Bible Interpretation, Student Workbook, SW05

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B I B L E I N T E R P R E T A T I O N

The Scriptures clearly and boldly state that the Word of God is inspired of God, “God-breathed,” through the power and working of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is a book of human authorship and divine inspiration, yet no Scripture is of any private interpretation, but the authors were “carried along” by the Holy Spirit. Five major theories of inspiration have surrounded the explanation of how precisely the Holy Spirit carried along the human authors of the Scriptures. These include the Mechanical or Dictation Theory, the Intuition or Natural Theory, the Illumination Theory, the Degrees of Inspiration Theory, and the Verbal/Plenary Theory. The Verbal/Plenary Theory argues that the entire text of the Scriptures, including the selection of words the author chose, are the product of God’s leading and choice. Modern biblical criticism seeks to trace the origins of the Scriptures from the original events spoken of in the Bible to the actual reports of those happenings recorded in the canonical books of Scripture. Beginning with the regulatory event, it seeks to track God’s message from the event to the translation of Scripture we have today. The major subsections of modern biblical criticism includes form criticism (tracing oral tradition), source criticism (finding initial written sources), linguistic criticism (language, words, and grammar), textual criticism (copies of texts), literary criticism (rules of literature), canonical criticism (how books were selected), redaction criticism (the purposes of the authors), historical criticism (history and culture), as well as translation studies. Regardless of the claims made by many scholars today, we may be confident that the Scriptures are in truth the Word of God which lives and abides forever.

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Your ability to carefully and slowly reflect and apply insights is key to your own ongoing enrichment and development as a Christian leader. This section of your lesson is your time to discuss with your fellow students the specific questions that have arisen in your minds about the origins and authority of the Scriptures. The concept of the inspiration of Scripture lies at the heart of both your own ability to grow in Christ as well as proclaim its promises and claims confidently in your

Student Application and Implications