What do we believe about the Bible? Authority and Inspiration

“The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

After all the discussion about the reliability of the biblical text, the intent of the authors, and the selection of the books, the only question that really seems important to me is “Why does any of this matter? Why does this book matter?”

The answer is this book matters because it claims to be the very words of God. From the beginning (Gen 1:3) to the end (Rev 22:16) and many, many times in between we see some version of “thus saith the Lord.” If these are the words of God to his creatures, we should know them.

Are these the words of God? Besides the inexplicable transformative power of the scriptures, the best thing I can point to that demonstrates this really is the word of God is fulfilled prophecies. Besides the dozens of prophecies about Jesus that were fulfilled hundreds of years later in his life, the Bible records specific promises that were fulfilled, specific threats that were carried out (eg, the temple was built, then destroyed, then rebuilt, then destroyed again as prophesied), and named names (Cyrus, see Isaiah 45, 2 Chron 36:32-33). So there is good reason to believe there is a supernatural power behind the scriptures.

But how did that happen? We say that the Bible is “inspired,” a term that we get from 2 Tim 3:16 where Paul says, “All Scripture is God-breathed ....” Peter informs the idea a little more when he says, “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” (2 Pet 1:21).

The way we believe it works is that God the Holy Spirit, acting through human beings who communicated in their own styles, made sure that the words communicated were exactly what he wanted said. People did not go into a trance. They were not puppets, writing things they did not understand or with hands that moved of their own accord. But they produced the word of God. Because it is the word of God, it is binding.

There are two kinds of revelation. There is a general revelation, where God has revealed himself to humanity through the natural world. “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Rom 1:18-20). God’s wrath will fall on those who do not obey what they know through general revelation.

But God has given us his special revelation, the scriptures, so that we may know him more clearly. If his wrath will fall on those who do not obey the general revelation, we can expect no less for those who possess his special revelation and do not obey it.

Don’t think of the scriptures, though, as a sword hanging over our heads. The word was given to us as a gift. God wants us to know him and how to please him. He gave this gift to us so that we can be reconciled to him. We should respond to that gift by cherishing it, studying it, and obeying it.


Most systematic theology books will have a chapter (or several) on this topic, but I especially recommend “God’s Book — God’s Voice” in Growing Deep in the Christian Life by Charles R. Swindoll.


Part of Christianity 101