We ended the previous post speaking about matters of history and science. To further support this here is a lengthy quote from Harold Lindsell in his book The Battle for the Bible.
Inspiration may be defined
as the inward work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts and minds of chosen men who
then wrote the Scriptures so that God got written what He wanted. The Bible in all of its parts constitutes the
written Word of God to man. This Word is
free from all error in its original autographs.
It is wholly trustworthy in matters of history and doctrine. However limited may have been their
knowledge, and however much they may have erred when they were not writing
sacred Scripture, the authors of Scripture, under the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, were preserved from making factual, historical, scientific, or other
errors. The Bible does not purport to be
a text book of history, science, or math; yet when the writers of Scripture
spoke of matters embraced in these disciplines, they did not indite error; they
wrote what was true.
a)
Inspiration does not eliminate the personalities of the
human authors. This doctrinal idea is as
consistent with the Incarnation of the Son of God. God became Man. Full divinity and full humanity existed in
one Man, Jesus Christ. In the same way,
the Word of God existed in Scripture as the words of the man who were used of
God to write. This is evident all over
Scripture. But one place where it is
really on display is in the four Gospels.
Each has the clear markings of the writer: Matthew with his Jewish bent,
Mark who always seemed to be in a hurry, Luke who had done a lot of research,
and John, the master of simple words, who gave us more than the others lengthy,
detailed conversations of the Lord. Read
again Peter’s words about Paul in 2 Tim. 3:16-17. Then read the grand descriptions of God in
Isaiah 40-66 and compare them to the weeping prophet Jeremiah and Ezekiel, the
master of illustrations. We disagree
with the idea that God dictated to the writers of Scripture as a boss to a
secretary. The personality, background
and interests of the writers was part of God’s reason for using those
particular writers.
b)
God has preserved His inspired word. The doctrine of “preservation” refers to the
lasting character of the Bible and affirms that it is not the result of accident,
incidence or good fortune but rather by the sovereign hand of God. The idea that God, who gave His word through
men, would ensure that His word was preserved for future generations, is based
on what the Bible says. Forever, O
LORD, Your word is settled in heaven … concerning Your testimonies, I have
known of old that You have founded them forever (Ps. 119:89,152). My words shall not pass away (Matt.
24:35). It is the word which lives
and abides forever (1 Pet. 1:23).
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