[George]

{The following Essays written by a Christian brother in India expresses what I believe about the "Inspiration of Scripture" - far better than anything that I have read or written. - G.A.}

Inspiration of Scriptures

By Moses LemuelRaj

{Secunderabad, India}

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2Timothy 3:16).

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2Peter 1:20-21).

“The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.” (2Samuel 23:2).

Many people have many "theories" of inspiration of the Scriptures, but let me make this clear to the readers that MY understanding of the subject is gathered from the AV text, and believing that the AV text constitutes Holy Scriptures in the English language, and is MY final authority of appeal in this matter.

Scripture(s)
I would like to first deal with the term "Scripture(s)" before we go about understanding the term "inspiration." At the first instance, we see the term "Scripture" revealed to us as "Scripture of TRUTH." The angel said, "I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth" (Daniel 10:21). Scripture is the WRITTEN word of God. The reader should first note this point, and keep this in mind throughout. Scribe, scribble, script, Scripture, etc. Scripture is WRITTEN. We read, "it is NOTED in the scripture of truth." In addition, the following things must be observed in relation to the term "Scripture."

1. Scripture can be READ. The Lord Jesus said to Jews, "Did ye never read in the scriptures" (Matthew 21:42). So we understand that the Jews HAD Scriptures with them, and they were supposed to READ them.

2. Lord Jesus told the Jews to "search the SCRIPTURES" (John 5:39). If they had not the Scriptures, why will He tell them to search them?

3. Each of the two COPIES of the book of Isaiah mentioned in the Bible were called "SCRIPTURE" (see Luke 4: 17, 21; Acts 8:30, 32, 35). One copy was in Nazareth and the Lord Jesus READ it, and called it SCRIPTURE. Another COPY was with the Ethiopian eunuch, and he READ it, and Luke calls it SCRIPTURE in his narration.

4. Bereans HAD Scriptures and they "searched the SCRIPTURES daily" (Acts 17:11).

5. "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the SCRIPTURES might have hope"
(Romans 15:4). Unless one HAD the Scriptures, and READ them, how can we have HOPE?

6. Timothy HAD Scriptures, and "from a child ... hast KNOWN the holy scriptures" (2 Timothy 3:15).

7. Scripture "SAITH" (present tense, Romans 10:11), Scripture “FORESEES” (Galatians 3:8), Scripture “CONCLUDES” (Galatians 3:22), Scripture is “HOLY” (Romans 1:2), Scripture is “TRUTH” (Daniel 10:21).

In other words, "Scriptures" were SEEN, HANDLED, READ and HEARD by the Jews, the Lord Jesus, the Bereans, Timothy, Ethiopian eunuch, etc. It is about THESE scriptures we are told, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." We read, "ALL scripture" - whether the Scripture read by the Lord, or Jews or Timothy - "ALL Scripture," "is given by INSPIRATION OF GOD"! That is the PLAIN teaching of the Authorized Version ABOUT the Scriptures. And that Scripture SAITH, FORSEES, CONCLUDES, is FULFILLED, and is HOLY, and is TRUTH! That is how the term "Scripture" is used in the AV. The term "Scripture(s)" in the AV is NEVER used in reference to any “ORIGINAL AUTOGRAPHS”, though the original autographs themselves are obviously "Scripture."

If you read 2 Timothy 3:15-16, we are told in v.15 that Timothy had "holy scriptures;" and then immediately in v.16 we are also told, "ALL scripture" (including the "holy scriptures" that Timothy had) "is given by inspiration of God."

Inspiration
Having now understood the term "Scriptures" in the Bible let us now move on to learn what does INSPIRATION mean in the Bible (AV). When we say "inspiration of the SCRIPTURE," we are NOT talking about the inspiration of ORIGINAL AUTOGRAPHS, but the inspiration of the COPIES that Jesus, Timothy, Ethiopian eunuch, Jews, Paul, et al have SEEN, HANDLED, and READ! We are talking about the "inspiration" of something that is WRITTEN, not SPOKEN. We are talking about the "inspiration" of something by which we can have HOPE, something we are commanded to SEARCH.

Now let me tell you what the term INSPIRATION means -- "The Spirit of God hath made me, and the BREATH of the Almighty hath GIVEN ME LIFE." (Job 33:4). We also read, "But there is a spirit in man: and the INSPIRATION of the Almighty giveth them understanding." (Job 32:8). See how the word INSPIRATION is connected to the spirit of a man, which was created in him by BREATHING INTO him the breath of life. INSPIRE means "breath INTO." That is how man was created. "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and BREATHED INTO his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a LIVING SOUL" (Genesis 2:7). When God BREATHED INTO Adam's nostrils the BREATH of life, he became a LIVING soul. Before that, Adam was just a bunch of DUST! There was no LIFE in him before God breathed INTO him the breath of life. When a man dies, we say that he is EXPIRED. There will NOT be any BREATH in a DEAD man. EXPIRATION is the spirit/breath going OUT of a man leaving him DEAD, but INSPIRATION is the spirit/breath coming INTO a man making him ALIVE (see Ezekiel 37)!

Seeing that the term INSPIRATION in connection with man refers to God breathing the breath of life INTO that man, and thereby making him ALIVE, so we understand that INSPIRATION of the Scriptures as God breathing His BREATH of life INTO the (WRITTEN) SCRIPTURES, and thereby making them ALIVE! That is what inspiration of the Scriptures means. When the Bible says "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," we understand that the Scriptures were given by the PROCESS of inspiration, wherein God has breathed INTO them His spirit and thus made them alive. Thus inspired Scriptures constitute LIVING WORDS of God. And those living words we are referring to are WRITTEN words, for that is what "Scripture" is - WRITTEN stuff!

So, 2 Timothy 3:16 is NOT talking about God breathing OUT the Scriptures, as is commonly assumed. God never breathed out any WRITTEN stuff, but He breathed out His SPOKEN words. Of course, He WROTE with His finger TWICE the Ten Commandments, but they were kept in the ark, and were NOT for the use of people to read. 2 Tim 3:16 is NOT about God breathing OUT the SPOKEN words from His mouth, or God breathing OUT His spoken words thru the mouths of His prophets (as in, 2 Samuel 23:2 - "the Spirit of the LORD SPAKE by me"). 2 Timothy 3:16 talks about God breathing into WRITTEN SCRIPTURES to make them ALIVE.

We see in Genesis that when God breathed-INTO Adam, He did that AFTER forming him fully with the dust. Similarly, in Ezekiel 37, the "breath of life" entered the army AFTER they had got their sinews, flesh and skin. But they did not have life in them, until the breath came INTO them. What I believe about the King James Bible is this: The AV is "Scripture". And if it is "Scripture" then it is given by inspiration of God. That means, the AV has in its WORDS the breath of God, and those words therefore have LIFE. I do NOT believe that God was breathing-OUT when the AV translators penned the words of the Bible on paper. Neither do I believe that the Spirit of God SPAKE by the AV translators when they WROTE.

What I believe is that God breathed INTO this Book, and thereby made it alive. You either call it a LIVING book, or a DEAD book. I believe it is LIVING book, and contains the breath of God, because it is Scripture, which is INSPIRED (breathed-INTO) by God! You have to either call the AV Scripture, and therefore call it INSPIRED, or deny its INSPIRATION and then deny it is "Scripture."

Breathing-OUT of the word of God
“The Spirit of the LORD SPAKE by me, and his WORD was in my TONGUE.” (2Samuel 23:2).

All that was ever SPOKEN by God, and all that was ever spoken by His prophets when God made them to SPEAK by His Spirit, is the word of God. But NOT ALL the words of God that God or His prophets UTTERED were written. Many of them were written, but NOT ALL. Similarly, not ALL written Scriptures were necessarily SPOKEN before. Some were written DIRECTLY, WITHOUT EVER BEING SPOKEN! 2 Peter 1:20-21 talks about how God MOVED the prophets, and as a result how the prophets SPOKE! "Holy men of God SPAKE as they were MOVED by the Holy Ghost." It does NOT say "Holy men of God WROTE as they were INSPIRED by the Holy Ghost." 2 Peter is talking about the ORIGINATION of the prophecies of the Scripture. Those prophecies were UTTERED, SPOKEN, by the men of God, when God MOVED them. The Spirit of God MOVED Samson (Judges 13:25), and he did mighty works for God. Similarly when He MOVED the prophets, they SPOKE. Many of those SPOKEN words were later WRITTEN. And such WRITTEN words of God are called SCRIPTURE. 2Timothy talks about the Scriptures given to us by the inspiration of God - a process wherein God has made them ALIVE by breathing into those WRITTEN words His Spirit!

In conclusion, there are TWO things we need to summarize:

1) The ORIGINATION of the word of God was when God MOVED His prophets to SPEAK His word, or ORACLES: Many of those oracles are preserved for us in WRITING. They were God's breathed-OUT words. But when the devil SPOKE, "Ye shall not surely die," that was a LIE! Those words were NOT breathed-OUT of God either directly, or thru His prophets. Yet, that phrase is a part of INSPIRED SCRIPTURE. 2 Peter talks about the SPOKEN ORACLES, not SCRIPTURES. The breathing-OUT (see 2 Samuel 23:2) happened the FIRST time when those words were SPOKEN. Unfortunately, many people who misunderstand the term INSPIRATION, apply that word to the ORIGINAL GIVING of the Scriptures as breathed-OUT. The "scripture" referred to in 2 Timothy 3:16, is connected to the "holy scriptures" found in verse 15, which Timothy HAD with him. 2 Timothy 3:16 has NO REFERENCE to the original autographs, but the "scriptures" in general, INCLUDING the original autographs.

2) The WRITTEN word of God is INSPIRED, that is, FILLED with the BREATH of God, and has LIFE. Scripture has life because God breathed INTO its words. "All Scripture is given by INSPIRATION of God. Now coming to the words "Ye shall not surely die," we have to assert here that it is SCRIPTURE. It is a part of the collected writings of God's prophets, which God intended that they should be written in a BOOK (Isaiah. 30:8), and preserved for His saints. Those WRITINGS are called SCRIPTURE, and the SCRIPTURE has life in it because it is INSPIRED by God. So, the words "Ye shall not surely die," are INSPIRED SCRIPTURE where they occur, and within the context they occur. They are therefore PROFITABLE for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness.

Those who disagree with my position on the inspiration of the KJV do so because of their misunderstanding of the term INSPIRATION. They think that I teach God breathed-OUT the words of the AV thru the translators, when I teach nothing of the kind. Of course, I do believe that the hand of God was helping them in picking the correct texts and translating those texts faithfully. When I say KJV is inspired Scripture, what I mean is that God has made it ALIVE by BREATHING His breath INTO it. So what is WRITTEN in the Book (AV) are the LIVING words of God. Those are HOLY, and those words have TRUTH in them. There is no FALSEHOOD in the words of the AV. These Scriptures are INERRANT. That is, there are no NUMERICAL, DOCTRINAL, SCIENTIFIC or HISTORICAL errors in the King James text. You cannot have LIVING words and have them teach you ERRONEOUS things.

Here are my questions to those who oppose my position on the King James Bible.

1. If AV is not an inspired Bible, then is there ANY other Bible you can show us as INSPIRED SCRIPTURES?

2. There are more than 200 English Bibles. There are at least 5 different Hebrew OT versions. There are about 25 different Greek New Testaments. Over that you have Bibles in other languages, some of them having 2-3 versions. In all these, is there ANY ONE SINGLE Book that you can call INSPIRED SCRIPTURES that you trust ENTIRELY?

3. If your Bible (that is the book study and preach from) is NOT inspired, then will you confess before the congregation that the Book from which I preach and teach is NOT an inspired book?

4. If your Bible is NOT inspired, then has it EXPIRED? Do you have LIVING words of God, or DEAD words in your Bible? Can you confirm?


Why do we call the AV "the holy scriptures" (Rom 1:2; 2 Timothy 3:15) "GIVEN by inspiration of God"?

By Moses LemuelRaj
{Secunderabad, India}

We believe that we have "the holy scriptures" (Romans 1:2; 2 Timothy 3:15) with us, exactly as Timothy had them and known them. "And have ye not read THIS scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner" (Matthew 12:10). So the sentence "The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner" is a SCRIPTURE (singular), an INDIVIDUAL scripture. "And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced" (John 19:37), and this speaks about another INDIVIDUAL scripture (singular). Further, "Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?" (Matthew 21:42). The above individual scripture (singular) is found IN THE SCRIPTURES (plural). The Lord Jesus referred to the complete OT as "all the scriptures" (Luke 24:27) - the INDIVIDUAL scriptures together. Paul's epistles were called "other scriptures" (2 Peter 3:16). And all these INDIVIDUAL scriptures TOGETHER are called as "the holy scriptures" (Romans 1:2; 2 Timothy 3:15), and when spoken as a single ENTITY is called as "ALL scripture" (2 Timothy 3:16). Now this "ALL scripture" which Paul refers to, "IS GIVEN by inspiration of God, and IS PROFITABLE."

The AV does NOT say, "EVERY scripture is given by inspiration of God." It says "ALL scripture." "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the SCRIPTURE is of any PRIVATE INTERPRETATION. For the PROPHECY came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God SPAKE as they were MOVED by the Holy Ghost." (2Peter 1:20-21). Please notice that subject in 2 Peter 1:20-21 is NOT scripture, but "prophecy of the scripture." The holy men of God DID NOT speak SCRIPTURE - they spoke PROPHECY. All we have there is SPOKEN prophecy, and not WRITTEN prophecy. Scripture is always written. Every thing that is WRITTEN is NOT scripture, but SCRIPTURE is always WRITTEN. The Bible does not say anything about "holy men of God" being INSPIRED, nor their WORDS individually "GIVEN by inspiration." But the Bible says, "ALL scripture is GIVEN by inspiration of God." We are talking about "ALL scripture"GIVEN by inspiration of God." as a UNIT, which is "

What do you mean by "inspiration of God"? Please consider this verse. "The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me LIFE" (Job 33:4). Look at this verse also, "But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding" (Job 32:8). Do you see the connection now? The INSPIRATION of God is the "BREATH of the Almighty." And that BREATH gives LIFE.

The first case of "inspiration" (Job 32:8) is found in Genesis 2:7. "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Please notice that the Lord did not make individual living cells, and assembled them into a living man. He first FORMED the man to COMPLETION. Adam had the full FORM, but was not living, until the Lord gave the breath of life. And then the man became a living soul, with every CELL of his body showing the signs of LIFE.

Another case of "inspiration" (Job 32:8) is found in Ezekiel 37. The Lord made the dry bones live. The Lord sent a prophecy unto the dry bones saying, "I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall LIVE" (v.5). The bones came together; sinews, flesh and skin were formed. Complete BODY was formed, "but there was no breath in them" (v.8). Then we read, "and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army" (v.10).

The "inspiration of God" is the "breath of the Almighty." And this breath always came INTO a completely FORMED thing. And that thing into which the breath came LIVED. This is what we believe exactly. We are NOT saying that EVERY WORD of the AV was "GIVEN by inspiration." But we say that the Lord has sent the "inspiration of God" inside the AV thus making it "the holy scriptures," and therefore the AV is "GIVEN inspiration of God."EVERY WORD of God is PURE" (Proverbs 30:5) Therefore ", and the Lord said, "the WORDS that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT, and they are LIFE" (John 6:63). Note that the Lord equated "scripture" with "word of God" (John 10:35). The "Word of life" (1 John 1:1) gave us the "word of life" (Philippians 2:16).

Further, "the holy scriptures" were KNOWN by Timothy when he was a CHILD, exactly as my 5 year old son (in 2005) KNOWS it when he recites from memory Psalm 23, 91 and 100 verbatim from the King James Bible. The term "the holy scriptures" found in 2 Timothy 3:15 DOES NOT refer to any "original autographs" or any "original manuscripts." The "scriptures" that Timothy had known, are "GIVEN by inspiration of God" according to 2 Timothy 3:15-16.

We believe that the AV is "the holy scriptures" because, 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All scripture IS given by inspiration" and DOES NOT say "all scripture WAS given by inspiration." It IS presently available with us, so that we can "search the scriptures" as per the commandment of the Lord Jesus (John 5:39), and follow the example of the Bereans who "searched the scriptures DAILY" (Acts 17:11).

We believe that the AV is "the holy scriptures" because, 2 Tim 3:16 says, "All scripture ... is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." Notice this carefully. The scripture which is given by inspiration of God is PROFITABLE. Today the AV is "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness," and therefore AV is "the holy scriptures." It says, "All scripture ... IS profitable" and DOES NOT say "WAS profitable." Therefore, "ALL scripture" IS there here today, and THAT is "GIVEN by inspiration of God." Tell us something. Are the "original autographs" PROFITABLE for us NOW? They are NOT profitable, because they are NOT there ANYWHERE in the first place!!! If they are NOT profitable NOW, that means they are NOT "GIVEN by inspiration of God" NOW, because "ALL scripture IS given by inspiration of God, and IS PROFITABLE."

The fact that "ALL scripture" (2 Timothy 3:16) should NOW contain 66 books, divided into 39 books in the OT, and 27 books in the NT is confirmed by the chapter divisions in the book of Isaiah. The book of Isaiah contains 66 chapters, and is divided into two parts - first 39 chapters, and the next 27 chapters - corresponding to the OT and the NT. You can see that the ministry of John the Baptist in Isa 40. Therefore, the "Holy Scriptures" published by the Jewish Publication Society containing only the the OT, with 2 Chronicles as its last book is NOT "the holy scriptures," and this fact can be verified by the denial of virgin birth of the Lord in Isa 7:14 in the JPS "bible." Please note that Peter calls all the 14 epistles of Paul as "scriptures" in 2 Peter 3:16, and Paul calls the gospel of Luke as "scripture" (1 Timothy 5:18 with Luke 10:7), and these are missing from the JPS "bible."

None of the Hebrew Old Testaments (there are more than 5 varieties) in the Hebrew language can be called "ALL scripture" TODAY, as they DO NOT contain the 14 epistles of Paul, nor the gospel of Luke, which were called "scriptures" in "the holy scriptures" (2 Peter 3:16; 1 Timothy 5:18 with Luke 10:7). Further, none of the Hebrew OT texts have 39 books; neither do they end with Malachi as the LAST book!!! Now that which is "GIVEN by inspiration of God" is "ALL scripture" and NOT "EVERY scripture."
None of the Greek New Testaments (there are at least 10 that I know) in the Greek language could be called "ALL scripture" as they DO NOT contain "Moses and all the prophets" which are contained in the "scriptures,"GIVEN by inspiration of God" according to the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 24:27). As we have said before, that which is " is "ALL scripture" and NOT "EVERY scripture."

If you claim that you would make a single volume, with an Hebrew OT, and a Greek NT together and call it "ALL scripture," then we would ask, which of the 50 combinations (5 OT x 10 NT varieties) do you pick? Further, Hebrew is read from right to left, and Greek is read from left to right. So you cannot join both the testaments in the ORIGINAL LANGUAGES. If you put the OT first, it would mean that the NT is BEFORE the OT according to the Hebrew language. If you put the NT first, then the OT is AFTER the NT according to the Greek language. Therefore you CANNOT join them together, without contradicting the ORDER of the testaments! If you did, then the teaching of "the holy scriptures" about the "FIRST testament" (Hebrews 9:15, 18) will be violated!! You cannot join these two "CLOVEN tongues" (Acts 2). Interestingly, the United Bible Societies has published one combined volume (Biblia Sacra Utriusque Testamenti, Editio Hebraica et Graeca) without realizing that they would violate Hebrews 9:15 by joining the Hebrew and the Greek volumes.

The DIVIDING of the TONGUES is an act of the JUDGMENT of God (Genesis 10:5; Genesis 11:7). The Lord warned Israel that He would bring people of strange tongue (Deuteronomy 28:49). "For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people" (Isaiah 28:11), is a prophecy that has fulfilled in the giving of the NT (the epistle of HEBREWS to be specific - "spoken unto US by his Son" - Hebrews 1:2) in GREEK.

The Lord used the "CLOVEN tongues" (Hebrew and Greek) to give the OT and the NT respectively in order that people "might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken" (Isaiah 28:13) - please read Isaiah chapter 28, and especially verses 9-13 prayerfully. You cannot "search the scriptures" and compare "spiritual things with spiritual" (1 Corinthians 2:13) using a single volume made out of an Hebrew OT and a Greek NT.

Joseph is a type of Christ. Joseph was rejected by his brethren (John 1:12), and was sold (Matthew 27:9), suffered, glorified and exalted (Philippians 2:7-11), and had married a GENTILE bride (Romans 15:16; 2 Corinthians 11:2), and then Joseph spoke in ANOTHER TONGUE with his brethren (Genesis 42:23; Isaiah 28:11) as an exalted man. It was not until the "second time" that Joseph was made known unto his brethren ("Acts 7:13; Isaiah 11:11; . Don't you see the similarity between this, and the giving of the NT in "another tongue" (which is Greek in AD 100, and English since 1611) after the Lord was rejected, crucified, resurrected, exalted and glorified??

What about the ASV? Well, nothing is "GIVEN by inspiration of God" according to the ASV, but "EVERY scripture inspired of God is ALSO profitable" (2 Timothy 3:16, ASV ). Now the ASV does not tell us WHICH scripture is "inspired of God" and which is NOT. And by saying "ALSO profitable," the ASV invites the question, what ELSE is profitable? Further, Timothy DID NOT have "the holy scriptures" (Romans 1:2) according to the ASV, but he just had "sacred writings" (2 Timothy 3:16, ASV). And we are not sure if the "sacred writings" that Timothy had were "inspired" because the ASV does not tell us anything about that. You cannot find any "sacred writings" anywhere ELSE in the ASV.

What about the JN Darby's version? Is that "the holy scriptures"? JND does not say so. In fact you cannot find "the holy scriptures" mentioned anywhere in the JND, and what Timothy had with him are merely some "sacred LETTERS."

Like I've said: There may be a better definition of the "inspiration of scripture" out there, if there is I have never seen it in 40 years of study!