§ The vocabulary used in each of the books is different.

The vocabulary used in each of the books is different.

§ The writers were not robots, or humans who became ‘possessed’ and were forced to write words against their will. They were guided (many times, unconsciously) to write in their own style, words which ultimately came from, and were inspired by, God.

The style of writing in each book is very different.

3. Inspiration does not mean that God always supplied the content of a given book by direct revelation.

God breathed-out Scripture in a variety of ways.

In the case of the Ten Commandments (the first copy), God personally wrote them down with his own finger.

§ Certainly Moses was told, word for word, what to write by God on Mount Sinai (REF)

"And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God."

"And the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the Lord had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. And at the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant."

In the case of the Law (including the second copy of the Ten Commandments), it is clear that God dictated, word-for-word, what Moses was to write down at Mount Sinai.

§ But this was not always the case. Sometimes the authors had to research their materials before writing (-Daniel had to look to see how many years Jeremiah had predicted for Judah to serve Babylon, – Luke investigated everything carefully before writing a Gospel)

But this was not always the case. Sometimes the authors had to research their materials before writing (-Daniel had to look to see how many years Jeremiah had predicted for Judah to serve Babylon, – Luke investigated everything carefully before writing a Gospel)

In the case of Daniel,

"On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel:"

"And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments."

In the case of Luke, we are told that he carefully researched the life of Jesus before writing his Gospel. In this case, God guided his research and writing.

"Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught."

In the case of the prophets & the Apostle John (in Revelation), these authors recorded the vision(s) that were given to them.

"I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”"

"And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”"

For the majority of books, we are not specifically told how God inspired them to write their books. But from what we know in the previous examples, it was likely either by 1. direct revelation (like Moses on Mt. Sinai), 2. through careful, divinely-guided research & recollection (like Luke), or 3. some combination of the two.

1. direct revelation (like Moses on Mt. Sinai) or through careful, divinely-guided research & recollection (like Luke), or 3. some combination of the two.

4. The authors may or may not have realized at the time that what they were writing was inspired.

The authors may or may not have realized at the time that what they were writing was inspired.

Moses recognized that what he was writing was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

§ Moses recognized that what he was writing was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

However, it does not appear that Paul knew that his writings were inspired. To him, it seemed like he was just writing another letter.

§ However, it does not appear that Paul knew that his writings were inspired. To him, it seemed like he was just writing another letter.

4. Inspiration does not mean that all the facts about a subject are written

Inspiration does not mean that all the facts about a subject are written

– the rest is in the book of Jashar,

§ – the rest is in the book of Jashar,

– the rest in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah,

§ – the rest in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah,

§ , - many other works of Jesus were performed, but the author was selective, because it would be impossible to write them all.

, - many other works of Jesus were performed, but the author was selective, because it would be impossible to write them all.

But inspiration does mean that all of the words of the Bible were exactly what God intended to put down.

4. But inspiration does mean that all of the words of the Bible were exactly what God intended to put down.

If the Bible only contains the words that God wanted to be included, and since God cannot lie, then the Bible must therefore be without error.

§ If the Bible only contains the words that God wanted to be included, and since God cannot lie, then the Bible must therefore be without error

§ This is the doctrine of inerrancy and will be discussed next week!

This is the doctrine of inerrancy and will be discussed next week!

Bibliology - Week 3 - Inspiration

Intro - The Doctrine of Inspiration

The official teaching of the BFC (the “Faith and Order” Article 1.2) says:

Some Questions About Inspiration

Part 2 - Group Study Using O.I.C.A.

Step 1: Observation – What did the author say?

Step 2: Interpretation – What did the author mean?

Step 3: Correlation – How does this fit with the rest of Scripture?

Step 4: Application – What does this passage mean to me?

Part 3 - Inspiration - The Doctrine Summarized