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All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2Tim. 3:16–17. RSV
This verse has often been used to support an idea that the Bible is the infallible word of God. That Biblical scripture is all effectively written by God. In this ‘fundamentalist’ approach there are no errors or omissions, either factually or spiritually. So, for instances, stories such as Genesis have to be taken literally as God wrote them and to disbelieve them would be to, effectively, call God a liar. Unfortunately those not subscribing to this often take a view which effectively degrades scripture to some sort of well-meaning collection of stories which may seem interesting but, none-the-less have no real significance to the modern world. Many a time I have tackled ‘liberals’ on their views on particular items of doctrine and so often the sound of, “Well, the Bible was written 2000 years ago by human beings just like us, do we really need to pay all that much attention to it?”. It is my aim, in this short article, to show that there might be a possible way to read scripture that, somehow, steers between these two extremes whilst still retaining the best of both ideas. It is important to understand that it is NOT my intention to be controversial and some of the ideas expressed here, although seeming extreme, are often made purely to make a point rather than deride the Bible
To begin with we need to consider what the passage does not say. Firstly, there is no mention of any idea of inerrancy or infallibility of scripture. There is no mention about whether all historical statements within scripture are accurate. We could argue, of course, that there is an implication of the above. After all, as the Bible is inspired by God it has to be inerrant and infallible. This may well be the case but there is no explicit mention of this sort of idea. In fact, it is interesting to note this in relation to what the passage does say. Why is it important, according to 2Timothy, that scripture is inspired? Because of its practical benefits, in teaching and training and being used in this way to conduce righteousness. It equips the Christian for every good work — i.e. it is ethically beneficial. To state that scripture is “profitable” is a fairly low-key statement. Furthermore, by taking the verse in context with 2Tim3:15 we can gain a further insight to the mind of the writer:
from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus …
2Tim. 3:15
The idea that scripture is able to instruct is a far reach from ideas of infallibility the complete works of everything that is to be said and done in Christianity!
It is also of vital importance to understand the context of the verse. The letters to Timothy and Titus are known as the ‘Pastoral Epistles’. They are concerned with matters of church order, bishops, deacons, the importance of order … The role of scripture as the unassailable authority on faith is simply not the subject they are talking about. Any such conclusions are reached at only be reading the passage in isolation and out of its context.
As a further point it is worth mentioning that the inspiration of scripture is mentioned explicitly only once in the New Testament and not in any of the major epistles: Romans, Corinthians, Galations, Ephesians. Nowhere in any of the Gospels does Jesus speak of inspiration. It is reasonable to conclude then that the inspiration of scripture was not a central and governing principle for the persons behind these major works.
The above all seems rather negative and one might ask why bother reading the Bible at all. After all, if it is not the infallible word of God then what good is it? This can only be answered by considering the question: What do we mean by inspiration? I believe the passage itself provides the answers to this questions. The more direct translation of ‘inspired’ is ‘God-breathed’. We can only guess whether the writer was thinking of the past or the future. Did God ‘breath’ into it, or does He now ‘breath’ through it? The Bible often speaks of God’s breath as being the basis for man’s life. Perhaps we can say that God breathed life into scripture and, perhaps, He breathes life through it. The Bible is, then, far more than just a mass of paper but is the word of God as when His spirit breathes through it. Inspiration might be thought of as this action of divine breathing into and through scripture. This approach concentrates less on the origin of scripture, but more on its effectiveness in a spiritual sense. It is worth bearing in mind Paul’s words in his second letter to the Corinthians:
who has qualified us to be ministers of a new covenant, not in a written code but in the Spirit; for the written code kills, but the Spirit gives life
2Cor. 3:6
The written law, though true, authoritative and the word of God, was in itself the minister of death and not of life, except when the Spirit breathed through it; and so it may be for the Bible as a whole. It may be that 2Tim 3:16 refers to the inspiration as the way in which scripture has worked in the past experience of Timothy and will work in his future life.
In bringing this article to a conclusion, it is worth considering an analogy between the nature of scripture and that of Christ (after all both are often referred to as the “Word of God”). The incarnate Christ is equally God and man at the same time, perfect in humanity and perfect in divinity. He is neither half-man, half-God nor is He a superman, distinct from the sphere of humanity. His two natures coexisted side by side. Perhaps this relationship can be applied to holy scripture. We could say that at the same time the Bible is a completely human product, having all the weakness, variability and cultural basis of its authors yet at the same time be the word of God through which the eternal God communicates with us. There is no need, here, for infallibility or inerrancy as human beings are neither of these; yet there is every need for us to take it seriously as if God is talking to us we should, at least, have the courtesy to listen.
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Last modified: 25th November 2005