"But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall
speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it
is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit." (Mark 13:11)
"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God
spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2Pet 1:21)
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" (2Tim 3:16)
In one sense, The Bible is an issue of Divine Justice; For if He created heaven and earth, and mankind, and
did the work of salvation, sent His Son to walk among us, etc., etc....it is only fair of Him to inform us
of these things, especially in that our eternal salvation (or the alternative) are at stake.
This being an acceptable theorum, it is further true that God would go about the matter of informing us in
a manner which conforms to His essence, perfect, flawless, and complete in every facet. I've heard men dismiss,
out of hand, the principle of divine inspiration, and the infallibility of scripture, but I suggest they consider
that God has formidable powers at His disposal...certainly adequate to give us an accurate message by the agency
of a creature. A creature of His manufacture, incidentally.
It is a reasonable, even unavoidable, assumption that man is incapable of writing an accurate account of God and
all His dealings, even with God dictating on the side. There would be typos, misunderstandings, errors, for even
though God is pronouncing each word, there is still the matter of mentality, the capacity to grasp the entirity
of spiritual phenomena. God, Himself, is a subject which exceeds our volcabulary to an infinite degree.
Thus, God arranged a different means of recording His communication to us; called in theology; "Verbal, Plenary
Inspiration". This doctrine embraces the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in the souls of men, transcribing the
very thoughts of The Almighty by the hand of man. In so doing, The Spirit used every native charactaristic of the
author; his volcabulary, personality, experiences, memories, desires, and yes, even his weakneses. At no time
did God ever violate the volition of an author of scripture, for they undertook this sublime task freely, and
employed their human attributes as they would at any other time.
As in so many aspects of the universe, God's capabilities cannot be compared with our own. Unfortunately, there are
many men who assume that, just because we are limited, some things are impossible. They deny God His due! Putting
down accurate information, and arranging a system to teach it to us, doesn't even raise a sweat with God! This is
no stretch! Not for Him!
To insist that the Bible is less than the words of God is to assign limitations to God, and worse, to impugn His
Justice and Righteousness. There is more involved than simply jotting down some words and making a big deal of them,
as mentioned above, God is responsible to inform us, give us a clear definition of our options, if He will one
day hold us accountable! To do less would be an oversight that even an organized human being would be ashamed of! Would
even the most casual scrutiny of these issues conclude that it would be ok to put us here, in a position of great
peril, without carefully explaining the principles involved, and make our choices chrystal clear?
Ofcourse, you will agree! But just finding substance to these statements does not imply a full understanding of the
situation. The Word is perfect, irrefutable! When God's Word says a thing, it is He, Almighty God, who has shaped
the words and embedded them in our consciousness! He "works on both ends, and in the middle", giving the word to the
authors of scripture, giving a man the spiritual gift of communication and training Him in teaching the word,
and....finally, in our souls to give us understanding of spiritual matters.
But there is a problem! Yes, man does screw things up! (wouldn't you know it?). The Bible is full of outright bad
translations, subtle nuances, and words that have just changed meanings down throught the centuries. This is not
a statement in opposition to what I've been saying, the Word, as it was given to the original writers, was perfect.
But, as the original texts have been translated (into 97 languages so far) there have been errors, and every error
deprives us of vital information from God. If it were not so, He would not have recorded it in the scripture! The
Bible isn't some divine whim! Just a friendly note to us humans. It is deadly serious and deals with not only the
mundane activities of life, but life threatening circumstances. Ultimately; The Word informs us of the single most
critical issue on this planet, that we accept Christ and be saved from eternal damnation!
God has provided for this problem as well. He foreknew our misadventures, and assigned men in every generation to
become teachers of the Word. Those unique individuals are responsible to pore over a lexicon and Bible, study in
the original languages, all their lives, and never take for granted that any verse is correctly rendered before
teaching it to their congregartions. The I.C.E. Principle is the link you can click on to
study more on this vital subject.
So, if the reader is one who holds this view that the Word is less than perfect,I suggest that you reconsider this view,
christian, for if one single word of the scripture is not inspired of God then it is all a lie. Your salvation
is a lie, so forget going to heaven. The Person and work of Jesus Christ is a lie. You see, the Word declares of
itself that it is the inspired Word of God, The Mind of Christ, and if, therefore, this claim is not true, then what
else is untrue? I would find it impossible not to doubt it all!
It is an awsome thought when you consider that there were 66 authors of scripture over a period of about
2,000 years, and yet there is not one conflict in the Word of God. Considering that these men lived in much different
cultures, with varying influences, and had different personalities, different backgrounds, different opinions,
different experience, different hopes and dreams, different everything, and yet they compiled a canon of scripture
which is perfectly coordinated, and complete in scope and focus, how can any rational man deny that one mind composed
the Bible? Different authors, yes, but those men were no less than the tools of The Holy Spirit.
Not one prophecy has failed to come to pass, except those on the schedule in the future. Note, I said "not one conflict",
well, every holy joe can trot out a bible and point out a dozen "glaring conflicts" in the Word. Bullcrap! These people
are jumping to conclusions, making solomn pronouncements on a shakey (at best) foundation of ignorance! Ofcourse, there
are phrases and statements that appear to be at odds, oppossing one another, etc., but a man with the academic background
and teaching experience can explain every one of them quickly, document every word, and clear these things up. Taking the
context, history, exegesis, and every other nuance into consideration, there ain't no conflicts! Next question!
In way of example, I will point out a common error in translation, and all the confusion and malpractices that this one
simple bad translation has caused.
One of the all time biggest misunderstandings about the Bible is the 1st Commandment; "Thou shalt not kill". People get
off to all kinds of corny activities with this one; ducking military service, parading against execution of a criminal, yada,
yada. It would all be straightened out easily if they knew that the Hebrew word mistranslated "kill" refers to "murder". The
1st Commandment is a prohibition of homicide! Not killing of every sort! This also clears up other so called conflicts,
where God tells us to execute criminals, kill an enemy in war, etc. Many verses contain one aspect or another of God's
view of killing, and He is not averse to hanging a murderer, or frying a rapist, or the firing squad for a traitor!
The means is beside the point, says God, just execute them! An eye for an eye, a life for a life!
Incidentally, the Bible has been translated into 97 languages and is the all time best seller on Earth. It is
interesting that a work of such ancient origins has been preserved intact over 3,000 years, and without one
single word lost. What possible explanation can there be for this remarkable longevity besides the very power of
God?
Not only is the bible the Mind of Christ, it is the only thing we can carry with us from time as we pass into eternity.
"The Word of God liveth and abideth forever". The Word is the "logos", which is the Greek for Word. As such, it existed
before time. It was God, and is God.
The essence of God is thought, the only means of our relationship or communication with Him. Apart from the Word, we
would know nothing of Him. The preincarnate Christ was "The Logos", in what John termed "...the beginning which was
not a beginning", a brilliant description of "eternity past".This word; "Logos", means "word". This is the title
for Christ before time, He was called The Word. Thus, our Bible is Him, His thoughts.