In this conversation about whether the Bible is inspired, let’s start where so many conversations begin: 2 Tim 3:16
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος καὶ ὠφέλιμος πρὸς διδασκαλίαν, πρὸς ἔλεγχον, πρὸς ἐπανόρθωσιν, πρὸς παιδείαν τὴν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ·
Translation problem #1: there is an alternative way of reading the Greek – rather than being, “All scripture IS inspired by God and is useful…”, it can be read as, “All scripture inspired by God is useful…” That inspired scripture is useful is the translation followed by ASV, BBE, HNV, Douay-Rheims, Tyndale, WEB, Wycliffe,…
Translation problem #2: much as I use NRSVue as my standard, this is one of several occasions when I think it can be much improved. The Greek, θεόπνευστος (theopneustos) literally means “God-breathed”. You can clearly see that in the word: Theo (God; cf theology); pneustos (breathed – in English words like pneumatic). So, it better translates as: “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful…”; or “All God-breathed scripture is useful…”
Interpretation issue #1: The “all scripture” is NOT the Bible as we now know it. It is referring, primarily, to what we would now call the First Testament, the Old Testament, … I stopped from writing “The Hebrew Bible” at this point, because it is far more likely that the author of 2 Timothy is referring to The Septuagint, the Greek translation of The Hebrew Bible (more about this to follow below).
Interpretation issue #2: God-breathed (θεόπνευστος theopneustos) points to Gen 2:7 where God breathes into the first human. God’s breath is life-giving. The 2 Tim 3:16 text appears to be saying “All scripture is God-breathed, ie life-giving, and is useful…” (or, of course, “All God-breathed {and thereby life-giving} scripture is useful…” The concept of the Bible being “inspired” is a 3rd Century CE development; Origen played a central part in that process. The “inspiration of the scriptures” then became a lens, aided by a reinterpretation of 2 Tim 3:16, through which the scriptures were read from then on.
The rest of this post is dealing with what scripture is understood as being “inspired”.
Do you think that the documents behind the “final” text are inspired? Was Q (the collection of Jesus’ words and teachings shared by Matthew and Luke) inspired? Were J and P (material edited into Genesis etc) inspired?
Do you think the “final” Hebrew text of the First Testament and the “final” Greek text of the New Testament were inspired? We do not have these originals; we only have a varyingly likely guesstimates at the “original final” using processes called “textual criticism”.
Do you think the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the First Testament, is inspired? We would translate some of the Hebrew differently into Greek in some places now. But, and this is very important, it is the Septuagint which is normally quoted in the New Testament! Add to that the cute legend that the 70 (or 72) translators each did the translation independently, and then found that all of them were exactly the same!!!
King Ptolemy once gathered 72 Elders. He placed them in 72 chambers, each of them in a separate one, without revealing to them why they were summoned. He entered each one’s room and said: “Write for me the Torah of Moshe, your teacher”. God put it in the heart of each one to translate identically as all the others did.
Inspiration obviously proved…!!!
At this point it’s worth inserting a sub-discussion: which books/scrolls are you including in your inspired scriptures? The shortest Christian list of books is the Protestant canon (not forgetting Martin Luther’s disapproval of some New Testament material). Roman Catholics have a larger collection (Anglicans read and learn from the “extra books” in this larger collection, but cannot use them for agreement on doctrine). Eastern Orthodox have an even larger (and varying) collection, with Ethiopian Orthodox possibly having the largest list. There are some (Protestants) who underscore that the Bible is not an authoritative list of inspired books; for them, the Bible is a list of authoritative, inspired books.
As a further aside to this, however, I would address sola-scriptura (by the Bible alone) Protestants with the question: why do you accept fourth Century church consensus understanding of what is in your Bible and what is not, but do not accept fourth Century church consensus understanding of ministry, sacraments, and so forth?
I would also underscore (this is, after all, a Liturgy site) that the Bible developed in deciding (as bound books became norm) which scrolls are read in communal worship and which are not.
But, let’s press on.
Do you think the Vulgate (the Latin translation of the Bible) is inspired?
In 1546 the Council of Trent decreed that the Vulgate was the exclusive Latin authority for the Bible, but it required also that it be printed with the fewest possible faults. The so-called Clementine Vulgate, issued by Pope Clement VIII in 1592, became the authoritative biblical text of the Roman Catholic Church.
The question arrises: if God put all that effort into inspiring the scriptures, then there is no sense to that unless we can now access what God inspired – not simply our best guess at it…
So we come to: Do you think the King James/Authorised Bible is inspired?
Those who hold to the inspiration of the King James/Authorised Bible are often surprised that all editions prior to 1666 contained “the Apocrypha” (First Testament books accepted by Roman Catholicism but not Protestantism). The Inspired King James people are also confounded by there being about a thousand different editions printed between 1611 and 1769, each with changes! And essentially no two existing “original 1611 King James Bibles” are the same!!! You can insert here your own research about variations to The King James Version and which one you regard as the “inspired” English KJV!
For those of us who love the scriptures but do not need every word to be understood as inspired by God, we can work (for example following Lectio Divina) to discover what the Spirit is saying to the Church – together and individually.
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I think the verse ought to be read in apposition to the preceding verse about “all the sacred writings you have known from your youth” to wit “all scriptures inspired by God and useful for instruction…” As you note, there is no copula in the Greek verse; the verb is supplied by the preceding clause, to which this stands on apposition.
That’s a useful expansion of my points, thanks Tobias. Blessings.
And sorry for the typos, including my middle name. I hate trying to enter text on a tablet.
A very helpful post to send people to.
And still it’s quite a leap from inspired to inerrant.
I agree – this is a great and simple summary of the complexities surrounding this single (and much mis-used) verse.
Even if we allow the translation of ‘inspired’ we are still left with understanding what is meant. I have heard numerous Christian songwriters say something along the lines of ‘I was inspired to write this song.’ They certainly didn’t mean by that that the lyrics were ‘God’s Word’ or that they were to be accepted with question.
I find standing on a cliff, looking out to sea ‘inspiring ‘. The word inspiring is not a synonym for flawless or definitive or authoritative.
Thanks “Cascading Exile”. One of the ways we keep this website a safe space is by using our ordinary name, please, not a pseudonym. Blessings.
I agree, well said.
God breathed (“inspired”) life into humans, but that doesn’t equate with flawless inerrancy.
There is also the point that if we don’t make mistakes, we never truly learn. Of if there are no limitations to knowledge, it doesn’t dynamically grow.
Inerrant scripture is dead scripture. We meet theologies and Christian positions like this: there is an answer for everything, everything. What’s more to learn, be surprised and curious about? And can knowledge every truly cover the face of the earth?
An interesting point, Mark – it the scriptures are life-giving, flaws can become points where they catch us and help us grow. Blessings.
Apologies!
Also, I meant to say ‘They certainly didn’t mean by that that the lyrics were ‘God’s Word’ or that they were to be accepted WITHOUT question.’
Sorry for the typo
Cascadian Exile
(Cascadia is the name that some have for the region of north west America, covering the states of Oregon and Washington and the Canadian province of British Colombia, where I used to live.)
No apology needed, thanks, David – just me clarifying. In an increasingly polarised world (including with heat in disputes around worship), I’ve tried (and mostly succeeded) to keep this a space where people can even disagree respectfully. I think that anonymity is like petrol on the flames of disputes. Blessings.
Thanks Bosco for this excellent summary and thanks to all the commenters. It’s a really helpful way for me to think about why this or that collection of texts seems to work the way it does — as does the liturgy, I might add. This God-breathed word is like bringing the creation of Adam into today. As is the creation of Eve — I wonder if we together today will allow the God who breathes us into life to make such equality possible — in our time — within our multifarious ‘throats’. I woke up with Qohelet 3 on my mind after a day of disagreeable behaviour from children(!) And I thought – there is no time. I was definitely feeling out of season. So I am looking for this life-giving breath is us all together as we get through the very troubling era that we are in.
Thanks, Bob – I like your point about God-breathed scriptures creating [a new] Adam… Blessings.