002. Do you believe in the verbal inspiration of the Bible?

Do you believe in the verbal inspiration of the Bible?

I do. That is, I believe that the writers of the various books in the Bible were guided by the Holy Spirit, not only in the thought to which they gave expressions but also in the choice of the words in which they expressed the thought. They “spoke from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21.” R.V.). It was the Holy Spirit who spoke (Hebrews 3:7; Hebrews 10:15-16; Acts 28:25). The word uttered was His word (2 Samuel 23:2, R.V.). The very words used were the words which the Holy Spirit teaches (1 Corinthians 2:13). Nothing could be plainer than Paul’s statement: “In words which the Spirit teach eth.” The Holy Spirit Himself anticipated all these modern ingenious but unbiblical and false theories regarding His own work in the apostles. The more carefully and minutely one studies the wording of the statements made in the Bible, the more he will become convinced of the marvelous accuracy of the words used to produce the thought. To a superficial student the doctrine of verbal inspiration may appear questionable or even absurd, but any regenerated and Spirit-taught man who ponders the words of Scripture day after day and year after year will become increasingly convinced that the wisdom of God is in the very words used as well as in the thought which is expressed in the words.

It is a very suggestive fact that our difficulties with the Bible rapidly disappear when we come to notice the precise language used. The change of a word or a letter, of a tense, case or number, oftentimes lands a person in contradiction or untruth; but by taking the words just as written, difficulties disappear and the truth shines forth. The more microscopically we study the Bible, the more clearly does its divine origin shine forth as we see its perfection of form as well as substance.