Back to: How We Got The Bible
Hebrews 1:1-2 ESV Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, [2] but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
The Bible is unique in many ways, but primarily in the claim it makes as being the very Words of God.
Before going into the historical and technical aspects of how we got the Bible, it’s critically important that we first get an overview of the underlying reason why we are looking into its origins.
And those reasons are theological.
The Doctrine of The Bible
Of all the forms of the Word of God, the focus of our study in systematic theology is God’s Word in written form, that is, the Bible.
This is the form of God’s Word that is available for study, for public inspection, for repeated examination, and as a basis for mutual discussion.
It tells us about and points us to the Word of God as a person, namely Jesus Christ, whom we do not now have in present bodily form on earth. Thus, we are no longer able to observe and imitate His life and teachings firsthand
– Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology
The Word of God: What are the different forms of the Word of God?
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, [17] that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 Peter 1:21 ESV For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Inspired
| theopneustos | God-breathed, i.e. inspired by God |
| Original Word | θεόπνευστος, ον |
| Part of Speech: | Adjective |
| Transliteration: | theopneustos |
| Phonetic Spelling: | (theh-op’-nyoo-stos) |
| Definition: | God-breathed, inspired by God, due to the inspiration of God. |
Scripture
| graphé | a writing, scripture |
| Original Word | γραφή, ῆς, ἡ |
| Part of Speech | Noun, Feminine |
| Transliteration | graphé |
| Phonetic Spelling | (graf-ay’) |
| Definition | a writing, scripture |
| Usage | (a) a writing, (b) a passage of scripture; plur: the scriptures. |
[The NT generally uses 1124 (graphḗ) for the Hebrew Scriptures (the OT) – but see also 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Pet 3:16. 1124 (graphḗ) was used for the Hebrew Scriptures as early as Aristeas (about 130 bc; so MM).]
Verbal Plenary
For centuries, Bible-believing Christians have accepted two important truths about the inspiration of Scripture:
- Verbal inspiration (Latin verbum, “word”)— God’s inspiration extends to the very words of Scripture.
- Plenary inspiration (Latin plenus, “full”)— Every part of the Bible is fully inspired, not merely the parts that have to do with salvation and our spiritual lives.
Verbal-plenary inspiration does not mean that God turned writers into robots, controlled from heaven through a cosmic keyboard. The biblical authors used their own free expressions, and God providentially guided their lives so that they would choose the words that conveyed his truth.
Timothy Paul Jones
If Scripture is “God-breathed,” that means the words of Scripture came to us from the innermost essence of God himself. Moses and the prophets knew this and declared that they were writing God’s own words (see, for examples, Exodus 17:14; Jeremiah 1:9; Ezekiel 1:2; Hosea 1:1). Jesus agreed with their assessment and described the words of Scripture as words from God himself (Matthew 19:4–5; Mark 12:36).9
J.I. Packer
“The NT reveals this divine ‘breath’ (pneuma = spirit) to be a Person of the Godhead. God’s ‘breath’ (The Holy Spirit) produced Scripture as a means to the conveyance of spiritual understanding.”
“The essential idea here is that all Scripture has the same character as the (OT) prophets’ sermons had, both when preached and when written”
“…That is to say, Scripture is not only man’s word – the fruit of human thought, premeditation, and art – but also and equally God’s Word, spoken through man’s lips or written with man’s pen. In other words, Scripture has a double authorship, and man is only the secondary author; the primary author, through whose initiative, prompting, and enlightenment, and under whose superintendence each human writer did his work, is God the Holy Spirit.”
-JI Packer, The Origin of the Bible
Geisler/Nix
Of the sources I am using, ‘From God to Us’ has the more robust treatment of the inspiration of Scripture.
The total process of inspiration must contain three essential elements:
- Divine Causality – God is the Prime Mover in the inspiration of the Bible. It is the divine which moved the human.God is the Prime Mover in the inspiration of the Bible. It is the divine which moved the human.
- Prophetic Agency – The personalities of the prophets were not violated by a supernatural intrusion. The Bible which they wrote is the Word of God, but it is also the words of humans. God used their personalities to convey His propositions.
- Written Authority – The Bible is the last word on doctrinal and ethical matters. All theological and moral disputes must be brought to the bar of the written Word.
Only the autographic texts themselves (or perfect copies of them) are inerrant (without error). Every other copy is inspired only insofar as it is an accurate reproduction of the original…. Technically speaking, only the autographic text is actually inspired, but for all practical purposes present-day English Bibles, in that they are accurate translations of the original, are the inspired Word of God.
– Geisler/nix, how we got the bible
The Biblical Doctrine of Inspiration
- Inspiration is Verbal
- Inspiration is Plenary
- Inspiration gives Authority
- Implications of Inspiration
- Equality of OT and NT
- Variety of literary expression
- Inerrancy of the record.