Inspiration
Summary
The divine influence of the Holy Spirit upon the writers of Scripture, by which their writings became the authoritative Word of God.
☩Definition and Meaning
The term 'inspiration' derives from the Latin inspirare, meaning 'to breathe into,' and designates the divine origin of Holy Scripture. The key passage, 2 Timothy 3:16, uses the Greek word theopneustos, which more precisely means 'God-breathed' rather than 'breathed into by God.' This indicates that Scripture is the product of God's creative breath—the outflow of His almighty power. The definition commonly adopted describes inspiration as an extraordinary divine agency upon teachers while giving instruction, whether oral or written, by which they were taught what and how they should write or speak.
☩Biblical Evidence
The prophets generally professed to speak the word of God, introducing their teaching with 'Thus saith the Lord' or 'The Lord spake to me, saying.' Jesus Christ Himself appealed to the Old Testament as final authority, declaring 'David himself by the Holy Spirit said' when quoting the Psalms. The apostles similarly treated Scripture as divine; Peter classes Paul's epistles with 'the other Scriptures,' and Paul quotes Old Testament as God's own speech. The fact that holy men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit establishes the divine authority of their words.
☩Verbal Inspiration
The doctrine teaches that not simply the persons who wrote were inspired, but the writings themselves are divinely inspired. All writings are composed of words, and if these writings are inspired, the words are inspired—this is commonly called verbal inspiration. Paul explicitly stated, 'Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth.' Though there were many writers separated by thousands of years, there is a divine unity in the whole, showing plainly that one and only one could have been its Author.
☩The Divine-Human Character
Inspiration does not divest the writers of their individual styles, just as inspired teachers in the early church were not passive machines in prophesying. Their wills became one with God's will; His Spirit acted on their spirits, so that their individuality had free play within the sphere of His inspiration. As to religious truths the collective Scriptures have unity of authorship; as to other matters their authorship is manifold as the writers—the variety is human, the unity divine. God took possession of the minds of men to declare His own purposes, using their individual capacities as different instruments to accomplish His purpose.
Related Verses7 mentions
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Inspiration," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IV (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Inspiration," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. III (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Inspiration," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 4.James Hastings (ed.), "Inspiration," in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1906–1908).
- 5.George Morrish, "Inspiration," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 6.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Inspiration," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).