Scripture is by inspiration of God

" We confess that this Word of God was not sent nor delivered by the will of man, but that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, as the apostle Peter saith. And that afterwards God, from a special care which He has for us and our salvation, commanded His servants, the prophets and apostles, to commit His revealed Word to writing; and He Himself wrote with His own finger the two tables of the law. Therefore we call such writings holy and divine Scriptures."

"We believe that these Holy Scriptures fully contain the will of God, and that whatsoever man ought to believe unto salvation is sufficiently taught therein. For since the whole manner of worship which God requires of us is written in them at large, it is unlawful for anyone, though an apostle, to teach other wise than we are now taught in the Holy Scriptures." —The Belgic Confession, A.D. 1561, Articles III, VII.

It is our conviction that the Bible, composed of Old and New Testaments, is the written revelation of God's will and character, and that it has reached mankind in its final form through a process of inspiration. Revelation, which denotes God's disclosure of Himself to the human race, has taken place through a variety of media. "When in former times God spoke to our forefathers, he spoke in fragmentary and varied fashion" (Heb. 1:1, N.E.B.).* Thus the means of revelation for one generation may not necessarily have been the same as that used for a later generation.

For Adam and Eve, in their state of moral perfection prior to the Fall, God's mode of revelation was face-to-face communication, free from distortion of any kind. God Himself was man's first teacher, Adam and Eve were the students, nature was the textbook, and the Garden of Eden was the classroom. There was no need for Deity to use an intermediary, such as an angel or a prophet, to disclose Himself to mankind then. But after man's first act of disobedience, his nature became corrupted and his mind distorted, so that God could no longer use the same means of communication. Sin produced an obscuring cloud between God and man (see Isa. 59:2) and cast a distorting veil upon the face of nature (see Rom. 1:20-23). It was the Creator's original intent that the natural world should provide a revelation of His glory, His goodness, and His power and deity (see Ps. 19:1; Acts 14:17; Rom. 1:18-20). That revelation, sometimes called general revelation, has been distorted and diminished by the effects of sin both upon the mind of man and upon the face of nature. Today it is impossible for unregenerate man to arrive at a correct conception of Deity without the help of a special revelation. Thus God offers to man the Holy Scriptures as the means for correctly understanding the origin, purpose, and destiny of the natural world and also of mankind.

Besides the general revelation of nature and the special revelation of God's Word, other divinely chosen vehicles of revelation are dreams, types and symbolisms, answered prayer, and providence. God is continually revealing Himself by His providential intervention in human affairs. But while He is thus interacting at all times within the ebb and flow of human events, He especially intervenes on particular occasions (such as at the Exodus from Egyptian bondage) to reveal Himself in a marked manner. Such interventions are called "his mighty acts" (Ps. 145:12).

Nor is man left merely to guess at the interpretation of these mighty acts. ' 'God has not only acted, He also has spoken." "Study Documents on Inspiration and Creation," Adventist Review, Jan. 17, 1980, p. 8. Without a divinely inspired commentary on these interventions, man with his unaided reason could never interpret them correctly. For example, the concise statement "Christ died for our sins" (1 Cor. 15:3) presents both the act itself ("Christ died") and its significance ("for our sins"). In like manner, the revelation given through dreams, through the types and symbolisms of the sanctuary service, and through answered prayer must be accompanied by interpretation in order for it to achieve its ultimate value.

The supreme revelation

Far surpassing the revelation of God in types and symbols, in dreams and visions, or in the prophet's voice is the revelation of Himself in human form. By precept and example, Jesus Christ, the incarnate revelation of God, taught truths about His Father that could not be learned in any other way.

The revelation centered at the cross is the highest form of revelation, and the knowledge of "Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2) far excels any other form of knowledge. Concerning this supreme revelation, the Scriptures state, "At various times in the past and in various different ways, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our own time, the last days, he has spoken to us through his Son" (Heb. 1:1, Jerusalem), ⁺

For those of us living in the twentieth century, the revelation of God in His Son Jesus Christ must be communicated by intermediaries, and in this case largely by eyewitnesses (Paul being the notable exception). One such eyewitness states that his proclamation is based upon "that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life" (1 John 1:1, R.S. V.). The revelation of God in human flesh is declared to be far superior to His revelation in the Mosaic law (see John 1:14-17; 2 Cor. 3:7-14), in the types and symbols of the sanctuary service (see Heb. 8:3-6), or in the prophetic messages (see Mark 8:27-29; Luke 16:16; Heb. 1:1).

The role of the prophet

According to the earliest definition and usages of the word in Scripture, a "prophet" is one who acts as an intermediary, or spokesman, between God and man (see Gen. 20:7; Ex. 4:10-16; 7:1). A prophet can give no other message than that given to him by God, as is illustrated in the experience of Balaam and the call of Jeremiah (see Num. 22:38; Jer. 1:7). He speaks with the full authority of God behind him, as the expression "Thus saith the Lord" denotes. The prophet is one who both speaks and leads (see Hosea 12:13), who both rebukes and encourages (see 2 Sam. 12:7-14; Ezra 6:14), and who reveals the mysteries of God's intervention in human affairs (see Amos 3:7). The source of revelation is always God; man is merely the instrument or vehicle for communication. God is always the initiator; the prophet is the respondent. If the order were reversed, and the prophet took the initiative, his message could be found in error and would later have to be changed, as in the case of Nathan's counsel to David (see 1 Chron. 17:1-4).

God has chosen various methods by which to reveal Himself and His will to the prophet—inspired impressions, dreams, visions, and sometimes angels who gave explicit messages. In some cases the Bible writer was instructed by the Holy Spirit to write out his messages for the edification of God's people in succeeding generations, but not even all of these written messages were later embodied in Scripture (see Joshua 10:13;2Sam. 1:18; 1 Chron. 29:29; 2Chron. 9:29; 26:22). Sometimes the prophets incorporated previously written or spoken materials into their messages as the Holy Spirit directed (see Luke 1:1-4; Jude 14, 15; 1 Cor. 15:3; Acts 17:28). In other instances the prophet or Biblical writer received divine impressions without having a dream or a vision while studying or meditating upon past revelations. However, the prophet was always totally dependent upon the Holy Spirit in the writing out of his messages.

It is our belief" that the Bible came through divine activity by which God revealed Him self to specially chosen agents. He conveyed to them the knowledge of Himself, His will, the world, and the universe, along with the basis and means of understanding them. God inspired these men to receive and communicate His revelation accurately and authoritatively." —Ibid., p. 9.

Revelation refers to the content of the message, as well as to the act of disclosure to the prophet or Biblical writer. Inspiration describes the faithful, dependable communication of the message to the people. Revelation bridges the gap between God and the prophet; inspiration ensures that the revelation is faithfully transmitted from the prophet to the people. In reality, both revelation and inspiration are part and parcel of one continuous process, thus it is not possible always to separate them into two distinctive or successive experiences.

We find a glimpse of how this twofold process works in the opening and closing chapters of the book of Revelation: "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw" (Rev. 1:1, 2, R.S.V.). '"Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true' " (chap. 21:5, R.S.V.). The revelation is initially received by the prophet John through the medium of an angel, as well as through visions, and in turn, under God's inspiration, he is to convey it to the "seven churches" in written form. Thus the truthfulness and accuracy of the transmission is maintained through the aspect of inspiration.

The nature of inspiration

In discussing the nature of inspiration we must move with great caution and reverence, for a noninspired scholar cannot fully explore the depths of a process that only an inspired person has undergone and that only he can understand fully. Inspiration should be defined first of all internally, rather than externally. That is, inspiration should be its own interpreter. The inspired apostle writes, "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16, R.S.V.). Seventh-day Adventists reject the translation found in the New English Bible for this verse: ' 'Every inspired scripture has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error." The implication of this translation is that not every "scripture" is inspired, and this we reject. We feel that it is not up to a human interpreter to pick and choose which portions of Scripture are inspired and which are not. Either the whole of Scripture is inspired or it is not.

From our understanding of Scripture, we believe and teach that inspiration acts more upon the person or prophet than upon the pen. We reject any form of "dictation" theory to account for the written Scriptures. God communicated through "holy men of God," whose message, though shaped and motivated by the Holy Spirit, was phrased in words of their own choosing (see 2 Peter 1:21). The vocabulary and style of each Biblical writer reflects his own personality, cultural background, educational level, interests, and associations. Thus it cannot be said that the words themselves were dictated by the Holy Spirit.

At the time a prophet was given a message, he may not have understood that message (see Dan. 8:15,17,27; 9:22,23;! Peter 1:10,11). The Bible, which is the written Word, parallels Christ, the incarnate Word; just as there was a blending of the human and divine in God incarnate, so there is a blending of the human and divine in Scripture. Exactly how this blending has taken place is a mystery (see 1 Tim. 3:16). The end product is an infallible revelation of God's will to man couched within the finite language of humanity.

While we recognize that sound Biblical scholarship has noted differences of perspective between various Bible writers (especially when those writers deal with the same subject matter) and although minor discrepancies may be seen between the synoptic writers of the Gospels and between parallel accounts appearing in Kings and Chronicles, these unimportant differences in detail do not affect in any way the overall thrust of the scriptural message and its complete trustworthiness. By today's standards of scholarship, fully inspired New Testament writers may cite or interpret Old Testament texts "inaccurately." (See Matt. 2:23; 27:9; Acts 7:4, 14; and Gal. 3:17 for examples of Old Testament texts that are interpreted by New Testament writers in ways that many would consider questionable by current standards of scholar ship.) However, such a situation in no way affects our understanding of any major teaching or doctrine of Scripture, nor does it lessen our regard for Scripture as God's word. The words themselves, being human, may be at times fallible, but the message of God's unchanging plan for man's salvation remains infallible.

Certainly, Biblical archeology, instead of casting doubt upon the Scriptures, has time and again vindicated the authenticity and accuracy of the Biblical record. We do not believe, however, that the Bible's inspiration depends upon the archeologist's spade. We concur with Francis L. Patton: "It is a hazardous thing to say that being inspired the Bible must be free from error; for then the discovery of a single error would destroy its inspiration." —Fundamental Christianity, p. 163 (cited in Revelation and the Bible, p. 238, Carl F. H. Henry, ed.).

Although we want to use archeology to vindicate the amazing accuracy of the Bible, if we leave its inspiration to depend on the evidence unearthed by the archeologist's pick we run the risk of having archeology demonstrate one minor scriptural detail to be out of harmony with the known facts. The archeologist's spade is two-edged!

The Bible is self-authenticating, and the proof of its inspiration is not found in archeology, but in its ability to reshape human lives and perform the miracle of re-creation (see 1 Peter 1:23).

The authority of Scripture

At the time his letters were written Paul was conscious of the fact that he was speaking with the authority of the Lord and that his writings were to be used as a test of faith: "If anyone refuses to obey what we say in this letter, note that man, and have nothing to do with him" (2 Thess. 3:14, R.S.V.). According to Paul both his spoken and written messages came directly from God, and thus were authoritative: "Another reason why we constantly thank God for you is that as soon as you heard the message that we brought you as God's message, you accepted it for what it really is, God's message and not some human thinking" (1 Thess. 2:13, Jerusalem). "If any one thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord'' (1 Cor. 14:37, R.S.V.).

When we read that the purpose of Scripture is for "teaching ["doctrine," K.J.V.], for reproof, for correction, and for training in righeousness" (2 Tim. 3:16, R.S.V.), we interpret that to mean that Scripture is the final arbiter and standard in determining what is truth. Any noncanonical writing, whether inspired or not, must be measured against the ultimate test of Scripture, and any teaching or practice that does not harmonize with that test must be rejected.

We believe that the inspired canon is limited to the sixty-six books of the Old and the New Testament. "Seventh-day Adventists accept the entire Bible, believing that it not merely contains the word of God, but that it is the word of God." —Adventist Review, Jan. 17, 1980, p. 10. We reject the idea that there exists "a canon within the canon," as we do also the possibility that the writings of any reformer or modern-day writer could ever be included within the canon. For us, the canon was closed by the end of the first century A.D., although it took two or three centuries before the Christian church recognized where the limits of the canon should be drawn. We reject the possibility that the intertestamental writings, such as the Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, should ever be included in the canon, one reason being that nowhere does the New Testament consider them to be " Scripture'' or even once introduce a quote from those writings with the words "It is written."

The authority of the Bible extends beyond its being a test of doctrine, to include the areas of science, history, health, and education. Its counsels provide an infallible guide in deter mining personal ethics and establishing interpersonal relationships. Indeed, there is no aspect of daily life that remains untouched by its basic principles. The Bible provides a total package for Christian living and, if followed, will lead ultimately to eternal life (see John 5:39). Only with the aid of the Holy Spirit can man rightly interpret Scripture and rightly apply its principles to daily life (see John 16:13).

Next to the gift of Christ dying upon the cross, the most precious gift given by God to mankind is the gift of His Word. There is no more powerful tool available to those committed to Christ as Saviour than that of the Bible. Just as the spoken word brought life to our planet at Creation, so the written Word creates new life in the sin-deadened soul of man (see Ps. 33:6; says the Living Word about the written Word: " 'The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life'"; "'And this is eternal life, that they know . . .

Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent'" [John 6:63; 17:3, R.S.V.]). How can we know the One unless we know the other?