INSPIRATION ISN'T ALWAYS INSPIRING
We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God…
That’s the first line in our church’s statement of faith. The Bible is our final authority in matters of the Christian faith because it is inspired. What does “inspired†mean?
Some people confuse “inspired†and “inspiring†and think that when a Bible passage “comes alive†or “jumps out†or “speaks to†them – when the Bible inspires them – God is inspiring that Bible passage at that moment. In other words, the Bible is inspired when the reader finds it inspiring.
Odd as it may seem, this is the position of theologians that have abandoned traditional Christianity. The Bible, they say, is just another human book. Every now and then God ‘breathes life’ into it – ‘inspires it’ – and that’s when we find it ‘inspiring’. Of course, these people also usually believe God can breathe life into any writing, religious or secular. Inspiration for them isn’t about the nature of the Bible but the reader’s experience.
In this view of inspiration, the Bible is not the Word of God. Rather, it is a merely human book that becomes the Word of God in the moments God breathes into it. Once those moments pass, the Bible ‘dies’ and becomes just another book again.
I’m not denying that we have moments where a passage from the Bible jumps out at us (we all have had that experience). I’m only saying that that experience is not what is meant by ‘inspiration’. (Theologians usually call it ‘illumination’.)
Inspiration is the activity that took place when Moses or the prophets spoke (or wrote). Even though it was a prophet’s own voice (or pen) and his own words, those words were being powerfully produced (or controlled) by the Spirit of God in such a way that the prophet’s words were also God’s words. That’s why God’s spokesmen could always say “Thus says the LORDâ€.
Peter described inspiration as the prophet being ‘carried along by the Spirit’, using a Greek term that elsewhere describes wind powering a ship’s sail (2 Peter 1.21).
Paul told Timothy that all Scripture (the canon) has been “breathed out by God†(2 Timothy 3.16) and that’s what makes it the profitable final authority for the Christian faith. Paul is referring to the process by which the books of the Bible came into being. The Bible IS God’s Word because God breathed it out – spoke it – through the human writers when it was originally written. The phrase Paul uses is just one Greek word– theopneustos – meaning “God-breathed†or “God-spiritedâ€. It is not describing what a reader experiences, but what the original authors experienced when they spoke/wrote the message. Their words were God’s words.
The Bible is always God’s Word, whether we are inspired (or bored) by it, and there is no question that some portions are less ‘inspiring’ than others (e.g. genealogies, descriptions of laws of uncleanness or sacrifice). But even the boring bits are God’s Word – things God spoke through the original authors – and therefore authoritative for His people.
We believe this process of inspiration is unique to the Bible. We don’t believe any other book was produced in this way. The Bible alone is God’s inspired Word, God’s written speech, and that makes it both supernatural revelation from God and the final authority for our Christian faith.
That’s the first line in our church’s statement of faith. The Bible is our final authority in matters of the Christian faith because it is inspired. What does “inspired†mean?
Some people confuse “inspired†and “inspiring†and think that when a Bible passage “comes alive†or “jumps out†or “speaks to†them – when the Bible inspires them – God is inspiring that Bible passage at that moment. In other words, the Bible is inspired when the reader finds it inspiring.
Odd as it may seem, this is the position of theologians that have abandoned traditional Christianity. The Bible, they say, is just another human book. Every now and then God ‘breathes life’ into it – ‘inspires it’ – and that’s when we find it ‘inspiring’. Of course, these people also usually believe God can breathe life into any writing, religious or secular. Inspiration for them isn’t about the nature of the Bible but the reader’s experience.
In this view of inspiration, the Bible is not the Word of God. Rather, it is a merely human book that becomes the Word of God in the moments God breathes into it. Once those moments pass, the Bible ‘dies’ and becomes just another book again.
I’m not denying that we have moments where a passage from the Bible jumps out at us (we all have had that experience). I’m only saying that that experience is not what is meant by ‘inspiration’. (Theologians usually call it ‘illumination’.)
Inspiration is the activity that took place when Moses or the prophets spoke (or wrote). Even though it was a prophet’s own voice (or pen) and his own words, those words were being powerfully produced (or controlled) by the Spirit of God in such a way that the prophet’s words were also God’s words. That’s why God’s spokesmen could always say “Thus says the LORDâ€.
Peter described inspiration as the prophet being ‘carried along by the Spirit’, using a Greek term that elsewhere describes wind powering a ship’s sail (2 Peter 1.21).
Paul told Timothy that all Scripture (the canon) has been “breathed out by God†(2 Timothy 3.16) and that’s what makes it the profitable final authority for the Christian faith. Paul is referring to the process by which the books of the Bible came into being. The Bible IS God’s Word because God breathed it out – spoke it – through the human writers when it was originally written. The phrase Paul uses is just one Greek word– theopneustos – meaning “God-breathed†or “God-spiritedâ€. It is not describing what a reader experiences, but what the original authors experienced when they spoke/wrote the message. Their words were God’s words.
The Bible is always God’s Word, whether we are inspired (or bored) by it, and there is no question that some portions are less ‘inspiring’ than others (e.g. genealogies, descriptions of laws of uncleanness or sacrifice). But even the boring bits are God’s Word – things God spoke through the original authors – and therefore authoritative for His people.
We believe this process of inspiration is unique to the Bible. We don’t believe any other book was produced in this way. The Bible alone is God’s inspired Word, God’s written speech, and that makes it both supernatural revelation from God and the final authority for our Christian faith.