Short Essay of Inspiration and Inerrancy

The Bible; I believe the Bible is the source of God's Word to all. It was written by human authors under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is where we should look to for the source of truth for our Christian beliefs and living. (2 Timothy 3:15–17) I also believe it is our truth without any error that while we as humans misread it the text and book itself is always right and true.( Joshua 1:8)

Reading the Bible can help us answer questions we have about our faith. Personally it provides me with a better understanding of what it means to be Christian. Michael Pennock tells us in his book This is Our Faith that Christianity is more than a set of beliefs; it is a way of living. Today, there are many people who claim to be Christian, however, the truth is they do not act like it. Although I believe the majority of Christians are this way there are many exceptions. A great example of this is St. Francis of Assisi, an Italian preacher, who is one of the most respected figures in history. St. Francis was a great man who lived the way a person created in God’s image should live. He provides

Charles: Even though, much of what you said is true because many men were inspired by God and wrote down some of their thoughts that makes up Scripture. A good example is in John’s Gospel, who is one of the Twelve Apostles stated, “But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”(John 22:25). This shows that not all Jesus taught is contained in Sacred Scripture, as well as acknowledging that all they wrote came from His inspiration and not His command for the apostles to write it down. Therefore, showing that would have been impossible to write everything in the Bible.

This primary source was published by Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther Library at Concordia Theological Seminary and translated by Dr. Glen Zweck.

Why do people read the Bible? Some read it for inspiration, others for information, and there are those who read it for their vocation. No matter what our reason for reading it is important that our interpretation is correct when we read it, and share information with others. In the South University online devotional says,“It is easy for the pastor, priest, chaplain, lay teacher, or other Christian leaders to fall into the trap of reading the Bible only in preparation for a sermon or a Bible study, or some other form related to ministry.” It is true their are those who spend most of their reading time in preparation to share with others. There should be a balance so they will not starve themselves in their spiritual

Furthermore, your statement that Christ came to this earth with the full understanding of the context of the scripture is profound. I agree with that statement completely. Also, how you defined inerrancy to be not merely about contextual facts but rather, that we believe the scripture is true through Faith. However, I feel the historical argument has some merit, because, it reflects that tradition within the church is evidence that the Bible is accurate. An example is how the church was extraordinary cautious about transcribing and copying the Bible. If just one word was off they would toss the entire copy and burn it. That is one of the reasons why I feel that the historical argument has some validity as a strong argument concerning biblical inerrancy. Thanks again for the insightful

Blomberg, Craig L. The New American Commentary: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture: Matthew. Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1992.

Theodore Roosevelt said, “ A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.” Reading the Bible sounds good in theory, but many feel like Ezekiel, a young man in his twenties, who said, “When I looked at how thick the Bible is, I lost any desire to read it.” Others also may feel that the Bible is outdated in today’s age, and that it lacks any real value. What about you? What do you think? Did you know that the Bible actually tells us why we should read it? 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 says, “All scripture is inspired of God and beneficial…”. So, despite the fact that the Bible was written thousand of years ago, its principles still can benefit us today in our day-to-day lives. There are four main ways that the Bible can help

1. Towns, E. (2007). Core Christianity "What is Christianity all about?" Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers., 84 & 90.

My understanding of the Bible is that it is a gift from God. The Bible is a group of stories, it has accurate history, scientific facts, prophecy and beautiful songs of praise. The Bible explains how and why humans were created it reveals the purpose of our life. The information in the Bible is how God revealed himself to me.

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

Cranford, Lorin L. "An exposition of James 2." Southwestern Journal Of Theology 29, no. 1 (Sep

Greidanus, Sidney. “Preaching Christ from the Old Testament.” Bibliotheca Sacra 641, no. Jan (2004): 4–13.

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.