Commonly Asked Questions About Inspiration

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1. The Bible is a good book, but after all, it was only written by men.

Certainly it is true that the Bible was not written with the actual “finger of God.” Men used pen and ink to write the scriptures. However, the Bible claims to be inspired. That is, men wrote as “they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (II Peter 1:21). David said, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue” (II Samuel 23:2). Isaiah said, “The word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:1). Paul said, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God…” (II Timothy 3:16). In fact, the scriptures claim to be the words of God over 4,000 times. Now if this book has lied over 4,000 times concerning its origin, and yet it still demands us to obey it or be lost in an eternal hell, there is nothing “good” about this book. If it is “only written by men” it is worst book the world has known.

2. Each Bible writer had a different style which proves that God gave each writer general thoughts, but they wrote in their own words.

{IMPLICATION: We do not have to follow the Bible strictly.} While it is true that each Bible writer had his own style, it does not follow that they wrote in their own words. God revealed His words using the style of each human author. This is shown in a number of places. In I Corinthians 2:12-13, Paul states that the words that he and the other apostles spoke and revealed were “words” taught them by the Holy Spirit. In II Peter 1:20-21 Peter tells us that no scripture is of any private interpretation. The word “interpretation” refers to how the scriptures were disclosed or revealed to man. These prophets did not reveal God’s message by any private manipulation of their own, because they did not speak of their “own will”, but spoke as they were “moved” by the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 4:4 Jesus told Satan that man does not live by bread alone but by “every word that proceeds from the mouth of the God.” In fact, in Matthew 22:32 Jesus quoted Exodus 3:6 and argued the resurrection from the present tense of “I am the God of Abraham…” Jesus could not have argued from the verb tense if the very words of scripture were not inspired. Again, in Galatians 3:16 Paul argued that salvation came through Christ and not all Israel by emphasizing the singular form of “seed.” “Through your seed all nations shall be blessed” not through your “seeds.” Other scriptures that pertain: Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:18-19.

3. The Bible was taken from hand written copies, much of which are only fragments. How can we trust that what we have is accurate?

Because there are over 14,000 manuscript copies of the New Testament we can be absolutely confident of its accuracy. With this large number of manuscripts, comparing manuscripts easily reveals any place where a scribe has made an error or where there is a variation. There are approximately 150,000 variations in the manuscripts we have today. However, these variations represent only 10,000 places in the New Testament (if the same word was misspelled in 3,000 manuscripts, that is counted as 3,000 variations). Of these 10,000 places, all but 400 are questions of spelling in accord with accepted usage, grammatical construction, or order of words. Of the 400 remaining variations, only 50 are of any significance (such as two manuscripts leaving out Acts 2:37). But of these 50, not one alters even one article of faith which cannot be abundantly sustained by other undoubted passages.

Further, there are some manuscripts that date as early as 130 AD, very close to the completion of the New Testament. These manuscripts are nearly identical to those dating 900 years later, thus verifying the accuracy of the scribes.
Besides this, Jesus promised that His words would not pass away (Matthew 24:35).

4. Every Bible I pick up reads differently. There are just so many ‘interpretations’ that I can’t believe we can trust any of it.

Usually when a person asks this question using the word “interpretations,” they are referring to translations. Oftentimes they have heard the Bible from different translations such as King James, New American Standard, New King James, or New International Version. What many do not understand is that the main difference between different versions of the scriptures is the time period in which they were translated. Since the King James Version was translated in 1611, it uses the English of 1611. Many of the words used in 1611 have an entirely different meaning than they do today. An example of this would be Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conversation be free of covetousness.” But in 1611 the word “conversation” referred to one’s conduct or manner of life, not one’s speech. Therefore, in the New King James Version, translated in 1979, the verse reads, “Let your conduct be free of covetousness.” The same is true with the King James word “prevent” in I Thessalonians 4:15. In 1611 the word actually meant “precede” and is thus translated in the newer versions. Therefore, the main difference between translations is simply the English that was used at the time of the translation along with the translator’s choice of words that would best translate the Greek or Hebrew words.

There are some minor differences that occur when different versions place more weight on some manuscripts than upon others. These differences are minute and never affect any doctrinal point.

It should also be noted that some “translations” are not translations at all, but paraphrases. Among these would be the Living Bible and the Reader’s Digest Bible. The Living Bible is simply the result of a man writing the Bible in his own words. It is a commentary, not a translation. The New International Version was produced by a group of translators who tried to translate the original thought instead of the original word. As a result, there are places where their theology shines through.

Instead of the various translations being a confusion (since their messages are virtually the same), this variety allows us to better confirm the Bible message. The different versions act as checks and balances so that no one group of translators would be able to purposely change something in scripture and escape notice. The New World Translation produced by the Watchtower Society of the Jehovah’s Witnesses has purposely changed certain parts of their version. But these are immediately detectable when compared with any other accepted translation.

5. How do I know that the Bible is from God and not the Koran or the Book Of Mormon?

As we have already observed, the New Testament was written on the basis of eye-witness accounts. Over 4,000 times the Bible claims to be inspired and it repeatedly claims that inspiration to be verbal. The Bible words were confirmed by miracles performed by both Jesus and the apostles and believed by both believer and unbeliever (John 11:47). The Bible is unique in its continuity, its lack of contradiction, its brevity, its honesty about the failings of its major characters, and its prophecies.

Dudley Ross Spears writes, “The Koran was collected into book form after Muhammad died. Since he is described as practically illiterate, he wrote not one word of the book. It was compiled by his close companion, Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr became the much disputed first Caliph (successor to Muhammad). Bakr found scraps of Muhammad’s thoughts written on palm leaves, white stones, and even bones. The majority of it came from the memory of those who had committed the prophet’s words to their own memory…The proof that the Koran is a revelation from God is nothing more than human testimony. Muhammad did not claim to work miracles, or have any supernatural powers. The only basis for believing the Koran is a divinely inspired book is the testimony of an ex-shepherd boy who claimed that the angel Gabriel appeared to him to reveal the Koran as the last of all of divine revelations. The same arguments against such pseudo-revelations as The Book Of Mormon, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society can be made against the Koran. It is nothing more than a collection of sayings that have no real continuity, theme, or organization. It falls into the same class as all subjective claims that God speaks to certain people in various ways.” (Gospel Anchor, June, 1991, page 10 and July 1991, page 11).

It is important to note that the Koran accepts the revelations given to Moses in the Pentateuch, to David in the Psalms, to Jesus in the Gospels, and to Mohammed in the Koran. This is a contradiction of what Jesus said in the gospels. Jesus placed His seal upon all the Old Testament (Luke 24:44), and upon the apostles writings of the New Testament, even stating that they would be given all truth (John 16:13). The apostles later wrote, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8). Further, the apostles claimed that their writings were complete and therefore not to be added to (Jude 3; II Peter 1:3; Revelation 22:18-19).

The most glaring contradiction is the fact that the Koran accepts Jesus words in the gospels, and yet Jesus in the gospels claims to be the Son of God and equal with God (John 10:30-36; 11:27), which is denied by the Koran.