2 Timothy 3:16-17 *All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works*.
*HERESIES AGAINST THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE* (a)⁰
The bible is the inspired and inerrant word of God. However, not all believers subscribe to this view. Throughout the ages, there are three views that hold sway among bible scholars but just one is biblically correct.
1- *Orthodoxy*: The Bible Is The Word Of God
2- *Modernism*: The Bible Contains The Word Of God
3- *Neoorthodoxy*: The Bible Becomes The Word Of God
These three views shapes our understanding about the bible and how we'll respond to what is written in it. Previously, we examined the orthodox view which is what the church believes. Let's examine other views about the bible.
i.*MODERNISM: THE BIBLE CONTAINS THE WORD OF GOD*
This idea is the brain child of German idealism philosophy of 18th century spearheaded by Immanuel Kant,Johann Gottlieb Fichte,Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
Some bible critics and liberal bible scholars subscribed to this view as well. They believe that certain parts of the Bible are divine and true but other parts are clearly human and in error.
Liberal theology gave birth to most of the heresies in the body of Christ today. They downplayed the 100% inspiration of the bible. They disregard the miracles written in it.
They believe that legends, myths and false beliefs about science were incorporated into the Bible. They see bible as a Jewish scrapbook of legends, stories, and poems with no historical value.
They believe that the inspiration of the bible is mixed with erroneous religious lore and scientific belief common to the day of the writers. Can you see that it is a dangerous view?
Some believe that the fall of man in the garden of Eden is a myth, Eve didn't eat any fruit. They say the fruit is symbolic. That's not true. Some teach that the mark of the beast is not going to be given but rather it is a system of belief.
The logic behind their position is that the bible contains words spoken by God, man, angels, demons and Satan. How safe is it to say everything in it is the word of God?
At first, their position shows a gross misunderstanding of what the bible mean when it says "All Scripture is given by inspiration". When we say the bible is given by God's inspiration to the writers, it simply means that all they recorded in the bible was inspired by God.
All the good, bad and ugly events were given/ revealed to them by God to be recorded in the bible for our learning. It does not mean God endorsed the words of demons of Satan, demons or evils recorded in the bible. The description of events&words recorded in the bible came to the writers by divine inspiration.
*However, it should be noted that description is not the same as prescription. Inspiration does not mean God endorsed the evils of that time neither does He affirm the words spoken by Satan*.
Just look at it from what journalists do. They record events and words as it happens. It does not mean they endorsed all the happenings and words spoken by people. Theirs is to record. That applies to inspiration of the bible in a way. The writers of the bible were inspired by God to record all that was revealed to them.
To prove inspiration further; we believe Moses wrote Genesis to Deuteronomy. One may ask If he was there when God created the heaven and the earth as he recorded in Genesis? Was he there when Cain killled Abel? We all know he wasn't there.
The question is: how did he know all those events? The answer still lies in all we have been saying: he was inspired by God to know all that happened before he was born and he recorded these events as God revealed them to him. He didn't write from head knowledge or hearsay but by revelation. This is why the bible is a supernatural book in its entirety.
The revelation of what happened to people and in places to a man who was not born at the time of happening is what makes his writing the word of God because it was revealed and not discovered through scientific inquiry. This applies to other books in the bible as well. This is what we mean by inspiration.
So, If we say the bible contains the word of God, it simply mean it contains other things that came from man's own thought and ideas that was not divinely revealed to the writer. If we accept this, the bible becomes useless.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 says, *"And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers*".
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1 Thessalonians 2:13 says, *"And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers*".