The Bible and the Word "Inspire"
The Bible and the Word "Inspire"
According to the Random House Dictionary, the word inspire means "to infuse an animating, quickening, or exalting influence into, or to communicate or suggest by a divine influence." This definition indicates, when applied to the scripture, that the stories and writings in the Bible did not come solely from the minds of the respective authors, but rather from a divine source. This suggests that the authors were scribes, reproducing what was instilled in them by God. This idea is strengthened by looking at distinct examples from the scripture that show that scripture is inspired, and not made up. By using the form of criticism known as literary criticism, we can analyze certain installments of the scripture and use them to prove that the scripture is, in fact, inspired, not a collection of false statements.
There are times in the Bible and in Biblical history that the prophets themselves are confronted with people doubting the validity of the scripture, and trying to discredit it. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Here Timothy is relating a charge given to him by Paul. As a story that is being told, it can be easily inferred that Paul had confronted opposition to the belief that scripture was in fact inspired by God, and therefore valid. Using literary criticism allows us to stay on the surface of what is being said, and not necessarily have to dig behind it to find the true meaning (we'll leave that to historical criticism) and therefore by looking at the phrase "scripture is God-breathed" we can further say that God breathed His word into the authors, and they recorded it. God can be viewed as an indirect author, and the inspiration for scripture.
"We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and the comings of our Lord Jesus Christ but we
According to the Random House Dictionary, the word inspire means "to infuse an animating, quickening, or exalting influence into, or to communicate or suggest by a divine influence." This definition indicates, when applied to the scripture, that the stories and writings in the Bible did not come solely from the minds of the respective authors, but rather from a divine source. This suggests that the authors were scribes, reproducing what was instilled in them by God. This idea is strengthened by looking at distinct examples from the scripture that show that scripture is inspired, and not made up. By using the form of criticism known as literary criticism, we can analyze certain installments of the scripture and use them to prove that the scripture is, in fact, inspired, not a collection of false statements.
There are times in the Bible and in Biblical history that the prophets themselves are confronted with people doubting the validity of the scripture, and trying to discredit it. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Here Timothy is relating a charge given to him by Paul. As a story that is being told, it can be easily inferred that Paul had confronted opposition to the belief that scripture was in fact inspired by God, and therefore valid. Using literary criticism allows us to stay on the surface of what is being said, and not necessarily have to dig behind it to find the true meaning (we'll leave that to historical criticism) and therefore by looking at the phrase "scripture is God-breathed" we can further say that God breathed His word into the authors, and they recorded it. God can be viewed as an indirect author, and the inspiration for scripture.
"We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and the comings of our Lord Jesus Christ but we