Scripture is the word of God that is revealed to us through revelation. (Revelation 5 Summary). We are to govern our lives and be examples to others of what a true Christ follower by the scriptures. The Holy Spirit touched the hearts of the authors while God breathed into them. The authority of scripture is based on all scripture being God-breathed. Therefore, as we discussed the different views of inspiration of scripture, I preferred the view of verbal plenary inspiration. According to Erickson, God so supernaturally inspired the writers of Scripture that without waving their human intelligence, literary style, or personal feelings, His complete and coherent message to man was recorded with perfect accuracy, the very words of the …show more content…
(Erickson). Through the many words of God that were collected many of the individuals that received it passed it on in their own way. Some critics would argue that certain passages of scriptures and details in those passages were misinformed because of the way it was passed down. Many often compare 2 Kings 8:26 in the King James Version and 2 Chronicles 22:2 in the New King James Version. (Erickson). These passages discuss the same scenario but report different numbers. Also, the book of Ruth was not found in the original dead sea scrolls with the other pieces of scripture. (Erickson) Nevertheless, the Word of God still holds divine authorship because of its consistency, fulfilled prophecies, the continuing theme through its entirety, the testimony from archaeology, unique content of scripture, and the witness of the Holy Spirit. (Erickson). The Bible has a progressive nature from Genesis to Revelation. It moves from creation to a new earth and heaven. It does not stay in one place nut the story continually moves forward. The big idea of inspiration is that even as the scriptures were forming in their various ways the core message of the gospel was never changed. In every version in the four gospels, it reports of Jesus divine miracles and the crucifixion story is the same. It 's consistent nature reveals that the Bible is true. Even in Mark 13:31, Jesus makes
There are so many different variations of the same text that the story cannot be aligned with assurance for some scholars. There are different perspectives regarding the same stories in history, therefore they have been separated into their own collections of literature; such as canonization and biblical text recognized by different sects. Not all of the Hebrew Bible was written in Hebrew, in fact, some of the scriptures were written in Aramaic. Scholars also run into the issue with sources by means of interpretation and preservation. Primary sources like the Dead Sea Scrolls are easier to extract information from rather than archeological artifacts that are likely to be open to interpretation.
This remains the issue today; there are so many people who do not have faith that God is the author of what is written in the Bible, so the purpose of this paper is to show the authority of Scripture.
When speaking about the authority of scripture, it is necessary to understand that while all Scripture was given to us by God, the form in which it was given was transcribed in two different ways. First by direct revelation; by which the literal words of God are chronicled by the prophets. Second by inspiration; by which the Holy Spirit oversaw the prophets as they wrote and thus the prophets wrote ‘Divine Truth.’ As seen in 2 Peter 1:20-21, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Nearly four thousand times in the Bible there are written words or
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.
As we move further into the research of this paper, defining some terms under the viewpoints of the selected authors is necessary. Millard Erickson defines inspiration as “that supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit upon the Scripture writers which rendered their writings an accurate record of the revelation or which resulted in what they wrote actually being the Word of God.” While inspiration primarily concerns the quality of the finished product rather than the process of that period of time in which the entirety of the Scriptures came into being, the divine-human authorship raises the tension as to how those Scriptures came into being. The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy states: “We affirm that inspiration, strictly speaking applies only to the autographic text of Scripture.” The leads to the question “What constitutes an autograph or the autographs?” In general, scholars use the term autographs to refer to the first or original copies of the biblical documents which is the material the author actually wrote himself. One customary definition of the term “autographa” in a theological discussion refers to the unchanging form of text whereby the original document is identical to the final canonical form of a given OT biblical book. Since canon involves the list of all books that belong in a bible or those reckoned as Holy Scriptures which
The revelation of the Dead Sea confirmed that the Jewish and Christian researchers who for hundreds of years duplicated, transcribed and passed along the documents that we call the Bible did so devotedly with care and intention. It remains true that we almost definitely do not have any documents or fragments of a manuscript that is the original writing of the document in question. However, it is equally true that
There is much debate over the accuracy and the inerrancy of Scripture. Pertaining to this debate there exists an underlying question as to whether or not the New Testament is considered part of the canon or for that matter if it is actually given by the inspiration of God. How did the books that are in the New Testament get there? Who decided which books should be added or taken out? Do we have all the books that we should have? Many ask these questions, but Christians are ill equipped to give an answer. For centuries, Christians have claimed that they have the absolute truth, are saved only by faith, and claim the Scriptures as inspired by God. In spite of these
The discovery of the books like the Gospel of Mary, the Coptic Gospel of Thomas, and the Secret Gospel of John makes the Bible look less like the sacred, holy texts of God the Father, and more like a film in the theaters. Chunks of the story that were shot but never put into the final edit sit on the cutting room floor. Some parts even change the whole story. All religions do this sort of editing, both consciously and unconsciously. Sometimes, holy books are just lost to time. Paper rots, stone erodes, and oral stories are forgotten, and that’s all there is to it. In some cases, however, the editing is done with knives, or with blood, or with political change. In the case of the parts of the Bible that didn’t quite make it
As a Christian, I see the bible as the inspired word of God. In the context of the Scriptures, the word “inspiration” means “God-breathed”. 2 Timothy 3:16 “ All scripture is given by inspiration of God”. 1. 2 Peter 1: 21 “ For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of men, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”.
The definition of inspired in the Meriam-Webster Dictionary is outstanding or brilliant in a way or to a degree suggestive of divine inspiration. Many Christians believe that there is a God, and the Bible was inspired by his Holy Spirit speaking to men. These men, in turn, wrote down what they heard in a way that they felt was accurate. Also that the men who decided which of the writings of the prophets, kings, Apostles, and other authors should make it into the final copy of the Bible were inspired by God as well to make the right decisions. Men and Women of God also believe that the inspiration of the Bible is proven by the way that parts of the Bible were written many years apart but still flow so perfectly together. Also that many verses
The Holy Spirit so superintended the chosen human authors that through their individual personalities, talents, spiritual gifts, wisdom and knowledge, and different styles of writing, they supernaturally articulated and composed and recorded God's written Word to mankind (2 Peter 1:20 21) without error in the whole or in the part (Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy
The word of God is inspired, inerrant, and is considered being infallible. Scripture is clear that men were inspired by the agency of God's spirit. New Testament has twenty-seven books
Responding to such a question as the one stated on responding to a friend who asks you why you believe in the Bible, and asks "Isn't it a book just like any other piece of literature?" would be a difficult question, but let alone a very plausible question to be asked to a Christian in a one's lifetime. I have personally been asked this question before on multiple occasions, and there are many responses I have given as according to being sensitive to the circumstances upon which the question was asked. I believe in the Bible as being the authoritative word of God, and the divinely inspired, and breathed out word of God (2 Timothy 3:16). To use a response that would allow this message to portray itself accurately, I would likely use 3 main
I believe that scripture is the infallible Word of God, divinely inspired by God through human hands, for the teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training of Christians and forming the basis of the Christian life and guiding them on the path to Christ. I believe that scripture is infallible rather than inerrant, because human writers through which God spoke can still make mistakes. However, Matthew 24:35 reminds us that God’s word is true in all ages and places. 2 Timothy 3:16 gives reasons why it is import for believes to use the scripture such as teaching and correcting. Scripture guides us along the path we should as evidences by Psalms 119:105 comparing Scripture to a lamp to show us the way. I have also personal experienced the wisdom that the scriptures can offer to those who need guidance. I also believe that scripture should be the main point of guidance, which is something that my church has taught me such I was young. Matthew 7:24 instructs us to build our house on the rock (scripture) which is the most solid place to rest our life.
The bible was written as an account of what many viewed that God had accomplished so his actions and words could be passed on for generations. Some believe it is a literary account and some believe it is a historical account. The word of God in the bible comes in many forms and is left up to interpretation by the reader. Some believe that the word of God should be the only word and should be strictly followed. Some believe that the words are meant as a guideline to help us through life. Whatever your belief is you can always seem to find the meaning behind your belief through the word of God in the Bible.