The Importance of Accuracy in the Study of Holy Scripture

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." The last five words of this declaration are represented by only one word in the Greek, (Theopneustos), which means, literally, "God-breathed." All scripture is God-breathed/God-inspired.[1] When, therefore, we are dealing with Scripture, how important it is that we should be most accurate in noticing each single word which God has inspired, however small, or apparently unimportant. Inspiration must be regarded by us as a fact, a great, grand, and blessed fact to be believed and received, and not a system to be constructed or described. It is a fact which (as Gaussen says) is denied in its existence, in its universality, and in its plentitude. Some deny that there is any such thing at all, some deny that the whole of Scripture is inspired, admitting only certain parts so to be; while others, granting that the whole is inspired, deny that it is fully so, admitting it as regards the sense, but not the words. With these I do not propose to deal. I am addressing those who, I trust, are depending on the faithfulness of God's word of promise for their salvation, and who extend the same confidence to all the other "words which the Holy Ghost teacheth'

[1] I am aware of the alternative renderings proposed; e.g., "every (portion of) Scripture being God-breathed is profitable," etc. or "every Scripture which is God-breathed is profitable," etc. but these renderings do not affect the real point at issue.

Dettagli