LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 454

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454

THE INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE

However. inspiration is not always inseparably associated with
revelation in the Scriptures, While revelation is frequently accompanied
by a command tv write down what was seen and heard (Ex. 34:27: Deut
3EG. Us. 8:1) Jer. 30:2. 36:2) Hab. 2:2: Rev. t:l1 et al.). there were
occasions when there was revelation without such a command (Gen
2K 10-18: Luke 221-140. Conversely. revelation is not ahvays associated
with inspiration. The prophets and apostles “rote of many things of
which they had knowledge apart from revelation. St. | uke. for instance.
says that he compiled his narrative on the basis of information delivered
by eyewitnesses of the events he records. (Luke trl-4)

It was by inspiration of the Hols Spirit that the upostle Paul wrote
to the Corinthians that he did not know whether he had baptized anyone
else besides the household of Stephanus (1 Cor. 1:16); by tnspiration
of the Holy Spirit he included in his Second Epistle to Timothy the plea
to come soon and bring along the cloak. books. and parchments that he
had left with Carpus at Troas (2 Tim. 4:9, 13): by inspiration he volun-
teered his personal opinion about the advisability of getting married in
umes of persecution (1 Cor. 7:25-26). But no revelation was needed for
him to know that his memory failed him about how many people he had
baptized in Corinth. or to know that he wanted his cloak and books, or
to Know it was his opinion that in view of the impending distress it might
be better not to get married

While inspiration is predicated of “aif Scripture” (2 Tim. 3:16).
the sacred writers speak of revelation only in connection with super-
natural disclosure of divine mysteries and secret counsels concerning
which man could otherwise have no knowledge. (Matt. 11:25-27: 16:17;
Luke 2:26: Rom (17: 1 Cor, 2:10: Eph. 3:3-S: | Pet. 1:12: Gal. 1:12:
Rev. t:1)

From the standpoint of the Biblical wuthors. then. it is possible to
distinguish between revelation and inspiration in that they wrote some
things by inspiration an the basis of revelation. and some things by in-
spiration alone without need of supernatural disclosure. {t ts useless for
us. however. to whom their wnitings have come. to atlempt to draw a
sharp line between what we have received through that operation of the
Holy Spirit called inspiration and the operation called revelation. for to
us all the inspired writings are rev elatory. Apart from the inspired Scrip-
tures we have no other revelation of God. of His will. and of His re-
demptive acts in human history which can make us wise unto salvation
and which is profitable for teaching. reproof. restoration, and training
(2 Tim. 315-16). And the Scriptures do not acknowledge any other
revelation that can save and instruct us if we refuse to hear them. (Luke
16:41)

B. Inspiration and Sources

As Luke I:1-4 clearly indicates. some of the material incorporated
in this Gospel was derived from sources to which Luke had access when
he undertook to “write an orderly account” for Theophilus. Luke's

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do not warrant limiting inspiration to Prophetic and apostolic oral procia-
mation. Prophets and apostles “spoke” as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost also when they were writing the Biblical books in which God has
Preserved their message for all times to be the foundation on which the
church is built (Eph. 2:20). 1 John 1:3-4 and 2 Thess. 2:18 clearly indi-
cate that the apostles made no distinction between that which they pro-
claimed by word of mouth and that which they wrote.

D. Inspiration and the Writers of Biblical Literature

Nothing in the Holy Scriptures indicates that when God chose
human beings to be His instruments through whom He spoke and wrote
His Word to men. He used them in such a way that they were deprived
of their individuality and identity. The Holy Spirit took men as they
had been shaped by all their circumstances. cultural influences, educa-
tional opportunities. and natural capacities and placed them into His
service to speak “from God.” (2 Peter 1:21)

When inspiring the Scriptures. the Holy Spirit did not work through
men as though they were lifeless machines (e. g.. a tape recorder). but
He employed them in such a way as to leave room for the real influence
of each writer's own temperament. endowments. interests. purposes,
Perspective —and even limitations (e. g.. Paul's lapse of memory. } Cor.
1:16. See also Luke's purpose and research, Luke 1-1-4). By inspiration
holy men spoke from God in a human language. made up of human
words, subject to human principles of grammar and syntax. employing
human literary devices or else their speech and writing would have
been unintelligible. (Cf. Paul's estimate of the value of supernatural
utterances in 1 Cor. 14.)

The Holy Spirit did not give the Biblical wniters a heavenly vo-
cabulary. a celestial grammar. or divine attributes. such as omniscience.
Through men of human capacities the Haly Spirit spoke divine truth in
human idiom.

E. Inspiration and the Biblical Writings

Since inspiration was not a mechanical process akin to dictation,
the Scriptures in many ways bear the marks of their human authorship.
Literary style varies from book to book and even accounts of the same
event by different writers frequently are not completely alike in perspec-
tive, wording, emphasis. or the number of details provided. Indeed. the
great freedom which the Holy Spirit allowed the human authors in
selecting materials, quoting sources. arranging their accounts, inter-
Preting events, and applying what they record to the life of God's people
Creates problems for which there is no easy solution.

Nevertheless, inspiration is the operation of the Holy Spirit which
makes the words of Scripture God's Word and assures that through all
the rich variety found in the Scriptures God speaks His eternal and
immutable truth to us

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words suggest that two kinds of sources were in existence before he
‘began to write his Gospel. Eyewitnesses had delivered ora/ traditions
on the basis of which "many" had compiled written narratives. Other
Scriptures also make it evident that Biblical authors had sources upon
which they drew in producing their writings (Num. 21:14: Josh. 10.13;
1 Sam. 10:28: 1 Kings 11:41: 14:19. 29: 2 Chron. 9:29 et al.). Since
these sources are not available to us. we have no knowledge of them
beyond the references to them in the Scriptures. but these references
are sufficient to establish that they did exist.

The use of sources by Biblical authors does not militate against
the teaching that they wrote by inspiration. Such sources existed, and
the sacred writers used them as they were led by the Spirit. It would
seem highly improbably that there would have been no traditions and no
records of the sayings and deeds of Jesus Prior to the composition of the
Gospels contained in the New Testament.

Another question has to do with the Holy Spirit's activity relative
to precanonical sources. When Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit
to be with His disciples, He said. “He will teach you all things. and
bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26).
After Pentecost the Holy Spirit was Present in the Christian community
to guide it into all truth (John 16:13) and to bestow all the gifts that
the church needed to fulfill the commission given to it by Christ to preach
the Gospel in all the world

The promise of John 14:26 included the Holy Spint’s presence to
Preserve and empower the church's witness to Christ even before the
Christian message was committed to writing. Inspiration of the Biblical
writings does not preclude the Holy Spirit's influence in Preserving the
traditions prior to the composition of the Biblical books.

C. Inspiration and the 4ct of Writing the Scriptures

Inspiration is a mysterious operation of the Holy Spirit connected
with the writing of the Sacred Scriptures, irrespective of whether the
authors obtained knowledge concerning the things of which they wrote
by revelation or by research Referring to Scriptures with which Timothy
had been acquainted from childhood. the apostle Paul says that they were
all inspired by God. i.e.. God-breathed (2 Tim. 3 15-16), St. Peter
affirms the inspiration of the Old Testament when he says that “men
moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Peter 1:21), About apos-
tolic Scriptures the apostle Paul says that they impart what had been
revealed “in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the
Spirit.” (1 Cor. 2:13)

2 Peter 1:21 and 1 Cor, 2:13 represent both prophets and apostles
as “speaking” (laleiny by inspiration, This must not be understood as
referring only to their oral utterances so as to exclude their written
words. The apostle Paul thought of himself as “speaking” to his readers
in his letters (Rom. 7:1: | Cor. 9:8; 2 Cor, 12:19), and 2 Peter 3:16 refers
to things about which St. Paul “speaks” in epistles. The Biblical data

F. Inspiration and Literary Forms

Included in the rich variety found in the Scriptures are the several
literary types (genres) employed by the sacred authors. The Holy Spirit
moved the Biblical writers to make use of almost every literary device
there is in order to communicate God's Word to man. With the exception
of myth, saga. and legend (in the sense in which these terms are usually
understood by literary and historical critics) there are in the Bible many
types of literature. including at least one that does not occur in other
literature, namely. the gospel form which is unique to the New Testament.

Besides the obvious types of Prose and poetry many other forms of
literature are easily identifiable in the Holy Scriptures. There are histor-
cal narratives. prophetic oracles and apostolic proclamation. proverbs
and parables, prayers and liturgical fragments, creeds and hymns. doc-
trinal and hortatory treatises addressed to congregations and letters
written to individuals. laments and dirges, sermons and speeches. and
even such secular instruments as legal contracts, Political treaties, and
royal edicts.

The doctrine that aif Scripture is God-breathed implies that the
Holy Spirit moved the sacred authors to speak from God through ail of
the kinds of literature contained in the Bible. and that a Biblical pericope
must first of all be analyzed in terms of its formal structure and character
if the interpretation of a given Passage is to be consistent with the type
of literature it is.

G. Inspiration and the Authorship of Biblical Books

For the Scriptures to commend themselves to God's people as His
inspired Word, it was not necessary that in every case the authorship
of a Biblical book be known or that the book itself indicate who its author
was. Some books both in the Old and the New Testaments give us no
direct evidence pertaining to their authorship, and even in some cases
where the author is mentioned by name. as. for instance, James and
Jude, the exact identity of these men is difficult to determine.

When an inspired writing, however. testifies to its own authorship,
or when one inspired writing identifies the author of another inspired
writing. the inspired witness of the Scriptures must be accepted. There
is nothing in the New Testament. for instance, to suggest that Jesus’ view
of the authorship of the Pentateuch. of Isaiah. of Daniel differed from
that of His contemporaries. All the New Testament evidence indicates
that Jesus agreed with the Jews of His day in affirming the Mosaic,
Isaianic. and Danielic authorship of the books involved. Once this fact
is acknowledged. the issue of the authorship of these Old Testament
books is settled. It amounts to rejection of Christ's word and the witness
of inspired Scriptures to call this matter into question.