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CHAPTER II

INSPIRATION

BY EVANGE LIST L. W. MUNHALL, M. A., D .. D.,

GERMANTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA,

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AUTHOR OF ''THE HIGHEST CRITICS VS. THE HIGHER CRITICS''

The Bible is insp 1ired. It is th1erefo 1r·e God's Word~ This is fundamental to the Christian faith. ''Faith co1meth by hear­ing, a.nd hearing by the Word of 1God'' (Rom. 10: .17).

But, it is asked, What do you mean by inspiration? Becau se th.ere are numerous theories of inspiration, this is a proper question. Also, it is well, before answering the question, to state some of · thes 1e theories. First, ''The thoughts of the penman were inspiredt' 1

' Secon 1d, ''The t·houghts were p1ar­tiall:y inspired.'' But they who hold to this view are very in­definit ,e in their statemen .ts of the exte ·nt of this inspiration. Third, ''There were different degrees of inspiration.'' The advocates of t·his view use th·e diffe:rence: betwee.n ''i .11.umina­tion'' and inspiration to prove their theory. Fourth, ''At one tiOle the . writers were inspired in the supervision of the work they did;'' at another, ''In the view they took of the work they wer .e called upon to do;'' and at another, , ''In directing the work.'' But in all thes ,e views the theo 1rists. are ,at se'.a, a.nd leave all who trust to their pilotage at sea, as to the exact character and limitations of inspiration. Fifth, ''Dyna1nic in-, . . sp1ration''. But the efforts of those who hold to this view, . -

to exp1ain what they mean by the tern1 are exceedingly vague and ~isty. But the popular and current theory 110w is that the ''Concept'' is inspired. But no one attempts to tell what the ''Concept'' is ; indeed, I doubt if any one knows.

Also let this be said in this connection : Those who hold to any ~r all of the above named theories, in part or in whole, are

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emphat-ic in decl,aring tha .t the Bible is not verbally inspired. The noisy ones will say, ''No scholar believe s in verbal in• spiration." In this they bear false witness. Anoth 1er ex• press ,i.on in co1mmo,n use am 1ong them is this : '' Such beli,e,f drives men into infidelity." And yet no one of the1n ever knew of ~~ case. This class, witl1 as much care and evident satis ,faction as a1rJ infid 1el, h'Unt out th,e apparent c1ontradi .c­tions and err ,ors in the authorized ancl ·revised versions, and exultingly de~lare: ''Here is conclusive evidence that the Bi'ble is not verbally inspired." Some of these gentlemen are dishonest because, Firs ·t, they know ·that most of tl1ese a.pp1arent ,errors ,and c1on.t1·adict.ions were l,ong ago S1,atisf actorily ans\vered, even to the silencing of infidel scoffers ; and Sec­ond, they kno,v that 110 one b,elieves that the tr ,anslatio 1ns and revisions a·re inspired. The d1octrine of v,erba'l ins ,p1ira-

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tion is s.imply this : The o,riginal writings, ipsissima verba, came through the penmen direct from God; ,an.cl the critics are only throwing dt1st into the air when they rail against verba1 inspir ,ation and attempt to disprove it by pointing out

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th ,e apparent ·errors , and discrepanci 1es 10 1£ the autho1 4 ized .and revi s1ed text ,s. ·

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The General Assembly of the Pres -byterian Church, in 1893, by a unanimous vote made the .f.ollowing deliverance : '' 'The Bible as we now ·hav ,e it in ·its vario ,us translations and revisions

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when freed from all errors and mistake s of trans ,Jators, copy-ists and printers, is th_e very Word of Go4, and 1conse.quent1y,

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who11y without error.'' We m.e,an by In ,spiratio n that the ·words c9mposing th ,e

Bible are God--breath,ed.. If they are not, th ,en the Bible is not inspired at all, since it is composed on]y and solely of words. ·

'''All Scriptt1r 1e is gi'v·en by inspiration . 0 1f 1God'' (2 Ti ·m.j 3 :16). The i word rend 1ered ,Sc,riptttre , in this, 'P1assage is Grap,he. It means writin ,g, anything ,vritten. The writing is composed of words. ·what else is this b·ut verbal inspi1"a-

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tion; a11d they wres,t the ''Scriptures unto their own de-structio ,n'', 'Who teach otherwise. ·

Prof. A. A. Hodge says: ''The line can never rationall} r be. drawn betwieen the thoughts and wor 1ds 0 1£ Scripture ,. . . . That , we have an inspired Bible, , and a verbally inspired one, ·we h.ave the witne ,ss of Go,d I-Iimself .')

Prof. Gaussen says , : ''The theory of a Divine Revelation, in which you ·would have the inspira .tion of thoughts, ,vithout the inspiration of the language , is, so inevitably irrational that it cannot be ,since ,re, and proves fa .lse even to tho ,se who

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p.ropose it.'' •

Canon Westcott s:ays: ''The sli,ghtest c1onsideration will show that wo,rds are as 1essential to intellectual processe,s as they are to rnutual intercourse .... Thottghts are w1edded to words as ne,cessarily as s·oul to body. Without it the m·yste­ries unveiled before the eyes of the seer would be confused shadows; with it, they are made clear lessons for l1uman Ii£ e.'' . · .

Dean Burgan, a .m.an of vas ,t learning_. says : ''You c.a.nnot dissect inspiration into substance and fortn~ As for . thoughts being inspired, , apart from the words W'hich give them ex­pression, you might as wel'l talk of a tune without notes, or a sum without figures. No such . theory of inspiration is even intelligible. It is as illogica.l as it is worthless, and

· c,annot be too sternly piut ,do1wn.'' ·· This doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture, in all its

elements and partst has al ways bee~ the doctrine of the Church. Dr. Westcott has proved this by a copious catena of quotatiO 'llS from Ante-Nicene Fath 1ers in Appendix B to his ''Introduction to the Studv of the Gospels~'. He quotes

utterances of the Holy Ghost''. · Take a few quotations from the Fathers: 1. Justin, speak ..

ing of the · words of Scripture, says: ''We must not suppose that the language pr ,oceeds irom the men 1hat are inspired,

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but from the Divine Word Himself, who moves th 1em. Their worl< is to announce th ,at which the Holy Spirit proposes to

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teach, through them, to those who wish to learn the true religion. The D 1ivine powe~ a 1cts on men j'ust as a plect1·um on a harp 1 or lyr ,e.'' ''The histo1~y Moses wrote was by the Divine Inspiration.'' And so, of all the Bib,le.

2. Irena .eus. ''1;he writers spoke as acted on by th ,e Sp,irit .. Al .I. who fo iretold the Coming of Chr ·ist ( Mose.s,, David, Isaiah .,! etc.), received · t.heir inspiration from tl1e So11, for

. h.ow else could Scripture 'testify' of Him alone?'' .''M ,at· thew might have written, 'The generation of Jesus was on this wise,' but the Ho 11y $.pi1·it, f'or ·eseeing the co,r·rttption of the truth, and f'o·rtif ying us against deception, says, through

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Matthew, 'The genera ·tion of Jes ·us the Messiah was ·on 'this wise.', ,, ''The writers a,re beyond all fals,eh,ood'' i. ,e., th 1ey·

' ar 1e 1nerr ,ant. . . 3. Clement of Alexandria ,. The foundations of o,ur faith

rest on no insecure basis. We h.a, .. e r·eceived them through God Himself through the Scripture, not one jot or tittle of ' which sl1all pass [a way till all is accomplished, f o,r the m.outh of the Lord, the Ho1y Sp 1irit, spol<e ·it. He ceas .es to b,e a n1an who ' sp,urns the tradition of th ,e C'l1u1·ch, and tarns .aside to hu­m.an opinions; for the Sc1,.iptures are t ,ruly h,oly, sin.c1e tl1ey make t1s, holy, Go,d.-lik,e., Of t.hese Holy Writings 10 .r W,ords., the B.ible: is ·composed. Paul calls them God-breathed. (2 Tim, 3 :15, 16.) The Sacred Writings consist ,of tl1ese holy letters or ,syllables, since they are '''God-breathed''.. Again, ''T ·11e Jews and Christians ag ·ree as to the inspiration of the I-!oiy Sc1~iptur1es, but differ in int ,erp 1retation. By ou·r fai·th, we 1belielte that 1eve,ry Script ·ur·e, since, it is God-b1reathed, is pr ,ofitable. If the words of the L 1ord .are pure words, r,e­fin.ed silver ., trie ·d seven times, and tl11e Holy Spirit ha .. s, witl1 all c.are, dictated tl1em accurately, it wa~ on this ac 1count the Saviot1r said th.at not one jo~ or tittle of tl1em sl1ould pass a\vay.'' •

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4. Origen. 'I t isl the ,do,ctrine acknowledge ·d by all Chris­tians, and evidently prea ,ched in the churches, that the I:-Ioly Spirit, inspi1·ed the Saints, Prophets and Apostles, and was present in tl1ose of old time, as in those He inspired at the Coming of Ch1·ist ; for Christ, the W 9rd o,f God, wa s in 1doses when he wrote, and in the Proph ,ets, and by His Spirit He did speak to tl1em all things. The records of the G,ospels are ·the ,Qra ,cl,es of the L,ord, pure Oracles, purified as silver seven times tried. They are without error, since they were accurately written, by the c,o-operation of the Holy Spirit.'' '·It is good to ad 'her ,e to t'l1e w·ords of Paul and the Apostles, as to God and our Lord Jesus Christ. There are many writings, but only one Book; four Evangelists, but 1only one Gospel. , All the Sacred Writings breathe the same full-­n,es.s., There is nothin .g, in tl1e Law, the Prop 1hets, th.e Gos­pel, the Apostles, that did not come from ti1e fullness of God. · Whoever has received these Scriptures as · inspired by the Creator of the world, must expect to find in them all the dif­ficulties which meet those wl10 inve stigate the system of the universe ,. But God's hand is not destroyed by our ignorance on particular points. The divinity of the Scriptures ren1ains undi .sturbed by 101ur we.a.kness ,. It is a point in th,e teach-• tng of the Church, that the Scriptures were written by the Spirit of God, and on this the opinion of tl1e who]e Cl1urcl1 • is one. All things that are writt ,en ar ,e true. He who is a student of God's Oracles must place himself under the teacl1- . ing· of God.'' So much f 01· thi s Fa ·ther of ''Biblical Criticism,'' . -

mighty in the Church. 5. Augu stine. The view of the Holy Scriptures held by

Augustine was that held by Tertullian, Cyprian and all Fa­thers of the North African Church. No vie w of verlial • If • • r 1nsp1rat1on could be mo1·e rigid~ ''The Scriptures are the letters of God, the voice of God, the writings of God.'' ''The writers record 'the words of God. Christ spoke by Moses, for He was the Spirit of the Creator, and all the

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prophecies are th·e voice of the Lord. From the Spirit came the gift· o·f tongues. . All S1cripture is profitable , since it is inspired of God. The S,crip1:ures, whether in History, Proph­ecy, Psalms or Law, are of God. They cannot stand in. part and fall in part. They are fr 1om God, who · spake them all.'' ,,, As it was not the Apo,stles who spo,ke, but the Spirit of the ,Father i.n th.em., so it is the Spirit that sp,e1aks in all, Scriptures''. ''It avail s nothing what I say, what he says, but what saith the Lord''.

Prof. B. B. Warfield, of Princeton Theological Seminary, said in an article, . on The W estm.inster Doctrine . of Inspira .. tion : ''Doubtless enough has been said to show that the con­fession teaches precisely the doctrine which is taught in the private writings ·Of the framers, which was also t·he General Protestant Doctrine of the time, and not of th.at time only or of the Protestants only; for ,despite tl1e C1ontrary asser­tion that has recent1y become tolerably current, essentially this doctrine of ins,pirati .on (verbal) has bee·n the doc·trin 1e of the Chttrch of all ages land of all names."

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Th ,ere is nothing truer in tl1e worl .,d than that both the Jewish Churc11 and the Christian Church believed the doc­trine, because of their conception of the Holy Scriptures as th,e result of the '' 1Creative Br ieath of Grod,'1 e1v1en as matter itself, the soul of man, and the world, were created by the

. ,same ,·~Breath of the Almighty'' the very conception Paul had when he said, '''Ev ,e,ry Script ·ure is 1G'od-b,reathed!' 11 T·he

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pervasive evide ,nce ,of verbal i·nspiration stares 1one in tl1e f 1ace at the op,en·ing of e,very page of the Bible~ It is not a

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''few texts'', here and there, on which it depends, but it ''s-tands''' root led in the whole body of ' the Wo1·d of God.. He who knows what the J ewS understood by the . expression, ''the Oracles of · '', a divinely oracular Book, different from. every other- a Book of God's own ''Testimony'' will knew that no other conception of its contents could prevail than this, that it was ''divinely inspired:'', having c'Go,J'' as.

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· its Author, and truth without error as its matter. rfhe man-ner in w l1icl1 the Old Te sta1nent is quoted in the New is crowning del11onstration of its verbal inspiration. That sub­jectless verb, ''saith'' ( rendered, ''It saith''), that no~inative, , the ''Scripture saith'', · tl1at personal sttbject, ''He'' (''He saith''), that identification of God with the ''Scripture,'' ( ''the Scripture foreseeing," giving to it ey·es, mouth and fore­knowledge, as a living organism equal with God), that recog-, nitio11 of the human writer~ as ''Moses saith,'' ''David saith," , ''Isaial1 saith;'' is a divin,e1y governed authors .hip ,; t ·11eref'or,e it is al.I one to say, ''Moses sa ith," ''It saith,'' ''the Scripture saith'', ''He saitl1'', since in all it is ''God saith'' all this p1·oves the ''high place," tl1e 1estim2.te and conception which Christ, His , Apostl ,es, and tl1e ·whole Jewish and Christian 1Cl1utc'h, had of the''Scriptures'', and that they are a God-breathed, oractt1ar Book, created by the Bre ,ath of God a verbally in­spired Book, who se ''words') we :·e the ·''Words of ,God'', in­f a11ib1e, authoritative, final, the cou·rt of ·tast appeal, the very ''Utterance'' and ''Voice'' ''of God," who spoke in time past in the Prophets, and who has spoken to us in these last days • 1·n His Son ''words'' commanded to be writ iten in the days of Moses and commanded to be written in the Apostles' days --·rmthe Spirit promi sed ''to guide," t·o permit no lap,se of ''re ·­membrance," and to ''reveal'' the future.

Such form of citation, qt10,ta·tion, ref ,erence,, and .allusion to the Old Testament came from the conception of the Scrip­ture ·s as th ,e verbally inspired Boo·k of God. It \Vas h}'" means of this specific and customary formula of quotation, Christ and His Apostles mad ,e known to the Church thei 'r exalted estimate of the ¥'Volun ,ie of the Book.'~ On this ground alone arose all the high attributes ascribed to, it its Div,ine origin, sanctity, sublimity, infallibility, authority and sufficiency for manki11d. This uniform emphasis of the Scriptures as the product of the' ·'Breath of G,od,'' n,ot 1nere ''h ·t1man literature,'' as the critics would have it, nor a ''human e]ement'' uncon-

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trolled by the ,Divine, nor the mi ,serable excus le of ''wordless thoughts'', the thoughts ''inspired'', but the ''words n·ot' ' is . characteristic of ' the treatment the Old Tes tament Scriptures e,verywhere re 1ceive in the New Testan1e11t. Q,n no other view than th ,at of verbal inspiration could s·u.ch a manner of quotation, whether strict or free, have arisen. It is as the '1

'Creation 1' and the ''Oracles''' of God t'hey are r,eferred

to. On this their authority, holiness, perf ectio ,n and perpe­tui,ty re ,st. And as to the ''auth 1orship'' of tl1e ' 'Bool{s'' of Scrip 1ture, the citation of different texts existing in different ''B ooks,'', render the names of diffe1·ent human author .s, as

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i'Moses s,aith'', ''D lavid s,ait ,h'', ''Isaiah saith'', is proo 1f th ,at the authors of the texts are the auth 1ors of the ''Books'' in which they are found, and w'hich bear their name. Only

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' 'H ·ig,her Critic .s,'' could disp 1ute this. •

SOME PROOFS OF VERBAL INSPIRATION

The Bib'le p'lainly te::1,ehes that its words are inspir ,ed, and that it is the Wo ,rd of Go 1d. Let us examine i11to tl1i,s mat­ter a little, by 1considerin ,g b 1riefly three kinds of evidence, vi,z. :

First. Direct te .stimony. . Second. . Inferential te sti n1ony.

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Third. Resultant testimony. FIRST. Let · us note the Direct Tes,timon,y of the Bible

to tl1e fact of verbal inspiratio 1n. ''And Moses said ·unt 10 the L ,ord, I am not eloquent [a man

of wo.-rds], neither here:tofo 1re no.r sin .ce Thou hast spoken unto Thy serv ,ant : for I am slow of sp1eech, and of a slo,¥ tongue. And the Lord said unto l1im , Who hath made 1na11's . mouth? • • . • Now therefo 1re , go, and I will 'be with 'tl1y mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt spe,ak'' (Ex~ 4: 10-1.2). '' Arid the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words : £or

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after the tenor of thes 1e words 1! have made a covenant wit 'h thee, and with Isr ,a1el'' (Ex~ ,34 :27), "'And He sai 1d, Hear now My words: if there be a pr 1op,het amo,11g you, I the Lord will

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make my self known unto him in a vision, and will s,peal( ui1to him in a dream .... With him [Moses ,] w·ill I spea k mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches .; and the similitude of ·the Lord sh.all he behold'' ( N um.. 12 :16, 8). ''Ye shall not add unto the word which I co1nma11,d yo11, neither shal l ye diminish fro ,m · it'' (Deut. 4 :2). ''Bi.t tl1e prophet which shall speak a word presun1ptuously in My na.me·, whi 1cl1 I have no 1t co1nmanded hin1 to speak, ... that prophet shall die'' ( Deut. 18 :20). , ·

In M.ark 12 :36, J1esus ,said: '''D ·avid himself . said i·n. ·the Holy Spirit.'' If w1e turn to 2 Sam. 23 :2, we will find what it was David said : ''The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and I-Iis word was upon my tongue.''

Jeremiah 'said: ''Ah! Lo,r1d God .t behold I cannot speak, for I am a child . Bu t the Lord saith unto 1ne, Say not I am a child, for thou shalt go to all tl1at I shall send thee, and ,vhats .oever I comma11d tl1ee thou shalt speak. . Be not afraict of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee, s.aith the Lord. Then the L·ord put fortl1 His hand an 1d touche ,d my tnouth. And the Lord said unto me, Beho ld, I have pttt My wor 1ds in thy mo1:1tl1'' (Jer. 1 :6-9). . .

Balaa1n was comp ,elled to speak aga .ins t his will. He said! ''Lo, , I am ·c,on1e, unto thee; 11.ave I n1ow any po,v-1er at all to say anything? the word that God p,uttetl1 in my mouth, tha~ shall I spe·ak.'' He did hi,s very 11t1nost to curse t11e Israe .l .. it,es, b11t as often · as he tri ed it, he blessed them. Balak at l.ast said, ''N eitl1e·r curs 1e tl1.em a·t a11, nor bless them at all.'' But Balaam answered, ''Told not I thee, say ing, All the Lord speak~th, that must I do'' (Nu ·m. 212 :,38; 23 :26) ..

· In t·he five books of Moses, in the books called l1istorical , and bool<:s included ttnder the general title 0£ the Psalms, such

• ex?ressions as the fa llowing occur httndreds of times: ''Thus saith the Lo,rd ;'' ''The Lord said;'' ''The Lord spake;'' ''The Lord hath spoken ;'' ''The saying of the Lord ;'' and ''The word of the Lord.'' There is no other thought expressed in

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tl.1ese books concerning inspiration than that the writers spoke and w1·ote tl11e V·ery word s tha t God gave them.

T ·urning to the books called pro pl1etical, we find Isaiah say­ing, ''Hear the word of the Lord'' (Isa. 1 :10) ; and n.o f 1ew1er tl1an tw 1enty times does I1e exp 1licitly clcclare that his writ-

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ings are the ,·,words of t'he Lord." Al1nost one hundred times does Jeremiah say, ''The vv1or 1d of the L,ord came unto .m.e,'' or declare he was uttering tl1e ''word s of the Lord,'' and . the ''word of the living God." Ezekiel says that his writings are tl1e ''wor 1ds of God'' quite sixty time s. I-Ier,e is a sample : ''Son of man, all My words that I sha11 speak ·unt ,o thee re-ceive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears. And go get tl1ee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people,. and speak unto them, and te11 them, , T 'hus saith the Lord God'' ( Ezek. 3 : 10-11). Daniel said, , s And when I heard the voice of His words ' ' (D ,an. 10' :91

) • • Hosea said, ''The ·word of the Lord'' ,(Ho ,sea. 1 .:1). '''The word ,of the Lord that came to Joel'' (Joel 1 :1). Amos said, ''Hear th 1e word of ·the L1ord'~ ( Amos 3 : l). Obadiah said, ''Thus saith the Lord God'' ( Oba. I :1). ''The word of the Lord came unto Jonah'' (Jonah 1 :1). ''Th ,e word of the Lo 1rd that came to Micah'' (Micah 1:1) . Nahuin said, ''Thus saith the L,ord'' (Nah. 1 :12). Habakkuk ,v,rote, ''The Loi1·d answered me and said'' ( Hab. 2 :2). ''The word of tl1e Lo1·d w'hich came to Zephaniah' '' ( Zeph. 1 : 1). 'fCaffie the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet'' (Hag ~

· 1 :1 )~ ''Came the word of the Lord unto Zecl1ariah'' (Zech. 1 :1). ''The word ~of the Lord to Israel by Malachi'' ' (Mal. 1 : 1). And in this last of the Old Testan1ent boo,ks, is it t\venty-four ti1nes sa·id, ,,·,Thus saith the Lord."

Tl1e wor ,ds Jes ·us Himself uttered were · inspired. The words . . He spoke were not His own, but actu .ally p,ut into His mouth .

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In the most express manner it was f o,retold that Chri st should thus speak, just as Moses spake. ''A pro ·phet sha11 the Lo 1rd your G,od raise up ., like unt 10 me. To Him ye shall hearl<:en.'' . T,vi ,c,e it is said, '' .t1:k1e 1tn.to nie.,'' And how like t,o, :r..1:01,ses, ex -

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cept as the whole context shows, ''like unto'' him in verbal i11spiration! To Moses God said: ''I will be with thy mouth, and teach tl1ee wl1at to say. Thou shalt put words in Aaron's mouth, and I will be witl1 thy mouth, and teach you what you shall say. And he sl1all be thy spokesman to the people. And he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou ,shalt 'be to him instead of God'' (Ex. 4:11-16). Therefore did Jesus, the Prophet, utter inspired words ' 'like unto Moses.'' Tl1e very words He spol<:e God put into His mouth and on His tongue. There£ ore did He say, assuring the Jews that Moses wrote of Him: ''I have not spol<en from Myself, bttt the Father whe> sent Me gave Me commandment what I shotlld s.ay and what I sh 1ould s,peak.. I sp,eak the ,refore even ,as the Father said to Me, even so I speak'' (John 12 :49, 50). ''I have given unto them the words Thou gave st Me, and tl1ey have received them'' (Jol1n 17 :8). ''The Son can do 11ot1'1ing from Himself'' ( 5 :19). Since Jesus Christ had to be divinely · Jielped, ''like unto Moses',, the very words ·put i,·zto 'His mouth, Himself God'~f moutJi, and as God to the people, l1ow sl1ould

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· not the Evangelists and Apostles need tl1e same Div~ine guid-ance and help to qualify tl1em for their wort<:, and guarantee

· its inerrant trLtthfutne ss and its Divine authority? If Moses and Isaiah, if Jesus Christ Himself, had to be · divinely as­sisted,, how should the narrators of New Testament history and oracles be exempted from the same Divine activity of the Spirit, all-controlling and guiding into the ft1ll truth? What are the words of Jesus to John, and to the Seven Churches of the Apocalyp se, but the literal words of God dictated ver­b,a.liy by Jesus Christ ? . Jesus said to the disciples, '' And when they lead you to the Judgmetlt, and deliver you up, be not anxious beforehand what ye shall speak.: Out whatsoever shall be given you in that ~our, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, b11t the Holy Ghos1t'' 1 (Marl( 1[3 .:11). ·

This same gift included all the disciples on the day of Pen-

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·tecost, for '·'They W 1ere a]] filled with the Holy Gho ist, and be,-gan to speak with . othei· tongues as the Spirit gave them ut­terance'' (Acts 2 :1, 4). The multitude that heard · ''marveled, , saying, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own language? . . • We do

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• hear them speaking in our to,ngues the mighty wo ,i·ks ,o,f God'' (Acts 2 :7, 11 ). ·

Paul says: ''Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teach­eth' ' ( 1 1Cor. 2 :13). ''And for this cause we also thank God without ceasing ,, that, when ye r 1eceived from us the ,vord of the message, eve1i the word of God, ye accepted it not as the word of men, b1ut, as it is in truth., the word of God'' (l Thess. 2:13). .

And so the Bible unif 'orm)y teaches the doctrine of verb 1a1 i11spiration. It is the Word of God., This is the invariable testimony of the Book itself. It never, in a single instance , says that the thoughts of the writers were inspired; or, that these writers had a ''Concept.'' The Scriptures are called "'The oracles of Go,d'~ 1(Ro 1m. 3 :2); "'The Word of God'' (Luke 8:11); ''The Word of the Lord'' (Acts 13 :48); ''The . Word of life'' (Phil. 2:16); ''The Word of · Christ'' (Col. 3 :16) ; 1''The Word of truth'' (E lp'h. 1 :13) ; '' 'The · W 1ord o·f faith'' {Rom. 10 :8) ; and, by these and similar sta tements, clo1 they declare, more than two th,ousan1d times, that tl1e Bible is -the Word of God that the words are God-breathed, a1"e inspir ,ed ( theopneust 1os) .

SECOND. What of the Inferential Testimony to the fact of verbal inspiration? I mean by Inferential Testimony that which is assumed by the Bible, and the natural implication 'belonging ,to m,any of its s·tatements. ,

The Bible assu1nes to be from God in that it meets man face to face with drawn sword and says: 1'Thou shalt r• ·and ''T 'ho:u shalt not I'' and demands immediate, uncondi,tiona·1 and irreversible surrender to the authority of heaven, and sub-

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mission to all the laws and will of God, as made known in its Pa.ges. This · of itself would not signify a great deal, though . '

Unique, were it not for the striking and significant results 1of such submission; but, the natu1·al infe ·re·nce of such assump­tion is, that the words of clemand and command are from G,od.

A great many statements of· the Bible plainl .Y indicate that the words are inspired. The following are a few instances: "Forever, 0 L()rd, Thy Word is settled in heaven'' ( Psa. 119 :89). This is characteristic of the entire Psalm. ''The Words of the Lord are p,ure words ,'' ( Psa. 12 :6). ''Is l not My word like as a fire? saith the Lord ; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces ?" ( J er. 23 !29) . ''The Word of our God shall stand forever ' ' (Isa. 40:8); and so on, almost ad infinitum. Everywhere in the sa1cred record you find this same suggestion of Divine authorship. Jesus and the Apostles always recognized it, and gave it prominence and

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ernpl1asis~ Its importance and value should not be under-estimated.

THIRD. The Resultant Testimony. What of it? Paul tells us that ''Ev ,ery sacred writing'' is ''God-breathed.'' (Pasa G,.aphe Theopncustos.) ''No prophecy ever came by the will of m.an; but men spake from God, being moved [p}ieromenoi, home along) by the Holy Spirit'' (2 Pet. 1 :21). (This pas­~age does not justify the so-called ''mechanical theory of Inspiration.'' Such theory is nowhere taught in the Scrip­tur ,es. Ind 1eed, the obvio 1us fact tha.t the indivi ,dual character-• •• 1st1cs of the writers were in no way changed or de,str 1oyed disproves such theory.) It is said: ''The Lord God · formed tnan of the du st of tl1e grou ,nd, and breathed into 1 his nos­trils the breath of life; and man became a living soul'' (Gen. 2 :7). . Elihu said , '~The · Spirit of God ~hath made me , and the breath of the Almighty hath given 111e life,, (Job 33 :4). ~ow, then, the very same Almighty power that gave life to Adam and Elil1t1, and which made the ''Heavens ... a11d

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34 The Funda1ncntals

all the host of them," is, in some n1ysterious sense, in the words of the Sacred Record. Therefore are we told: "For the Word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intent s of the heart" (Heb. 4 :12). vVhat results will follow believing the Word and submission to its requirements?

1. It will impart spiritual life and. save the soul. "Re­ceive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls" (James 1 :21). "Having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the Word of God, which liveth and abideth" ( 1 Pet. 1 :23). "Of His own will begat He us by the Word of truth" (James 1 :18). Jesus said: "The words I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life" (John 6 :63).

As a good seed contains the genn of life, so that when cast into the soil of earth at the proper season, under the in­fluence of sunshine and showers, it germinates and springs up to reproduce itself in kind; even so the ·words of the Bible, if received into the mind and heart to be believed and obeyed, germinate, and spiritual life is the result, reproducing its kind; and that believing soul is made partaker of the Divine nature. (2 Pet. 1 :4.) "He is a new creature [creation] ; the old things are pas sed away; behold, they are become new" (2 Cor. 5 :17). The power and life of the Almighty lie hidden in the words of the Sacred Record; they are God­breathed; and that power and life will be manifest in the case of every one who will receive them with meekness to believe them arid submit to their requirements. All the books men have written cannot do this.

2. It has cleansing po,ver. "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto accordirig to Thy Word" (Psa. 119:9). Jesus said: "Already ye are clean becau se of the Word which I have spoken unto you" (John

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15 :3). "That He might sanctify it, having cleansed it, by the washing of water with the Word" (Eph. 5 :26).

3. By the Word we are kept from evil and the power of the evil one. The Psalmist said : "By the words of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer" ( Psa. 17 :4) ; and, "Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee" ( Psa. 119 : 11). The ref ore, Jesus said : "I have given them Thy Word .... Sanctify them through [in] the truth. Thy Word is truth" (John 17 :14, 17).

The voice said : "Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field .... The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the Word of our God shall stand forever" ( Isa. 40 :6, 8). "For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth" (2 Cor. 13 :8).

This, then, is the sum of our contention : The Bible is made up of writings, and these are con1posed of words. The WORDS are inspired-God-breathed. Therefore is the Bible inspired-is God's Word.

This is plainly seen, first, in the uniform declaration of the Book. All the Old Testament Prophets, Jesus our Lord, and all the New Testament writers, bear the same testimony con­cerning this transcendentally important matter. Not a single Word or thought to the contrary can anywhere be found in all their declarations. The attitude of Jesus toward the Old Testament and His utterances confirm bey.ond question our contention. He had the very same Old Testament we have today. I-Ie believed it to be the Word of God, and pro­claimed it as such. He said "One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the laws, till all be fulfilled." In thwarting the tempter He said: "It is written! it is w'ritten ! it is writ­ten!" In confounding the Jews He said: "If ye believed Moses ye would believe Me; for he wrote of Me." He never criticised the Scriptures, but always appealed to them as His Father's ,-.,ords, authoritative and final.

36 . The Funda1n entais

Jesus is the life and the light of n1an. The same is true of the Scriptures. Jesus said: "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." The Psaln1ist said, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto mY path." In an inexplicable way Jesus is identified with the Word. "The Word was God. . . . and the Word became flesh." And when the victories of the Gospel shall have beefl finally accomplished, and Jesus shall assert rlis regal rights, His name is called, "The Word of God." (See Rev. 19 :ll; 13.)

Second. The Bible assumes to be God's Word by its itll .. perious demands. Who but God has a right to require of men what the Bible does?

Third. The Bible has fulfilled all its claims and promises, The marvelous, far -reaching results of proclaiming and be' lieving it, demonstrably prove its supernatural origin and character.

That there are difficulties, I well enough know. But manY difficulties have disappeared as a result of patient, reverent, scholarly research; and without doubt others will soon go the same way. So, while I bid the scholars and reverent critics God-speed in their noble work, with the late learned Bishop Ryle I say: "Give n1e the plenary verbal theory with all itS djfficulties, rather than the doubt. I accept the difficulfies, a11d humbly wait for their solut ion; but while I wait I alJ1 standing on a rock."

Let thi s, then, be our attitud e, to tell it out to the wide world that the blessed Bible, the "Hol y Scriptures" of both 1

Testaments, are the product of the "Breath of God," who 1

made heaven and earth, and "b reathed" into man His soul; the product of that Divine "Breath" that regenerates, that illurninates and sanctifies the soul; a "God-brea.th ed Serif" tures", whose "word s" are the ''words o~ God." Tell it to the

1 Church in her seminaries, universities and colleges, from bet pulpits, Sunday Schools and Bible cias~es, and sound it itJ every conventi on . conference and assen1bly that her concep~

Inspiration .37 • I

bon and estimate of the Scripture s must be no lower and no less than were the high conception and estim~te of the "Vol­Utne of the Book'' by our Lord and His Apostles; that what they regarded as the "Breath of God", she must so regard in 0Pposition to every breath of man that dares to breathe other­\\rise. Say, with the immortal Athanasius, who knew how to read Greek better than the "drift of scholarly opinion" "in our tirne": "O my child, not only the ancient, but the new Scrip­htres are God-breathed, as Paul saith, 'Every Scripture is God­hreathed' ". Say to the rising ministry, "Speak as the Oracles of God speak"-the ·words that "God hath spoken," the wo~ds that Christ has written. Be at least, as decent as Balaam ! ''Whatsoever He saith unto you, do;" and whatsoever He saith Unto you, say. TeH it to every reader and hearer of the Word, that what "Moses saith" and "David saith" and ''Isaiah, Peter, Paul, John and the Scripture, saith", is what ''God saith". Tell it to the dying saint, when his last pulse quivers at the wrist, and friends are weeping by his bed, and 'cScience" has exhausted in vain all her poor resources, that God, who breathed the Scriptures, "cannot lie", that Jesus is a Rock, and that the "firm Foundation" laid in the Word for his faith can never disappoint his trust. To every ques­tion of Exegesis or of Criticism , return the answer, "What saith the Scriptures"? "How read est thou?" . "It is writ­ten !" i\'nd cease to deride the n1ost sacred, age-established, and tin1e-honored tradition the Apostolic Church has left · us. 'With such an attitude as this, the days will revisit the Church, as once they were "in the beginning'', and God, honored in liis Word, will no longer restrain the Spirit, but open the Windows 0£ heaven, and pour upon her a blessing so great that there will not be room to receive it. God hasten the day!