Bible as the Inspired Word of God
The Bible is the work of various authors, who lived in different continents and wrote in different eras. Furthermore, much of the text does not claim to have been 'dictated' by God and is not always God speaking to people. In parts it consists of people speaking to God, as in the Psalms, and people speaking to people, as in the New Testament letters written by Paul. In light of this, some maintain that it is not possible to treat the Bible as a book of divine oracles, delivered once by God and recorded by its authors through divine inspiration, since biblical authors were products of their time and subsequently their understanding of divine truth was culturally
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It should, however, be noted that biblical texts only appear to be contradictory when taken out of context. The importance of studying scripture as a whole is clearly illustrated by the happenings of September 11th: Muslim fundamentalists took the Koran's teaching on Holy War out of its context and used it to justify action against America.
Many liberal theologians engage in hermeneutics, the study of interpretation and application of Biblical texts. They may reject literal interpretations in favour of establishing general rules from the Bible, thus maintaining that the Bible is not the inspired word of God, but simply a text from which we can learn about God and Christian teaching, and then apply this knowledge to our own lives. Considering that this view overcomes the apparent contradictions in the Bible by, for example, claiming that the account of God sending the Israelites to fight is intended to portray his desire for justice, it holds strong. Nevertheless, it fails to account for the fact that teaching within the Bible itself asserts that Biblical text is the word of God.
Interpreters must be wary before referring to 'the teaching of the Bible,' for as John Locke asserts, [3]"the scripture serves but,
The Bible is the most significant book in the history of civilization. In the context of Jewish history, the Bible’s impact on politics, history, and religion is without comparison. Along with establishing the covenant-based legitimacy of the Jewish people and their history, the Bible’s political impact is exemplified through prophetic politics, the power of kings, and the effects of political authority. Biblical archeology has discovered biblical structures which supports the historical validity of the Bible. The Bible’s effect on history, politics, and religion has shaped the world we live in today.
Unlike Mythology, narratives of the Bible are actual events that took place dating back to the beginning of time. The conception of The Holy Bible’s compilation started thousands of years ago in the land of Egypt. Initially, the Old Testament Scriptures were written in the Hebrew language, however, they were later translated to the Greek. At the onset of the New Testament writings, they were originally recorded in the Greek language. Forty men transcribed the voice of God, which resulted in sixty-six books of the Holy Bible. The Holy Scriptures explained the creations, formation of the world, God, God’s chosen people, sin, and the plan of salvation as well.
In the study of Christian theology, scripture plays an essential role in the revelation of the Doctrine of God. Scriptures are “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) words, written by the Holy Spirit through divine inspiration of prophets. They are necessary for the proper understanding of the doctrine of God, the self-revelation of God, the proof of God’s existence, and for the discernment of false doctrines.
The Bible is the best-selling book of all time, and with good reason. For the stories written in it have changed the way many think and even believe when it comes to the power greater than this world. The Bible holds very specific opinions on things such as slavery, who humans should treat each other, and ultimately social justice. It has been one of the most important foundations for allowing social reform to occur in modern day history as well as the history of the whole world. However, it is forgotten in history class how prominent the ancient texts have changed the people. When looking at the history, it is discovered to be the strength of great people who have used its wisdom to bring about a change for those who could not do it on
The Bible says that it was inspired by God itself in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is God- breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”(NIV) There are a few Christians who believe that scripture was written verbatim from the mouth of God on to paper by men. I have trouble believing this because of a few different reasons. One is that the way some of the authors wrote the scriptures were to vary differently than the others. If the scriptures were all completely God’s words verbatim than they would all be written in the same manner and the personalities and intelligence of the writers would not be shown in the text. Also that some of the Bible are just people speaking of their problems or issues or just records of historical events instead of God Speaking these words directly. I am not saying the authors were not inspired to write these things but that they were not the exact words of
How was the Bible written and inspired? The breath of God is spoken through the scripture, and his voice speaks through the men and women in the Bible. Many people wonder how the Bible was inspired or what that means. Lessons and stories in the Bible are the pathways to living our lives according to God’s word. The Bible was created and inspired just for us.
concentrates on the Bible as the primary and authoritative source of the truth. The Bible, which is
Linda, your thread provided information on presuppositions and preunderstandings that can assist the readers in comprehending these two major factors in understanding why Scripture must be interpreted correctly. Although, they are the core of our existence, yet in studying the book “Introduction to Biblical Interpretation” by William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg and Robert L. Hubbard, Jr., we find that proper theological interpretation is lacking in some churches. Klein states, “No one comes to the task of understanding as an objective observer. All interpreters bring their own presuppositions and agendas, and these affect the ways they understand as well as the conclusions they draw.”1 In addition, Duvall proclaims, “We are separated from the
The Bible demonstrates at least four different types on interpretations. These hermeneutic are grammatical, historical, critical, and allegorical. The grammatical interpretation conveys a sense of understanding of the Bible in order to rely a message of teaching any life principles or applications. God Himself has defined Christianity in the Bible. Christian truth is found only in the Bible, and it is objective truth. That is, it is true regardless of whether it speaks subjectively to the individual or not. It is true no matter how the individual may feel about it. It is true no matter what “spin” the reader may seek to place upon it. It is true for every individual in all times and in all places without exception. And there are no contradictions
The statement that I concur with is on page 21 when the textbook calls the Bible “the most influential book”. The Bible is indisputably the most crucial and pivotal book of all time. Merely the fact that the Bible was written over a period of about 1,500 years by over 40 different authors and contains completely honest accounts and not one contradiction is astounding. But once the astonishing number of lives that the Bible has transformed is added to its repertoire, there can be no dispute that the Bible is and will forever hold the place of utmost prominence. The textbook does have another statement that I do not agree with, namely the passage in which it suggests that Moses created the first commandment in order to unify the people of
In chapter three, he ends the first part of his book with the answer of the real concern of the Bible, the inspiration and perfection of the Bible. He presents clear statements that compel any readers of the word to believe in it. He puts it this way, “the Bible is God’s inspired word, a book produced by the creative breath of the almighty. As such the Bible is God’s authoritative, true, sufficient, and clear word, the supreme rule of faith and life for God’s covenant people.”(Scott p.61) He provides the meaning of what it means to say that the Bible is God’s inspired word and considers the perfection of the word. He asserts that the doctrine of inspiration is not a statement about the inherent capacities of prophets and apostles, but it is
The third school of interpretation is Traditionalism. Traditionalists maintain that the Bible is full of truth, God is revealed within the Bible and that it is inspired by the Holy Spirit. One of the key characteristics of their approach to the Bible is its emphasis on the need to understand the nature of the different types of literature within the bible. However, traditionalists would not accept the fundamentalist’s notion of inerrancy as many would acknowledge that there are mistakes in the Bible. These are seen as a reflection of both the historical context in which they are written and the human fallibility of the authors. As with Liberals, traditionalists believe that some aspects of the Bible need to be reinterpreted for today. Traditionalists place a lot of emphasis on the process of exegesis. However, after establishing the intended meaning of the author the next step in the traditional approach is the question of how it should be applied to Christian today. However, whereas fundamentalists believe that the true meaning of a text should be clear to each reader;
The Christian Bible, the Hebrew Scripture, The Muslim Koran: Words are Not Important, Our Actions Are
Yes, I agree that the Bible is a divine-human book. God uses various authors and genres over an extended time period to bring His Word to humankind. Though this special book has several authors and is written over a considerable time span, the completed book is still one with a cohesive message regardless of the fact that it had multiple authors in different societal structures, political climates and time periods. God allowed these authors to capture the revelations that He gave through His Spirit and preserve it throughout the generations. Additionally, the Bible has not only been substantiated by ancient sources, modern day archeological findings, but also by the prophecies that have been fulfilled and are still being fulfilled today.
As a rule of thumb, is worth to establish that the Bible is the core of true wisdom. Another source is worldly wisdom found in our selfish ambition to succeed in life at all costs in order to achieve our final goals; in this case to conquer happiness. To illustrate worldly wisdom, history speaks of a man who was born on July 356 BC of a royal family. Who looked at closely his life and thought of himself; if only he was the leader of his army he would be happy in life, and he fulfilled his dream; but that was not enough. Then he thought of himself; my wisdom, knowledge and experiences are attributes of a prince, and he became a prince; but that was not enough. Later, he thought of himself; with only the opportunity to be king this will definitely determine the meaning in life and happiness, and he became the king; but that was not enough. Finally, he thought of himself; with my wisdom, power, intelligence, skills, cleverness, and money he could conquer the ends of the world, and he became a world ruler; but that was not enough, therefore after having conquered the whole world there was no more and his heart was saddened. This is how Alexander the Great became the most powerful king in the history. Surprisingly, at the age of 33 years old, Alexander requested three important wishes; weeks before dying despite all the money, wealth, power, intelligence, human knowledge, self-righteousness, and authority. Although, for the world the focus of his story is the center of wisdom