VERBAL INSPIRATION

Victor M. Eskew

 

          Christians believe in verbal inspiration.  By this, we mean that every word of the Bible is inspired of God.  Every word is God-breathed.  Please note that this has reference to the autographs written in the first century by the inspired penmen.  The autographs were the original documents penned by the apostles and prophets who spoke by the Holy Spirit.  Let’s consider some thoughts about verbal inspiration.

          Some argue that those who claim to believe in verbal inspiration must believe in the dictation theory of inspiration.  The word dictation comes from the root word “dictate.”  Dictate is defined as:  “to say or read (something) aloud for another person to transcribe or for a machine to record.”  If a message is delivered by dictation, the person who spoke the message to the transcriber will have his personality, education, and experiences shine through the message.  Note:  It does not matter who does the dictating.  The transcriber simply takes the words of the spokesman and writes them down. 

Even though God gave the very words to His inspired messengers, it is the personality, education, and experiences of the messengers that comes forth onto the written page.  It is not surprising the Holy Spirit could produce such a work.  It was God who created these individuals.  He knows them, their hearts, and their lives better than they do.  It is not hard for God to give His message to the writers, but to allow each author’s style to glow in very word, every sentence, every paragraph, every chapter, and every book.  David knew his words were inspired.  He wrote:  “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue” (2 Sam. 23:2).  Jesus spoke these words about inspiration in Mark 13:11.  “”But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate:  but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak you:  for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.”  It is interesting that even the words Jesus spake during His earthly ministry were not His own.  Jesus declared:  “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.  And I know that his commandment is life everlasting:  whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak” (John 12:49-50). 

          Another problem that some will set forth is the fact that we no longer have the autographs.  The original writings of the men who wrote the Bible do not exist.  Since this is the case, they do not believe that we have the Word of God as it was delivered in Bible times.  It is true the autographs do not exist.  However, we do have an abundance of manuscripts that establish the writings of the inspired men.  In fact, we have some 5,200 manuscripts at our disposal.  In addition, we have the writings of the church fathers.  These were the leaders of the church in the second, third, and fourth centuries.  They often quoted the Word of God in their writings.  From their writings alone, it is almost possible to put together the entire New Testament.  Too, we have numerous versions of the Bible that were written between the second and fifth centuries:  Old Latin (2^nd century), Syriac Peshitta (2^nd-4^th centuries), Gothic Bible (4^th century), Coptic translations (3^rd&4^th centuries), Armenian (5^th century), Georgian (5^th century), and Latin Vulgate (4^th&5^th centuries).

          To some, this evidence means little.  It is because they have never studied the evidences for old writings.  There are many writings that we accept today as authentic that have very little evidence to support them.   Lucretius has only two copies supporting his writings.  Pliny and Plato have only 7.  Demosthenes, Herodotus, Suetonius, and Thucydides have 8.  Homer’s Illyiad only has 643 supporting evidences.  Remember, the New Testament has 5,200 manuscripts supporting it.  The total evidence supporting the New Testament is said to be about 24,000 documents.  With this being said, most scholars will agree that 99% of the New Testament is accurate with the originals.  Of the one percent that is “questionable,” much has do with spelling, word order, numbers, and other difference that do not substantially affect the meaning of the text.

We could also talk about the amount of time that exists between the original writings and the supporting documentation.  The New Testament has evidence as early as the first and second centuries supporting it.  Some of the evidences come from individuals who knew the apostles of the first century.  Many of the writings of men that are accepted as genuine have hundreds of years between the original and the copy.  It is interesting that individuals accept human products with little support.  Yet, when the evidence for the New Testament is provided. people want to act as if its foundation is weak.  It might be wise for all to recall the words of Jesus found in Matthew 25:35.  “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”  The Godhead was well aware that there would be enemies of the gospel.  Therefore, God providentially oversaw the preservation of the Biblical text.

          The final point we will make in this article concerns the importance of the words found in the Biblical text.  On one occasion, Jesus told Satan:  “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).  The key words of this quote for our discussion are “every word.”  Every word of the Biblical text is useful and profitable for man.  Some words carry a very special meaning.  This is true of the word “seed” in the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  In Genesis 22:18, God says to Abraham:  “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed…”  This little word refers specifically to Jesus Christ.  Paul affirms this in his letter to the churches of Galatia.  In fact, he notes that the word was intentionally set forth as singular in nature.  “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.  He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ” (Gal. 3:16).  One word, “seed,” caused all of the generations following Abraham to look for the Messiah, the Anointed One.

          Dear readers, we have no reason to doubt the Biblical text.  The originals were God-breathed.  These documents have been duplicated with more accuracy than any other work known to man.  When we read the words found from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, we can rest assured that we are reading the very message that came from the mind of God and was given to inspired men over some fourteen hundred years.  “Every word of God is pure:  he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him” (Prov. 30:5).