The Bible is Inspired

[Doc Thomas]

The reason that the Bible is unlike any other book in the world has to do with the fact that it & it alone is inspired by God. When we say that the Bible is “inspired,” what do we mean? The English word “inspire” comes from the Latin inspirare, which means “to breathe into.” The Bible is the inspired Word of God in that He “breathed into” the writers of the Bible the message He wanted them to produce. Since it is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17), the Bible is free from all error in its original form. The writers of Scripture, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21), did not make factual, historical, scientific, or other kinds of errors. While it is true that the Bible does not claim to be a textbook of history, science, or mathematics, whenever the writers of Scripture dealt with matters in these areas, they did not make mistakes; rather, they always wrote what was true.

But it does no good to claim that the Bible is inspired unless we can offer adequate proof for its inspiration. Evidence to prove the Bible’s claims of inspiration comes from two main sources. External evidence for inspiration includes such things as historical documentation of biblical people, places, and events, or archaeological artifacts that support the biblical documents. Internal evidence is found within the actual text of the Bible itself. This includes statements in the Bible which show that the actual existence of the Scriptures cannot be explained in any other way except to acknowledge that they are the result of a guiding Mind.