Who Wrote The Bible? The Doctrine Of Inspiration

Who Wrote the Bible?
The Doctrine of Inspiration At the root of the Reformation were five theological statements known as the “solas” (Latin for “alone”). These statements point to five foundational truths upon which the church stands.

Sola scripture|Scripture alone|
Sola fidei|Through faith alone|
Sola gratia|By grace alone|
Solus Christus|By Christ alone|
Soli deo gloria|To the glory of God alone| When they spoke of Sola Scriptura, they did not mean that it is wrong to read the evening paper or to do something that was not expressly commanded in Scripture. What they did mean is that the Scriptures are to be our final rule of doctrine. By contrast, the Roman Catholic church has historically taught that the Bible carries an equal weight of authority to the church. The Roman church teaches that when the Pope speaks officially (ex cathedra— “from the seat”), his words are of an equal weight to the Bible and serve as the only possible interpretation of the Bible.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17). This is the foundational passage on the subject of the inspiration of the Bible. It says very pointedly that all Scripture is inspired by God. The doctrine of inspiration is basic to any
discussion about theology. If the Bible has not been given to us by God, then we are unable to know theological truths about God. There are three points that need be observed. The Fact of Inspiration: All Scripture is INSPIRED by God... (2 Timothy 3:16 a).

I have heard people speak of how they were watching a beautiful golden sunset and inspired to paint a picture or to write a poem. But this is not what this verse is saying. The phrase “inspired by God” is translated from the single Greek word qeopneustoV (Theopneustos). This is the only time that this word ever occurs in the New Testament. To the best of my knowledge, it is the first time this word is ever used in the Greek language. This means that Paul may have coined the word himself to describe the work of God in producing the Scriptures. Paul does something similar in 1 Thessalonians 4:9 when he says that you yourselves are taught by God to love one another — literally, you are “God-taught” (qeodidaktoV). In both cases, Paul utilizes a compound word, made up of two commonly used Greek words which are joined together to form a new word. Plutarch uses θεοπνευστος once in De Placit Philos 5:2 where it is in contrast to φυσικοι, but this is after the death of Paul. The first word is Theos (qeoV). It is the word for God. The second word is pneo (pnew). It is a verb meaning “to breathe” or “to blow.” It is also the verbal form of the Greek word for “spirit” (pneuma).

Therefore, we could say that “all Scripture Is God-breathed.” The very breath and spirit of God has been infused into the writings of the Bible. This is why we refer to it as the Word of God.

Although the specific term that Paul coins was a new one, the concept was not. The Old Testament describes God as accomplishing the work of Creation “by the breath of His mouth” (Psalms 33:6). In the same way, the Bible is the result of the creative work of God. The Extent of Inspiration: ALL Scripture is inspired by God... (2 Timothy 3:16 a).

All of Scripture is God-breathed. It is not just a small portion of the Bible, but every single sentence and every single word that is God-breathed. This is all-encompassing. Jesus stressed this principle when He spoke of the abiding quality of the Law in His Sermon on the Mount.

"For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished." (Matthew 5:18). The Greek text is even more specific. It says, “Not one IOTA or one KERAIA shall pass from the law.” The IOTA was the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet. The KERAIA was the little horn attached to the Hebrew letter BETH to distinguish it from the letter KAPH.

Don't miss this! Jesus says that each and every letter and dot of God's word would continue to stand. We could say that not one cross of the “T” and not one dot of the “I” will pass away. There is not one part of the Bible that is more inspired or more trustworthy than any other part. It is ALL completely God's word. The OBJECT of Inspiration: All SCRIPTURE is inspired by God... (2 Timothy 3:16 a).

It is the Scriptures themselves that are inspired. Paul does not say that the writers of the Scriptures were inspired. He says that the Scriptures themselves that are inspired.

If it had been merely the human authors who had received a revelation from God and then had written their own interpretation of that revelation, then we might wonder if they had not permitted error to creep in as they put this truth into their own words. However, this is not the case. It is not the writers, but the Scriptures themselves which are said to be God-breathed. This means that God did not guarantee that everything that Peter or Paul or any other of the human authors ever wrote were correct. No doubt, they wrote many other things that were not inspired by God and the inerrancy of those other writings is not guaranteed. Rather, it is the truthfulness of the books that make up our Bible that is guaranteed by inspiration. At the same time, we must recognize the aspect of dual authorship. By this, I mean that there were really two authors of each book - the Holy Spirit and the human author.

There are instances where the human writers described things of which they were eye-witnesses and merely wrote of the thing that they had seen. At other times, these same writers described events that they could not possibly have known about without a supernatural revelation from God (such as those events which took place prior to the creation of man).

There were also times when they wrote and did not themselves understand the full implications of that which they wrote (Daniel writes certain things which are to be sealed up until a future time).

Therefore the principle of inspiration refers to result, not the method in which the Scriptures were written. In this way, the Bible was written both by men and yet at the same time it is the Word of God.