51
Q.
Did God write the Bible?
(breathes into) a person or a community an acute and accurate understand-
ing of the meaning of God’s intention in any event or occasion. My reading of
scripture is more concerned with overall meaning than with verbal accuracy.
Divine inspiration does not bypass human vocabulary and thought pat-
terns. Truth is truth, no matter what the medium may be. Its communication is
concerned as much about what is heard as what is said. In other words, if I say
something that you don’t understand, then there is no value in my saying it.
In order to be effective in communication, God conveys meaning to
people and communities in their language and cultural contexts. They, in turn,
communicate that meaning in their own language and contexts.
It is impossible to communicate the fullness of God in human language.
God surpasses all attempts at human description. It often becomes necessary
to use metaphor and hyperbole in communicating the understandings that
God inspires. The Bible is full of the same.
Scriptural References
Luke 1:1–4; John 20:30; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 11
Suggested Additional Sources for Reading
- Marc Zvi Brettler, “Torah: Introduction,” in The Jewish Study Bible (Oxford
Univ. Press, 2004). - The Cambridge History of the Bible, 3 volumes (Cambridge Univ. Press,
1975). - Lee Martin McDonald, The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and
Authority (Hendrickson, 2007). - F. E. Peters, The Voice, the Word, the Books: The Sacred Scripture of the Jews,
Christians, and Muslims (Princeton Univ. Press, 2007). - Mark Allen Powell, Fortress Introduction to the Gospels (Fortress Press,
1998).
Suggested Questions for Further Discussion/Thought
- Is there a difference between “truth” and “fact”? Can truth be transmitted
through a medium that is not necessarily fact? - Read Luke 1:1–4 and John 20:30. Discuss how these passages point to oral
traditions that existed before any writing of the gospels occurred. - What are your thoughts and feelings about the “infallibility” of the Bible?
How have your thoughts about that shifted or stayed the same over time? - Do you think that the words that you read in your particular translation
are exactly what God said?