Theological and Philosophical Perspectives on Divine Inspiration
Inspiration by the Holy Spirit is a theme throughout much of the Christian history. It is pulled from a part of the Christian accepted canon itself. Jesus told his disciples that they would be guided in their teaching and aided by the Spirit. This guidance by the Spirit is the defining essence of an ‘inspired’ work.
The Holy Spirit, it was said, guided the writing of both the books of the Bible and the selection of those books which were chosen for the Bible. The question is: are these books and
their selection
actually inspired? This Spirit, if it
can be
concluded to exist was meant to
guide the
followers of the God towards the
truth. In this
argument, the Spirit guided
multiple
human writers to gather and write
down stories
for compilation into a greater
source. This
Spirit then influenced those who
chose the
works of the Bible to pick only
those
sources that the Spirit deemed
true. The
Church, under the influence of the Spirit, made the decisions as to what is true
and what is false. Over the many centuries, some works have through the Church become known to the general Christian populace of Earth to be the true, whole and completely that which the Spirit has deemed as such. To be accurate one must take into account that there were other works and different points of view that have been shut out and put down so that this version would become predominant. This being said, it means that at any given moment, every human under the influence of this Spirit can know the truth by finding it in the Bible. Taking this statement back in time, we must acknowledge that the New Testament was not written in one piece, but in fragments of truth. The Spirit should have influenced people back then towards the formation of its own deciding power, the Church. Once this body was formed, the Church would be able to decide the truth for humankind.
However, if the Spirit choosing the texts and writing them could be said to not be the perfect God God as Humankind
of the Christians, but liable to make mistakes, then the errors and differences present in the Bible could be accepted. This would not be then the Holy Spirit then, but rather a different, more human, Spirit. The
Christian God would protect his truth and would have to prevent any and all contrary information from surfacing. One could state that maybe this was not the work of some unknown God, but instead this work was formed and selected by humans under the impression that they were led by God. Through a
creative misdirection on the part of humankind, humans took these works then to be designed by a greater Spirit, when in fact these works were designed by the Spirit's own self and members. All of the evidence leads to the conclusion that the Christian God is not the author.
It is a Christian belief that the works in the Bible were guided by the A Spirit Are of humankind cannot see itself hand of the Spirit this brings into focus two particular questions. all works
guided by the Spirit? Are the editing, translation, and other modifications under the guidance of the Spirit? This is a tricky question the Christian Church has many explanations of what is or is not under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. However, if the previous definition of the Spirit as the collective humankind is used, some conclusions may be drawn. A work guided by the Spirit should represent something of the Spirit. This means, it must be agreed upon by a large group within humankind in any time. This means a work that many people held to be true long ago was guided by the Spirit then. However if that work falls from acceptance as true, then the Spirit rejects it and it is revised or discarded. Some works were made in the past and in a later time accepted. These works have been guided by the Spirit, but not accepted until later. Any work that that is never accepted as truth by humankind is then the only kind of work that is unguided by the Spirit.
Christian perspective
Jesus very often referred to the Old Testament in His teachings. He believed that the written messages of Moses, David, and other prominent religious figures were true and accurate. He condoned and accepted the words of the Old Testament. It would be accurate to say that Jesus used the Old Testament as the base of His own canon. The Old Testament, for Jesus, was thought of as a simple and basic starting point for all of his teachings.
Jesus taught his disciples using the Old Testament, and encouraged his followers to use it as the base of their teaching beliefs. He also promised them that the Holy Spirit would inspire (guide) them in their preaching. Because of this promise of inspiration, the disciples’ teachings were deemed to be God’s words. Other New Testament writers, such as Paul, began to claim their own works were inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore were canon. Eventually, other writers, such as Timothy, claimed the same promise of inspiration.
Additionally, Jesus’ own words were considered to have equal value to the Law itself; thus, many of the inspired works included the words of Jesus.
In conclusion, God’s words do not end with the Old Testament. The “inspiration” of the Holy Spirit would continue to extend to other writings. The
canon was not closed indefinitely. It would continually be expanded on as necessary, as long as it included the approved teachings of Jesus.
An argument can be made that because God resurrected Jesus, God approved of His teachings. In other words, God would not have brought Jesus back to life if He did not believe His teachings to be accurate. Therefore, the inspiration of the Scripture is grounded in the teaching of Jesus Christ and His resurrection. Through this, the teachings of Jesus are capable of acting as the basis for the Christian faith.
Sources: Pictures http://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media/50/19250-004-C4BB4660.jpg http://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/Trinity%20Sunday%201.jpg http://leonardodavinci.stanford.edu/submissions/clabaugh/images/vm/leonard o.jpg http://thewhimsiad.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/lgsb0015+da-vincisvitruvian-man-homer-simpson-the-simpsons-art-print.jpg Information
http://www.bible-researcher.com/bruce1.html http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14530a.htm