2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
This is the passage most frequently quoted to say that the Bible is inerrant (without error) and infallible (always right). Sometimes �God-breathed� is inserted for �inspired�. But what does it really mean??
(New Strongs Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words) 2315. qeovpneusto" the�o�pne�usto�s, theh-op�-nyoo-stos; from 2316 and a presumed der. of 4154; divinely breathed in:� given by inspiration of God.
Literally this means �God-breathed�. But what else can be described as �God-breathed� and what does this mean in reality?
There are seven incidences of the word �inspired� in the Bible
Exod 35:34 And he [the Lord] has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
Prov 16:10 Inspired decisions are on the lips of a king;
his mouth does not sin in judgment.
1 Thess 1:6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit,
Wisdom of Solomon 1511 because they failed to know the one who formed them
and inspired them with active souls
and breathed a living spirit into them.
The other two incidences (like the last) are in apocryphal books.
So it can be seen that inspired does mean that God gives something to the person. It can also mean inspired as in the breath of life God gives to a person.
So, does this mean the bible is inerrant or infallible as it is inspired?
There are two possibilities of meaning here:
1) That as it was inspired by God, it is inerrant and infallible as the reading of Prov 16:10 would suggest. There is �no sin� in the Bible.
2) Or it could be that the authors of the Bible were inspired to write it, but that does not necessarily mean it is infallible. So in Exod 35:34 they are inspired to teach, but it does not say their teaching was infallible or without error.
In the end, it would seem to hang on what the authors were inspired to do.
Were they inspired to write it? Or does inspiration mean that God dictated it to them?
To be continued���
