by Joe Whiting

As we begin our look at big questions and short answers concerning biblical counseling and basic theology it seems a fitting place to start would be with the foundation: bibliology. Simply put, bibliology is the study of the Bible. We want this to be our foundation because the Bible, not our beliefs, feelings, traditions, or emotions, is the authority. And, it’s the authority because it’s God’s Word.

When we think and talk about bibliology some terms and questions come to mind. Some of these terms and questions include the inspiration of Scripture, the infallibility and authority of Scripture, theological controversies, biblical authority and general revelation interplay, and the question of continuing revelation. Some of us may not know much about these terms and topics, but that’s okay. That’s one of the reasons we are here. We are here to learn more about Christ and His Word so that we can love Him and others better. 

To be sure, what you are reading is not 100% comprehensive. That isn’t the point. This is a 30,000-foot flyover of larger topics. These are short answers that will biblically inform your thinking and, hopefully, pique your interest to learn more. We hope that this is as encouraging to you as it is to us.

Now, let’s briefly consider our first term for this week: inspiration. The Bible is spoken of as “inspired,” but what does that mean? When people refer to the Bible as “inspired” they usually have 2 Timothy 3:16 in mind. In 2 Timothy 3:16 the word “inspired” (theopneustos) literally means “God-breathed,” and gives the idea of something that is inspired by God Himself. When Paul is speaking of inspired Scripture, he means that Scripture is literally breathed out and inspired by God. Paul also says in that same verse that “All Scripture is inspired by God.” All Scripture includes both the Old and New Testaments. Sometimes God told the human authors, whom He used to pen His Word, exactly what to say (cf. Jer. 1:9), but more often He used their minds, vocabularies, and experiences to produce His own perfect infallible, inerrant Word (1 Thess. 2:3; Heb 1:1; 2 Pet 1:20-21). 

            Now, let’s take a brief look at what the doctrine of inspiration does and does not mean. This doctrine does not mean that the Bible authors (i.e., the human agents God used to physically write Scripture) were inspired. There were no inspired Scripture writers. In this context, the idea of “inspired” does not apply to the human authors. It does, however, apply to, and only to, the original autographs of Scripture. So, the authors themselves were not inspired. Only Scripture was inspired. It is only Scripture that is called “the oracles of God” (Rom. 3:2; 1 Pt. 4:11), which cannot be altered (Matt. 5:17; Lk. 16:17; Rev. 22:18-19). This is why the Scriptures are not called the oracles of inspired men. It wasn’t the human agents which were inspired by God. Rather, it was the Scriptures themselves which were inspired by God. Men, even men of inspiration, can make mistakes, but the inspired Scriptures are inerrant. 

Okay, we have an idea of what inspired does not mean, but what does it mean? It does mean that God is so identified with His Word, that when Scripture speaks, God speaks (Rom. 9:17; Gal. 3:8). Scripture is literally breathed out, inspired, from God, who is the ultimate Authority (Ps 103:19). That means that His Word has ultimate authority over mankind. It has ultimate authority our lives. The Bible is the authority over how we are to act, what we are to say, how we are to think, and even how we are supposed to feel (i.e., emotionally). We are to renew our minds on God’s Word (Rom. 12:2). 

Furthermore, Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16 that God’s Word is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. That’s not hard to believe when we know the source of Scripture; God. It literally comes out from God to us through human agents. Since it is inspired from God Himself it is little wonder that it is the authority and is profitable for us to grow in righteousness. The big wonder is that God has said anything to us at all! Its only because of His great mercy and grace that He has revealed Himself and how to be made right with Him to us, through the inspired Scripture penned by the human agents. That is a monumental blessing! Therefore, we would be wise to listen to Scripture’s counsel.

Lord willing, in the coming weeks, we plan to look at some of the topics and questions raised earlier in this blog. We will consider the infallibility and authority of Scripture, how to think about theological controversies, how biblical authority and general revelation works, and examine whether or not God still speaks to us. We hope to see you back in the following weeks and months ahead.