B I B L I O LO G Y

(TH 914)

INSPIRATION, INERRANCY, INFALLIBILITY, CANONICITY, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP.

BY

Gilbert Varela
A final paper: Presented to GOLDEN STATE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY For the Course of Bibliology ((TH 514 / TH 914))

August, 2001 EMAIL: gvarelas2000@Yahoo.com

INSPIRATION, INERRANCY, INFALLIBILITY, CANONICITY, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP.

I. INTRODUCTION A. The importance of studying the doctrines about the Scripture. How important is to know, for sure, that the Bible is the authoritative, inspired, and revealed and inerranted Word of God? There is not more important doctrine in theology than those who are related to the Bible. It is so, because of the others doctrines are based upon what the Bible teach about. If you dont have a clear conception of the Bible as inspired revelation of God, how can you trust its teaching? If you dont have a deep respect and appreciation for the Bible, considering as the authentic Word of the Lord, how can it be the guide and light for your daily walk? So, I cant emphases enough the important of these concepts as foundation for a clear and deep maturity in the knowledge of God. B. Terminology The term Bible is from biblion which means as roll or book (Luke 4:17) It is a term of the Scripture found in the N.T. refers to the sacred books of the O. T. And those O.T. books were regarded as inspired of God (II Tim 3:16; Rom 3:2). Scripture was also used as a term in the N.T. to describe other parts of the N.T. (2 Peter 3:16). The terminology "The Word of God", is used in the O.T. and N.T. (Matt 15:6; John 10:35; Heb 4:12). C. Orthodox view of the Bible. We agree with the orthodox view of the Bible which views the Bible as the only authority in matters of faith and practice. We teach that the Bible is inspired of God and without error. I. WHAT IS INSPIRATION? A. Definition. Inspiration comes form the Greek word Theopneustos Theo = God, Pneustos = breathed Inspiration means God Breathed the word of scripture. "Inspiration is God's superintending of human authors so that using their own individual personalities they composed and recorded without error His revelation to man in the words of the original manuscripts". That is to say that through the Holy Spirit, God guided the writing of the Bible so that it is exactly what He wanted to be written. This is called "inspiration." There is no more important teaching about the Bible than that of inspiration. This doctrine gives us the confidence in the Bible that we must have if we are going to use the Bible as our guide. If the Bible is not true, it is of no value. If the Bible is not exactly the way God wanted it to be, it fails to give us His message clearly. We must be sure that the writing of the Word of God was done accurately. Inspiration is that work of the Holy Spirit which guarantees the accuracy of the writing of the Bible, God's message to mankind.

We can put these teachings all together with the matter of inspiration like this. Imagine that God is giving us His message over the radio. Revelation is the act of God speaking to us what He wants us to know, just as if it were the word spoken over the radio. Inspiration is like the proper functioning of the radio station which guarantees that the message is sent out clearly and properly without missing even one word. Illumination is like having the proper kind of radio so that we can hear the message. It takes all three to make sure that we get God's message. B. The importance of the Inspiration. God gave us the Bible. That was the act of giving revelation. Inspiration guarantees that the Bible says accurately and clearly what God wants us to know. Illumination is the work of the Holy Spirit which gives us the ability to understand God's accurate revelation in the Bible. All three of these functions are mentioned in one part of the Bible. Look at 1 Corinthians 2:9-13. Verse 10 talks about things having been revealed. Verse 12 talks about illumination and verse 13 talks about inspiration. The main point is this. The whole Bible is from God since He not only breathed the Word through the writers, but He formed the writers as well. The Word is completely divine and completely human. It is without error. Inspiration is that work of the Holy Spirit by which the result of man's writing and the work of the Holy Spirit, the Bible is all of God. It is quite right to call the Bible the Word of God. It is not right to call it the Word of man.1 Man was an active instrument used in its writing, but the Bible is of God. Of the many works of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Bible, there are two that are of special interest to us. The Holy Spirit was the one through whom the inspiration of the Bible came. 2 Peter 1:21 says, For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit was also the one though whose power the virgin birth took place, Luke 1:35 says, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." Both of the works of the Holy Spirit produced the Word of God. The Bible is the written Word of God and Jesus Christ is the living Word of God (John 1:1). 2

There are a number of characteristics that are shared by the Written Word and the Living Word. They are both totally divine and yet totally human, and yet both are totally without error or sin. We have already mentioned much about the Bible being at once a divine book and yet bearing the mark of the human authors. Christ was also divine and human. He had a human birth, a human mother. He had a human body. He had a human nature (Luke 2:52), but a human nature without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He is also divine. He is God. He was and is totally human and totally divine. He is the expression of what God wants us to know about Himself. God tells us what He wants us to know about Himself in the Written Word. He shows us what He wants us to know about Himself in the Living Word (Jesus Christ). Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Christ is the full picture of God. This means that He is the expression of God that can be seen. God is invisible (Colossians 1:15). How, then, can we see God? Christ is the visible copy of the invisible God. John 1:1 tells us that Christ was the "word." In the Greek language this is said "logos." Logos means a clear explanation of though in words. 3 Is there teaching in the Bible that suggests that each and every word of the Bible is inspired? Is every word protected by the Holy Spirit so that the Bible is exactly what God wants to be recorded? There are numerous places where this is taught. Psalm 12:6 says that the "words of the Lord are flawless." God says about Moses, "I will put my words in his mouth," (Deuteronomy 18:18). Exodus 4:15 and Jeremiah 1:9 also illustrate that the very words of God were put into the mouths of some of the Old Testament prophets.

1 Ridderbos, Herman, Historia de la Biblia y Santa Escritura. Buenos Aires: Editorial Escaton, 1967, pp.31 2 See also Tuya and Salguero, Introduccin a la Biblia, Madrid: Editorial de Autores Cristianos. pp. 102181.

3. Parker James L, Bibliology. Golden State Press, Peterstown, WV. 1999.

There are numerous places where the Old Testament writings are said to be of God and the emphasis is on the very words. None of the teachings is so clear and vivid as the teaching of Matthew 5:18 where it says, "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." The Lord Jesus Christ is speaking in these verses. In the previous verse He mentions the "law and the prophets." That was the Jewish way of referring to the entire Old Testament and to the law in particular. So, we know that the Lord was referring to the Old Testament. God is saying that inspiration is so important that it extends not only to the words, but to the very letters of the words and even to parts of a letter. 4 Our statement of belief went on to say that the Bible is not only inspired word-by-word, but that it is inspired in all of its parts. By this we mean the every word was inspired. Every part is protected by God so that every word is exactly as God wants us to have it. The teaching is quite clear that all scripture is given by inspiration (2 Timothy 3:16). We will talk more about whether or not there are mistakes in the Bible in a later chapter. For now, let us simply say that if we cannot trust every word of the Bible, we can trust none of it, since we have no way of knowing which parts are correct and which are not. We must accept the teaching of the Bible when it says that it was given by inspiration.5 C. Distinctives of Verbal, Plenary Inspiration. We teach that the verbal plenary inspiration of Scriptures extends to the original manuscripts. Verbal plenary inspiration extends to the actual words that men of God composed and recorded. We teach that verbal plenary inspiration was God superintending (not dictating) men of God. This view sees the Scripture as being without error/inerrant. D. Proof of Verbal, Plenary Inspiration. 1. INTERNAL EVIDENCE We teach that the Bible contains claims of men of God that It is inspired (II Timothy 3:16). The Bible records that prophecy was not written down by the will of man, but rather as men were moved/"borne along" by the Holy Spirit (2. II Peter 1:21). The O.T. records specific commands to write down the word of the Lord (Exodus 17:14; Jer. 30:2). The quoting of the O.T. in the N.T. is also evidence of O.T. inspiration (Matt. 15:4; Acts 28:25; Matt.5:17; John 10:35). The N.T. claims that other portions of the N.T. are Scripture (I Tim 5:17; II Peter 3:16). 7. The apostles were aware that they were recording God's word (I Cor. 2:13; I Peter 1:11-12). 2. EXTERNAL EVIDENCE The Bible has maintained unity over 1500 years even though there were 40 different authors. The Bible has been preserved even though many other ancient books have perished. The subject matter is not something men would write on their own if they could. Prideful man would not record his short comings as we find in the Bible. The Scriptures have had and still do have a definite influence on men, as we see in changed lives.

II. WHAT IS INERRANCY? What's Inerrancy mean anyway? The Bible is with out error. Inerrancy means that when all the facts are known, the Scriptures in their original autographs will be shown to be totally true in everything they teach. Inspiration demands it ~ that which is God-breathed cannot contain error or the character of God is damaged. 4 Ibid, pp. 35 5 Ibid. 37.

John 17:17 "His Word is truth" Hebrews 6:18 "God cannot lie" Biblical Authority demands it. If the Bible is not total truth, then man has to become the judge over which parts are true and which aren't. How can threat be authoritative? We teach that the Scripture reveals the trustworthiness of God's character (John 17:3; Rom. 3:4).6 The teaching of Christ shows that He viewed the OT as God true word (Matt.5:17; John 10:35). The Bible shows Jesus concern for the original form of a word (Gal. 3:16, "seed"; Matt. 22:31-32, "am"). The Bible is of spiritual character, not hearthly. That is much the way many people approach the Bible. If they cannot understand it and if it does not agree with their experience, they say it is wrong. It doesn't occur to them that man's experience is limited to earth and to physical things. God, in His Word, however, writes about things that are Heavenly and that are spiritual. The man who has had no spiritual life given to him will not understand these things. Do you remember what it says in 1 Corinthians 2:14? It says, "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." In reading the Bible we must believe that it is true because it is from God. God tells us His Word is true. He tells us it is without error. If we do not believe that, then we are saying that God is not worthy of our trust. We must believe that His Word is true even when we do not understand it. We must believe it is true even when it appears to be in error. We can confidently place our trust in the Word of God . We can trust it: 1. Because we know that God has many things in His spiritual universe that we cannot know since we are only men 2. Because we know that God has not revealed everything to us 3. Because we know that if we wait long enough and learn enough, many of the seeming errors will become plain to us 4. Because we know that God is God and He is trustworthy7

III. INFALIBILITY OF THE SCRIPTURES

Jesus said about the Bible, "Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). That is a very important statement. We want to understand exactly what it is saying to us. In English we say that it cannot be broken. In the original Greek language the idea was that Scripture cannot be loosened. All Scripture fits together and there is no way that it can be loosened, broken, subtracted from or refuted. The idea is that what the Bible says cannot be contradicted. It cannot be gotten around. The Bible never fails in what it says. Its judgments are always correct. The fact that the Bible never fails and cannot be contradicted is the basis for what we call "infallibility." This is very like inerrancy but there is a little difference. Inerrancy states that the Bible is true. Infallibility states that what the Bible says will happen will, indeed, happen and cannot be changed.

It is very comforting to know that the Bible is not only true but that its truth cannot change. What is right is right. What is wrong is wrong. What was right in the days of Moses is still right today and will still be right when your grandchildren have grown old and died. God has promised that if we truly believe in Jesus Christ we will eventually go to heaven. Satan would like very much to change that. He cannot. God has promised that once we have placed faith in Jesus Christ, we cannot lose our salvation (John 10:28). Satan would like very much to change that. He cannot. God has promised that His Holy Spirit 6 Ramm Bernard, Special Revelation and the Word of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961, p. 161-182 7 Parker, op cit. Pp. 65.

will never leave us until we are safely in heaven (Ephesians 4:30). Satan would like to change that. He cannot. The Bible is infallible and its truths and teachings cannot change or fail to be fulfilled.

IV. CANONICITY OF THE BIBLE What is Canonicity? The quality or state of being canonical; conforming to a general rule or acceptable procedure. We speak of the 66 books of the Bible as the Canon of scripture. Canon comes from the Greek word kanon meaning measuring rod or rule".

Canonical books are our rule of faith and practice. All this means is that those 66 books and only those 66 books are the inspired Word of God. Any other books don't fit. Canonicity has to do with the authenticity (genuineness) of the individual books of the Bible. 8The canonicity of the books of the Bible has to do with whether each book is, indeed, part of God's revelation.9 Let us start with the understanding of one very important fact. No book of the Bible became canonical (became part of God's Word) because it had been examined by men who then decided that the book was canonical. Whatever examinations of men and the church might have taken place, they were not what determined that a particular book was canonical. The canonicity of a book is determined by God, who gave the book. He is the authority in the matter. Man does not determine canonicity. The canonicity of a book is a quality of that book from the moment it is written, whether man says it is canonical or not. Man's word does not change whether the book is really from God or not.10 How can we know which books belong in the Bible? The criterion of canonicity is inspiration. If a book is inspired of the Holy Spirit, it is canonical, whether it is so recognized by man or not. To say that a book is canonical does not merely mean that it is part of an accepted list but means that it is actually part of God's revelation to us. It means that it is inerrant and infallible and authoritative. Canonicity carries with it far more meaning than just inclusion on a list. Ultimately the Authority of the Bible is based on the authority of God. It was accepted as authoritative by Israel. (Josh. 1:8, Deut. 6:6-7) It was accepted as authoritative by Christ. (Matt 5:17-18) It was viewed as authoritative by the Apostles. (2 Pet. 3:15-16) The Bible claims itself to be the word of God. 2 Tim. 3:16 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." 2 Pet. 1:20-21 "Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." Ultimately, inspiration determines canonicity. An inspired book was part of the canon the moment it was written. Important ~ Canonicity is determined by God, men simply recognize what God has revealed. 11 A. Fundamental Considerations. The Bible proves it's own authenticity and church councils of the past have merely recognized the authority understood in the books themselves. We teach that God could have guided the councils so that the canon was distinguished. 12 8 No author, http://members.truepath.com/Altoid/Theology_Bibliology.doc 9 Cf. Tuya and Salguero Op cit. Pp. 377. 10 Stott, John R.W. Como Comprender la Biblia, Buenos Aries: Certez, 1977. pp.180-183 11 No author, http://members.truepath.com/Altoid/Theology_Bibliology.doc 12 Martinez, Manuel, Hermeneutica Biblica, Madrid: Clie, 1986, p. 28

B. The Canon of the O.T. 1. The Dead Sea Scrolls - solid evidence of a fully developed O.T. canon before the 2nd century B.C. 2. Christ recognized the O.T. canon Matt. 5:17-1 8, John 10:3 5 "The scripture cannot be broken" 3. Paul quoted extensively from the O.T. indicating that it was an authoritative standard. In general it should answer questions such as: Did the book indicate divine authorship? Was the human author a spokesman of God? A prophet? Was the book historically correct? Did it reflect a record of actual fact? How was the book received by the Jews?The Bible itself gives evidence to an OT canon that was collected and recognized by Ezra (500 B.C.). The N.T. regards the O.T. as scripture (Matt. 23:35.) C. The Principles of the Canonicity of N.T. Books. The NT books are acknowledged as inspired and part of Scripture by the Apostles. One apostle referred to another apostles writings as part of Scripture. The content of the book must agree with other books in the Canon. Also, certain books were universally accepted as inspired according to internal and external evidence.

1. In 2 Pet 3:15-16, Peter declares Pauls letters to be scripture. 2. In I Tim 5:17, Paul refers to Luke 10:7 as being Scripture equally with Deut. 25:4.

D. The Formation of the N.T. Canon. The apostles claimed authority for their own and other apostles writings (I Thess. 5:27; Col. 4:16). All the books were recognized except Hebrews, II Peter, II and III John. At the Council of Carthage (397 AD), they listed 27 canonical N.T. books. In general the book should answer questions such as: Was the author an apostle or did he have a connection with an apostle (Mark wrote under Peter's authority)? Was the book accepted by the church at large? Many false books were rejected Did the book reflect a consistency of doctrine with what had been accepted teaching? Did the book reflect the quality of inspiration, bearing evidence of high moral and spiritual value reflecting the work of the Holy Spirit?

V. COMPARATION OF CONCEPTS INSPIRATION , INERRANCY CANNONICITY Every Scripture inspired of God II Tim. 3:16. Infallibility, inerrancy, and cannonicity are not separated, or independent but indissoluble united by the doctrine of Inspiration from which they comes naturally. The verbal and plenary divine inspiration of the

Scriptures, is, the unmovable foundation upon which rest its infallibility, inerrancy and authority of the Bible.13 The order is the following: 1. 2. 3. The Holy Scriptures, because their inspired by God. Are infallible and inerrant, Therefore they are authoritatives, canonicals.

God is God of true (Deut. 32:4). The Father is truth (Jn. 3:33, 8:26), the Son is the true (Jn. 14:6), the Holy Spirit is true (Jn. 14:17, 15:26; 16:13). The three Persons of the Holy Trinity working on the same project, the task of revelation and inspiration, can only produce as result one thing: The Word of True (cf. 2 Cort. 6:7a, Eph. 1:13a, Heb. 6:7. The doctrine of Inspiration compromises the character itself of God, and therefore, it is the character of God, which support his written Word. So, we say that the Scripture is so true, just as the One who inspired them is. For this reason we say with all confidence, that the Bible is the Word of God and we say about then to be trustworthy of our trust. They are without error and have the absolute authority and cannonicity of God Himself. Christ himself support the fully authority of the Bible when He says: It is written.14 One reason for saying that inerrancy is so important is that truth and inspiration are closely tied together. You must remember that inspiration is that work of the Holy Spirit by which He guarantees the accuracy of the writing of what God wanted man to know. The Bible claims for itself that it is given by inspiration. If it is, indeed, inspired, then it is, indeed, true and thus free from error. We have established that the Bible is the Word of God. It is inerrant. It is infallible. It is complete in its canon. With those ideas in mind, we should readily accept the fact that the Bible is authoritative.15 The Holy Bible is infallible in all its teachings, inerrable in everything that it written in it and therefore authoritative in it is contain. The fact that the Bible never fails and cannot be contradicted is the basis for what we call "infallibility." This is very like inerrancy but there is a little difference. Inerrancy states that the Bible is true. Infallibility states that what the Bible says will happen will, indeed, happen and cannot be changed. CONCLUSION: There are not others concept more important to grasp in order to have a clear picture of what the Bible is for the believer than the concepts discuss above. They are so crucial because they relay on each other. We cannot talk about the inspiration without having in mind the idea of a God communicating with us, we cannot affirm inspiration without affirming the infallibility and therefore the connonicity of the Scriptures. Thats I why in order to discuss the interrelationship between those concepts it was necessary include a brief presentation of every concept itself, just to know what we were talking about. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Di Pardo, Armando. La Santa Biblia: Palabra Inspirada de Dios. Buenos Aires: Clie, p. 114. Martinez, Manuel, Hermeneutica Biblica, Madrid: Clie, 1986, Parker James L, Bibliology. Golden State Press, Peterstown, WV. 1999. 13 Di Pardo, Armando. La Santa Biblia: Palabra Inspirada de Dios. Buenos Aires: Clie, p. 114. 14 Di Pardo Op cit. Pp. 114-115 15 Parker James L, Bibliology. Golden State Press, Peterstown, WV. 1999.

Tuya and Salguero, Introduccin a la Biblia, Madrid: Editorial de Autores Cristianos. 1967 Ramm Bernard, Special Revelation and the Word of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961 Ridderbos, Herman, Historia de la Biblia y Santa Escritura, Buenos Aires, Editorial Escaton, 1967 Stott, John R.W. Como Comprender la Biblia, Buenos Aries: Certez, 1977. Electronic and Internet No author, http://members.truepath.com/Altoid/Theology_Bibliology.doc The International Standard Bible as it is in the Power Bible.