Is the Bible the word of God? 2 Timothy 3:16 and the inspiration of Scripture

c. 386–397 · John Chrysostom, Homilies on 2 Timothy (In epistulam ii ad Timotheum homiliae 1-10) 9

All what Scripture? all that sacred writing, he means, of which I was speaking. This is said of what he was discoursing of; about which he said, “From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures.” All such, then, “is given by inspiration of God”; therefore, he means, do not doubt; and it is “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” “For doctrine.” For thence we shall know, whether we ought to learn or to be ignorant of anything. And thence we may disprove what is false, thence we may be corrected and brought to a right mind, may be comforted and consoled, and if anything is deficient, we may have it added to us.

c. 404 · Rufinus of Aquileia, Commentary on the Apostles' Creed (Expositio symboli) 36

This then is the Holy Ghost, who in the Old Testament inspired the Law and the Prophets, in the New the Gospels and the Epistles. Whence also the Apostle says, “All Scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable for instruction.”

1551 · John Calvin, Commentary on 2 Peter 1.21

But holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. They did not of themselves, or according to their own will, foolishly deliver their own inventions. The meaning is, that the beginning of right knowledge is to give that credit to the holy prophets which is due to God. He calls them the holy men of God, because they faithfully executed the office committed to them, having sustained the person of God in their ministrations. He says that they were — not that they were bereaved of mind, (as the Gentiles imagined their prophets to have been,) but because they dared not to announce anything of their own, and obediently followed the Spirit as their guide, who ruled in their mouth as in his own sanctuary.

1561 · Guido de Brès (Belgic Confession), The Belgic Confession 3

We confess that this Word of God was not sent nor delivered by the will of men, but that holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit, as Peter says. Afterwards our God— because of the special care he has for us and our salvation— commanded his servants, the prophets and apostles, to commit this revealed Word to writing. He himself wrote with his own finger the two tables of the law. Therefore we call such writings holy and divine Scriptures.

1674 · John Owen, Pneumatologia, or a Discourse Concerning the Holy Spirit (Books I-V) 2.1

It was from the Spirit of God alone that he had all his ability for the discharge of that prophetical office whereunto he was called. And when God would endow seventy elders with a gift of prophecy, he tells Moses that he would “take of the Spirit that was upon him,” and give unto them for that purpose; that is, he would communicate of the same Spirit unto them as was in him. And where it is said at any time that God spake by the prophets, or that the word of God came to them, or God spake to them, it is always intended that this was the immediate work of the Holy Ghost. So says David of himself, “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me,” or in me, “and his word was in my tongue,” 2 Sam. xxiii. 2. Hence our apostle, repeating his words, ascribes them directly to the Holy Ghost: Heb. iii. 7, “Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, To-day if ye will hear his voice;” and chap. iv. 7, “Saying in David.” So the words which are ascribed unto the “Lord of hosts,” Isa. vi. 9, 10, are asserted to be the words of the Holy Ghost, Acts xxviii. 25–27. He spake to them, or in them, by his holy inspirations; and he spake by them in his effectual infallible guidance of them, to utter, declare, and write what they received from him, without mistake or variation.

1694 · George Fox, Journal Chapter IV

“Concerning the Holy Scriptures, we do believe that they were given forth by the Holy Spirit of God, through the holy men of God, who (as the Scripture itself declares, 2 Pet. i. 21.) ‘spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’ We believe they are to be read, believed, and fulfilled (He that fulfils them, is Christ;) and they are ‘profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works,’ 2 Tim. iii, 15, and are ‘able to make wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus.’ We believe that the Holy Scriptures are the words of God; for it is said, Ex. xx. 1, ‘God spake all these words, saying,’ &c., meaning the ten commandments given forth upon Mount Sinai. And in Rev. xxii. 18, saith John, ‘I testify to every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book: if any man addeth unto these, and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy’ (not the word,) &c. So in Luke i. 20, ‘Because thou believedst not my words.’ And in John v. 47; xv. 7; xiv. 23; and xii. 47. So that we call the Holy Scriptures, as Christ and the apostles called them, and holy men of God called them, viz., the words of God.

1706–1708 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Genesis pref

That all scripture is given by inspiration of God, (2 Tim. 3. 16.) and that holy men spake and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, (2 Pet. 1. 21.) we are sure; but who dare pretend to describe that inspiration? None knows the way of the Spirit, nor how the thoughts were formed in the heart of him that was inspired, any more than we know the way of the soul into the body, or how the bones are formed in the womb of her that is with child, Eccles. 11. 5. But we may be sure that the blessed Spirit did not only habitually prepare and qualify the penmen of scripture for that service, and put it into their hearts to write, but did likewise assist their understandings and memories in recording those things which they themselves had the knowledge of, and effectually secure them from error and mistake; and what they could not know but by revelation, (as for instance, Gen. 1. and John 1.) the same blessed Spirit gave them clear and satisfactory information of. And no doubt, as far as was necessary to the end designed, they were directed by the Spirit, even in the language and expression; for there were words which the Holy Ghost taught; (1 Cor. ii. 13) and God saith to the prophet, Thou shalt speak with my words, Ezek. iii. 4. However, it is not material to us, who drew up the statute, nor what liberty he took in using his own words: when it is ratified, it is become the legislator's act, and binds the subject to observe the true intent and meaning of it.

c. 1714 · Joseph Hill, Commentary on 2 Peter 1.19-21

Seeing it is so absolutely necessary that persons be fully persuaded of the scripture's divine origin, the apostle (v. 21) tells us how the Old Testament came to be compiled, and that, 1. Negatively: It came not by the will of man. Neither the things themselves that are recorded, and make up the several parts of the Old Testament, are the opinions of men, nor was the will of any of the prophets or penmen of the scriptures the rule or reason why any of those things were written which make up the canon of the scripture. 2. Affirmatively: Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

1754 · John Wesley, Explanatory Notes on 2 Timothy 3.16

All scripture is inspired of God - The Spirit of God not only once inspired those who wrote it, but continually inspires, supernaturally assists, those that read it with earnest prayer. Hence it is so profitable for doctrine, for instruction of the ignorant, for the reproof or conviction of them that are in error or sin, for the correction or amendment of whatever is amiss, and for instructing or training up the children of God in all righteousness.

1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: 2 Timothy 3.16

In regard to the manner of inspiration, and to the various questions which have been started as to its nature, nothing can be learned from the use of this word. It asserts a fact - that the Old Testament was composed under a divine influence, which might be represented by "breathing on one," and so imparting life. But the language must be figurative; for God does not breathe, though the fair inference is, that those Scriptures are as much the production of God, or are as much to be traced to him, as life is; compare Mat 22:43; 2Pe 1:21. The question as to the degree of inspiration, and whether it extends to the words of Scripture, and how far the sacred writers were left to the exercise of their own faculties, is foreign to the design of these notes. All that is necessary to be held is, that the sacred writers were kept from error on those subjects which were matters of their own observation, or which pertained to memory; and that there were truths imparted to them directly by the Spirit of God, which they could never have arrived at by the unaided exercise of their own minds.

1855 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 1 (1855) 15

Albeit, that Moses was employed to write his histories with his fiery pen, God guided that pen. It may be that David touched his harp, and let sweet Psalms of melody drop from his fingers; but God moved his hands over the living strings of his golden harp. It may be that Solomon sang canticles of love, or gave forth words of consummate wisdom, but God directed his lips, and made the preacher eloquent. If I follow the thundering Nahum, when his horses plough the waters, or Habakkuk, when he sees the tents of Cushan in affliction; if I read Malachi, when the earth is burning like an oven; if I turn to the smooth page of John, who tells of love, or the rugged, fiery chapters of Peter, who speaks of fire devouring God’s enemies; if I turn to Jude, who launches forth anathemas upon the foes of God, everywhere I find God speaking; it is God’s voice, not man’s; the words are God’s words, the words of the Eternal, the Invisible, the Almighty, the Jehovah of this earth. This Bible is God’s Bible, and when I see it, I seem to hear a voice springing up from it, saying, “I am the book of God; man, read me. I am God’s writing; open my leaf, for I was penned by God; read it, for he is my author, and you will see him visible and manifest everywhere.”

1871 · A. R. Fausset, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on 2 Timothy 3.16

Most of the New Testament books were written when Paul wrote this his latest Epistle: so he includes in the clause "All Scripture is God-inspired," not only the Old Testament, in which alone Timothy was taught when a child (2Ti 3:15), but the New Testament books according as they were recognized in the churches which had men gifted with "discerning of spirits," and so able to distinguish really inspired utterances, persons, and so their writings from spurious. Paul means, "All Scripture is God-inspired and therefore useful"; because we see no utility in any words or portion of it, it does not follow it is not God-inspired.

1871 · A. R. Fausset, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on 2 Peter 1.20

The words of the prophetical (and so of all) Scripture writers were not mere words of the individuals, and therefore to be interpreted by them, but of "the Holy Ghost" by whom they were "moved." "Private" is explained, 2Pe 1:21, "by the will of man" (namely, the individual writer). In a secondary sense the text teaches also, as the word is the Holy Spirit's, it cannot be interpreted by its readers (any more than by its writers) by their mere private human powers, but by the teaching of the Holy Ghost (Joh 16:14). "He who is the author of Scripture is its supreme interpreter" [Gerhard].

1871 · Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 1 (Introduction; Part I, Theology Proper) intro.6.2

The Church has never held what has been stigmatized as the mechanical theory of inspiration. The sacred writers were not machines. Their self-consciousness was not suspended; nor were their intellectual powers superseded. Holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. It was men, not machines; not unconscious instruments, but living, thinking, willing minds, whom the Spirit used as his organs.

1871 · Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 1 (Introduction; Part I, Theology Proper) intro.6.2

The sacred writers impressed their peculiarities on their several productions as plainly as though they were the subjects of no extraordinary influence. This is one of the phenomena of the Bible patent to the most cursory reader. It lies in the very nature of inspiration that God spake in the language of men; that He uses men as his organs, each according to his peculiar gifts and endowments. When He ordains praise out of the mouth of babes, they must speak as babes, or the whole power and beauty of the tribute will be lost. There is no reason to believe that the operation of the Spirit in inspiration revealed itself any more in the consciousness of the sacred writers, than his operations in sanctification reveal themselves in the consciousness of the Christian. As the believer seems to himself to act, and in fact does act out of his own nature; so the inspired penmen wrote out of the fulness of their own thoughts and feelings, and employed the language and modes of expression which to them were the most natural and appropriate. Nevertheless, and none the less, they spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and their words were his words.

1875 · Reformed Episcopal Church, Articles of Religion of the Reformed Episcopal Church 5

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost: Holy Scripture is therefore the Word of God; not only does it contain the oracles of God, but it is itself the very oracles of God. And hence it containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.

1888 · Alfred Plummer, The Expositor's Bible: The Pastoral Epistles 2 Timothy, Chapter XXXIV

“Every scripture inspired by God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for discipline (παιδεία) which is in righteousness:” i.e., is of use both for doctrinal and for practical purposes, for informing both faith and conduct. It is because it is “inspired by God,” because God’s Spirit breathes through the whole of it, making every passage of it to be a portion of a living whole, that Scripture possesses this unique utility. And if the Apostle can say this of the Old Testament, much more may we affirm it of the New Testament. From the two together, everything that a Christian ought to believe, everything that a Christian ought to do, may be learned.

1900 · Abraham Kuyper, The Work of the Holy Spirit Volume One: The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Church as a Whole, Fourth Chapter. The Holy Scripture of the Old Testament, XVI. Inspiration

“Illumination” is the clearing up of the spiritual consciousness which in His own time the Holy Spirit gives more or less to every child of God. “Revelation” is a communication of the thoughts of God given in extraordinary manner, by a miracle, to prophets and apostles. But “inspiration,” wholly distinct from these, is that special and unique operation of the Holy Spirit whereby He directed the minds of the writers of the Scripture in the act of writing. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Tim. iii. 16); and this has no reference to ordinary illumination, nor extraordinary revelation, but to an operation that stands entirely alone and which the Church has always confessed under the name of Inspiration. Hence inspiration is the name of that all-comprehensive operation of the Holy Spirit whereby He has bestowed on the Church a complete and infallible Scripture. We call this operation all-comprehensive, for it was organic, not mechanical.

1907 · Augustus Hopkins Strong, Systematic Theology Chapter III. Inspiration Of The Scriptures

The Holy Spirit does not dwell in man as water in a vessel. We may rather illustrate the experience of the Scripture writers by the experience of the preacher who under the influence of God's Spirit is carried beyond himself, and is conscious of a clearer apprehension of truth and of a greater ability to utter it than belong to his unaided nature, yet knows himself to be no passive vehicle of a divine communication, but to be as never before in possession and exercise of his own powers. The inspiration of the Scripture writers, however, goes far beyond the illumination granted to the preacher, in that it qualifies them to put the truth, without error, into permanent and written form. This inspiration, moreover, is more than providential preparation. Like miracles, inspiration may use man's natural powers, but man's natural powers do not explain it.

1915 · Louis Berkhof, Introduction to the New Testament prol

For us the Bible as a whole and in all its parts is the very Word of God, written by men indeed, but organically inspired by the Holy Spirit; and not the natural product of the religious development of men, not merely the expression of the subjective religious consciousness of believers. Resting, as it ultimately does, on the testimony of the Holy Spirit, no amount of historical investigation can shake this conviction.

c. 220–230 · Origen, On First Principles (De Principiis), Rufinus's Latin 4.1.7

And the nature of bodies is clear to us in one way, that of trees in another, that of animals in a third; the nature of souls, again, is concealed in a different way; and the manner in which the diverse movements of ra­tional understandings are ordered by Providence, eludes the view of men in a greater degree, and even, in my opinion, in no small degree that of the angels also. But as the existence of divine provi­dence is not refuted by those especially who are certain of its existence, but who do not comprehend its workings or arrangements by the powers of the human mind; so neither will the divine inspiration of holy Scripture, which extends throughout its body, be believed to be non-existent, because the weakness of our understanding is unable to trace out the hid­den and secret meaning in each individual word, the treasure of divine wisdom being hid in the vulgar and unpolished vessels of words, as the apostle also points out when he says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels,” that the virtue of the divine power may shine out the more brightly, no colouring of human eloquence being intermingled with the truth of the doctrines. For if our books induced men to believe because they were composed either by rhetorical arts or by the wisdom of philosophy, then undoubtedly our faith would be considered to be based on the art of words, and on human wisdom, and not upon the power of God; whereas it is now known to all that the word of this preaching has been so accepted by numbers throughout almost the whole world, because they understood their belief to rest not on the persuasive words of human wisdom, but on the manifestation of the Spirit and of power.

1673 · Richard Baxter, A Christian Directory Chapter IV

Understand the proper use of holy Scripture, and so how far it is divine; that so you be not tempted to unbelief, by expecting in it that which never was intended, and then finding your causeless expectations frustrate. It is not so divine as to the terms, and style, and order, and such modal and circumstantial matters, as if all the exactness might be expected in it, that God could put into a book: nor is it intended as a system of physics, or logic, or any subservient sciences or arts: but it is an infallible revelation of the will of God, for the government of the church, and the conducting men to life eternal: and it is ordered and worded so as to partake of such human infirmity, as yet shall no way impeach the truth or efficacy of it; but rather make it more suitable to the generality of men, whose infirmity requires such a style and manner of handling. So that as a child of God hath a body from parents, which yet is of God, but so of God, as to partake of the infirmities of the parents; or rather, as Adam had a body from God, but yet from earth, and accordingly frail; but a soul more immediately from God, which was more pure and divine: so Scripture hath its style, and language, and method so from God, as to have nothing in it unsuitable to its ends; but not so from God, as if he himself had showed in it his own most perfect wisdom to the utmost, and as if there were nothing in it of human imperfection. But the truth and goodness which are the soul of Scripture, are more immediately from God. The style and method of the penmen may be various; but the same soul animateth all the parts.

1678 · John Owen, The Causes, Ways, and Means of Understanding the Mind of God 8

The words of the Scripture being given thus immediately from God, every apex, tittle, or iota in the whole is considerable, as that which is an effect of divine wisdom, and therefore filled with sacred truth, according to their place and measure. Hence they are all under the especial care of God, according to that promise of our Saviour, Matt. v. 18, “Verily I say unto you,” Ἕως ἂν παρέλθῃ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ, ἰῶτα ἕν ἢ μία κεραία οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου, “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law.”

1767 · John Gill, A Body of Doctrinal Divinity Chapter 2. Of the Holy Scriptures

Thirdly, Let it be observed, that not the matter of the Scriptures only, but the very words in which they are written are of God. Some who are not for organic inspiration, as they call it, think that the sacred writers were only furnished of God with matter, and had general ideas of things given them, and were left to clothe them with their own words, and to use their own style; which they suppose accounts for the difference of style to be observed in them: but if this was the case, as it sometimes is with men, that they have clear and satisfactory ideas of things in their own minds, and yet are at a loss for proper words to express and convey the sense of them to others; so it might be with the sacred writers, if words were not suggested to them, as well as matter; and then we should be left at an uncertainty about the real sense of the Holy Spirit, if not led into a wrong one; it seems, therefore, most agreeable, that words also, as well as matter, were given by divine inspiration: and as for difference of style, as it was easy with God to direct to the use of proper words, so he could accommodate himself to the style such persons were wont to use, and which was natural to them, and agreeable to their genius and circumstances; and this may be confirmed from the testimonies of the writers themselves: says David, one of the writers of the Old Testament, “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue”, (2 Sam. 23:2). And the apostle Paul speaks of himself, and other inspired apostles of the New Testament, he says, “Which things we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth”, (1 Cor. 2:13) and it is “the writing”, or the word of God as written, that is, “by inspiration of God”, (2 Tim. 3:16).

1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: John 17.17

Thy word is truth - All that thou hast spoken - that is, all that is contained in the Bible. All the commands and promises of God; His representations of His own character and that of man; His account of the mission and death of His Son; of the grave, the resurrection, judgment, and eternity, all tend to represent things as they are, and are thus fitted to sanctify the soul. We have here also the testimony of the Saviour that the revelation which God has given is true. All that God has spoken is true, and the Christian should rejoice and the sinner should tremble.

1871 · A. R. Fausset, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on 2 Timothy 3.16

The inspiration gives the divine sanction to all the words of Scripture, though those words be the utterances of the individual writer, and only in special cases revealed directly by God (1Co 2:13). Inspiration is here predicated of the writings, "all Scripture," not of the persons. The question is not how God has done it; it is as to the word, not the men who wrote it. What we must believe is that He has done it, and that all the sacred writings are every where inspired, though not all alike matter of special revelation: and that even the very words are stamped with divine sanction, as Jesus used them (for example in the temptation and Joh 10:34, 35), for deciding all questions of doctrine and practice. There are degrees of revelation in Scripture, but not of inspiration. The sacred writers did not even always know the full significancy of their own God-inspired words (1Pe 1:10, 11, 12). Verbal inspiration does not mean mechanical dictation, but all "Scripture is (so) inspired by God," that everything in it, its narratives, prophecies, citations, the whole—ideas, phrases, and words—are such as He saw fit to be there.

1871 · Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 1 (Introduction; Part I, Theology Proper) intro.6.2

Constantly it is the very words of Scripture which are quoted as of divine authority. 4. The very form in which the doctrine of inspiration is taught in the Bible, assumes that the organs of God in the communication of his will were controlled by Him in the words which they used. “I have put my words in thy mouth.” (Jer. i. 9.) “It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” (Matt. x. 20.)

1871 · Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 1 (Introduction; Part I, Theology Proper) intro.6.2

If the sacred writers assert that they are the organs of God; that what they taught He taught through them; that they spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, so that what they said the Holy Spirit said, then, if we believe their divine mission, we must believe what they teach as to the nature of the influence under which they spoke and wrote. This is the reason why in the earlier period of the Church there was no separate discussion of the doctrine of inspiration. That was regarded as involved in the divine origin of the Scriptures. If they are a revelation from God, they must be received and obeyed; but they cannot be thus received without attributing to them divine authority, and they can not have such authority without being infallible in all they teach.

1871 · Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 1 (Introduction; Part I, Theology Proper) intro.6.2

And secondly, that inspiration extends to all the contents of these several books. It is not confined to moral and religious truths, but extends to the statements of facts, whether scientific, historical, or geographical. It is not confined to those facts the importance of which is obvious, or which are involved in matters of doctrine. It extends to everything which any sacred writer asserts to be true. This is proved, (1) Because it is involved in, or follows as a necessary consequence from, the proposition that the sacred writers were the organs of God. If what they assert, God asserts, which, as has been shown, is the Scriptural idea of inspiration, their assertions must be free from error. (2.) Because our Lord expressly says, “The Scripture cannot be broken” (John x. 35), i.e., it cannot err. (3.) Because Christ and his Apostles refer to all parts of the Scriptures, or to the whole volume, as the word of God. They make no distinction as to the authority of the Law, the Prophets, or the Hagiographa. They quote the Pentateuch, the historical books, the Psalms, and the Prophets, as all and equally the word of God.

1893 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 39 (1893) 2328

I desire to always sit at the feet of God in the Scriptures. I do not believe that, from one cover to the other, there is any mistake in it of any sort whatever, either upon natural or physical science, or upon history or anything whatever! I am prepared to believe whatever it says and to take it, believing it to be the Word of God, for if it is not all true, it is not worth one solitary penny to me. It may be to the man who is so wise that he can pick out the true from the false, but I am such a fool that I could not do that. If I do not have a Guide, here, that is Infallible, I would as soon guide myself, for I shall have to do so, after all.

1910 · R. A. Torrey, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit 21

The accuracy, precision and inerrancy of the exact words used is amazing. To the superficial student, the doctrine of verbal inspiration may appear questionable or even absurd; any regenerated and Spirit-taught man, who ponders the words of the Scripture day after day and year after year, will become convinced that the wisdom of God is in the very words, as well as in the thought which the words endeavour to convey. A change of a word, or letter, or a tense, or case, or number, in many instances would land us into contradiction or untruth, but taking the words exactly as written, difficulties disappear and truth shines forth.

1911 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 57 (1911) 3248

For prophecy never came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. This is the foundation of our faith—that this Book is Divinely Inspired! Allow nobody to make you doubt concerning this matter, for you must give up Christianity, itself, if you give up the Inspiration of this Book! You have nothing else to fall back upon but this Book—and your own personal verification of it by the work of the Holy Spirit in your own soul! To tamper with Inspiration is to tamper with the heart of true religion!

1917 · Arthur W. Pink, The Divine Inspiration of the Bible Verbal Inspiration

Not only does the Bible claim to be a Divine revelation but it also asserts that its original manuscripts were written “not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth” (I Cor. 2:13). The Bible nowhere claims to have been written by inspired men—as a matter of fact some of them were very defective characters—Balaam for example—but it insists that the words they uttered and recorded were God’s words. Inspiration has not to do with the minds of the writers (for many of them understood not what they wrote (I Peter 1:10–11), but with the writings themselves. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” and “Scripture” means “the writings.” Faith has to do with God’s Word and not with the men who wrote it—these are all dead long since, but their writings remain. A writing that is inspired by God self-evidently implies, in the very expression, that the words are the words of God. To say that the inspiration of the Scriptures applies to their concepts and not to their words; to declare that one part of Scripture is written with one kind or degree of inspiration and another part with another kind or degree, is not only destitute of any foundation or support in the Scriptures themselves, but is repudiated by every statement in the Bible which bears upon the subject now under consideration. To say that the Bible is not the Word of God but merely contains the Word of God is the figment of an ill-employed ingenuity and an unholy attempt to depreciate and invalidate the supreme authority of the Oracles of God.

c. 220–230 · Origen, On First Principles, Greek text of 3.1 and 4.1 (Philocalia) 4.1.6

We must say, also, that the divinity of the prophetic declarations, and the spiritual nature of the law of Moses, shone forth after the advent of Christ. For before the advent of Christ it was not altogether possible to exhibit manifest proofs of the divine in­spiration of the ancient Scripture; whereas His coming led those who might suspect the law and the prophets not to be divine, to the clear conviction that they were composed by (the aid of) heavenly grace. And he who reads the words of the proph­ets with care and attention, feeling by the very perusal the traces of the divinity that is in them, will be led by his own emotions to believe that those words which have been deemed to be the words of God are not the compositions of men.

1559 · John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion 1.7.1

When that which professes to be the Word of God is acknowledged to be so, no person, unless devoid of common sense and the feelings of a man, will have the desperate hardihood to refuse credit to the speaker. But since no daily responses are given from heaven, and the Scriptures are the only records in which God has been pleased to consign his truth to perpetual remembrance, the full authority which they ought to possess with the faithful is not recognised, unless they are believed to have come from heaven, as directly as if God had been heard giving utterance to them.

1566 · Heinrich Bullinger, The Second Helvetic Confession 1

We believe and confess the Canonical Scriptures of the holy prophets and apostles of both Testaments to be the true Word of God, and to have sufficient authority of themselves, not of men. For God himself spake to the fathers, prophets, apostles, and still speaks to us through the Holy Scriptures. And in this Holy Scripture, the universal Church of Christ has all things fully expounded which belong to a saving faith, and also to the framing of a life acceptable to God; and in this respect it is expressly commanded of God that nothing be either put to or taken from the same (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18,19). We judge, therefore, that from these Scriptures are to be taken true wisdom and godliness, the reformation and government of churches; as also instruction in all duties of piety; and, to be short, the confirmation of doctrines, and the confutation of all errors, with all exhortations; according to that word of the Apostle, ‘All Scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,’ etc. (2 Timothy 3:16,17).

c. 1603–1609 · James Arminius, Public Disputations Disputation 1

The Agreement Between Each And Every Part of The Scriptures, prove with sufficient evidence, their Divinity, because such an agreement of its several parts can be ascribed to nothing less than the Divine Spirit. It will be useful for the confirmation of this matter to consider (1.) The immense space of time which was occupied in the inditing of it, from the age of Moses, down to that of St. John, to whom was vouchsafed the last authentic revelation. (Mal. iv. 4; Jer. xxviii. 8; John v. 46.) (2.) The multitude of writers or amanuenses, and of books. (3.) The great distance of the places in which the books were severally written, that rendered it impossible for the authors to confer together. (4.) Lastly and principally, the institution of a comparison between the doctrine of Moses and that of the latter Prophets, as well as between that of the Old and that of the New Testament. The predictions of Moses alone concerning the Messiah, the calling of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews, when compared with the interpretations and with the addition of particular circumstances which are found in the Prophets and the Psalms, will prove that the perfect agreement which exists between the various writers is Divine.

1646–1690 · John Owen, Sermons of John Owen life.14

And, be sure, leave not off till thou find thy faith raised from so low a bottom as the authority of men, and fixed on God’s own testimony; till thou canst safely and boldly say, “I believe the Scripture now to be the word of God, not because I have heard men say so, but because I hear God himself in this very Scripture bearing witness to it: his Spirit hath given me new eyes, and enabled me to see the divineness of it. I know, and am sure, that this is the word of God: never mere man spake at such a rate; never did the word of man work such effects. The entrance of it hath given light to my soul, which was before in darkness, not knowing whither it went.

1647 · Westminster Assembly, The Westminster Larger Catechism 4

Q. How doth it appear that the Scriptures are the Word of God? A. The Scriptures manifest themselves to be the Word of God, by their majesty and purity; by the consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God; by their light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and build up believers unto salvation: but the Spirit of God bearing witness by and with the Scriptures in the heart of man, is alone able fully to persuade it that they are the very Word of God.

1655 · Reformed Churches of Piedmont (Waldenses), The Confession of the Waldenses (Reformed Churches of Piedmont) 4

We believe we acknowledge the divinity of these sacred books, not only from the testimony of the Church, but more especially because of the eternal and indubitable truth of the doctrine therein contained, and of that most divine excellency, sublimity, and majesty which appears therein; and because of the operation of the Holy Spirit, who causes us to receive with reverence the testimony of the Church in that point, who opens our eyes to discover the beams of that celestial light which shines in the Scripture, and corrects our taste to discern the divine savor of that spiritual food.

1677 · John Owen, The Reason of Faith 5

Here we rest, and deny that we believe the Scripture to be the word of God formally for any other reason but itself, which assureth us of its divine authority. And if we rest not here, we must run on the rock of a moral certainty only, which shakes the foundation of all divine faith, or fall into the gulf and labyrinth of an endless circle, in proving two things mutually by one another, as the church by the Scripture and the Scripture by the church, in an everlasting rotation. Unless we intend so to wander, we must come to something wherein we may rest for its own sake, and that not with a strong and firm opinion, but with divine faith. And nothing can rationally pretend unto this privilege but the truth of God manifesting itself in the Scripture; — and therefore those who will not allow it hereunto do some of them wisely deny that the Scripture’s being the word of God is the object of divine faith directly, but only of a moral persuasion from external arguments and considerations; and I do believe that they will grant, that if the Scripture be so to be believed, it must be for its own sake.

1677 · John Owen, The Reason of Faith 6

As yet I do not know that it is denied by any, or the contrary asserted, — namely, that God, as the immediate author of the Scripture, hath left in the very word itself evident tokens and impressions of his wisdom, prescience, omniscience, power, goodness, holiness, truth, and other divine, infinite excellencies, sufficiently evidenced unto the enlightened minds of believers. Some, I confess, speak suspiciously herein, but until they will directly deny it, I shall not need farther to confirm it than I have done long since in another treatise. And I leave it to be considered whether, morally speaking, it be possible that God should immediately by himself from the eternal counsels of his will, reveal himself, his mind, the thoughts and purposes of his heart, which had been hidden in himself from eternity, on purpose that we should believe them and yield obedience unto him, according to the declaration of himself so made, and yet not give with it or leave upon it any τεκμήριον, any “infallible token,” evidencing him to be the author of that revelation. Men who are not ashamed of their Christianity will not be so to profess and seal that profession with their blood, and to rest their eternal concernments on that security herein which they have attained, — namely, that there is that manifestation made of the glorious properties of God in and by the Scripture, as it is a divine revelation, which incomparably excels in evidence all that their reason receives concerning his power from the works of creation.

1680–1681 · Thomas Manton, Works, vol. VIII Several Sermons Upon the CXIX. Psalm, Sermon CXLI. Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them

God’s testimonies are wonderful in their majesty and composure, which striketh reverence into the hearts of those that consider; it speaketh to us at a God-like rate. Jesus Christ leaves a character of his divine Spirit upon his words: Mark vii. 28, 29, ‘And it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine; for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.’ There was an impression of his authority upon his word, his hearers were convinced of a sovereign majesty proper to the dignity of his person. Those that went to take him returned this account, John vii. 46, ‘Never man spake like this man,’ for authority, power, and evidence. Now the scriptures being Christ’s doctrine, why should they not have the same power, authority, and divine character in them? It is the same doctrine; the voice could add nothing to it, and the writing take nothing from it. Could not God discover his sovereign majesty in writing as well as speaking? Look into the scriptures; are you not even compelled to say, This can be no other but the word of God? They speak not as conscious of any weakness, or as begging assent, but as commanding it. Thus saith the Lord, hear it, or ye are undone for ever. The wisdom, majesty, authority of the author showeth itself in every line almost of scripture.

1706–1708 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Genesis pref

The divine authority likewise, which in this book commands our belief and obedience, is universal and perpetual, and knows no limits, either of time or place; it follows, therefore, that every nation and every age to which these sacred writings are transmitted are bound to receive them with the same veneration and pious regard that they commanded at their first entrance. Though God hath, in these last days, spoken to us by his Son, yet we are not therefore to think that what he spoke at sundry times and in divers manners to the fathers (Heb. 1. 1) is of no use to us, or that the Old Testament is an almanac out of date; no, we are built upon the foundation of the prophets, as well as of the apostles, Christ himself being the corner-stone (Eph. 2. 20), in whom both these sides of this blessed building meet and are united: they were those ancient records of the Jewish church which Christ and his apostles so oft referred to, so oft appealed to, and commanded us to search and to take heed to.

1767 · John Gill, A Body of Doctrinal Divinity Chapter 2. Of the Holy Scriptures

Thirdly, Another argument for the divine authority of the Scriptures may be taken from the penmen and writers of them. Many of these were men of no education, in a low station of life, and were taken from the flock, or from the herd, or from their nets, or other mean employments; and what they wrote, both as to matter and manner, were above and beyond their ordinary capacities, and therefore must be of God; what they wrote could not be of themselves; but they “spake and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”.

1833 · New Hampshire Baptist Convention, The New Hampshire Baptist Confession 1

We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true centre of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried.

1872 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 18 (1872) 1079

You shall treat it as you please and you shall look upon it as a mere commonplace book if you will. But know this, that to us it is God's Inspired teaching, Infallible and infinitely pure! We accept it as the very Word of the living God, every jot and tittle, not so much because there are external evidences which go to show its authenticity—a great many of us do not know anything about those evidences and probably never shall—but because we discern an inward evidence in the Words themselves. They have come to us with a power that no other words ever had in them and we cannot be argued out of our conviction of their superlative excellence and Divine authority!

1908–1909 · Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture: Psalms 119.126-128

The whole history of the origin, collection, preservation, transmission, diffusion, and present influence of the Bible involves so much that is surprising and unique, as to amount to at least a strong presumption of a divine care. Among all the remarkable things about the Book, nothing is more remarkable than that there it is, after all that has happened. When we think of the gaps and losses in ancient literature, and the long stormy centuries that lie between us and its earlier pages, we can faintly estimate the chances against their preservation. It is strange that the Jewish race should have so jealously preserved books which certainly did not flatter national pride, which put a mortifying explanation on national disasters, which painted them and their fathers in dark colours, which proclaimed truths they never loved, and breathed a spirit they never caught. It is stranger still, that in the long years of dispersion the very vices and limitations of the people subserved the same end, and that stiff pedantry and laborious trifling—the poorest form of intellectual activity—should have guarded the letter of the word, as the coral insects painfully build up their walls round some fair island of the Southern Sea. When one thinks of the great gulf of language between the Old and New Testaments, of the variety of authors, periods, subjects, literary form, the animosities of Christian and Jew, it is strange that we have the Book here one, and that all these parts should blend into unity, unless the source and theme were one, and one Hand had shaped each, and cared for the gathering together of all.