185. III. The Dynamical Theory.
III. The Dynamical Theory.
1. Sense of the Theory.—There is a supernatural operation of the Spirit within the consciousness and appropriate faculties of the mediate agent, yet not such as reduces him to the office of a mere instrument. He remains self-conscious and personally active in the use of his own faculties. Yet through the agency of the Holy Spirit he is so enlightened and possessed of the truth, and so guided in its expression, that the truth so given forth, whether by the spoken or written word, is from God. Through this agency the true and sufficient authorship of the Scriptures is with the Holy Spirit.
2. Place for the Human Element.—We previously noted this manifest element in the construction of the Scriptures, and also pointed out its irreconcilable contrariety to the theory of a common verbal inspiration. The dynamical theory gives a proper place to this element, yet in a sense entirely consistent with such an inspiration as secures to the Holy Spirit the proper authorship of the Scriptures.
3. Clear of Serious Difficulty.—This theory avoids the insuperable difficulties of a common verbal inspiration, as previously noted. Nor are there others of trying force. Surely there is none in the notion of such an agency of the Spirit as the theory alleges, real and sufficient as it is for the purpose of a divine revelation. If any finite mind is within the reach of an immediate divine influence, the human soul, made in the image of God, must be open to his inspiration. Otherwise, he never has exerted, and never could exert, any direct influence upon a single soul to enlighten and quicken it, to renew and lift it up, to guide and help it in the moral exigencies of life. Then, while through some means God might still speak to the ear or symbolize truth to the eye, he could not by any immediate interior influence open the mind for the reception of truth, or communicate truth to it, or make it the mediate agent of truth to others. Such an implication of divine impotence accords with a denial of the divine personality, but can have no place in a scheme of truth grounded in Christian theism.
4. Sufficient for a Revelation.—The Scriptures are as really a divine revelation on this theory as they could be on that of verbal inspiration. This can be true, and is true, because an exact set of words, dictated by the Spirit, is not necessary either to the truthful expression of the divine mind or to the divine authorship of the Scriptures. The sufficiency of the theory is manifest as we group its facts. Through an interior illumination the Holy Spirit prepared the minds of the mediate agents for the reception of divine truth, and then communicated the necessary truth to them, and finally so directed them as to secure a proper expression of this truth, and also the selection and use of such other truths as might be proper for the Scriptures. These facts meet all the requirements of a divine revelation, and determine the truths so uttered to be in a very profound sense the word of God.
IV. Inspiration And The Scriptures.
1. Fact of Inspiration from the Scriptures.—The divine agency is as really supernatural in inspiration as in a miracle; but, however manifest in the consciousness of the inspired mind, it is not open to the observation of others. Hence, our only direct knowledge of inspiration, as a specific form of the divine agency for the definite purpose of a revelation, is from the Scriptures themselves.
2. Not a Credential of the Sacred Writers.—If we should attempt to prove the inspiration of the Scriptures from their own statements, and then, that they are a divine revelation because inspired, our argument would move in a circle, and hence bring no logical result. Such is a rather common fallacy, and one far more harmful than helpful to the truth.
It is only with such a fallacy that inspiration can be classed as a credential of revelation. The sacred writers must be divinely accredited before their testimony can be received for the fact of their own inspiration. Thus, first of all, inspiration must take its place with other facts and truths of Scripture, and be true to us in common with the others because the sacred writers are divinely accredited witnesses. Hence, inspiration, while fulfilling an important office in revelation, should not be classed as one of their credentials.
3. Verification of Inspiration.—As the fact of inspiration is from the Scriptures, its verification must be in the facts which accredit the sacred writers as divinely commissioned teachers of truth. Prophecy and miracles are their chief credentials. With these, however, we may combine all other facts which accredit their mission and verify their message. Being thus accredited as messengers of truth from God, they are most credible witnesses for the fact of their own inspiration. There is no more reason to question their testimony respecting this fact than respecting others. If we reject this we may reject the others; for all have a common ground of verity. Hence to discard inspiration is really to discard revelation.
4. A Rationally Credible Fact.—On the ground of theism inspiration is rationally possible. If we deny this we must deny all facts of a divine providence. There could be no creation; no control of the laws of nature; no power of influence within the human soul to enlighten, purify, or help it. If God could do any of these things, then could he inspire chosen minds for the purpose of a revelation, and through their agency communicate religious truth. Theism must carry with it this consequence.
Inspiration, while a possible fact, is intrinsically probable. It is the most rational mode of the divine agency for the purpose of a revelation. We see not any other which might replace it and fulfill the same office. Its probability is the same as the probability of a revelation.
5. Value of Inspiration.—The question of a divine agency in the origin of the Scriptures is a vital one. Such an agency must have operated in a mode to secure to itself their proper authorship. Inspiration, as previously set forth, is such a mode. No other is apparent. The power of miracles might still have been given; but this would not answer for the purpose of a revelation through human agency. Miracles fulfill their office simply as the credentials of the messengers of truth. Only inspiration can reveal the divine mind through the agency of the human. Without it the sacred writers would have been left mostly to their own resources. All other supernatural aids would have proved themselves insufficient. The apostles were most highly favored with the oral instruction of the divine Master. But while with him they were dull of apprehension as to the deeper truths of his lessons; and with the lapse of time they must have been incapable of their proper reproduction and publication. Even they needed the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in its own modes of operation. It was necessary that the Spirit should open their minds for the reception of truth, and lead them into the truth, and bring again, and more fully, to their understanding the lessons of the Master, that they might give the truth to men. It was necessary that other truths should thus be communicated to chosen minds, through whose agency they might take their place in the divine revelation. Through inspiration the accredited messengers of divine truth could fulfill their office and give the truth to the world. Inspiration is thus the divine warrant of truth in the Scriptures. Their divine authorship is in their inspiration; their supreme authority and transcendent value in their divine authorship.
Lee: The Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures; Bannerman: Inspiration, etc.; Garbett: God’s Word Written; Jamieson: The Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures; Warrington: The Inspiration of the Scriptures; Wordsworth: On the Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures; Noble: Plenary Inspiration of the Scriptures; Patton: The Inspiration of the Scriptures; Gaussen: Theopneustia; Curtis: The Human Element in the Inspiration of the Scriptures.