Question 3: Who Wrote the Bible - Humans or God?

The answer to this question separates the Christian Scriptures from every other written form of communication in human history.  For some, it is the reason they love the Word of God.  And for others, it is the reason they hate it.

The answer is clear, but it is not necessarily simple or easy.  Plummer notes, “If God wrote the Bible, why does Paul say in his letter to Philemon, “I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand” (Philem 19)?”  So, did God write the Bible or did man?

Theories of Inspiration.  Every Christian would agree that the Scriptures are inspired.  There are, however, many different definitions for the term “inspiration.”  Plummer gives five common ones used in academic circles:

1. The Intuition Theory. According to this view, the writers of the Bible exhibit a natural religious intuition that is also found in other great philosophical or religious thinkers.  We hear this a lot when skeptics use the similarities of the Scriptures with other religious texts as a means to diminish and dilute the uniqueness of the Bible’s message.
2. The Illumination Theory.  This view holds that the Spirit of God in some way did objectively impress himself upon the consciousness of the biblical writers but not in a way that is essentially different from the way the Spirit communicates with all humanity.   
3. The Dynamic Theory.  This view asserts that God gave definite, specific impressions or concepts to the biblical authors but allowed the writers to communicate those concepts in their own words.
4. The Dictation Theory.  This view holds that God dictated the exact words to human authors.  This is also called mechanical dictation. 
5. The Verbal Plenary Theory.  This is the Biblical view.  It asserts that there is a dual authorship to the Scriptures.  While the authors of the bible wrote as thinking, feeling human beings, God so mysteriously superintended the process that every word written was also the exact word he wanted to be written – free from all error.

The Dual Authorship of Scripture.  Because we believe that in verbal plenary (full, entire, complete) inspiration, we do not believe that the apostle Paul entered some trance when he wrote his letters/epistles.  Rather, we believe that Paul wrote them with God superintending the process.  As an apostle, therefore, Paul expected his teaching to be fully obeyed and believed – received as the very word of God (1Cor 7:40; 14:36-37; 2Cor 2:17; 4:2; Col 1:25; 1Thess 2:14).  Plummer also gives Psalm 95:1-2 as a great example of dual authorship.  The Psalm was written by an Israelite, but the writer of Hebrews attributes it to the Holy Spirit (Heb 3:7).  Plummer writes, “Each word in the Bible is the word of a conscious human author and at the same time the exact word that God intends fro the revelation of himself.”

Some Implications of Dual Authorship.  Plummer gives three helpful ways that the dual authorship of the Bible affects the way we approach it.

1.   The clear purpose of the human author is a good place to start when trying to understand the Bible.  In other words, the Scripture cannot mean less than the human authors consciously intended.  This is why study Bibles and Old/New Testament Introductions can be a great helps.  They give us historical, personal and other contexts for understanding the passage on a human level.  See Longman and Dillard (for OT) and Carson and Moo (for NT).

2.   Plummer continues, “God, as the Lord of history and revelation, included patterns or foreshadowing of which the human authors were not fully aware.  Under God’s sovereign hand, his prior historical interventions were in themselves prophetic – pointing forward to Christ.  About the OT regulations given to Israel, the author of Hebrews says, “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves” (Heb 10:1).”  As one of my professors in Seminary (Dr. Knox Chamblin) says, “What is in the Old Testament concealed is in the New Testament revealed.”  Plummer says on this line, “We should seek explicit statements in later revelation to clarify any such divine intentionality.  One should be forewarned against finding symbolic or prophetic details in the OT when no NT author has provided authoritative interpretation of the text.”

3.   This is a long one – I will quote it: “Sometimes it is asserted that the Bible can never mean something of which the human author was not consciously aware as he was writing.  It is possible, however, to affirm a hermeneutical approach based on authorial intent without affirming the above statement.  The biblical authors were conscious of being used by God to convey his word and believed that their revelation was part of a grand scheme of history.  The OT authors knew they were somewhere along the stair steps of revelation, but few, if any, knew how close they were to the top of the stairs (i.e., Christ).  Though they could not know all the future events, the prophets certainly would not deny God’s providential control of history, which exceeded their conscious reflection.”

I love the final comment of this section.  One should note that the divine-human dimension of the Bible concerns its authorship, not its very nature.  We listen reverently to the Bible as the written Word of God.

Question for Reflection.  How can a letter from a dead man to dead people (Paul’s letter to the Galatians, for example) be of significance to modern people?

Purpose Statement and Important Facts for Leviticus.  So, we are making our way through the Torah (or the first five books of the Bible).  Understanding the message and purpose of these books is essential to our understanding of the Bible as a whole.  We have discussed Genesis and Exodus already.  You remember that these books are written by Moses to the second generation of Israelites as they are about to enter the Promised Land.  The first generation died off because of their unbelief (Heb 3:16-19).  These books serve to encourage the people to move forward in their walk under Yahweh.

Knowing the historical context helps us to understand the purpose of Leviticus.  Otherwise, it can be mistaken as a boring book (God forbid)!  But when we understand what happened at the end of Exodus – that the people, who were so blessed and delivered by God, forsook Him to worship a golden calf (Exodus 32) - the book of Leviticus totally makes sense.  

How can a Holy God dwell in the midst of such a sinful people???  This is the question that the book of Leviticus answers! 

Purpose Statement is Sinners Belong to a Holy God.

Outline for Leviticus:

Lev 1-7            Sacrificial System

Lev 8-10          Priesthood

Lev 11-15        Cleanliness Code

Lev 16             Atonement

Lev 17-27        Holiness Code

For Further Study.  Try and understand the reason for the book of Leviticus.  Look over the outline, memorize it, understand it.  Why is the Sacrificial system necessary?  What is significant about the priesthood (what is the job/role of a priest)?  Read Leviticus 16 and Hebrews 9.  What is the main thrust of these passages?  How do they help you to understand the Gospel of Christ better?

I hope these studies are helping you to know and love your Bible more.  The Old Testament is usually neglected and considered intimidating because of its size.  But with a few simple purpose statements and outlines, it begins to come alive. And with that, we feel more alive as well!

Please feel free to post any comments or questions that you have.  I am always looking for ways to make this study better.