Page 29 - Doctrine and History of the Preservation of the Bible revised
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Chapter 4: Inspiration and Inerrancy
Connect…
I love to build things out of wood. The cuckoo clock pictured is a mountain cabin I made not too long
ago. Sometimes I see something someone else has made out of wood, and I get amazed. Once I visited
a man who could make birds out of wood, and they looked like the real birds. It was inspiring. In fact, I
was so “inspired” by his work that I decided to try to make some
birds out of wood for myself. And I did. I even sell them as everyone
thinks they are beautiful.
God gave us the Bible through inspiration. I’m sure the authors were
“inspired” by what God was telling them to write, but not in the
same sense I was inspired by wooden birds. Today we are going to
learn how God inspired the Bible to be written and what that term
means when studying bibliology. Let’s get started…..
Objectives…
1. The student should be able to give a definition of the theological term, inspiration, and why it is so
important.
2. The student should be able to explain the value of inspiration and why it is so important in our lives.
3. The student should be able to identify the difference between plenary and verbal inspiration and
what each term means.
The Lesson ...
Inspiration and Inerrancy – The authenticity of the Bible
Definition: Inspiration deals with the presentation and preservation of God’s revelation so that what
was received from God was accurately transmitted to men was written down to be transmitted to
others beyond the original recipient. Inspiration is the horizontal communication the God’s revelation
to others.
The English word inspiration has a number of connotations, the most fundamental being the act of
drawing in, as in inhaling air into the lungs. The word is also used of the stimulation of the mind or
emotions to a high level of feeling or activity, as being “inspired” by a certain truth. Sometimes it is used
of a work of art. Certainly, these can be applied to the Bible, but none of these definitions fit the biblical
concept of inspiration.
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