eventually of the canonized collection of what we know as
the sixty-six books of the Bible, the Scriptures.
Paul is indicating that certain "writings" are "God-
breathed," that is "inspired." This does not mean that God
breathed out verbal words to dictate every word and
sentence in precise and absolute sequence unto the passive
minds of the writers. Such a concept is called the "dictation
theory" of scriptural inspiration. Rather, in a more general
sense, Paul seems to be saying that "all God-given writings
are designed as the expressive instrument of God's Spirit,
who functioned previously to influence men's thinking and
use their literary skills to produce and provide a written
record of the expressed life of God in Jesus Christ, and
functions now to continue to direct us to the ever-dynamic
life of Christ.” These writings, whether they be of the Old
Testament era or the New Testament era, are valuable and
profitable for teaching, reproof, correction and training in
righteousness. The importance of the "writings" is that they
direct our attention to the Living Word expression of God
in Jesus Christ.
The question must be asked then: Is it legitimate to
refer to the written record of the Bible as the "Word of
God"? When we refer to the Bible as the "Word of God"
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