Posted by: John
March 13, 2004 09:20 PM

Divine Inspiration of Scripture!

To say that all of Paul’s words and thoughts were inspired by God is foolish and untruthful for only the words of Jesus are truly God’s words and thoughts except words given by prophets who said thus saith the Lord!

Concerning Scriptures I believe that when Paul stated that all scripture is inspired by God his remark was related to the Old Testament and not any other manuscript written by anybody about the Gospel or Jesus. The same with Jesus and Peter. The bible tells us:

MT 21:42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD'S doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'?

LK 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

JN 5:39 "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.

ACTS 17:2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

2TM 3:15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

1PT 2:6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."

2PT 1:20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,

Peter didn't refer to Paul's epistles as "scriptures" but as epistles which speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures (REFERING TO THE OLD TESTAMENT AND NOW THE NEW TESTAMENT)

The Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 313 A.D. At that point, Christianity became an official state religion instead of a persecuted minority. Because Rome was the capital of the Roman Empire, Rome also became the center of Christianity.

The collection of books we know as the New Testament emerged in the late second century, A.D. The church leaders included books they believed were written by eyewitnesses to the events narrated, while rejecting many other early Christian writings. Eventually, the 27 books which form the present New Testament, along with the Old Testament books, became the Christian Bible as we know it today. The New Testament canon was formally adopted by the Synod of Carthage in 397 A.D.

There were no Protestants at that time - the Protestant Reformation did not occur until about 1150 years later.

Today, virtually all Christians - both Catholic and Protestant - believe the 27 books of the NT were inspired by God. It is true that Paul's letters were originally written to specific churches. But Catholic Christians believe the theology in Paul's letters was inspired by God but not his personal views! Some Protestants, not all, believe that everything that Paul wrote was God’s views!

The Bible is not written in any chronological order. The fact that it appears to be out of order should never detract from the meaning or teaching, for aiding our lives that it was intended for. One writer’s account chronologically differs from another, but fact remains the lesson did not change.

Contrary to the fear of some, the acceptance of biblical uniqueness obliges no one to distort reality. The Bible as we know it is not without problems. But these difficulties may be admitted without compromising reason or attacking the sacred book. There may be problems of translation, transcription, transmission, or personal interpretation. The carefulness of scribes, or the physical condition of available manuscripts, or the precision of a given translation, the distance between the authors and their peoples and the translators of today, or our own intellectual limitations, any or all of these may be justifiably invoked as an explanation of the difficulties without undermining the Bible's claim to uniqueness.

Besides, a recognition of the Bible's uniqueness does not require us to read it as a twentieth century text. Belief in its accuracy should not obligate the book to conform to some modern pattern of expression, choice of themes, organization of data, or source documentation.

Stating that the Bible is not a scientific text or historical treatise might well reflect the presupposition that all texts of history or science, through all the ages and variations of human culture have required a format which the scholarship of the Western world of the twentieth century is authorized to define. Such documental responsibility, such patent absurdity attracts no one, and, in the best of providence or good fortune, is not required of anyone.

Apostle Peter made a powerful statement concerning prophecy in the Bible. 2 Peter 1:20-21 says, "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."
But Apostle Paul never stated that any of his epistles were prophecy or like John, he was in the Spirit on the Lord day and was instructed by God to write the epistles? To say that Paul was moved by God to write the epistles is an assumption and presumption?

When Paul stated in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God maybe adequate, equipped for every good work" He was referring to the Old Testament and not his epistles? There is no testimony from anybody stating that Paul’s epistles were "God-breathed."

And when it came to women Paul wrote about his own views, not God’s and didn’t state like prophets of old thus saith the Lord . . ." and "the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying . . but rather he stated 1 Timothy 2:11-12, " Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence." In other words Paul’s epistles contain his own views on different matters as well as God’s views! And only the Holy Spirit who is the author of scripture can reveal to us what is truth and what is error!

Jesus Christ himself considered only the Old Testament to be Scripture or Word of God. In Matthew 5:18 we hear Him saying, "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the law, until all is accomplished." When Jesus encountered Satan in the wilderness temptation, He quoted Scripture as a final authority. He said, "It is written .." He spoke of His own life being a fulfillment of the Scripture. In John 10:35, Jesus said "Scripture cannot be broken " referring to the Old Testament, not the New Testament which was not written.

Posted by: Pressed
March 18, 2004 06:25 PM

only the Holy Spirit who is the author of scripture can reveal to us what is truth and what is error!

And Paul, being filled with the Holy Spirit surely understood what was truth and error. Nothing that Paul says stands in direct conflict of other passages or doctrines. The gospels, written after many of Paul's epistles, do not conflict or condemn any of Paul's writings.

for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." - And Paul did not? Is that what you are saying? Do we discount Paul's epistles as simply opinion on the basis that Peter didn't call them prophecy?

Who is to say that an epistle cannot contain prophecy? Just because what Paul wrote was in the form of a letter and not in the same form as the gospels doesn't mean that it did not and cannot contain prophecy. The epistles can be just as much of an inspired message as the gospels themselves, and the fact that Peter referred to them as epistles just goes to show that they were epistles... letters... but that certainly does not prove them to not be prophecy or inspired.

Would God allow such confusion to be ingrained in His word for all of these years? I thought Satan was the author of confusion… not God.

Although I see what you are saying, I am inclined to disagree. I believe the Bible today is how God meant it to be, and that Paul was inspired by the Spirit of God to write what he did in his epistles.