Basic Bible Course 2

The unity of the 66 books in the Bible is due to the fact that the writers were inspired by the Spirit of God. We do not know from experience how this happened because we are not inspired. But the Bible tells us a little about it.

However, the term inspiration in this context means something different from what is commonly understood by it. For example, it is said that a painter was inspired by a certain event or occurrence to create a painting. It is also mentioned that Georg Friedrich Händel was inspired when he swiftly created the "Messiah". Yet, Paul and the other writers were not inspired in the way that Goethe or Shakespeare were!

What is meant when speaking of inspiration in this lesson? It means that God inspired word for word through the Holy Spirit what the writers wrote down. They were imperfect and fallible like all other humans. But in the composition of the Holy Scripture, they were guided by God in a miraculous and supernatural way, and preserved from errors and mistakes (translated from "Die Bibel - das Wort Gottes", Arend Remmers, p. 100).

We would like to delve further into this in the following lesson.

Already in his first letter, Peter writes that the Spirit of Christ spoke in the prophets of the Old Testament (1 Peter 1:11). In the previous lessons, his words from the second letter were also cited, which talk about inspiration.

What are the words in 2 Peter 1:21?

On the night before His suffering and death on the cross, the Lord Jesus was gathered with His disciples. In His farewell discourses (from John 13 onwards), He promised them that the Holy Spirit would come. He calls Him another Comforter (Advocate, Helper, Intercessor). In His words about the work of this other Comforter, one can see a hint to the various parts of the New Testament.

What applies to the writings of the Old Testament, equally applies to the writings of the New Testament. Therefore, it is stated in 2 Timothy 3:16:

Every scripture is divinely inspired ...

A passage in the first letter to the Corinthians explains the way in which, what was in God's heart was communicated to us. These are the verses from 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, which begin as follows:

But we speak wisdom among the perfect; but wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who come to nothing. But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, that hidden wisdom which God had predetermined before the ages for our glory. (1 Corinthians 2:6-7)

Who is meant by "we"?