Yes, it does matter which model of inspiration a person believes. By way of answering the question

this paper will briefly evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different theories and models of

inspiration. There are different theories and models of inspiration and theologians and scholars

argue about their relative strengths, weaknesses and their credibility. This paper will look at the

following: Mechanical Dictation, Plenary Inspiration, Verbal Inspiration, the Neo-orthodox theory,

Thought Inspiration and the Biblical View.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Mechanical Dictation Theory

This theory or process of inspiration teaches that the bible writers recorded exactly the words of

God into the scripture. Some scholars also refer to this as verbal inspiration which means that God

dictated every word written by the human authors so that the exact words are put on paper. They

illustrated this as God used the human authors as secretaries and they copy down the exact words of

God. This theory is based on the following passages of scripture: Psalms 119:89 which says that

“God’s word is eternal and it stands firm in the heavens,” and Matthew 5:17 which says that “...not

the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Gary Linton stated

that “even some of the theologians argued that the grammar must be perfect in every place because

it’s the Holy Spirit’s grammar.”1 However, theologians argued that this theory has a weakness

because the Bible contains most of the authors’ personal experiences, emotions, and trials that they

went through. For instance, the Apostle Paul wrote many of the epistles contained in the Bible which

include his personal experiences, emotions, trials and ministry.

Verbal Inspiration

Angel Manuel Rodriguez discussed in his article the theological argument on the Adventist pioneers’

claim of verbal inspiration of the Bible which other Protestant churches also have. The pioneers

believed that Bible is holy words of God, so as the Ten Commandments which God gave to His

servant Moses on Mount Sinai. The Ten Commandments were said to be God’s exacts words

because they were inscribed by God’s own finger on the two tablets of stone (Exodus 31:18). After

much discussion on the issue, the church eventually was uncomfortable with the theory of verbal

1 Dr Gary Linton, “Theories of Inspiration of Scripture,” Ministrymaker, accessed October 19, 2014, http://ministrymaker.com/inspiration-of-scripture-theories-of-inspiration/.

inspiration and later rejected the theory2. The classical theologians viewed Revelation and

Inspiration in a wider perspective as the role of God’s activities and minimised the role of humans as

the agents God used to write the actual words of scripture.3 However, Juan Carlos Viera argues that

verbal inspiration has the weakness in claiming that God dictates his exact words to the human

writers of the Bible,4because major part of the Bible is about the human writers’ thoughts, personal

experiences, poetries, slogans and personal letters. Linton stated that God partnered with human

writers to use their individual personalities, their unique background, their individual styles, their

unique thoughts, opinions, prayers and their emotions5. So in essence the Holy Spirit guided the

writers and what they wrote.

Plenary Theory

Plenary theory of inspiration was defined as God using the potentials and creative abilities of the

human writers to write down the sacred and creative Word of God (Psa.33:4, 6, and 9). The liberal

theologians argue that the Bible exposes the inner feelings and challenges of the author6. Examples

of these are found in the letters of the Apostle Paul and his experiences and also in the Psalms in

which David as the musician composed songs out of his heart from personal experience of God and

His nature. However, this theory was observed to have a weakness because the Bible is not about

the writer and who he was but about God’s revelation of Himself in the person of His Son Jesus

Christ.

Neo-orthodox

Those who hold to this theory view inspiration of the Bible based on their understanding of God and

their view of God. He is far from human reach; God communicates to humans through revealing

himself to us. The Bible is not the word of God but it suggests that the Bible becomes a witness to

the Word because “Word is God” (John 1:1-3). Neo-orthodox theory holds that the words in the

Bible are not God’s words but they believe that God use those words to communicate to people.

This theory continues to uphold that the Bible still has grammatical errors and in the style of writing

even though it has evidence of divine influence over the writers. The Bible cannot be taken literally

2 Angel Manuel Rodriguez, “Issues on Revelation and Inspiration | Biblical Research Institute,” last modified April 2005, accessed October 14, 2014, https://adventistbiblicalresearch.org/materials/bible/issues-revelation-and-inspiration.3 Research Institute (Seventh-day Adventists. General Conference) Biblical, Understanding Scripture: An Adventist Approach, ed. George W. Reid and Raoul Dederen, Biblical Research Institute studies v. 1 (Silver Spring, MI: Biblical Research Institute, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 2005), 52.4 Juan Carlos Viera, “The Dynamics of Inspiration A Close Look at the Messages of Ellen White” (May 30, 1996).5 Linton, “Theories of Inspiration of Scripture.”6 Andrew Corbett, “THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE” (2001).

as perfectly correct. Gary Linton stated in his article that neo-orthodox theory claims that the Bible is

the avenue in which God imparts His truth to a person on the condition that the truth changes his

life and then the truth becomes the Word of God.7 Linton further stated that, “the Bible is not

divinely inspired, but rather, a channel through which divine inspiration flows”8.

Thought inspiration

Thought inspiration theory argues that the Bible is written by human writers who were illuminated

or in other words the very words used by the author were not inspired but the thoughts or ideas of

the scripture were given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The writers expressed those ideas in

their own words in writing. Liberal theologians argue that because the human writers are fallible,

Bible too is fallible. Verbal theory of inspiration argues that thought inspiration weakens or

contradicts the idea of divine inspiration in 2 Timothy 3:16,17 which says that “all scripture is given

by the inspiration of God.” In other words, Verbal theory claims God put the exact words into the

lips of the writer and on to the paper. However, Angel Manuel Rodriguez quoted from a General

Conference statement as follows: “We believe the light given by God to His servants is by the

enlightenment of the mind, thus imparting the thought, and not the very words in which the ideas

should be expressed. This view was to be known as ‘thought inspiration’”9. Most Adventists still

accept verbal and mechanical dictation theory of inspiration. Ellen G. White through the guidance of

the Holy Spirit stated in the introduction to the Great Controversy how she understood biblical

inspiration. She wrote: “The Infinite One by His Holy Spirit has shed light into the minds and hearts

of His servants. He has given dreams and visions, symbols and figures; and those to whom the truth

was thus revealed have themselves embodied the thought in human language.”10 Different

theologians in Adventism have been divided into two groups to settle the struggle among

themselves. Some promote verbal and mechanical inspiration and others promote thought

inspiration. Juan Carlos Viera identified six models of inspiration in his article The Dynamics of

Inspiration, as follows: visionary, witness, historian, counsellor, epistolary, and literary. He stated

that all of these were used in the holy pages of the Bible11. These models of inspiration are evidence

that God used this mysterious process to communicate His truth to humanity. Ellen G. White stated

that “it is not the words of the Bible that are inspired, but the men that were inspired. Inspiration

acts not on the man’s words or his expressions but on the man himself, who, under the influence of

the Holy Ghost, is imbued with thoughts. But the words receive the impress of the individual mind. 7 Ibid.8 Viera, “The Dynamics of Inspiration A Close Look at the Messages of Ellen White.”9 Rodriguez, “Issues on Revelation and Inspiration | Biblical Research Institute.”10 Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy between Christ and Satan: The Conflict of the Ages in the Christian Dispensation (Nampa, Idaho ; Oshawa, Ontario, Canada: Pacific, 2012), 5.11 Viera, “The Dynamics of Inspiration A Close Look at the Messages of Ellen White.”

The divine mind is diffused. The divine mind and will is combined with the human mind and will; thus

utterances of the man are the word of God.”12

Biblical View

There are many arguments among the scholars and theologians on the authorship of the Bible when

it comes to the argument on inspiration of the Bible and the interpretation of 2Timothy 3:16 and 2

Peter 1:21. Paul uses the Greek term pasa graphe theopneustos to mean ‘all (every) scripture [is]

God breathed’ (2Tim.3:16)13. There are a couple of arguments on this text; some argue that God

breaths into the scripture his authoritive approval of his word, and others argue that the scripture

breaths out, and that what comes from the scripture is from God. Peter clarifies the argument by

saying “For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke

from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet.1: 21). John Frame (cited in The

Church, A pillar of truth) states that “to breathe out words is to speak. To say that God breathes out

errors is to say that he speaks errors. That is biblically impossible. God does not lie (Titus 1:2) and he

does not make mistakes (Heb. 4: 12). So he speaks only truth.”14 The outcome of inspiration is to

confirm that all scripture is holy and divinely infallible, and has the power to rule over our faith and

practice. God is the author and speaker of the Scripture. Clark Pinnock cited The Main Theories of

the Inspiration of Scripture argues that “theopneustos means breathed out by God, but the context,

he adds, also suggests a Spiritual power possessed by the text is what makes it so effective for the

purpose specified”15. Even though the Bible was written by men, scripture clearly claims (2 Tim. 3:16)

that the Spirit of God was the author of the Scripture. The Spirit of God uses the talents and abilities

of men to reveal the will of God to fallen human beings. Myer Pearlman cited Theories of Inspiration

of Scripture defines inspiration of the Scripture as, “The supernatural influence of the Spirit of God

on the human mind, by which prophets and apostles and sacred writers were qualified to set forth

Divine truth without any mixture of error”16.

Although there is theological arguments among the theologians and even among the Christians who

read the Bible, most have accepted the Bible as the inspired word of God. They also believe that the

Holy Spirit moved, and inspired the human writers of the Bible (2 Pet. 1:21). Therefore, the Bible is 12 Rodriguez, “Issues on Revelation and Inspiration | Biblical Research Institute.”13 Research Institute (Seventh-day Adventists. General Conference) Biblical, Understanding Scripture: An Adventist Approach, ed. George W. Reid and Raoul Dederen, Biblical Research Institute studies v. 1 (Silver Spring, MI: Biblical Research Institute, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 2005), 48.14 Michael D Williams, “The Church, a Pillar of Truth: B. B. Warfield’s Church Doctrine of Inspirat...: EBSCOhost,” last modified 2011, accessed October 14, 2014, http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=79857b40-d057-4de5-8806-358c06a4fa0c%40sessionmgr115&vid=0&hid=106.15 Robert I. Bradshaw, “The Main Theories of the Inspiration of Scripture,” last modified 1990, accessed October 14, 2014, http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_inspiration.html.16 Linton, “Theories of Inspiration of Scripture.”

very useful for guiding us to salvation, and for strengthening our faith. The scripture contains

evidence that the New Testament affirms the inspiration of the Old Testament (Luke 24:44 and John

5:46).

A crucial point to remember after all these arguments is that if the Bible was written with the exact

words of God, then the readers of the Bible would be like King Belshazzar, who was terrified, pale

and fearful when he saw the writings on the wall. No one could interpret these writings except the

servant of God, Daniel. Therefore, through the scriptures God has revealed Himself to mankind in all

history and he continues to reveal to man the knowledge of God’s involvement in human history and

of course ultimately in the person of Jesus Christ. When looking at Jesus’ attitude and usage of the

scripture and the prophets’ and apostles’ acceptance of the Bible as the trustworthy and

authoritative Word of God, given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in human language for better

understanding,17then we can have confidence in the truth of the Bible.

The arguments and criticisms on the different theories and models of inspiration of the Bible, their

weaknesses and strengths have been discussed in this paper. The Verbal and Thought inspiration

was evident to be the process in which the Bible was written in all those argument, even though

there are criticisms on these theories which cannot be denied but biblical evident support thought

and verbal theories.

17 Raoul Dederen, Nancy J. Vyhmeister, and George W. Reid, eds., Handbook of Seventh-Day Adventist Theology, Commentary reference series v. 12 (Hagerstown, Md: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2000).