inspiration of scripture
The truth that the Bible is a divine product; it is breathed out by God. Even though the text of scripture was written by human authors, those writers were superintended by God in such a way that the words of scripture are not only the words of the human author, but also the words of God.
- From scripture:
And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 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 (2 Peter 1:19-21 ESV).
- From The New Hampshire Baptist Confession, 1833:
We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried.
- From Concise Theology by J. I. Packer, page 5:
What Scripture says, God says; for, in a manner comparable only to the deeper mystery of the Incarnation, the Bible is both fully human and fully divine. So all its manifold contents—histories, prophecies, poems, songs, wisdom writings, sermons, statistics, letters, and whatever else—should be received as from God, and all that Bible writers teach should be revered as God’s authoritative instruction. Christians should be grateful to God for the gift of his written Word, and conscientious in basing their faith and life entirely and exclusively upon it. Otherwise, we cannot ever honor or please him as he calls us to do.
Learn more:
- Aaron Armstrong: What Do We Mean When We Say Scripture Is Inspired?
- Simply Put: The Inspiration of Scripture
- Got Questions: What does it mean that the Bible is inspired?
- Blue Letter Bible: In What Sense Is the Bible the Inspired Word of God?
- Steven Yuille: What Does the Inspiration of Scripture Mean?
- Herman Ridderbos: The Inspiration and Authority of the Holy Scripture
- Allen S. Nelson IV: The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures: The Meaning and Method of Inspiration
- Loraine Boettner: The Inspiration of Scripture
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