This topic is proposed with this statement from another thread in mind
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Some Bible writers had authority to make laws and some didn't. So explain why these authors, known and unknown, have the authority to make a legal law? Inspiration is not authority.
Of the forty men who wrote the bible, all of these were imperfect, subject to weaknesses and error. The 3 questions I would like to discuss is:
quote:
1. Was it possible for these imperfect men to produce a record that is actually Gods message?
2. How do we know they did not write of their own impulse, but were inspired by God as they claim?
3. How do we know the writings we have today are the same as they were written by the original men who wrote it.
1. Was it possible for these imperfect men to produce a record that is actually Gods message?
The writer of Acts says that God used Angels to transmit his messages to humans. Acts 7:53. He never spoke personally to any man, but his Angels did. Moses was instructed: "Write down for yourself these words." And the same applied to the msg's of the Prophets. Sometimes though he used dreams and visions to communicate his message to humans one example being Daniel 9 where he has a vision of the wild beasts.
It was then up to the Bible writer to select words and expressions to describe in meaningful terms what they had seen.
At this point it may be seen as a work of men for the reason that the writers had to put pen to paper, however God also used one other thing in order to accomplish this work....holy spirit. David says that it Gods spirit was upon his tongue at 2Samuel 23:2. So the spirit of God was used to guide the writers.
It means the writer had his mind stimulated by Gods spirit and was moved to express the inspired message in his own words. An evidence of this is the fact that some writers openly admit that they did not understand the message.
Daniel 12:8-9 8
Now as for me, I heard, but I could not understand; so that I said: "O my lord, what will be the final part of these things?" And he went on to say: "Go, Daniel, because the words are made secret and sealed up until the time of [the] end"
This is one reason why we can be sure that the bible writers were not merely writing for their own glory or prestige to obtain a following of disciples.
Now while its true that some of the writings were written well after the events (gospels for example) Gods spirit was responsible for producing an accurate record. Jesus explained to his apostles that a helper would 'bring back to your minds all the things I told you" at John 14:26
So it certainly is possible that the messages God gave to imperfect men, were transmitted accurately through Gods own guidance.
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2. How do we know they did not write of their own impulse, but were inspired by God as they claim?
There are examples of writers giving their own thoughts and Paul was one who openly did this on occasion ie 1Cor 7:12, 25 & 40
"To the others I say, yes, I, not the Lord" & "Now concerning virgins I have no command from the Lord, but I give my opinion."
Obviously for the topic being discussed, Paul could not quote a direct teaching from Jesus so he gave his "opinion" and stated it to be such. But the fact that some writers did this, does not mean that their writing was not inspired by God because if he was writing under direction of Gods spirit then his opinion had divine guidance and expressed Gods own view.
This is confirmed by the fact that the apostle Peter accepted Pauls writings as 'written in wisdom' and his letters were handed around to the congregations by Peter (see 2Pet 3:15-16)
If Peter had any doubts about Pauls inspiration, he would not have promoted those letters.
The Bible quotes the statements of men or relates what they did under certain circumstances and the context generally makes it clear whether their course should be imitated or avoided. A good example is the book of Job. large portions of that book deal with the wrong views expressed by Job and his 3 friends about God. When facts were misapplied, the bible writer (moses in this case) clearly points it out and shows that the words of the men were not from God.
However, there are other passages where all the details are not spelled out and Gods view on the matter is not addressed. Its in these passages where flaws and contradictions appear to be found. That is why some persons, on reading a certain account, question whether God was really just and fair in what he did.
Now to me, this is another evidence of divine inspiration because if this book was merely mans, and those men were trying to control people by their invention of a religion, then why leave such gaps that cannot be filled? This isnt something a human writer would deliberately do if they were trying to win converts because it would be defeating the purpose of drawing people and rather repel them. If you want evidence for how people are repelled from the bible just look at the discussion im having with DevilsAdvocate in the 'fundamentalist' thread lol.
So Why would a divinely inspired book create these contentious accounts that seem more designed to repel people rather then draw them? Its how God tests our heart according to Hebrews 4:12
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"For the word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints and [their] marrow, and [is] able to discern thoughts and intentions of [the] heart"
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Someone who really doesnt want God in their life can quite easily close the book and throw it in the bin after reading some of those accounts we've been discussing in the other thread. But God wants us to search deeper then what merely appears on the pages. It really does require a lot of deep study to understand why such things happened and how God views things...not only does it require study, but it requires his spirit and this is something you only get if you ask for it.
So for these reasons, we can be sure that the writings were inspired by God and not merely written by men. Men would have buttered it up, and made themselves look like amazing holy vessels the same way the priest of today do. Yet they didnt. Even Moses was shown to be punished and refused entry to the promised land by God. If Moses was writing for himself there is no way in the world he would have humiliated himself in such a way. The evidence is that God moved/inspired what was recorded and this makes the bible authoritative in everything it says. And for this reason the laws and commands cannot be viewed as coming from men, but they should be viewed as coming from God just as the Mosaic law was. Even though moses was the one who wrote it and dictated it to the people, It was coming from God. The same with Jesus, the same with the Apostles and yes, even Paul.
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3. How do we know the writings we have today are the same as they were written by the original men who wrote it.
I know this is a contentious issue for many people because after thousands of years you would expect errors to creep in and this has happened.
Thankfully, they still have many thousands of the original language manuscripts available today. (One of the oldest being the septuagaint from 300 BCE) They use these original language manuscripts to compare with the later ones and have been able to trace errors. The errors that have been identified have always been very minor and mostly to do with grammar or spelling or duplicating a word or sentence.
In some instances though, additions have been made which were not seen in earlier manuscripts. One example is 1 John 5:7, which seems to teach the trinity. This verse speaks of the 'three witness bearers' However this statement is not found in any manuscript earlier then the 15th century...so its very obvious that its an inaccuracy...perhaps deliberately inserted to perpetuate an untrue doctrine.
Obviously no original copies exist today because the writers wrote on perishable materials such as papyrus and vellum. But the method of how those originals were copied and recopied is what makes the ones we have today so accurate. The men who made the copies were called scribes, it was a profession, and their only job was to make copies of scrolls. When they found the dead sea scrolls, it proved beyond doubt that the scriptures had been accurately copied for centuries.
So we do know that the writings we have today are as accurate as the very oldest living manuscripts. Those manuscripts were created by the jewish scribes who were a professional group dedicated to the copying of the law. They had methodical ways to make copies, the masoretes for instance had to count each letter to ensure accuracy. So it was more then just a matter or writing up a copy by hand...they were extremely meticulous, going so far as to count not only the words copied but the letters also. Also, because Hebrew consisted only of consonants, if a single letter was added or left out it would have changed one word into another. The slightest error of a single letter would mean that entire section of the roll was rejected as unfit for synagogue use.
So the copies had to be absolute before they were accepted by the jewish priests. A copiest was not allowed to write even a single word from memory, they had to read the words aloud from the scroll they were copying before they put pen to paper.
But again, the serophim (BCE copyists) did make alterations in later manuscripts. The Masoretes (CE copyists), were able to see the alterations made by the earlier Sopherim, and they recorded them in the margin or at the end of the Hebrew text...so the masoretic manuscripts highlight the changes that took place in the same way our modern scholars are able to see the small errors made in some copied manuscripts.
The fact that we know what the errors are means they can be corrected and therefore we have a bible that is essentially the same as what was originally written.
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