Memory Text:

“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4, NKJV).

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“The Bible was written by men,” one protested.

“No, it was authored by the Holy Spirit Himself,” a Christian defender replied.

The debate about whether the Bible is inspired is sometimes portrayed as an issue of whether man wrote it or God wrote it.

In this lesson, we will see that they are both correct. The Bible was written by men who were guided by God’s Spirit. And despite the limitations of our humanity, God’s message can still speak to its hearers.

This is going to be a fascinating study!

Written by God

Before we tackle the human element of inspiration, we must settle the fact that the Bible has a divine element that ordinary works of literature do not have. The penmen of Holy Writ were moved and guided by God’s Spirit.

2 Peter 1:20-21 NLT
Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, [21] or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.

I personally know that the Bible has a divine element. To make a confession, I almost became Jewish.

Back in high school, my barber was a part-time rabbi. He cut hair for a living and preached and taught during services. My classmates and I became so close to him that we began to have “Bible” studies with him during our haircuts. We even visited just to talk!

He said that the New Testament had many discrepancies. Thus, it could not be treated as inspired.

My young high school mind was baffled. I didn’t know how to answer, how to respond, and ultimately what to believe.

I’ve always been fond of discovering the truth and willing to follow wherever it leads. But I was scared. Would I turn back from the faith handed to me?

Without knowing what was happening inside my heart, my health teacher invited me to a Bible study (Of all places, right? Who would have thought it would come from your health teacher!). But it wasn’t your average Bible study. It was deep. But not so deep that I felt overwhelmed or intimidated. Just enough. Enough to spark faith in the Bible once again.

I saw how the Old Testament gives meaning to the New Testament, and how the Old Testament makes a whole lot of sense when read in light of the New Testament. My mind was blown! How can a book with different authors, written in different places and at different times, have this kind of coherence? I could only surrender and say that the Bible is indeed inspired.

Written by Men

The Bible is inspired. This is true even though God employed both divine and human elements in getting His message across.

Let’s look at the human side of inspiration. To be clear, this in no way diminishes the inspiration of Scripture. What it reveals is that God guided every phase of transmitting His message.

The Bible is a book. It was written by men. Hence, we can treat it as a book, and books have different genres. The same is true of the Bible. It has many genres: we find a king reflecting on his life through poetry, a book that collects wise sayings, and historical accounts of specific eras. And the list goes on. This is important once we begin discussing the interpretation of Scripture.

Yes, the Bible explains itself. But we sometimes see people making careless connections between passages that the Bible doesn’t warrant. We read a historical account differently from a symbolic prophecy. And not every prophecy is symbolic. We can’t connect verses just because they have similar words. One must consider the genre of the book to determine its message. Then, and only then, is it safe to connect it to other parts of Scripture.

Another human element is the use of literary assistants. Paul’s letter to the Romans even names his scribe, Tertius (Romans 16:22). Now take a look at this example:

Ezekiel 1:1-4 NKJV
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. [2] On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, [3] the word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was upon him there. [4] Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

The book opens in the first person with the pronoun “I,” then shifts to “to Ezekiel” and “upon him” before returning to “I.”

Verses 2-3 apparently represent an insertion by a later editor of Ezekiel’s prophecies, which explains the reference to the prophet by name, the use of the third person, and the data provided in the note.¹

So inspiration is not limited to writing. It also includes editing. Even the work of literary assistants. Wait, what?! Yeah, Bible writers had writing assistants. They were part of the inspiration process because God guided that process.

Biblical writers could also draw on existing sources. The Teacher studied and arranged proverbs:

Ecclesiastes 12:9-10 NLT
Keep this in mind: The Teacher was considered wise, and he taught the people everything he knew. He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them. [10] The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.

Biblical writers can borrow from other sources.

Luke also acknowledged earlier accounts and eyewitness testimony as he prepared his orderly narrative (Luke 1:1–4).

This doesn’t mean that every source they used was inspired, but that the Holy Spirit guided the biblical writers in selecting, arranging, and using material from those sources to communicate God’s message. Inspiration could operate through careful research and the use of existing writings.²

“It is clear from Luke’s experience that Inspiration functions in a manner consistent with the natural operation of the mental faculties and does not set them aside. Here is an inspired writer who was led by the Holy Spirit to give diligent study to the available oral and written source materials on the life of Christ, and then to combine into a connected narrative the information thus gathered.”³

Story Time

Let me tell you about someone who helped Ellen White prepare her books.⁴
Her name was Marian Davis.
Marian gathered Ellen’s articles and letters, looking for material that belonged together. If a chapter needed something clearer, she searched for what Ellen had already written on that subject.
Sounds like ordinary editorial work, right?
It was real work. Searching. Arranging. Helping readers understand the message.
In September 1904, Marian was dying. Ellen recalled how Marian would bring collected material to her and point out what was still needed. Ellen would then supply it.
For twenty-five years, they had worked together. Now Ellen faced losing a helper she deeply valued.
Think about that. Behind books that have led people to Jesus were years of writing and the faithful work of an assistant.
Marian’s help didn’t make the message hers. But Ellen gratefully acknowledged her contribution.
We shouldn’t be surprised, then, when we find human hands helping prepare an inspired message. The Bible itself gives us examples of this.

Conclusion

The Bible was written by men, and it is God’s Word. We don’t have to choose between those two truths.
God worked through their personalities, their research, and their language to communicate His message. Ellen White puts it beautifully:

“The union of the divine and the human, manifest in Christ, exists also in the Bible. The truths revealed are all ‘given by inspiration of God;’ yet they are expressed in the words of men and are adapted to human needs.”⁵

That gives me hope. God has come close enough to speak in words we can understand. Let’s read carefully, prayerfully, and with a willingness to follow. The Scriptures were given to lead us to Christ and give us hope. Are we listening?

Discussion Questions

1. What Bible verse gives you hope when life gets difficult?
2. Who has helped you understand the Bible better?
3. What do you usually do when you don’t understand a Bible passage?

Notes

1. Daniel I. Block, The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 1–24, New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997), 82. ↩︎
2. See Francis D. Nichol, ed., The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5 (Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1956), 669. ↩︎
3. Ibid. ↩︎
4. This story is based on Ellen G. White, Letter 61a, 1900; Letter 9, 1903; and Manuscript 95, 1904, reproduced in Selected Messages, book 3 (Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1980), 91–93. ↩︎
5. Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5 (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1948), 747. ↩︎