· Bibliology ·

Lecture Nine:  Inspiration and Authority I

TH330 Systematic Theology I · Moody Bible Institute · Dr. Richard M. Weber

I. A Defintion of “Inspiration”

“God carried men along so that they wrote his message in the Bible.  … God superintended the human authors of the Bible so that they composed and recorded without error His message to makind in the words of their original writings.”  (Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, 81)

II. The Biblical Evidence for the Inspiration of Scripture

Is all scripture God breathed? 1 Cor 7:10, 12

1Co 7:10  To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband

1Co 7:12  To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.

1 Cor 7:25 1Co 7:25  Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.

These are quotes from elsewhere, but the others statements are still inspired.

“[A]ll arguments for an absolute authority must ultimately appeal to that authority for proof:  otherwise the authority would not be an absolute or highest authority.”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 78-79)

A. 2 Timothy 3:16.  “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, …”

1. “All Scripture”

grafh (graphe; “Scripture”)

1 Tim 5:18.  “For the Scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,’ and ‘The worker deserves his wages.’”

Deut 25:4.  “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”

Luke 10:7.  “Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. …”

2 Pet 3:16.  “[Paul] writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters.  His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures…”

2. “God-Breathed”

QeopneustoV (theopneustos; “inspired”)

3. A Problem:  Is All the New Testament “Scripture”?

1 Cor 7:10, 12.  [In context of Paul’s instructions about divorce/remarriage].  “To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord):  A wife must not separate from her husband…  To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord):  If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.”

1 Cor 7:25.  “Now about virgins:  I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.”

B. 2 Peter 1:21.  “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

feromenoi (pheromenoi) – “carried along”

Acts 27:15.  “The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.”

“In this singularly precise and pregnant statement there are several things which require to be carefully observed.  There is, first of all, the emphatic denial that prophecy – that is to say, on the hypothesis upon which we are working, Scripture – owes its origin to human initiative:  ‘No prophecy ever was brought … by the will of man.’  Then, there is the equally emphatic assertion that its source lies in God:  It was spoken by men, indeed, but the men who spoke it ‘spake from God.’  And a remarkable clause is here inserted, and thrown forward in the sentence that stress may fall on it, which tells us how it could be that men, in speaking, should speak not from themselves, but from God:  it was ‘as borne’ – it is the same word which was rendered ‘was brought’ above, and might possibly be rendered ‘brought’ here – ‘by the Holy Spirit’ that they spoke.  Speaking thus under the determining influence of the Holy Spirit, the things they spoke were not from themselves, but from God.”  (B. B. Warfield, The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible, Philadelphia: P&R, 136).

C. Various Texts Indicating that in Scripture, God Has Spoken

1. “Thus Says the Lord”

a. 1 Kings 14:18.  “They buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, as the Lord had said through his servant the prophet Ahijah.”  (cf. 1 Kings 16:12, 34)

b. 2 Kings 9:36.  “…‘This is the word of the Lord that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite…” (cf. 2 Kings 14:25)

c. Jer 37:2.  “…the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.”

d. Zech 7:12.  “They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the early prophets.  So the Lord Almighty was very angry.”

e. Cf. 1 Kings 13:26 with 1 Kings 13:21; 1 Kings 21:19 with 2 Kings 9:25-26; Hag 1:12

2. Jesus’ View of Old Testament Texts

Matt 4:4.  “Jesus answered, ‘It is written, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’”

3. Other New Testament Views of Old Testament Texts

a. Matt 1:22-23.  “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us.”

b. Matt 19:4-5.  “…[A]t the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ {Gen 1:27} and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’{Gen 2:24}?”

c. Mark 7:9-13.  “And he said to them, ‘You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!  For Moses said, “Honor your father and mother,” and, “Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.”  But you say that if a man says to his father or mother:  “Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban” (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother.  Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.”

d. Acts 1:16.  “Brothers, the Scriptures had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas…”

e. Acts 3:18, 21.  But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer…  He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.”

f. Acts 4:25.  “You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David.”

g. Acts 13:47.  “For this is what the Lord has commanded us:  ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

h. Acts 28:25-27.  “Paul…made his final statement:  ‘The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet:  “Go to this people and say, ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving…’”’”

i. Rom 3:2.  “[The Jews, who possess the Old Testament] have been entrusted with the very words of God.”

j. Rom 9:17.  “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh:  ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’”

k. Heb 1:1-2, 6-7.  “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways…  [W]hen God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’  In speaking of the angels he says, ‘He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.’  But about the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom..”

l. Cf. Luke 1:70; 24:25; John 5:45-47; Acts 2:16-17; Rom 1:2; 1 Cor 9:8-10

D. The New Testament’s View of Other New Testament Texts

2 Peter 3:2.  “I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.”

E. The Bible’s Internal Evidence for Inspiration

1. 1 Cor 2:13-14.  “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.  The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

2. John 10:27.  “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”