Você está na página 1de 5

HOLY MEN + HOLY SPIRIT = HOLY BIBLE

THE INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE

2 PETER 1:20-21

A young boy was once seen wondering alone and aimless on the edge of a large and noisy crowd. A concerned lady approached
the little boy to see if he was lost or unwell. As she approached him, she heard him mumbling something to himself over and over
again. As she drew ever closer the words became clearer and clearer: “He spoke to me! He spoke to me! He spoke to me!” After
some gentle questioning it transpired that the young boy had come to a formal opening of a public building by one of his great
NBA heroes. He had got up early in the morning and found a place near the front door before the rest of the crowd gathered. When
the “star” came out of the car he was waving and signing autographs, and just before he entered the public building he saw the little
awe-struck boy beside the door. Breaking away from his minders, the little boy’s hero came over to him and spoke to him for a
minute or two, before being ushered inside by the authorities. The crowd continued to wait for the star to leave the building again.
However, the little boy broke away from the crowd and began to wander in a daze of excitement and amazement saying over and
over again in wonder: “He spoke to me! He spoke to me!”

If this was the reaction of a little boy to the surprising decision of this star to speak to him, how amazed and excited sinners should
be that the all-holy God, the Lord of heaven and earth should speak to them. And He has, as the Westminster Confession makes
clear in this summary of biblical teaching:

It pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his
Church; (WCF 1.1)

Returning to our little star-struck boy one day later, we find him in his bedroom with a pencil and paper. We move closer and see
that he has a lot of scribbles on his notepad, words written and scored out. Moving even closer we can hear him saying “What did
he say again?” Was it, “Hi son, great to see you, are you going to Friday’s game?” or was it, “Have you got tickets for the game
son?” O, what did he say? I wish I could remember.

Is this how Scripture was written after being revealed? Was it left to the faulty memories of the prophets and apostles? No, Peter
tells us “that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. 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 Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:20-21).

Or as the Westminster Confession puts it:

and afterwards, [for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and
comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world] to commit the
same wholly unto writing (WCF 1.1).

God communicates with sinners by revelation. And he secures that revelation from error by a process we call inspiration, a process
which extends even to the act of writing down what was revealed.

Peter teaches us that there is a human side to inspiration (“holy men of God spake”) and a Divine side (“as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost”). It involves human words and Divine words. To put it mathematically: Holy men + Holy Spirit = Holy Bible.

I. HOLY MEN (OF GOD SPAKE)

There are three main views regarding the human side of inspiration.

1. Dictation

The first view is called dictation. It basically denies the human side to Scripture by presenting the Biblical authors as machines.

Imagine a manager dictating a letter to a secretary. He speaks the words and even details the punctuation. She is expected to take
down what is said word for word, comma by comma. Her own interests, character, talents are largely irrelevant. The letter,
therefore, will be an exact reflection of the wishes of the manager. None of her will be in the letter. She is an impersonal machine.
The manager could dictate the letter to any secretary and the result would be the same.

This is what the dictation view regards as inspiration. It teaches that God by-passed the human personalities of the writers. They
were no longer authors but machines. Their self-consciousness was suspended, their personalities were by-passed. Moses and John
became typewriters with God pressing the keys. This view fails to account for, or explain, the vast differences in style and
presentation of the truth in the different books of Scripture. If this view was correct we would expect uniformity in words and style
regardless of the “secretary” used. We do not find this.

2. Elevation

If “dictation” takes too low a view of the human side of Scripture, then “elevation” takes too high a view. It proposes that the
prophets and apostles were given a special spiritual sensitivity and were “inspired” to write down their views and experiences in
their own words. God inspired the feeling that gave rise to human words. The role of God is reduced to simply infusing the
writer’s mind with an exalting and animating feeling. In this general sense we say that a poem or other form of human expression
is “inspired,” or that someone or something is “inspiring” to us.

This may be illustrated by imagining a person who was not really a painter. One day this person is taken on a trip and shown the
awesome sight of Mt. Everest. Moved by the immensity of the sight, the person is inspired to paint a picture that will communicate
to others the beauty and wonder of what she saw.

Some think that this is what inspiration means. They suggest that God impressed the spirit of the prophets and apostles with a
special ecstasy or spiritual sensitivity to see truths in such a way that they were “inspired” to write down what they saw. God
started them off with an infusion of inspiration and then let them go off to write.

This view fails in two ways. First, it fails to explain how the Bible could be secured from error. The most inspired human writer is
fallible and prone to err, even in his most inspired moments. Second, it fails to explain how many of the truths found in the Bible
could have entered into the writer’s hearts without the direct suggestion of the Holy Spirit. For example, minute details of future
events were predicted hundreds of years before the events occurred.

3. Instrumental

The third, and correct, view is what we will call “instrumental” (and others call “organic”) inspiration. This may be understood by
another illustration.

Anyone who has played a musical instrument, like the trumpet, will tell you that the quality of the sound depends on both the
player and the instrument. You could give the best instrument in the world to a beginner and he would sound awful. However, if
you gave the trumpet to an experienced and accomplished brass musician he would be able to produce beautiful music. Again, if
you gave him an instrument made with a cheaper metal, the sound would be different. If you gave him an old and worn instrument,
the sound would be different again. The instrument itself affects and determines the sound. Each trumpet’s character may be
distinctly heard.

This is the way inspiration works. Inspiration means “God-breathed” (the literal translation of theopneustos “inspired” in 2 Tim.
3:16). God breathed out Scripture through the instrumentality of men. All Scripture and every Scripture is God-breathed. There is
not one word of Scripture that has not been breathed out by God. He picked up Moses and Paul and John as instruments, and blew
through them. The sound varied according to the writer’s nationality, age, culture, talents, personality, education, and emotions.
Hodge claimed that these personal traits were as freely exercised in the production of Scripture, as those of the authors of any other
writings. Their humanness was not over-ridden, destroyed or suspended.

The personal characteristics of the individual writers are often obvious in the Bible. Luke, a physician, used technical medical
terms. John used a vocabulary that reflected his background as a fisherman. Some writers are simple, others complex; some are
poetic, others are lawyerly, etc.

In summary, the Bible came into being by the Holy Spirit’s superintendence of the human faculties to the degree that it conveyed
the thought he wished to convey, rendered the writings inerrant, and yet retained the personalities of the individual writers. “Holy
men of God spake…”

APPLICATION

There are four practical consequences of the “human side” of inspiration:

1. This helps us to explain to liberal critics of Scripture, why the style, grammar and vocabulary of the Bible vary so
much from book to book. Liberals often point to the differences in style and manner in the different bible books and
use that as an argument against single Divine authorship. They say that if God inspired it all, it would all be the same
style, etc. Having a right understanding of the process of inspiration can help us explain both the humanness of
Scripture and the Divinity of Scripture.

2. It makes us marvel at the wisdom of God. He had different messages to convey in different ways. Some times He
wanted to communicate law and sometimes poetry, etc. So He used people and personalities fitted to His purpose and
message at that time in the progressive unfolding of revelation. It also shows us God’s mercy to us. He could have
dropped a book from heaven with His name as the sole author. Instead he “came down,” he condescended to speak
through men. And the result is a book that throbs with humanity, humanity we can identify with and associate with. It
speaks God’s words in such a “human” way.

3. It helps us understand why we may favor some Bible books over others. God inspired Scripture in this way partly
to fit Scripture to the readers. God communicates through many different human authors, resulting in many different
literary styles. We are bound to find a particular style that suits us best. This explains why some people have
“favorite” books. It is because the style and content of the book fit our needs and nature best. Mark appeals to doers,
to lovers of immediate action. Matthew appeals to the cultural historian. The philosopher prefers John. The poet
loves the Psalms, the practical person the book of Proverbs, the lawyer the Pentateuch, the artist Ezekiel, etc.

4. It calls us to model God in communicating His Word. God has fitted your personality for preaching His Word. We
counsel students for the ministry: “Be yourself.” Sounds simple. But it’s a real struggle. Acting is so easy – and
common. It is common for young preachers to act older than their years. It is common for old preachers to act like
teenagers. It is common for many preachers to act like a preacher they admire. However, it is part of the preacher’s
task to be what God has made them to be. Yes, improve talents. Yes, grow in knowledge. Yes, learn from others. Be
the best “you” you can be. But, “Be yourself.” Phillips Brooks described preaching as “the truth of God mediated
through the human personality.”

Don’t rebel against how God has made you and gifted you. God has fitted you and suited you for a particular time,
place, and people. To try and be like someone or something else will only hinder your ministry. It is hard for people
to accept your words are sincere if they detect that you are not sincere. If you are going to imitate anyone, imitate the
Master who, as Clifford Pond said, “Did natural things spiritually and spiritual things naturally.”

The older writers on homiletics argued that preaching should be your natural form of speaking – only somewhat
amplified. Shun all affectation and artificiality. Let your voice be natural. Let your gestures be natural. Let your
personality, with all its faults, be the vehicle of transporting the words of life to never-dying souls.

II. (AS THEY WERE MOVED BY) THE HOLY SPIRIT

We shall now consider the “Divine” side of Scripture. If it was only “Holy men of God spake Scripture…” we would be in deep
trouble. Because relatively holy though these men were, they were not perfectly holy – neither in their lives, nor even when they
were writing Scripture. They needed something more than a holier life than everyone else. That’s where the Holy Spirit comes in.

Peter wrote that Scripture came by men “carried” by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21). The word “carried” here literally means “to
bear” (as one would a burden), or “to carry along.” This Greek word is used in other places to describe a bird “carried” along and
supported by the wind. It is also used of a ship “borne” along by the waves, and of a ship “borne” along as the wind fills its sails. In
a similar manner, the writers of Scripture were carried, supported and borne by the Holy Spirit of God to so accurately express
God’s mind that in reading the Scriptures we hear God speak as certainly as if we hear his own voice.

This is contrasted with Scripture coming by one’s own interpretation (v. 20) or by an act of human will (v. 21). Both these
disclaimers are saying that Scripture does not come from any human source. “Human interpretation” (v. 20) is better translated
“human unloosing or unleashing.” No Scripture is of any human unleashing in terms of origin or source. No word of Scripture is
merely human in source. And in verse 21 he goes on to say it was not by an act of human will either. No one ever simply decided
to write Scripture. It was not a human initiative but a divine initiative.

In accordance with the earlier definition of the Greek word in 2 Peter 1:21 as “carried”, and its use to describe a ship borne along
with the wind, we shall now develop that illustration as we look at the good ship Theopneustos, God’s Breath.

When looking at the human side of Scripture we noted how God picked certain writers for certain tasks. However, we must not
think of God coming to a point in history when he needed, say, poetry written and then started looking until he found David. No,
God did not just pick people. He prepared people. He built their lives as a mariner would build and prepare a boat for a specific
journey and task. By their parents, birth, genes, upbringing, education, temperament and talents, God made men ready for the
specific journey, the specific writing task he had for them. The Holy Spirit was involved in their lives long before they were
inspired to write Scripture.

But the point came when God did breathe through these men. Sometimes the authors’ sails were empty. The authors were not
writing Scripture all their lives but only at certain times were they inspired by God to do so. But when God wanted to reveal
Himself to sinners He filled the human writers’ sails with His “Wind” and so directed that “Wind” that they arrived at the right
ports and picked up the right cargo at the right times. Sometimes it would be a port of doctrine. Sometimes it would be a port of
poems and songs. Sometimes it would be a port of history. Sometimes it would be a port of parables, sometimes a port of law, etc.
When they were in these ports, the authors picked up the right cargo. They were given a bill of lading by God and complied with it
exactly. They did not load on too much. They did not add to the list their own ideas. Sometimes God made and prepared the cargo
for them by giving prophecies and insights no mere human could have had or given (1 Pet. 1:10-12). Sometimes he guided them to
load on to the boat words from sources that already existed. For example, Samuel used documents belonging to Nathan the prophet.
Ezra and Nehemiah used letters of Persian Kings. The Holy Spirit guided the authors to choose the right parts of the right sources
so that the Biblical record was kept pure.

The guidance of the Spirit extended not just to ideas and concepts, but also to the very words (verbal inspiration), and the guidance
of the Spirit extended equally to the whole cargo (plenary inspiration).

They left nothing behind. Every single word they were meant to load was loaded and each in the right order. And, when they sailed,
their cargo of words was divinely protected from loss or corruption. Thank God for the good ship Theopneustos, God’s Breath,
Divine Inspiration, which secured God’s revelation from error, overload, or leakage. Holy men of God spoke as they were “sailed”
by the Holy Spirit.

APPLICATION

There are four practical results flowing from Divine inspiration.

1. Reverence for the whole word of God

If we read and listen carefully to the words of important persons then how much more carefully and reverently
should we treat the words of God! You do well to pay attention to it (v. 19). You do well to reverence it. I spent a
year in Hungary in the late eighties. I had just been converted, and President Regan’s “tear down this wall” speech
was continuing to reverberate around Eastern Europe and the old Soviet Union. I spent a couple of months giving
practical help to an old Hungarian Pastor, Pastor Steven Istvan. Pastor Istvan had been “exiled” to the furthest
borders of Hungary because of a greatly blessed evangelical ministry in one of the biggest Hungarian cities. He had a
family of seventeen, including one lovely Down’s Syndrome son, and he pastored and preached his heart out to seven
village congregations with just a handful in each. He was one of the most faithful, humble and godly men I have ever
met. In the summer we breakfasted outside, underneath a tin roofed-shelter built for young people’s camps. We had
family worship and I placed my Bible on the ground while I continued to chat with the family. I noticed Pastor Istvan
come quietly round the table and without saying a word, he picked my Bible off the ground and placed it on one of
the eaves supporting the roof. I’ll never forget that. He had such a reverence for the Word of God.

This also has implications for Bible translation. We should aim for as close a relationship as possible between God’s
Words in the original languages and God’s Word as translated. If we believe in verbal inspiration, we should practice
verbal translation.

2. Reliability of the whole word of God as a rule for faith and life.

According to the Confessions’ summary of biblical teaching, there are three main forces out to destroy the truth: the
corruption of the flesh, the malice of Satan and of the world. The range and ferocity of opposition to God’s revelation
is the main reason why he ensured that it was committed to writing. It was written…so it is reliable. It is reliable for
every situation we face: eg. salvation, loss, illness, death.

The Westminster Confession of Faith ties the doctrine of inspiration to the importance of Scripture as the objective
“rule of faith and life.” No other human words or writings can bind us more powerfully than the Word of God. We
are bound to believe it and to do it. And no other words can be so reliable. I can believe and obey it in total
confidence that it is the Word of God that cannot lie.

3. The love of God in the process of inspiration

What was God’s motive in inspiring Scripture? The Confession summarizes the Bible’s teaching as follows: for the
better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church. For
God so loved the truth and God so loved the Church that he inspired Scripture. Questioning inspiration is questioning
the love of God. Confidence in inspiration opens up new vistas into the love of God.

Next time you sit down with your Bible, imagine what it was like for Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, who only had
oral promises. Promises handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. How little truth they had!
And how “insecure” that truth was! Then look at how much you have and how secure it is. What love God has shown
to you even in giving you the Bible.
4. The Scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation (2 Tim. 3:14ff)

“We have a more sure word of prophecy” (2 Peter 1:19). Peter is saying we have the word of the prophets made more
certain. He has already told us that the message of the Old Testament prophets was the same as the New Testament
Apostles, that is salvation by grace through faith in the suffering and glorified Christ (1 Peter 1:10-12). The message
has not changed in content but it has changed in terms of certainty. The prophets’ words are now more certain
because they have been fulfilled and confirmed.

In fact, Peter says that the Holy Scriptures bring a more certain and reliable message than even being an eyewitness
of Christ’s transfiguration (2 Pet. 1:16-19). The transfiguration light lasted for a few seconds, was localized (on a
mountain), and was limited to three people. In contrast, the Bible’s light is permanent, worldwide, and available to
all. It is “a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the morning star arise in your heart.” Peter is
saying, “The transfiguration was great, but the Bible is better!”

Some take this to mean that the Bible shines the light of truth into our dark world (darkened by sin and ignorance)
until the second coming of Christ, which will be as the rising of the Morning Star.

However, I believe it is more personal than eschatological. The Bible shines the light of truth into our dark hearts
until the day-star (Gk. phosphoros) arise in your hearts” (2 Pet. 1:19). May the morning star of Christ (Rev. 22:16),
the enfleshed Word, rise in our hearts as we read the written Word. May you experience an inner transfiguration, as
the “phosphorous” of Christ rises in your heart through the Word.

Você também pode gostar