I have four points of introduction. In terms of the general form of this study, what I have decided to do is for any given topic of Scripture, to provide three levels of study: (a) the basic definition with a half a dozen Scriptural references, which should take approximately a paragraph and no more than half a page; (b) the doctrine of a particular topic; this should take anywhere from 1-5 pages and could be covered in a lecture in ten minutes to perhaps less than three hours; (c) the third level I will call the study of a particular topic. This last level will be a much more in depth study, exceeding ten pages in length and requiring at least five hours of lecture. Some topics, such as inspiration, lend themselves to all three levels. Other topics, such as the tree of life, barely lend themselves to levels one and two.

Secondly, as I embark on this study, I am continually reminded about Paul's statements in I Corinthians concerning the body of Christ and its interrelatedness and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Nowhere is this more clear than in a study like this. I could not begin to count the number of shoulders that I am standing upon. There are so many believers who are authors, pastors, textual critics, Greek and Hebrew scholars, etc. that without whom, I would have nothing to write. The Bibliography given only scratches the surface of the number of people who have been the basis of my training in general and this study in specific.

What I am committing to paper is not original by any means. I have drawn heavily from several sources, all found in the Bibliography. What they have done is far superior to anything that I could come up with from scratch, yet I feel by combining their works, adding a few comments of my own, that I might have a study of some merit.

Finally, as I sit here in my living room typing, I am not an author per se (I have had nothing published) nor am I a teacher of God's Word (I have taught a Sunday school class and a Christian group for a very short time decades ago), I have no idea as to where this particular study may end up. I do not know whether this will be a personal study that will die when I die, and live on in my soul as a result of the study or whether it will touch the life of any other Christian. My belief is the latter, yet I have no idea as to what extent or in what form. I do believe that I am part of the body of Christ and that sometime in the future, this study, or compilation, will continue to bolster other Christians lives as it has mine. God has a definite purpose for my life and, although I have inklings and guesses as to what it might be, as I type this, my primary direction is to write and study, study and write. I thank God that He has given me the opportunity to do that.

Having read a great many books on the Bible, I have found that when an author states a point and adds a Scriptural reference or two, that most of the time, these references are not ever consulted by the reader (or listener) and, tragically, often these passages do not really address the content of the point given. For this reason, I will quote the pertinent Scripture (using blue for the Old Testament, red for the New, and magenta for Old Testament passages quoted from the New). Word that I want emphasized will be in italics within these quotes, and quotes taken from other authors will also be in italics. If a particular quote is of great importance, then I will place it in bold. In each case, I will attempt to give the context and background and give a reasonable translation of the verse (depending heavily upon the New American Standard Bible for the basic text and editing as necessary). In no wise should the passages cited thought to be an exhaustive search of all related Scripture. I may be particularly exhausted after a few hours at the keyboard, but the references are merely a representative group. As I have done in the past, I could fill six or more pages of verses dealing with salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. However, in a doctrinal examination of a related subject, quoting but two or three of these passages would suffice to convey the principle.

Introduction: It is important that we understand what is meant by inspiration. After all, properly speaking, inspiration is not a Biblical word

, just as trinity is not a Biblical word. This does not mean it is a false doctrine; it just means that word is not specifically found in Scripture. Furthermore, the theological term inspiration and the common use of the same word are different. People hear a motivational speaker and they are inspired. An artist spends a week in a cabin and is suddenly inspired. This is not what we mean in theology when we speak of the Bible being inspired. 2Tim. 3:16 gives us the best initial concept of Biblical inspiration. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God might be adequate, equipped for every good work. The Greek word translated inspired by God is θεόπνευστος (theopneustos) and it means God-breathed. It means to breathe out. As the New Bible Dictionary explains, the proper sense is not God breathing through the Scriptures and it is not the Scriptures breathing out God (the word is passive and not active), but the Scriptures are being breathed out by God (which, in the English, is awkward) and it sounds better as God breathed out Scripture. The simplest translation, as was stated, is God-breathed. The words found in the Bible are God's words and the thoughts which they express are God's thoughts. Inspiration and illumination are also two separate concepts. Illumination is what occurs as we are taught God's Word or as we read God's Word and we understand what is being communicated. At that point, we are illumined. We are illumined because the Scripture is inspired.

So that we have a working definition, I could not improve upon the definition which Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote in Systematic Theology: It is by the divine controlling influence of God over the human authors that the Old and New Testaments were written to include all that God wanted included, to exclude all that God wanted excluded, and to state divine truth in perfect accuracy. Inspiration may be defined as God so supernaturally directed the writers of Scripture that, without waiving their human intelligence, their individuality, their literary style, their person feelings, or any other human factor, His own complete and coherent message to man was recorded in perfect accuracy, the very words of Scripture bearing the authority of divine authorship.

Introduction: It is imperative that we understand what the Bible says about itself in order to build upon that. Few authors claim that their very words are the Words of God. Such claims usually come under the heading of extreme arrogance and self-delusion. Generally such claims, infrequent as they are

, can be dismissed without investigation of those allegations. However, the Bible is a different matter, as we will come to find out.

(a) The most practical place to begin is what is self-claimed. Why argue that the Bible is God's Word if it does not testify to that itself?

(b) Our judicial system allows a man to testify on his own behalf; certainly the same privilege should be afforded the Word of God.

(c) This embarkation is not so much a way of supporting the claim of Divine inspiration, but rather a point of departure, a jumping off point, if you will, so that we know what the Bible claims for itself. It is that viewpoint we hope to articulate and give evidence for.

2. We hold to the doctrine of verbal-plenary inspiration. That is, the very words of Scripture are inspired (verbal inspiration) and inspiration extends to the entirety of the Bible (plenary inspiration).

3. The classical text is 2Tim. 3: 16–17: Every Scripture [is] God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for convincing, for correction of error, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be well-prepared, equipped for every good work. God-breathed is the Greek word θεόπνευστος (theopneustos) and it is most often translated inspired by God. However, it is the combination of two Greek words, θεός (which means God) and πέπνευστι, which is from the Greek word πνέω (to breathe). It is found only once in the NT and I personally would have thought that this would have been a coined word by Paul. It was not. It is also found in classical Greek writings (although most of the passages seem to come from the first or second century bc). Breathing involve inhale and exhale:

(a) On the inhale, we have God the Holy Spirit providing the writers of Scripture with information, as in II Sam. 23:2–3 Isa. 59:21 Jer. 1:9 Acts 28:25).

(b) On the exhale, we have the writers of Scripture writing God's word (or speaking it; and these words are recorded).

4. Paul, in defending his authority and his ministry to the Corinthians (1Cor. 2:13), wrote: These things which we also speak [are] not in words taught by human wisdom but in those [words] taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual words with spiritual truth.

5. The New Testament constantly equates the writings of the Old Testament with the phrase the Word of God.

(a) In Mark 7:1–15, Jesus is speaking to some scribes and Pharisees, quoting Old Testament passages, interpreting them correctly, and showing them the errors in their own interpretations. In pointing out one particular error of tradition, which goes against one of the basic tenants of Scripture, our Lord says in Mark 7:13a, "[You are thus] invalidating the Word of God by your traditions which you have handed down."

(b) When our Lord was tested by Satan, He answered Satan's first temptation with "It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4) Satan understood fully what God's Word was and began to quote Old Testament Scripture.

(c) The book of Hebrews explains to the Jewish believer and unbeliever that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. It goes further to properly interpret Old Testaments passages and events, which had been obfuscated by the confused traditions of the scribes and Pharisees. The author of Hebrews, after quoting several Old Testaments passages, writes (Heb. 4:12): The Word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder the soul and the spirit, the joints and the marrow, and is a critic and of thoughts and intents of the heart.

(a) One of the first churches founded by Paul was the church at Thessalonica. When establishing a church, Paul (i) evangelized them and (ii) taught them Bible doctrine. Paul claims that what he taught them was the word of God. He wrote: And for this reason, we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men but for what it really is, the Word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.

(b) Acts 4:4 deals primarily with John and Peter and v. 31 reads: And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the Word of God with boldness.

7. Paul calls the Old Testament writings the Oracles of God in Rom. 3:2 as does the writer of Heb. 5:12. Paul is explaining in Romans the advantage of being a Jew to the Romans and writes that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.

8. The Bible is not a matter of human viewpoint but Scripture is written while the writer is filled by the Holy Spirit or he writes by means of the Holy Spirit or while he is carried along by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 22:42–45 Acts 4:24–25 II Peter 1:20–21). As Thieme puts it, the Holy Spirit makes use of human agencies and language. Chafer points out that the Bible is our ultimate authority...It is an act of futility to attempt to debate theology and the truths relating to it without agreeing on the foundation and source of this truth.

(a) In response to the divine release of Peter and John from prison, other disciples remarked, "O Lord, it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, who, by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David, Your servant, said, 'Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples devise futile things? The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Messiah.'" (Acts 4:24–26)

(b) Peter writes to other believers the following words (2Peter 1:20–21): But know this first of all that all prophecy of Scripture is not from one's own interpretation for [you see], no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will but by from God men moved by the Holy Spirit.

9. During the sermon on the mount, Jesus said to His listeners, "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law until all is accomplished." (Matt. 5:18) Our Lord also said, "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail." (Luke 16:17)

10. Jesus told his listeners during another sermon that "The Scripture cannot be broken." (John 10:35b)

11. The Word of God came to Jeremiah, the prophet and prior to delivering this word to the people of Judah, Yahweh admonishes Jeremiah, "Do not omit a word!" (Jer. 26:2b)

12. Sometimes theologians and people who have a particular Biblical viewpoint tend to take the Bible very literally. There is good precedence for this viewpoint. Paul, in Gal. 3:16, bases an argument on the use of a singular rather than a plural in the Old Testament.

13. The chart below shows that the New Testament writers of Scripture and Jesus Christ quoted Old Testament Scripture as unequivocally God's Word

(a) Yahweh Elohim speaks directly to Moses (Lev. 1:1–8:2 Num. 1:1–16 5:1–6:27 Deut. 31:14–21)

(b) Moses communicates God's Word to the sons of Abraham (Num. 11:24 Deut. 2:2–9 6:1–25)

(b) Already, God emphasizes the importance of the written word to Joshua (Josh. 1:8)

(d) Most importantly: And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God. (Josh. 24:26a)

(a) The angel of the Lord (who is Yahweh Elohim) speaks to Joshua (or possibly the people of Israel) in Judges 2:1–3; to Gideon in Judges 6:12–18; the wife of Zorah (Judges 13:–5

(b) God's viewpoint is expressed in several places: Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. (Judges 6:1 13:1)

6. Ruth was probably an addendum to the book of Judges (Ruth 1:1) and therefore would not require a specific claim for inspiration. However, this book does record divine activity

, as Geisler and Nix put it, because it records a an important portion of the Messianic line (Ruth 4:24). However, we do not have an appearance of the Angel of the Lord nor do we have any pronouncements such as "The Lord said to..." This was a problem in terms of acceptance into the canon of Scripture, but that is another topic.

(a) The word of the Lord comes to Nathan (I Chron. 17:1–14), to Gad (I Chron. 21:9–10), and to David (I Chron. 22:8–11).

(d There aren't as many divine claims to authorship in chronicles as there are in most of the other books but Geisler and Nix point out that the books assume authority rather than stating or claiming

. See II Chron. 36:18–23.

(c) Geisler and Nix point out that this is more of a recording of God's deeds rather than His words and it is therefore authoritative

11. Esther is even more of an enigma to the unlearned. Not even is God's name mentioned in all of Esther. However, the Jewish religion would have been anathema at this time in Persia. However, some claim that God's name does show up in acrostic form (it is said that the use of His name would have caused problems for the Jews in captivity). I don’t buy that, as second in that kingdom was Esther, who was a Jewess. In any case, God's divine providence is seen clearly in this book, apart from any mention of Him.

12. Job unashamedly presents direct conversation between Satan and Yahweh in Job 1:7–12 2:1–6. The bulk of Job is a conversation between Job and is friends, a portion of which is correct, divine viewpoint; however, much of it is human viewpoint. God speaks to Job and acts in Job's life in Job 38:1–42:12.

13. Psalms are written by many different authors compiled over several hundred years. Since the book of Psalms is treated like a cohesive whole throughout the rest of Scripture, we shall do likewise. However, these Psalms are primarily men speaking to God in song lyrics. Therefore, we would expect a dearth of "Thus saith the Lord..."

14. Proverbs has probably more external evidence for inspiration than internal evidence (which will be covered in the next section). Like much of the Bible, its tone is unabashedly authoritative.

15. Ecclesiastes was a difficult book when it came to deciding what belonged in the canon of Scripture. This is the writing of Solomon while in and out of fellowship and while on a frantic search for happiness. Solomon had the ability to satisfy his every whim; and he was bright and well-trained. However, everything that he tried was vanity of vanities. What we have here is a mixture of human and divine viewpoint. As in Proverbs, its tone is authoritative but there is not the familiar "the Word of the Lord came to me."

16. The Song of Solomon is another book which was tough for those in the position of determining what belonged and what did not belong in the canon. It is Solomon making a fool of himself in front of a very lovely and faithful woman. There is no simple internal (or external) evidence for its inclusion in the canon, just like Ecclesiastes. Its inclusion is an example of God's control over the canon of Scripture.

17. Like Geisler and Nix, it is easiest to group all of the prophets together. Since a prophet represents God to man, their books will always be replete with messages directly from God. Lamentations is somewhat different, however. Whereas the majority of Jeremiah is God speaking to Jeremiah, Lamentations is Jeremiah speaking to God. Therefore, because of the difference in viewpoints, it will not carry the same language that Jeremiah does when it comes to self-proclaimed divine revelation. Habakkuk is similar in viewpoint to Lamentations. Daniel is a man who had enough knowledge of God's word to where he did not need to communicate directly with God in order to explain things to kings. However, God did choose him to give a number a very bizarre visions to.

(a) God speaks directly with the prophet (Isa. 8:1–11 2:2–4:12 Ezek. 2:1–3:27 Joel 2:12 Obad. 1:1–21 Jonah 3:1–2 Micah 4:6–13 Zeph. 1:1–13 Hag. 2:1–23 Zech. 2:5–13 Mal. 1:1–14)

(b) God's viewpoint or His actions are presented (Isa. 10:33 14:1–22 Lam. 2:1–8 Dan. 1:2 Hos. 4:1 Micah 6:1 Nahum 1:12–15)

(c) The word of the Lord comes to the prophet (Jer. 1:2,13 2:1 Ezek. 1:3 Hos. 1:1 3:1 Joel 1:1 Jonah 1:1 3:1 Micah 1:1 Zeph. 1:1 Hag. 1:1,3 Zech. 1:1 Mal. 1:1)

(d) The prophet receives visions from God (Dan. 8:1–27 12:1–13 Amos 1:1 Obad. 1:1 Nahum 1:1 Hab. 1:1 Zech. 2:1–4)

(g) God commanded the prophets to write their words down (Isa. 30:8 Jer. 36:28 Hab. 2:2)

18. My hope was to give a representative sampling of a few verses in each book of the Old Testament which declare clearly that at least a portion of the book is directly from God. There were certainly a half a dozen books where this is not as clear as it is in the others, but there are other evidences for their self-proclaimed authority as God's Word. An exhaustive study of all such verses would be tedious and unnecessary. All any individual needs to do is pick up the Bible and begin reading and, with the few exceptions previously noted, within a few pages he will find a portion of Scripture which claims divine revelation for itself.

1. As a point of introduction, this again is an abbreviated examination of what the Old Testament claims for itself. However, in this section, we will see what one portion of the Old Testament has to say about another portion.

2. The Pentateuch was taken as a cohesive whole by the Jews, and by far the easiest portion of the Bible to give internal evidence for its divine authorship. That is, it not only continually claims for itself divine authorship, but Old Testament writers, priests, and prophets also took it as authoritative (e.g., II Kings 14:6) Moses writings were taken to be from God immediately; a portion of Josh. 14:2 reads:...as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses. It was called the book of the law (Josh. 8:31 II Kings 22:8,11), the law of Moses (I Kings 2:3) or the book of Moses (II Chron. 35:12 Neh. 13:1). Prior to its use in II Chron. 35:12, God's Word had been lost and recently found and read as authoritative by King Josiah (II Chron. 34:30). A group of priests follow the authority of the book of Moses when they begin to set up an altar to God and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Ezra 3:2–5). Daniel, in a prayer to God, quotes from the Law of Moses as authoritative (Dan. 9:13). God encourages the readers of Malachi to remember the law of Moses (Mal. 4:4).

3. The Psalms: David, who wrote a large number of the Psalms, is said to have been used by the Spirit of God when he wrote and spoke (II Sam. 23:1–2).

4. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon: In direct communication with God, Solomon asked for wisdom and God was so pleased that he granted this desire and made Solomon the wisest man who ever lived (I Kings 3:6–14 4:29). By extrapolation, that would extend to his writings.

5. The Old Testament is separated into two parts by some (the Law and the Prophets—Matt. 5:17 Luke 24:27) and into three parts by others (the Law, the Prophets and the Writings—Luke 24:44). The writings include the Psalms, Job, Ruth, Esther and the three historical books, Daniel, Ezra/Nehemiah and Chronicles. This three-fold division is found in the Hebrew Bible and alluded to only once in the New Testament. However, when taken as a cohesive whole, we have covered some of the Scriptural references to their authority in points 3 and 4.

6. The prophets of God are given a blanket authority acknowledgment in II Chron. 20:20, which says , in part: "...Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in Yahweh, your God, and you will be stabilized and strengthened. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed." Zechariah voices a similar recognition of the prophets speaking God's Word, when he wrote: "And they made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore, great wrath came from the Lord of Hosts." (Zech. 7:12). The Prophets are the servants of God (Jer. 7:25 Ezek. 38:17 Dan. 9:6,10). Certain men are recognized as prophets in other books of the Bible: Isaiah (II Kings. 20:1,11,14), Jeremiah (II Chron. 36:12

Ezra 1:1 Dan. 9:2), and Haggai and Zechariah (Ezra 5:1 6:14).

Introduction: In the first two columns, we will give a partial list of Old Testament quotations quoted (generally, authoritatively) in the New; and then examine the blanket authority given the Old Testament by the New.

Old Testament Passage........

.......cited in the New Testament

Authority granted in general

Gen. 1:27 2:24 5:2

Gen. 7:7

Ex. 20:13–14

Ex. 21:24 Lev. 24:20

Lev. 19:12 Num. 30:2

Deut. 8:3

Deut. 6:16

II Sam. 23:2

1 Kings 19:10,18

Job 5:13

Psalm 6:8

Psalm 78:2

Prov. 3:11–12

Isa. 7:14

Isa. 40:3

Jer. 31:15

Jer. 31:31–34

Dan. 9:27

Dan. 12:3

Hos. 6:6

Hos. 11:1

Joel 2:28–32

Amos 5:26–27

Jonah 1:2

Micah 5:2

Micah 7:6

Hab. 2:3–4

Zeph. 1:3

Zech. 11:12–13

Matt. 19:4,5ª

Matt. 24:38ª

Matt. 5:21,27ª

Matt. 5:38ª

Matt. 5:33ª

Matt. 4:4ª

Matt. 4:7ª

Matt. 22:43–45ª*

Rom. 11:3–4

1Cor. 3:19

Matt. 7:23ª

Matt. 13:35ª

Heb. 12:5–6

Matt. 1:23*

Matt. 3:3

Matt. 3:18

Heb. 8:8–12 10:16–17

Matt. 24:15ª

Matt. 13:43ª

Matt. 9:13 12:7ª

Matt. 2:15*

Acts 2:16–21

Acts 7:43

Matt. 12:40ª

Matt. 2:6

Matt. 10:21,35ª

Heb. 10:37–38

Matt. 13:41ª

Matt. 27:9–10

1. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For dogmatically I say to you until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law until all has been accomplished." (Jesus Christ speaking to the multitudes during the sermon on the mount in Matt. 5:17–18)

2. After His resurrection from the dead, Jesus told some of His disciples: "All things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." (Luke 24:44b)

3. Many of the Old Testament Scriptures were Messianic; that is, they predicted the coming of our Lord and His dying on the cross on our behalf. This is the thrust of the previously quoted Matt. 5:17–18 and Luke 24:44. Jesus, in John 5:39, speaking in the temple, said, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me." (See also Mark 15:28 John 13:18 17:12 19:24,28)

4. Jesus accused the Jews of shedding righteous blood from Abel (found in Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew canon) to Zechariah (his death is recorded in II Chron 24:20–22; and II Chron. is the last book of the Bible in the Hebrew canon). This is a way of including the entire Hebrew canon minus the Apocrypha under the divine revelation.

5. Jesus Christ asserts that the "Scriptures cannot be broken." (John 10:35b)

6. Jesus tells the Sadducees that "You are wrong because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God." (Matt. 22:29)

7. Jesus Christ continually quoted the Scriptures, as seen in the table above, properly interpreting them (since their meaning had become lost in the legalism of the Pharisees), and in one of His many corrections of their viewpoint, specifically their misunderstanding of the Messiah, he said, "Have you never read in the Scriptures the stone which the builders rejected became the chief cornerstone?"

8. The authority of Scriptures include the Law, or the books of Moses (Mark 12:26 Luke 2:22–24 Acts 13:39 1Cor. 9:9); the Law and the prophets (Matt. 7:12 Luke 24:27 Acts 28:23); the Law, the prophets and the Psalms (Luke 24:44); the prophets (Mark 1:2 Luke 4:17 Rom. 1:2); and the Psalms (writings) (Luke20:42 Acts 1:20).

ª spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ * quoted as spoken by the Lord or through the Spirit of God (sometimes by the agency of a prophet)

We need to make a quick, parenthetical examination of the Writings of Scripture; that is, the Psalms, Job, Proverbs, etc:

1. Most of the New Testament, with the sole exception of Luke 24:44, seem to set up a two-fold division of the Bible into the Law and the Prophets.

2. The Hebrew Bible does, for all intents and purposes, subdivide the Bible into three sections, the Law, the Prophets and the Writings, which include the poetical books (Job, Psalms and Proverbs), the Five Rolls (or the Megilloth, which includes the Song of Solomon, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Esther and Lamentations, the first four of which are read each year at a given Feast day), and the historical books (Daniel, Ezra/Nehemiah and Chronicles).

3. The reading of four books of the Megilloth during specific Feast days indicates that the Jews saw these books as inspired.

4. The New Testament freely quotes from these books, often calling their authors prophets (Daniel in Matt. 24:15; David in Acts 2:30 and David by self-proclamation in II Sam 23:2 and I Chron. 28:19; Solomon was granted wisdom by God and had visions from God, so this would lend divine credence to his writings (cp Num 12:6 and I Kings 11:9, also see ***)

5. The gospel writers, in fact, particularly Matthew, and Paul in his epistles, quote the Psalms a great deal, giving credence to their divine authority (Matt. 11:9 12:10–11,36 Rom. 4:10–18 6:7–8)

6. As was noted in the table above, many of the books which fall into this category of the Writings are quoted in the New Testament with the same authority as any other book.

7. By the nature of these books, the Psalms being often praises made toward God, Lamentations being a payer of Jeremiah, Esther being an historical book written and preserved in a time when the mention of Yahweh could have caused the book's destruction, it would be contrived to occasionally include the phrase "God saith..." because these are authors, as moved by the Holy Spirit, speaking to God or recording historical events. In the case of Solomon, some of his writings were done in looking back to false concepts which he had and his frantic search for happiness apart from God.

8. Luke's three-fold division puts the third portion of the Old Testament on equal footing with the Law and the Prophets in Luke 24:44.

9. The explanation often given by theologians is that these writers had the gift but not the office of prophet. After having read that explanation in books by authors that I greatly admire, this does not cover Jeremiah, who wrote Lamentations and clearly had the gift and office of prophecy. Daniel was clearly a prophet, yet not specifically to Israel except by way of the foretelling of tribulational event. Ruth and Esther were not prophetesses, yet this does not mean that they, or the authors of their books could not write Scripture. As long as we recognize a prophet as being a person who spoke on behalf of God prior to the completion of the canon of Scripture, then the writers of all these books could b considered prophets. Whether they were specifically called prophets during their day or not is irrelevant.

10. Therefore, the writings are different in nature from much of the rest of the Old Testament, yet they are equally inspired.

9. Jesus Christ, Paul and other writers of New Testament Scripture, continually said (or wrote), "It stands written...", "As the Scripture has said...", "...according to the Scriptures." (Luke 4:4,8,10 19:46 John 7:42 19:37 Acts 7:42 Rom. 4:3 9:17 1Cor. 15:3–4 Gal. 4:30). Their appeal for a particular viewpoint was always to the Scriptures as the final authority.

10. Paul's use of the Scriptures indicated that they were a common source of authority for himself and the unregenerate Jews (Acts. 17:2,11 18:28) and as a source of authority to newly saved Gentiles (Rom. 4:3 9:17 Gal 4:30..

11. Paul stated the simple and profound, All Scripture is God-Breathed in 2Tim. 3:16.

12. I will quote Peter as the final point, but, for the fullest understanding of his opinion, it's best that we understand the word prophecy. We tend to connect prophecy exclusively with the unveiling of future events. The prophet certainly did that, but not just as a matter of satisfying or perking intellectual curiosity. The prophet was God's representative to man who spoke God's truth to man prior to the completion of the canon of Scripture. Prophecy is, therefore, God's truth, which includes but is not limited by the revealing of events to occur in the future. A simple reading of the message of any prophet will show that the prophet intended for his words to provoke a response or to have an effect on the readers or listeners. Anytime you read the word prophecy, understand that this is God's truth spoken by a prophet. That being said, Peter wrote: But understand this first of all that no prophecy of Scripture is a [matter of] personal unraveling because no prophecy ever originated by human impulse but [rather] men spoke from God, having been carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2Peter 1:20–21)

13. Conclusion: You can draw no other conclusion than the Old Testament presented itself as God's Word, God's Truth and God's Law. This position is taken throughout the entirety of the Old Testament. Furthermore, in looking back, later Old Testament Scripture recognized the authority of previously recorded Scripture. And finally, the writers of the New Testament, the Apostles and Jesus Christ continually affirmed the veracity of the very words of Old Testament Scriptures. We can take any stand that we want and believe anything that we want concerning the accuracy of the Old Testament; however, there should be no confusion now as to how the Old Testament writers viewed their own writings and viewed the writings in the rest of the Old Testament; nor should we have another viewpoint on how Jesus Christ or any of the Apostles viewed the Old Testament; their opinion should be clear.

Introduction: We will eventually deal with the false concepts of the mechanics of inspiration and the meaning of inspiration. However, an important point is did Jesus or any of the Apostles recognize the Scriptures as divinely inspired, yet cast aspersions upon some of the OT stories. That is, did they interpret the Bible literally as Christians do, or did they understand that some of the stories in the Bible were illustrative of some higher principle, but historically inaccurate? The chart below, taken directly from Geisler and Nix, will show that the Apostles and our Lord Jesus Christ accepted the historicity of the events recorded in the Old Testament.

Preface	Introduction	Biblical Claims for Inspiration
Apologetics	Additional Topics on Inspiration	Bibliography

Preface	Introduction	Biblical Claims for Inspiration
Apologetics	Additional Topics on Inspiration	Bibliography