Page 25 - Bible Doctrine Survey I - Student Textbook (3)

English and Hebrew are similar in that both languages are “picture languages.” Their words form a clear
picture in your mind.
By 500 BC, the 39 books that make up the OT were completed and were preserved on scrolls. Between
400 BC and 30 AD, the books of the Apocrypha were completed, but were recorded in Greek rather than
Hebrew. By 100 AD, all the books of the New Testament were completed.

How did we get the Bible?

Who decided which of these books was God’s Word?
Remember, the books that God wrote were inspired by the Holy Spirit. No person or persons decided
which books to include. No meeting was ever convened to vote on which books to include and which to
exclude. The books came together as they were RECOGNIZED by all that they were Scripture. God
determines whether a book is inspired and thus canonical—churches and councils do not. God gives
the books of the Bible their divine authority. God’s people recognize this authority but they do not
determine its authority. As J. I. Packer has said, “The Church no more gave us the New Testament canon
than Sir Isaac Newton gave us the force of gravity” (God Speaks to Man, p. 81). Newton recognized the
force of gravity. God’s people recognized those books that were inspired by God.

Theories of Inspiration
There are many views of how God inspired the book to be written. Here are a few:

1. Natural inspiration – There is no supernatural element. The Bible was written by great men, who
often erred.
2. Partial inspiration – The Bible contains God’s words but must be sorted out (“demythologized”)
to find them. Other parts are purely human and may be in error

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