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Evidence ID: BIB-EV94
Evidence: Writers' Affirmation
Summary: The writers of the Bible affirm that God's Spirit breathed into them the words of God himself. God guided them in thought and word to record God's meaning and intentions, not theirs.
Description: What do the writers of scripture say about the inspiration of their writing? Were their thoughts directed by their own understanding, or was it directed by God himself?
Overwhelmingly, the writers of the Bible affirm that God's Spirit breathed into them the words of God himself. God guided the writer's thoughts and words so that the meaning and intent of their writing reflected God's meaning and intentions, not theirs [REF-GEI03].
The general claim for inspiration in the Old Testament is based on the fact that it presented itself to and was received by the people of God as a prophetic utterance (2 Peter 1:20-21). Books written by God’s prophets were preserved in a holy place. Moses placed the law in the ark of God (Deuteronomy 10:2). Later it was preserved in the tabernacle for teaching future generations. Each prophet after Moses added his inspired writing to this collection.
The key to the inspiration of the Old Testament is the prophetic function of its writers. A prophet was the mouthpiece of God. He was chosen by God. He was called a man of God, revealing that he was chosen of God. His occupation was a messenger of the Lord (Isaiah 42:19).
All of the Old Testament writers were prophets. All the traditional authors of the Old Testament were designated prophet by either title or function. About a dozen times, the New Testament indicates that all the inspired writings from Moses to Jesus are considered to be the imperishable word of God (Matthew 5:18, Luke 16:16). Jesus speaks of the Law and Prophets being "all the Scriptures" (Luke 24:27).
The inspiration of the New Testament is based on the promise of Christ that his disciples would be directed by the Spirit in their teachings about Him. His disciples claimed this promise, and there is clear indication that the writers of the New Testament themselves, as well as their contemporaries, recognized it as accomplished. Jesus did not write any books. He commended the authority of the Old Testament and promised to inspire the New Testament. He promised divine authority for the apostolic witness about Himself.
He commissioned the twelve apostles and promised them the direction of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 10:7). The apostles claimed for their teaching precisely what Jesus promised, the authority of God. They made specific claims in their writings for divine authority. Luke claims to give an accurate account of what "Jesus began to do and teach" (Acts 1:1). He implies that Acts records what Jesus continued to do and teach through the apostles. The first church is said to have been characterized by devotion to "the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42).
Even the teachings of Paul were subjected to apostolic approval (Acts 15). The New Testament church itself is said to be "built on the foundation of the apostles and New Testament prophets" (Ephesians 2:20, Ephesians 3:5).
The qualification that a member of the twelve apostles must be either an assistant or an eyewitness of Jesus’ ministry and resurrection eliminates any succession of apostles beyond the first century. There is no apostolic teaching that is not found in the 27 books of the New Testament. The 66 books alone are considered inspired or divinely authoritative because only these have been found to be truly apostolic or prophetic.
The apostle Paul states that all scripture, Old and New Testaments, is god-breathed.
17God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV)
The Bible claims verbal inspiration for itself. Second Timothy 3:16 says that it is the grapha or writings that are inspired. The explicit reference is to the Old Testament.
The New Testament is also considered Scripture. Peter includes the epistles of Paul along with the "other scriptures" of the Old Testament (2 Peter 3:16). 1 Timothy 5:18} quotes the gospel of Luke (Luke 10:7) and refers to it as "Scripture."
When the New Testament describes itself as inspired it uses a Greek word, theopneustos, which means God-breathed (Greek theos means God; Greek pneuma means spirit, wind, breath).
In the Old Testament, we find a Hebrew word ruach, which is the word for breath and spirit. Genesis 2:7 tells us, "God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being." It wasn’t until God breathed the breath of life into Adam that he became a living being.
The apostle Peter states that the writers of scripture, Old and New Testaments, were carried along by God's Spirit.
20Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21 NIV)
Peter is saying here that the human writers of Scripture were "carried along" (Greek: pheronemoi) by the Holy Spirit. What this means is that God inspired the writer’s choice of words and the whole of Scripture, not just parts. God, through the Holy Spirit, guided the writer's thoughts and word choices while preserving their personalities so that the meaning and intent of their writing reflected His meaning and intentions. God’s ideas and writer’s words are in perfect alignment. God did not override the author’s natural writing style but used it to bring the text into being.
God maintained the integrity of his words given to human authors so that exactly what he wanted to say was communicated. The very words are God’s and all of the words are God’s, but the human author’s style of writing comes through. God chose to use human authors who communicated God’s message in human words so that His communication to us, then and now, would be recorded. He was telling us about himself, revealing himself in ways we can understand.
Luke uses this same word in Acts 27:13-15 NIV where he describes how their ship was "driven along" (pheronemoi) by the wind and the storm at sea. The word is an ancient Greek nautical term that means "carried along." In 2 Peter 1:20-21, Peter is describing the human authors were carried along by the Holy Spirit, just as a sailing vessel is carried along by the wind. Just as the boat has an intended destination, the "destination" of the writers of Scripture is the text of the Bible. Their end result of their God-led journey is the content of Scripture.
The testimony of the writers of scripture clearly states that neither the prophets of the Old Testament nor the apostles of the New Testament wrote based on their own understanding or interpretation but wrote what they heard from God himself through the divine influence of the Holy Spirit.
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