FAQs Mondays: What is Inspiration, Part 2

Last week, we begin looking at the inspiration of Scripture in the Baptist Scriptural Catechism. You can find part 1 here. If you still haven't looked up Henry Clay Fish's catechism, you can find it here.

Question 7 frames the rest of the discussion for this portion of the catechism. So we'll begin by restating the question which is answered by the questions that follow it.

Can you mention some of these truths; and show that no one, uninspired, could have known, and recorded them?

Did not the writers of Scriptures claim to be inspired?

They did. 2 Sam 13:2; Jer. 1:4; Ezek. 1:3; 2 Cor. 2:13; Gal 1:10

What is the testimony of Paul on this subject?

He declared that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God" 2 Tim. 3:16 (KJV).

We have already proved that the writers of Scriptures were honest men, and spoke the truth; they could not there for have intentionally asserted what was not true. Could they have been deceived in respect to their being inspired?

They could not.

Is not their testimony, then, positive proof of their inspiration?

It is.

Is not the remarkable preservation of the Scriptures, for so long a time, and amid so many effort to destroy them, and evidence they are from God?

It is. (It is a remarkable fact, that, had the New Testament been early banished from the earth, nearly the whole of its contents [all but 7 or 11 verses, at the most] could have been gathered from the controversial writings of the first five centuries. In proof, see "Bible Evidences," &c, p. 101, and "Life of Dr. Campbell.") Note: I am unfamiliar with either of these texts mentioned. They were probably cutting edge research in 1850 when this catechism was compiled. Today, Josh McDowell's book, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, would be a good resource.

Can we account for the sublimity of their style, and the purity of their doctrines, on any other ground?

We cannot. Note: Sublimity means nobility in thought or feeling or style.

The writers of the Bible lived in different centuries, and different places; and yet their is a perfect agreement between them all in what they have written. Is this not proof  of their inspiration?

It is.


 The questions lead the reader. This catechism is as much as training in thinking as it is in inspiration. The learners are being taught to question the presuppositions (opinions) of those who would reject the doctrine of inspiration, and how to frame response to those objections. Next week, we will finish looking at the inspiration of the Scriptures. Tune in for part 3. Feel free to leave a comment.