Torch, Spring 1990

IS ______________________......J_ s Really Inspired? .~r~· ""' .,_. ,\4'. ~'" t..Wh•n U1 ~ .. j·l. 'i ""'"·" (~ t .l.u~i..!J. 11 .+fl r•~C; "'''-'~~o.. r. ~A.11\\.'- "'' .n~·· . • It} f.,·,. -'~• r:r.,l;. "/J\~v~ . He always speaks truth. As the breathed-out Word of God, the Bible consequently is truth. This statement means more than that the Bible contains truth. Rather, it affirms that the Bible is divinely revealed and spoken truth. No human, regardless of his native intelligence, intuition, or education, could have originated the truth of Scripture (I Corinthians 2: 12). The ability to transmit divinely revealed truth also necessitated the guidance of the Spirit in the lives of the biblical authors (I Corinthians 2: 13). Third, the Bible is inspired equally throughout all 66 books. This concept is known as plenary inspiration. The Old Testament, therefore, is just as inspired as the New Testament. The words of Paul in his epistles are just as inspired as the words of Jesus Christ recorded in the Gospels. The genealogies are just as inspired as the Ten Commandments. Fourth, the Bible is inspired down to the very words which the authors used. This concept is known as verbal inspiration. Inspiration thus refers to words-the choice of vocabulary and the arrangement of words in sentence structure. Thus, there is a divine reason behind the presence or absence of a definite article, the usage of verbal tenses and moods, and the function of noun cases. Christ asserted that "the Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). The Bible is a singular unit. Its parts cannot be separated from the whole. The entire canon of 66 books cannot be destroyed and neither can its individual words and sentences. Fifth, the Bible is inspired, technically speaking, in only the original writings which the Spirit-directed authors wrote. These original documents are known today as the autographa, meaning "the writings themselves." In October 1978, the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy (ICBI) held a summit meeting in which over 250 scholars signed a document which put forth the evangelical position on the inspiration and inerrancy of the Scriptures. Nineteen Articles of Affirmation and Denial were issued. Article X says, "We affirm that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture, which, in the providence of God, can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy. We further affirm that copies and translations of Scripture are the Word of God to the extent that they faithfully represent the original." Although the term, "inspiration," technically speaking, refers only to the original writings of the Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles, it is still possible to say, practically speaking, that the King James Version (KJV), the New American Standard Bible (NASB), and the New International Version (NIV) also are inspired to that extent whereby they faithfully represent the content of the original writings. This distinction between the original writings and subsequent copies, versions, and translations must be seen and understood.