WE believe that Scripture is given by inspiration of God. We do not believe it possible that this Book-world-wide and eternal in its character—could have been written by holy men unless they were moved by the Spirit, who searcheth the deep things of God, and guided by Him who was, and is, and is to come. We believe Scripture to be inspired. And our faith in the inspiration of Scripture has its basis and root in our faith in God Himself. It is because we have experienced the divine power of the truth Scripture contains, and because in the reading of Scripture we have heard the voice of God; it is because God speaks to us in this written word that we believe it is God’s. This faith is a conviction, an inward beholding and seeing, a knowledge which far transcends in light and strength, in certainty and firmness, all human evidence and argument. We cannot communicate this faith to our neighbor; we can only testify of it. But on no lower ground can we build the assertion that Scripture is God-inspired; not on the testimony of the Church, not on the evidences of the historic faithfulness of the record, the fulfillment of prophecy, the effects of the sublime teaching on human minds, valuable as all these are. The inspiration of Scripture is an object of faith; and faith can only rest on the word of God, the testimony of the Spirit to the soul.
When we are asked: “Is this inspiration verbal, or does it refer only to the divinely revealed truths and promises? it is not necessary for us to enter into distinctions which Scripture itself does not make. It is impossible for us to form a theory of inspiration. Even of that influence of the Spirit of which we possess personal experience in our own conversion and daily renewal, it would be impossible for us to frame a theory; for the work of the Spirit is mysterious. We cannot trace the beginning or end of His path (John 3:88The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)); His intercession is “with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom. 8:2626Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26)); we cannot explain His indwelling in the heart; and as His love in infinitely tender, entering into our deepest and most individual peculiarity and need, so it is impossible for us to analyze His constant vivifying influence, guidance and rule. If it is thus with the work of the Spirit, of which we have experience, why should we attempt to form a theory of inspiration of which none of us have experience? Most probably the prophets themselves could give no other reply to our inquiry than the statement which Scripture contains; — The Spirit of the Lord came upon them; they snake not of themselves, but as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Spirit, who reveals truth and spiritual reality to holy men, moves them also in speaking; influencing also the words, so that they are correct and adequate expressions: the spoken and written word is an adequate manifestation of the word inwardly revealed. To separate thought and word, matter and manner, is at all times a very difficult and perilous thing. Hence, as Martin Luther said against the rationalists of his day, “Christ did not say of His Spirit, but of His words, they are spirit and life.” Scripture is God’s word; it is a gift, and a revelation of Himself. It is God’s word, the revelation of eternal and spiritual truth in a written record.
The language of Scripture, accordingly, is perfectly unique. It possesses an indescribable something which is not found in any merely human writings. The Spirit who seeth, all things in their depth and reality, and who knoweth the end from the beginning, speaks here in a way so profound and comprehensive that the wisdom and experience of all ages cannot exhaust His meaning. And yet is it with such simplicity and definiteness, that all childlike hearts find guidance and consolation in their daily path of duty and trial. The style of Scripture betokens its inspiration. Here is a depth, a solemnity, a heart-winning sweetness and familiarity which we meet nowhere else. Here is the voice of One who speaketh with authority, and communicates to us out of an inexhaustible fullness what is profitable to us in our present condition. The Scripture is to other books as Nature is to the works of art, as the ocean is to the lake. The Scripture sees all things from a great height, and breathes the atmosphere of eternity. In the best human books, in the loftiest poetry, in the most fervent and devout utterances of man, there is always something unreal, artificial, self-conscious; something morbid and necessarily ephemeral. Scripture is the only true, real, eternal Book.
The Apostles and the Lord Himself teach us that the record of Israel’s history and of God’s dealings with Israel is under the special and infallible guidance of the Holy Ghost. It must be evident from the preaching of the Apostles to Jews and Gentiles, and from the epistles they addressed to the churches, that they believed Scripture inspired in the fullest sense. They regarded the men by whom the Word was written as the instruments, but the Lord, and more especially the Holy Ghost, as the true Author of the whole organism of the Jewish record.
And further; as in music not only the notes, but also the pauses, are according to the plan and mind of the composer, and instinct with the life and spirit which breathe through the whole, so the very omissions of Scripture are not the result of chance, or of the accidental ignorance of the writer. They are according to, and in harmony with the wisdom of the eternal Spirit who is the true Author of the record. The Holy Ghost teaches by not stating these points.
I may also add a word on the manner of quotation. Scripture passages are quoted by the Lord in the gospels and by the Apostles not always with verbal accuracy. They do not in every case give an exact repetition of the expressions used by Moses or the prophets. This appears at first sight a difficulty, and not in harmony with the doctrine of inspiration. But on investigation it will be found to confirm this truth; for here also the Spirit is revealed as the Spirit of truth and liberty. The original meaning of the Spirit is developed with increasing clearness and fullness. The Lord and His Apostles quote the Scripture according to the deepest and truest meaning of the inspired Word, and according to the new requirements of the dispensation and the condition of their hearers.
Above all, remember that the Lord Jesus, our one and only Master, the Son of God, who is the Truth, honored, confirmed, and fulfilled the Scripture. Remember how Jesus referred to Scripture when He was teaching the people, or refuting gainsayers, or resisting and conquering Satan, or instructing and comforting His disciples. Remember how He appeals to Scripture as the ultimate judge, declaring as an axiom that the Scripture cannot be broken. Remember Christ’s references to Scripture on the cross, and when, in the conviction of His having fulfilled all that by the Holy Ghost was written of Him, He uttered that great and blessed word, “It is finished.” And after His resurrection, appearing unto His disciples and witnesses, He opened unto them the Scriptures, beginning with Moses, unfolding unto them His suffering, and giving and commanding them to preach, because they understood now the Word. “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day,” and thus preach repentance and remission of sins in His name.
On the testimony of the Lord Jesus and the Apostles, I receive the Scripture as God’s word. Not as a critic dare I approach this Book as if it were an ordinary book, which I may hope to master and fathom. It is above me, and I cannot exhaust its fullness. It knows me, even the hidden things of the heart, and judges me, bringing me into contact with the all-seeing God (Heb. 4:12, 1312For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:12‑13)).
But while I thus stand in awe, beholding the grandeur and infinite depth of the Scripture as one organic, Spirit-built, temple, and the beauty, perfection, and exquisite skill which characterize the most minute part of this structure, I feel at home as in a peaceful and fragrant garden. I am not paralyzed by the divine perfection and the infinite depth of the Word. For such is the love, such is the perfection of God, that from a child I may know the Scriptures, and be made wise by them unto salvation. And while it may be given to me in some favored moment to take a comprehensive view, and to behold somewhat of the length, and breadth, and height, and depth, I know that every word of God is pure, every word He has uttered is perfect. Thus I possess the whole in every little fragment; though weak, ignorant, and limited, I have perfect peace and the light of life. And often I find the truth of that saying of Luther’s, so characteristic of that great lover of the Word, “In Scripture every little daisy is a meadow.”
Saphir.