Verbal inspiration

The doctrine of “verbal inspiration” arose in the 17th century in the churches of the Reformation. It was a further development of the “Sola Scriptura” (Scripture Only) of the Reformation, but likewise a reaction to the Roman Catholic Church, which not only worked with the Bible, but explicitly saw “Bible + Tradition” as a common authority. It was also a claim to authority, with which the Roman Catholic Church wanted to reclaim lost areas of power. The churches of the Reformation saw it differently. The Bible alone was the Word of God. Supporting this view, the infallibility of the “Word of God” was further developed and defined as verbal inspiration (Wikipedia). Thus, verbal inspiration was not developed in a vacuum, but emerged, as it were, in response to other understandings. It is not very old and so is not found back in the New Testament as a teaching, even though it is justified with various verses.

A fundamentalist view of the Bible is based on this verbal inspiration. It is assumed in many circles and it is often placed in the tension of “every letter is God’s word or everything is worthless”. This is undoubtedly black-and-white thinking, in which differentiation is still lacking. The most important question, however, is whether the Bible itself teaches verbal inspiration?

The most important question is whether the Bible itself teaches verbal inspiration?

If I stand as a questioner based on the Bible, I stand in the same place as someone with a fundamentalist understanding of the Bible. That connects. I myself consistently start from the Bible because I take the Bible seriously. However, this does not mean that I therefore affirm verbal inspiration. Nor does it mean that I reject them. The issue is quite different: what does the Bible itself teach? Verbal inspiration is not taught in the Bible. It is derived, which is not the same thing. However, because verbal inspiration is justified with biblical texts, they can be easily tested.

Some texts are briefly highlighted here below in turn:

• All Scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
• Carried by God’s Spirit, holy men of God have spoken (2Pet 1:21)
• Not one iota or horn of the law will pass away (Matt. 5:17-18)
• Words taught by the Spirit (1Cor 2,13)

It is about central Bible passages for the mentioned doctrine. They are positively worded, they are in the Bible, they are easy to look up. They form – together with some other biblical passages – the basis for the doctrine of verbal inspiration. This post is not about polarizing thoughts as in “true/untrue” or “inspired/uninspired”. The point is to clarify what the biblical passages mentioned say and what they explicitly do not say.

1. all Scripture is God-breathed

“All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for instruction, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be prepared, equipped for every good work.”
2Tim 3:16-17

All font

The Scripture Paul has in mind is not the Bible as we know it now. The New Testament did not exist as a collection of books at that time. Luke wrote two reports to Theophilus. Peter and Paul wrote their letters. They were nothing more than that. Even the Old Testament did not receive its current form until about the year 100 AD, while it was much later for the New Testament.

Paul refers to the Old Testament (Tanakh) as that was known at that time. Applying this quote to the whole Bible as we now know it is a figurative meaning outside the original context. One cannot claim that this text speaks of the Bible as we know it today. Of course, you can use it that way if you declare it appropriately as an extension of the original statement.

God-breathed

The Greek word theopneustos, which is used here, means as much as God-breathed (or: God-spirited), namely, blown through by God’s spirit. What is special about Scripture is not the letter, but the spirit. When Paul testifies that all Scripture (see above) is “God-breathed,” this speaks of the Spirit working in that Scripture. It does not mean that the individual words and letters are inspired by God’s Spirit. Verbal inspiration is neither affirmed nor denied because it is not an issue in the section. After all, it’s about something completely different. Paul’s point in this passage is to note how the word works out, viz.

“Useful for instruction, for conviction, for reproof, for training in righteousness [ist], that the man of God may be prepared, equipped for every good work.”

Paul has in mind the goal of the word’s effect. That it works is beyond doubt, because it is breathed through by God’s Spirit. God Himself works through the Scriptures and this is also without contradiction. In contrast, this section is not at all about a theological demarcation or about a doctrine of verbal inspiration. It’s not even about the individual words or letters. This quote does not teach verbal inspiration and it cannot be derived from it.

What is special about Scripture is not the letter, but the spirit.

So here is the statement: it is not about the letters, but about the effectiveness of God (through His Spirit). Throughout the Word, the apostle trusts in God who works. So he does not say: I believe in the Bible, but: I believe in God who works through the Bible by His Spirit. It does not make the Bible divine, any more than a hammer becomes a man when a carpenter expertly uses the tool.

2. carried by God’s spirit

“All the more steadily we hold to the prophetic word, and you do well to watch for it (as for a lamp shining in a dim place until the day dawns and the morning star rises) in your hearts. Recognize this first, that no prophetic word of Scripture is by its own explanation. For not by the will of man was ever a prophet’s word brought forth, but borne by holy spirit, holy men of God have spoken.”
2Pet 1:19-21

The prophetic word

As was true for Jesus and Paul, Peter’s Bible was the same as the Tanakh. It is what was later called the “Old Testament” by Christians. In his letter, Peter emphasizes that he did not follow any wisely devised sagas, but he testifies that he and others were “eyewitnesses of the majesty” of Christ (1Pet 1:16).

Not sagas, but eyewitness testimony – this is the contrast that gives value to Peter’s proclamation. And he clings all the more firmly to the prophetic word (1Pet 1:19). He could write it this way because the apostles always made a correspondence between “promises from the prophetic word” on the one hand and their “own experience” on the other. They have seen, so to speak, the work of God and now trust all the more in the prophetic promises, many of which had already been fulfilled in Jesus.

Not for human consideration

According to Peter, the Word did not come into being through human reasoning. The Bible is not the result of a philosophy or an ethics. This does not get to the heart of the Bible. It is about much more. Peter said, “Not by the will of man was ever a prophet’s word brought forth.” The source, Peter said, is not to be sought in man.

“But carried on by the Holy Spirit, holy men of God have spoken.” Peter thus makes it clear that the prophetic word, and thus the Scriptures as he knew them, came about through the influence of God’s Spirit. The prophets were “holy men of God” who spoke while being “sustained by the Holy Spirit” in it. As with the previous quote from Paul, Peter’s point is that God’s working through His Spirit is the deciding factor. Not the letter, not the text is at the center of consideration, but the action of God. This should also be the case with us.

3. not one iota or horn will pass away

“Only do not think that I came to dissolve the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not one iota or horn of the Law will pass away until all is accomplished.”
Mt 5,17-18

Law and prophets are not dissolved

Jesus preached radically, but always within the requirements of the Law and the Prophets. “Law and Prophets” point to the Old Testament or Tanakh. Jesus repeatedly denounced religious hypocrisy, but never questioned the Bible itself. Jesus did not come to dissolve the Bible, but to fulfill it.

Central to this passage is the remark, “I came not to dissolve but to fulfill.” The following remark is only an illustration of this. Recognizing the core message correctly helps to assess the example that follows immediately after it well in terms of value and meaning.

Not an iota or horn will perish

This text is often quoted to prove that the Bible is protected by God down to the smallest details. It’s about every little stroke! But is that the statement here? No, it’s about something else. The speech of the iota and the little horn is an example, a further explanation of the central statement. That is determined by the context.

“Until heaven and earth pass away, by no means will 1 iota or 1 horn of the law pass away until all is accomplished” (Matt. 5:18). This “until all is done” refers to the previously mentioned “fulfill”. The reliability of the promise as well as the fulfillment of the promise are central.

The example with Jota and Hörnlein is a confirmation of the actual statement. An iota is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. A horn denotes small strokes on some letters, which made them easier to distinguish from each other. This passage is not about letters, nor about special accuracy in relation to letters, but it is about the sure fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets! It is an example, a visual language. If Jesus can summarize the entire Old Testament in the double commandment of love (Matt. 22:37-40), we may recognize that it is about spiritual things, and not about the set of letters.

As a comparison, another visual language can be referred to here. Paul speaks in Acts 27:34 about him and all the occupants of the ship coming through the storm in one piece, saying, “For not one of you will lose a hair from his head.” This confirms what he has said before, that “not one soul of you will be lost, except the ship” (Acts 27:22).

Jay and little horn are an example, an explanation, a figurative language, just as Paul speaks of how none of the ship’s men will lose a hair from his head. Are these examples about letters or hair? No, of course not – there are more important things at stake. However, it could be said that some Bible teachers may have one of those hairs in the soup when they insist that this is about letters and not about the spirit (of the story, of the statement). But that would be pulling your hair out.

4. words taught by the spirit

“For who among men knows what is in man except the spirit of man which is in him? So also no one has known the depths of God except the Spirit of God. But we received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit from God, that we might know the things which are granted us of God by grace, which also we utter, not with words, as human wisdom teaches them, but [with such as] the Spirit teaches us, giving spiritual [Dinge mit] appropriate spiritual [Worten] Explain.”
1Cor 2:11-13

The Spirit of God

This quote about the revelation of God is again primarily about God’s Spirit. It is the spirit that works. Words are only a means of transport for spirit.

Words as the Spirit teaches them

The apostle Paul speaks of things as the Spirit teaches him – a remarkable statement. However, it does not say approximately how this will play out. He then explains that spiritual things can only be explained spiritually. This requires appropriate words. Compare spiritual with spiritual. He wants to explain like with like.

A few verses earlier, he declared that his word and preaching consisted “not in persuasive words of human wisdom” but “in instruction of the Spirit and of power, that your faith may be grounded not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (1 Cor. 2:1-5).

His words have a meaning that goes beyond so-called “human wisdom”. It is not about the words themselves, but about what is said with the words. Words are means of transportation for spiritual things. God’s Spirit works in the apostle, enabling him to find the right words.

What do we learn from this? Is the manifestation of the Spirit and power in his preaching (1 Cor. 2:4) dependent on words and letters? Yes and no. Of course, he has to put words and sentences together. His sermon is not a silence, but a speech. He proclaims and writes. In this sense, it is clearly about words and letters.

But it is not said here that it is essentially about letters and words. It is about explaining “spiritual with spiritual”. When Jesus says “My words are spirit and are life” (John 6:63), it is about something similar. Certainly, spirit and life do not come from words, but they are from God. Words only convey that. Flawlessness is not needed in the letters, but without spirit it is not possible. Therefore, Jesus does not say “My words are Bible and are life”, but “My words are spirit and are life”. Life comes through spirit, not through the letters of the Bible. It is not magic of words, but it is God’s presence and guidance in the proclamation that Paul reckons with.

The effectiveness of God

In summary, God’s spirit and work are central. Reliability is not in the letters, but in the God who works through the letters with His Spirit in our lives. Verbal inspiration is not taught here.

The reliability of the Bible is there, but it is defined first and foremost by the effectiveness of God’s Spirit. This works through the words. If, on the other hand, we rely only on words, on the Bible in the basic text or even on certain translations, then we fail to recognize the much more significant effect of God. It is about Him, not about the Bible. The Bible is God’s Word because it tells about Him, because He reveals Himself through it and works in us. The Bible is the instrument of the Spirit. As a tool in this sense, the Bible is “useful for instruction, for conviction, for reproof, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be prepared, equipped for every good work.” This is what the text says.
Likewise, Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica:

“Therefore we also thank God continually, that when ye received from us the word of the knowledge of God, ye received it not as the word of men, but (as it is truly), as the word of God, which also worketh in you that believe.”
1Thess 2,13

The Word of God is primarily about effectiveness in our lives, as Paul puts it here. Let us thank God unceasingly for His Word.