Page 30 - Doctrine and History of the Preservation of the Bible revised

In its theological usage, inspiration is derived from the Latin Vulgate Bible where the verb inspire is used
in 2 Timothy 3”16 and 2 Peter 1:21.

2 Timothy 3:16 Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: (ESV)

2 Peter 1:21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke
from God as they were carried along (inspired) by the Holy Spirit. (NIV)

The word for inspire in 2 Timothy 3:16 is the Greek word geopneustos. It is derived from geos “God”
and pnew, “to breath.” It literally means “God-breathed” and expresses the idea that God exhaled the
very words to us. It tells us that the Bible is the product of God’s breath.

So, a good definition for Biblical inspiration is this: God’s superintendence of the human authors of
Scripture so that using their own individual personalities, they composed and recorded without error His
revelation to man in the words of the original autographs.

To fully understand inspiration, we must break it down into parts:

1. God superintended the human authors of Scripture. His superintendence varied in degree, but it was
always included so that the Spirit of God guaranteed the accuracy of what was written.

2. The word “composed” shows us that the writers were not mere robots acting as stenographers and
wrote as God dictated the words to them. They were actively involved in using their own vocabulary,
personalities, experiences and backgrounds in the words they wrote. But again, their words were
superintended by God.

3. “Without error” expresses what the Bible claims to be true regarding itself: it is God’s word and the
words are true.

4. Inspiration can only be ascribed to the original autographs, not to the manuscripts copies or the
translations based on those copies. While we do not have any of the originally inspired autographs, we
have enough copies to know that the copy we have today is totally trustworthy as being God’s
authoritative book.

The value of Inspiration

2 Timothy 3:16 Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in
righteousness: (ESV)

From 2 Timothy 3:16 we can derive four great values from God’s
inspiration of the text:

1. Teaching - “Teaching” is the Greek word, didaskalia, and means “doctrine” or “teaching”. It is used in
the active sense of teaching others and in the passive send of “what is taught” or doctrine. This verse

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