What is the Inspiration of the Bible?

What is the inspiration for Scripture? To Bible-believing Christians, the answer seems to be an easy one. However, as with anything today, the topic can be controversial.

Prior to the middle of the 19th century, the Church was almost universally in agreement that it believed God gave actual words to the human authors of Scripture. In the second century, early Christian apologist, Justin Martyr, called the Bible, "the very language of God." In the fourth century, Gregory Nyssen, bishop of Nyssa, called the Bible, "the voice of the Holy Spirit." The great Protestant Reformers of the 16th and 17th centuries held similar beliefs.

However, halfway through the 19th century, various evolutionary ideas began to compromise certain beliefs about the inspiration of Scripture. Verbal inspiration was questioned. Some in the Christian community began to question the accuracy of Scripture, particularly parts of the Old Testament like the worldwide Flood in Genesis.

However, such ideas are at odds with the Bible. According to the New Testament, the Old Testament prophets proclaimed words that were initiated and controlled by God. These were not the words of the human, but were the words of God, so that it's accuracy can not be questioned.

In the Old Testament, Hebrew words for "breath" are frequently translated to "spirit" in English. God's "breath" is an expression for his Spirit going into the world. I like the visual of standing outside in the cold and watching your breath come from your mouth. So with this in mind, Scripture was produced by God's breath.  "...then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." (Genesis 2:7) Where God breathed life into Adam through his nostrils, in the same way He breathed through humans the words that made Scripture.

In the New Testament, the breath is the Holy Spirit. This is again how God communicates. By saying "the Holy Spirit says", this is the same as "Scripture says." "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today, if you hear his voice..." (Hebrews 3:7)

The Holy Spirit worked through the Biblical writers. The message, while it was given by God, was put down by humans. But because God is the primary author, the word of God is infallible. The Bible is the inerrant word of God.

Sola Scriptura!