Inspiration and Authority of Scripture.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God.” 2 Timothy 3
The idea that God breathed into the Biblical writers through His spirit is called the Inspiration of Scripture. “And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as the Holy Spirit carried them along” (2 Peter 1). The word inspired, used in 2 Timothy 3, means “breathed out” - Read it in context: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. God breathed out the words the human authors wrote, although it was not a mechanical dictation. God used human authors' personalities and writing styles with His divine revelation.
“Deny that the Bible is, without any qualifications, the very Word of God, and you are left without any ultimate standard of measurement and without any supreme authority.”
3 Minute Theology 2.2: How is the Bible Divinely Inspired?
The Reformation was a battle over the authority and sufficiency of the Word of God. In this message, Dr. Michael Reeves examines the different views of scriptural authority that emerged during the Reformation and discusses how this issue continues to separate Roman Catholics and Protestants today.
“Organic inspiration. The proper conception of inspiration holds that the Holy Spirit acted on the writers of the Bible in an organic way, in harmony with the laws of their own inner being, using them just as they were, with their character and temperament, their gifts and talents, their education and culture, their vocabulary and style. The Holy Spirit illumined their minds, aided their memory, prompted them to write, repressed the influence of sin on their writings, and guided them in the expression of their thoughts even to the choice of their words.”
Defining Our Terms by Kevin Gardner (article) - The doctrine of Scripture is foundational to the Christian faith. But there is more to say about Scripture than simply, “The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it.” If you don’t grasp what the Bible is and how it came to be, you’ll never fully grasp its meaning. Since the meaning of the Bible is vitally important to our faith and life, we will here briefly define a few key terms that relate to the doctrine of Scripture as the study of God’s Word written.
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy by Ligonier Ministries (article) - The authority of Scripture is a vital issue for the Christian Church in this and every age. Recognition of the Holy Scripture's total truth and trustworthiness is essential to fully grasp and adequate confession of its authority.
The Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy - (pdf download of entire statement)
The Men Who Wrote Scripture Were Not Inspired by God by Greg Stiekes (article)
B. B. Warfield - Defender of Scripture (webpage)
B. B. Warfield’s famous essay, Inspiration (webpage) - laid out the traditional Protestant belief in the full infallibility and truthfulness of Scripture.
The Auburn Heresy (webpage)
Full Confidence: B.B. Warfield, J. Gresham Machen and the Battle for Biblical Authority by Westminster Theological Seminary (audio)
The Men Who Wrote Scripture Were Led by the Spirit by Greg Stiekes (article)
The Inspiration of Scripture by John MacArthur (article)
What Is Inspiration? by Kevin Bauder (article)
The Divine Inspiration of the Bible by AW Pink (free ebook)
The Divine Inspiration of the Bible by A W Pink (paperback version)
Fulfilled Prophecy Demonstrates the Divine Inspiration of Scripture by Steven Lawson (video + transcript)
How Can We Trust The Bible We Have Today is What God Originally Inspired by James White (video)
Is The Bible Reliable and True? (webpage)
When we open the Bible, we can be sure that what we're reading has been breathed out by God. Barry Cooper delves into the marvelous doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture.
How can sixty-six distinct books seamlessly contribute to the same story? In this episode, Barry Cooper traces the Bible's authority back to its divine Author.
Is All Scripture Inspired? by JC Ryle
Is all Scripture inspired? Are the very words and expressions from God, or does inspiration mean something less than this?
Ryle was convinced that the words were from God and that only this view makes sense of what the Bible claims. In this book, he eloquently defends this position, answers objections, and applies this understanding of inspiration to the reader's life.
Authorship of the Bible by Charles Spurgeon, on March 18, 1885, in his sermon, The Bible:
Who is THE AUTHOR? The text says that it is God. Here lies my Bible — who wrote it? I open it, and I find it consists of a series of tracts. The first five tracts were written by a man called Moses. I turn the pages and find others. Sometimes I see David as the penman, and at other times, Solomon. I read Micah, then Amos, then Hosea. As I turn further on, to the more luminous pages of the New Testament, I see Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James, and others; but when I shut up the book, I ask myself who is the author of it? Do these men jointly claim the authorship? Are they the compositors of this massive volume? Do they themselves divide the honor? Our holy religion answers, No!
This volume is the writing of the living God: each letter was penned with an Almighty finger; each word in it dropped from the everlasting lips, and each sentence was dictated by the Holy Spirit.
Albeit, Moses was employed to write his histories with his fiery pen, God guided that pen.
It may be that David touched his harp and let sweet Psalms of melody drop from his fingers, but God moved his hands over the living strings of his golden harp.
It may be that Solomon sang Canticles of love, or gave forth words of consummate wisdom, but God directed his lips and made the Preacher eloquent.
If I follow the thundering Nahum when his horses plow the waters, or
Habbakuk when he sees the tents of Cushan in affliction;
if I read Malachi when the earth is burning like an oven;
if I turn to the smooth page of John, who tells of love,
or the rugged, fiery chapters of Peter, who speaks of the fire devouring God’s enemies;
if I turn to Jude, who launches forth anathemas upon the foes of God,
everywhere I find God speaking: it is God’s voice, not man’s; the words are God’s words, the words of the Eternal, the Invisible, the Almighty, the Jehovah of this earth. This Bible is God’s Bible; and when I see it, I seem to hear a voice springing up from it, saying, “I am the book of God: man, read me. I am God’s writing: open my leaf, for I was penned by God; read it, for he is my author, and you will see him visible and manifest everywhere.”
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