The word "inspired" means literally "God-breathed." It is composed
of two Greek words--_theos=God;_ and _pnein=to breathe._
The term "given by inspiration" signifies, then, that the writings
of the Old Testament, of which Paul is here speaking, are the result
of a certain influence exerted by God upon their authors.
The meaning of the word "breathed," as here used, is brought
out very forcibly by the comparison of two other words translated
in the same way. The one is the Greek word _psuchein=to breathe
gently,_ while in 2 Tim. 3:16 the term denotes a forcible
respiration. The other is the Hebrew word _ah-ayrh=to breathe
unconsciously,_ while 2 Tim. 3:16 denotes a conscious breathing.
Inspiration, then, as defined by Paul in this passage, is the
_strong, conscious inbreathing of God into men, qualifying them
to give utterance to truth. It is God speaking through men, and the
Old Testament is therefore just as much the Word of God as though
God spake every single word of it with His own lips._ The
Scriptures are the result of divine inbreathing, just as human
speech is uttered by the breathing through a man's mouth.
2 Pet. 1:21--"For not by the will of man was prophecy brought at
any time, but being borne by the Holy Spirit, the holy men of God
spoke." (This is a literal rendering, and brings out the sense more
clearly.)
The participle "moved" may be translated "when moved," so this
passage teaches that holy men of God wrote the Scripture _when_
moved to do so by the Holy Spirit.
Further, the participle is passive, and denotes "to be moved upon."
This distinctly teaches that the Scripture was not written by mere
men, or at their suggestion, but by men _moved upon_, prompted,
yea indeed, driven by the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
This declaration of Peter may be said to intimate that the Holy Ghost
was especially and miraculously present with and in the writers of
the Scriptures, revealing to them truths which they did not know
before, and guiding them alike in their record of these truths,
and of the transactions of which they were eye and ear witnesses,
so that they were enabled to present them with substantial accuracy
to the minds of others.
The statements of the Scriptures regarding Inspiration may be summed
up as follows: Holy men of God, qualified by the infusion of the
breath of God, wrote in obedience to the divine command, and were
kept from all error, whether they revealed truths previously unknown
or recorded truths already familiar. In this sense, "all Scripture
is given by inspiration of God," the Bible is indeed and in truth
the very Word of God, and the books of the Bible are of divine
origin and authority.
2. THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN INSPIRATION, REVELATION, ILLUMINATION,
AND VERBATIM REPORTING.
a) The Distinction Between Inspiration and Revelation.
It is of the greatest importance, in considering the theme of
Inspiration, to distinguish it clearly from Revelation.
The most cursory perusal of the Scriptures reveals the fact that
they consist of two different kinds of records: first, records of
truth directly revealed and imparted to the mind of the writer by
God, and which he could have learned in no other manner (such, for
example, as the story of Creation); and second, records of events
that occurred within the writer's own observation, and of sayings
that fell upon his own ears (such as Moses' account of the Exodus,
Paul's account of his interview with Peter at Antioch). In the one
case, the writer records things that had not been revealed to man
before; in the other case, he records facts which were as well
known to others as to himself.
Now, Revelation is that act of God by which He directly communicates
truth not known before to the human mind. Revelation discovers new
truth, while Inspiration superintends the communicating of that
truth.
All that is in the Bible has not been "directly revealed" to man.
It contains history, and the language of men, even of wicked men.
But there is absolutely no part of the Bible record that is not
inspired. The history recorded in the Bible is true. The sacred
writers were so directed and influenced by the Spirit that they
were preserved, in writing, from every error of fact and doctrine.
The history remains history. Things not sanctioned by God, recorded
in the Bible, are to be shunned (2 Tim. 3:16). Nevertheless, all
these things were written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
This is Inspiration.
This distinction should be definitely and clearly understood, for
many of the most plausible arguments against the full inspiration
of the Scriptures have arisen from the fact that this has been
either unrecognized or ignored.
Though all Scripture is inspired, it does not stamp with divine
authority every sentiment which it reports as uttered by the men of
whom it speaks, nor does it mark with divine approval every action
which it relates as performed by those with whose biographies
it deals. In the book of Job, for example, Inspiration gives with
equal accuracy the language of Jehovah, the words of Satan, and the
speeches of Job and his three friends; but it does not therefore
place them all on the same level of authority. Each speaker is
responsible for his own utterances. Neither Satan, Job, nor his
three friends spoke by inspiration of God. They gave utterance to
their own opinions; and all that Inspiration vouches for is that
no one of them is misrepresented, but that each one spoke the
sentiments that are attributed to him in Scripture. So, again,
the fact that David's cruelty to the Ammonites is recorded in the
book of Kings does not imply that God approved it any more than
He approved the king's double crime of murder and adultery, which
"displeased Him." The inspiration of the Book vouches only for the
accuracy of the record.
b) The Distinction Between Inspiration and Illumination.
Spiritual Illumination refers to the influence of the Holy Ghost,
common to all Christians. No statement of a truth about God or
spiritual things can be understood by a man unless the Holy Spirit
takes it and reveals it to him. It is only the spiritual man who
can understand spiritual things. "The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit" (1 Cor. 2:14). No learning of the schools
can lead him to know God. Flesh and blood cannot reveal God to men
(Matt. 16:17).
There is a vast difference between "a divine revelation of the
mind of God" and "a divine action on the mind of man." The former
is Revelation; the latter is Spiritual Illumination.
Those who hold to the illumination theory to account for the origin
of the Bible revelation claim that there is in every man an intuitive
faculty that grasps the supernatural, that lays hold of God and
spiritual things; and that whatever insight into the nature and
being of God is given man, is produced by the divine Spirit playing
upon this spiritual faculty in man, illuminating and irradiating
it, so that it sees the perfection of God and is enabled to penetrate
into His will.
According to this view, the Bible is the result of the meditations
of godly men whose minds were acted upon by God. Any revelation
of divinity of which man is the recipient, comes in this manner.
Subjective illumination God has carried on since the world began,
and is still carrying on by a great variety of methods. The Scriptures
are not in any way the oracles of God, nor do they come to us
as direct, logical utterances of the divine mind. The patriarchs,
prophets and apostles of old so deeply meditated on God and the
things of God that their spiritual faculties were enlarged and
illuminated to such a degree that they conceived of these visions
of God, His nature, His will, etc., as recorded in the Scriptures.
Now, it is true, doubtless, that a man may be granted a very deep
insight into the nature and being of God by spiritual meditation.
That a fire does burn in the Bible, we do not deny. Throughout
all ages of the Jewish and Christian churches men have lit their
spiritual torches at this fire, and in their light they have seen
Him who is invisible. This fire still burns, and to-day the devout
student may catch its flame if, with uncovered head, with shoeless
feet, and with humble spirit, he stands before the bush that ever
burns and yet is never consumed. But this working of the truth of
God on the mind of man is not God's revelation of His mind to man
which the Bible professes to be. The Bible must of necessity be not
merely a repository or receptacle of spiritual influences fitted
to act upon the mind; it must be--it is--God making Himself known
to men. It is God speaking to man through men.
In contradistinction to the illumination theory we have instances
in the Bible in which God made revelations of Himself, His truth,
and His will to men who were by no means at the time meditating
upon God. See e.g.:
John 11:49-52--"And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high
priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, nor
consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for
the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake
he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied
that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that nation
only, but that also He should gather together in one the children
of God that were scattered abroad." See also Num. 22:34, 35.
c) The Distinction Between Inspiration and Verbatim Reporting.
Inspiration is not necessarily Verbatim Reporting.
It is not absolutely necessary to make such a claim to prove the
inspiration of the Scriptures. Verbatim Reporting is, in a sense,
a mere mechanical operation. It would have robbed the writers of
their individuality, and made them mere machines. But no; the Holy
Spirit used the memories, the intuitions, the judgments, and indeed
the idiosyncrasies of the writers, so that while each recorded
that part of the event or discourse which (as we may express it)
adhered to himself, he was enabled to give it with substantial
accuracy.