Inspiration and

authority

The authorsh

ip of Scriptur

e

The authorship of ScriptureWhat exactly did God “inspire”?

The reader?

The events?

The ideas?

The pen?

BUTthat’s

illumination

BUTif so, he says

nothing

BUTsome bits are more

rewarding

BUTvery little

fits this idea

concursive action

God

the writer

God

Human

What this means is that it’s

inspiration

Human words, style, vocabulary, decisions

God’s choice of exactly what should be there

Jesus appealed to verbal inspiration

Mt 5:18 “not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law...”

Mt 22:32 bases its whole argument on the tense used

One word makes all

the difference

in Mt 22:45

Jn 10:34-35

depends on

whether a word is plural

The words are exact and all quotations are absolutely precise!

WOW! So everything it says is literally

true!

Don’t jump to conclusions!

THAT’S why there are no uncertainties about any of

it!

Not necessarily!

What doesn’t this mean?

1. That every word is original and unique

EZRA

Persian records

CHRONICLES

Other histories

PROVERBS

Amenemope

What doesn’t this mean?

2. That every word is exact

“three days”?

What doesn’t this mean?

3. That quotations are always precise

When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts

from men Ps 68:18

When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men Eph 4:8

The initial recipients of the New Testament books did not have personal copies of the Old Testament, which meant that most people relied on the meaning of the text more than the precise wording of the text. This means that the majority of quotations in close conformity are from passages most people would have memorized or heard frequently … Quotations from less familiar texts are more likely to be quoted for reasons other than strict repetition of the original… It is also true that sometimes the New Testament writer incorporated his allusions to the Old into the argument or literary style by changes inconsequential to the meaning or purpose, but which blend the allusion into the narrative better.

Bob Passantino

What doesn’t this mean?

4. That every word is literally true

There is no God

The fool has said in his heart,“ .”

What doesn’t this mean?

5. That no words have been changed before they reached usIsaiah

Jeremiah

Ezekiel

Daniel

What doesn’t this mean?

6. That every word was carefully planned by the writer

The ending of Mark

Short notes like Philemon

Moses and Deuteronomy 34

What doesn’t this mean?

7. That there are no uncertainties about any of the words

Authority on her head

I hate divorce

The text of

Scripture

coming next time:

When we look at the manuscripts we have – can they be trusted?