5.    What is the meaning of inspiration of the Bible?

• The Bible is claimed as the "Word of God" (2Ti 3:16; 2Pe 1:21; Heb 1:1; 1Co 2:13; see God’s warning for false claims, Dt 18:20) and is described as being inspired (Gr. theopneustos, meaning God-breathed, or breathed out by God) by the Holy Spirit.

• This kind of inspiration is called:

• verbal inspiration (the very words used were approved by God)
• plenary inspiration (covering the entire text of the Bible)
• organic inspiration (the Holy Spirit used the writers just as they were, with their character and temperament, their gifts and talents, their education and culture, their vocabulary and style)

• God gave full (plenary) expression to His thoughts in the words of the Bible through human beings. It is the divine and human elements united in perfect harmony.
• On one hand, the Holy Spirit illumined the writers’ minds, aided their memory, prompted them to write, repressed the influence of sin on their writings, and guided them in the expression of their thoughts even to the choice of their words. Therefore the Bible is a record completely true in the context for which God intended it.
• On the other hand, the Holy Spirit left free scope to the writers’ activity. They could give the results of their own investigations, write of their own experiences, and put the imprint of their own style and language on their books.
• It is a process by which Spirit-moved men (2Pe 1:20-21) produce Spirit-breathed writings (2Ti 3:16).

• Mechanical inspiration:

• The view is that God literally dictated the Bible word for word. The writers did not contribute in any way to the contents or form of their writings.
• BUT the books in the Bible reflect different styles and vocabularies of individual authors, for example, the styles of Paul, John, and Peter are very different.

• Dynamic inspiration:

• The view is that God inspired the writers but the inspiration had no direct bearing on their writings. Their mental and spiritual life was simply strengthened and raised to a higher pitch, so that they saw things more clearly and had a more profound sense of their real spiritual value.
• BUT this would differ only in degree from the spiritual illumination of all believers and the Bible would not deserve its claim as the Word of God.

• Footnote: the meaning of evangelicalism (Gr. evangelion meaning good news or gospel)

• emphasize the gospel and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, believe that the gospel: (a) leads to conversion and a changed life, and (b) leads to action
• accept absolute authority of the Bible
• avoid dogmatism and confrontations with other Christians (e.g. Billy Graham)

• believing that the Bible is a mixture of the Word of God with the words of men
• one may find the Word of God from the Bible by rational and moral reflection through God’s illumination
• BUT this is too rationalistic and man-centred; man who is susceptible to errors is granted the power to decide on what is truth

• believing that the Bible only speaks to man meaningfully when God encounters man personally in an act of revelation
• BUT this depends too much on subjective experience so that the same passage may be regarded as the Word of God for some persons but not for others

6.    What are the internal evidences of inspiration?

a. contains sayings explicitly from God ("God said", "This is what God the Almighty says")

b. agreement of all parts of Scripture with each other

c. did not hide the sins committed by great ancestors (such as Abraham) and great kings (such as David), judgment of historical events from the divine viewpoint

d. use of a variety of expression in recording the same incidents but no contradiction (Mt 16:16; Mk 8:29; Lk 9:20 and Mt 3:17; Mk 1:11; Lk 3:22)

e. claim for inspiration in each book of the OT

f. claim by NT writers (who were all holy persons) as spirit-directed
 

a. testimony of the Holy Spirit: universal consent of the church on the inspiration of the Bible

b. transforming power of the Bible: many examples of complete moral conversion for the people who read the Bible

c. unity of the Bible: over 40 writers, 1500 years in time span, different countries, different occupations, but unity of subject: sin and salvation

d. fulfilment of prophecies of the Bible: confirmed by history and archaeology, such as regathering of Israel (Isa 11:11), destruction of Tyre (Eze 26, v.5), sequence of great world kingdoms (Da 2; 7)

e. moral superiority of the Bible: sums up and transcends the best morality of all books of all time

f. universality: translated into over 1000 languages and dialects which represent about 90% of world’s population; distributing over 30 million copies a year for the last few decades

g. historicity, accuracy of details: Not even one single error has been definitely proved to exist anywhere in the Bible; instead, persons, places and events not known elsewhere except in the Bible have been substantiated by archeological discoveries.

h. indestructibility: The Bible has withstood countless attacks (Mk 13:31); many prominent atheists (such as Voltaire) have predicted the obsolescence of the Bible
 

a. The Bible is divine authority; it is the sole source and final authority of faith and practice.

b. The Bible is absolutely necessary for man to know God and His salvation.

c. The Bible is perspicuous (clearly expressed, easily understood); the plain sense of Scripture, in particular the knowledge unto salvation, was available to anyone who earnestly seeks to understand it (Ps 119:130; 19:7-8).

d. The Bible is sufficient for the moral and spiritual needs of God’s children and the Church.