Center for Biblical Coaching

What does it mean that the Bible is inspired?

When the Bible speaks of being “inspired,” the term literally means “God-breathed.” We find the term in 2 Timothy 3:16a “All Scripture is inspired by God…” Inspiration is the act whereby God guided the writers of Scripture, giving them His words while fully utilizing the human element within man to produce the Scriptures.

Another important verse in understanding inspiration is 2 Peter 1:20-21 “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” This verse is saying that we are not reading Paul or John’s thoughts and interpretation on God that just happens to be inspired. We are reading their thoughts as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God.

While there are many theories of inspiration, I believe in verbal plenary inspiration in which all Scripture is inspired by God who utilized the human element within man to accomplish this without error. The verbal element of inspiration extends to the very words of Scripture, not just the teachings. The plenary element of inspiration extends to everything in the Bible, not just parts that speak on matters of faith and practice.

The following gives internal and external evidence on the inspiration of the Bible as it relates to the fact of the subject of the resurrection.

Honesty – The disciples who recorded it claimed to have abandoned Christ and did not believe in His resurrection when told. They still present themselves as ignorant of God’s plan. As well, women are the first to witness the resurrection.

Harmony – The four Gospel writers have different perspectives on the same event. Although they differ in details, they are completely harmonious to the main events surrounding the resurrection, and all claim that it is a historical event.

Extraordinary Claims – The Bible records that the resurrection of Christ happened and gives the time, place, people involved, and it names many of the witnesses. These claims were not done in secret as would be the case if it were fabricated.

Lack Of Motivation For Fabrication – Most of the disciples died a martyr’s death. Why would they make this up? Nobody dies for a lie. These people did not die because they were taught about the resurrection; they died after seeing the resurrection.

Prophetic Element – The Bible is the only religious or historical book that foretells the future in detail and then asks its readers to test the validity of this prophecy to verify its message.

Life Changing Ability – The Scriptures demonstrate the characteristics of wisdom, discernment, and conviction that one would expect to find from the testimony of an omniscient Creator. This conviction has evidenced itself in dynamic life change of millions of people throughout time and demonstrates divine nature

Preservation – The manuscript evidence conclusively demonstrates that the Gospel accounts were all written within a generation of the events they record, authenticating the claims of eye-witnesses. There was no time for legendary material to arise.

Summary: If the Scriptures are God-breathed (and they are) and God is without error (and He is), then the Scriptures are without error.