{"id":69057,"date":"2024-07-27T12:18:48","date_gmt":"2024-07-27T17:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=69057"},"modified":"2024-07-27T12:18:48","modified_gmt":"2024-07-27T17:18:48","slug":"jesus-believed-in-inspiration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-believed-in-inspiration\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus Believed in Inspiration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Perry Hall<\/p>\n

“Inspiration,” how it happens, what it means, and why it is important are all questions, some of which have more straightforward answers than others. As far as how<\/em> it happens, I don’t have all the answers other than the personality of each writer is apparently intact, which I do not find incompatible with “The Dictation Theory” since God’s omnipotence is involved. Saying that is how I understand it happens doesn’t mean I can explain it other than what I often say, “If you can believe the first four words of the Bible, then you can believe all the words that follow.”<\/p>\n

What inspiration<\/em> (better understood as “breathed out by God” – II Timothy 3:16 ESV) means is that the prophets and writers didn’t necessarily understand what they wrote (I Peter 1:10-12; II Peter 1:19-21). Therefore, while the Bible is written<\/em> by men, the Bible is not authored<\/em> by men about God, but rather authored<\/em> by God about men and God as self-revealed.<\/p>\n

The commands to love one another and God are the most important. But among the other teachings that are not commands, I consider inspiration the most important. To borrow a visual image from Jesus, “all doctrines hang on this one doctrine.” One reason I believe in Jesus’s resurrection is that I believe in the apostles’ inspiration.<\/p>\n

Jesus Himself believed in and taught inspiration. In Matthew 22, when discussing whose son the Messiah is, the Pharisees answer with, “David’s;” Jesus follows with, “How is it then that David, inspired by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’<\/em>” (Matthew 22:43)? I am not sure David understood (see above), and “No one was able to answer him at all<\/em>” (Matthew 22:46), meaning the Pharisees couldn’t explain it either.<\/p>\n

What do we learn from this simple exchange:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Scripture is inspired. Jesus believed this, and so should we.<\/li>\n
  2. Writers didn’t always understand what they were writing, which means the ideas didn’t derive from their thoughts. Did David originate the idea of a human son of himself while being the divine son of God?<\/li>\n
  3. Truth is not truth because we understand or approve of it. Our responsibility is to believe it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    When you read the words in the Bible, you are reading the words of the Spirit.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by Perry Hall “Inspiration,” how it happens, what it means, and why it is important are all questions, some of which have more straightforward answers than others. As far as how it happens, I don’t have all the answers other than the personality of each writer is apparently intact, which I do not find incompatible…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[225],"class_list":["post-69057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-inspiration"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":81327,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-inspiration-of-the-bible-be-proven\/","url_meta":{"origin":69057,"position":0},"title":"Can inspiration of the Bible be proven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I know II Timothy 3:16: \"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.\" I had a discussion with a person who is not a member of the Church of Christ and, therefore, not a Christian. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28385,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-we-determine-who-is-right-and-who-is-wrong-when-everyone-claims-to-take-his-stand-from-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":69057,"position":1},"title":"How do we determine who is right and who is wrong when everyone claims to take his stand from the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How do we determine who is right and who is wrong when everyone claims to take his stand from the Bible? For example, what is the appropriate time for holy communion? Some believe it is evening while some believe it could be any time. Does the timing determine our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46389,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-bible-fallible-because-it-was-written-in-human-languages\/","url_meta":{"origin":69057,"position":2},"title":"Is the Bible fallible because it was written in human languages?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Jeffrey, I am sorry that I have to turn to you for help, but this is why I am currently studying to be a preacher because people like you and many others inspire me to be able to teach. Unfortunately, I have wasted away much of my life\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61910,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/biblical-infallibility-can-we-trust-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":69057,"position":3},"title":"Biblical Infallibility: Can We Trust the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 15, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Trust in the scriptures is important to every Christian. The Bible is the center of our faith. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We are Christians because we believe that God exists and that the Bible is God's word - II Tim. 3:16 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Believing in the Bible's message will save our souls\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9303,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-speak-directly-to-mankind-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":69057,"position":4},"title":"Does God Speak Directly to Mankind Today?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Abraham Smith Earlier, we studied Scriptures that show we have an obligation to read the whole Bible.\u00a0 In order to do so, we must eliminate whatever might hinder our doing so.\u00a0 Even so, some of us have false beliefs that reject this obligation. There are those who believe that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67461,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/as-the-holy-spirit-says\/","url_meta":{"origin":69057,"position":5},"title":"As the Holy Spirit Says","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton When the topic of \"inspiration\" (breathed of God) is brought up, some will argue that we don't know how the Scriptures are \"breathed of God,\" but we do know that the words of the Scriptures were delivered from God's mind to the mind of the writers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69057\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}