The Theopneusty of the Holy Scripture
THE THEOPNEUSTY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE
The Doctrine of Inspiration and Its Critics
Clements Romanus a church father refers to the scripture as being true through the Holy Spirit.
Augustine refers to scripture as god’s handwriting or a letter from heaven. Aside from the term inspiration he also used dictation and direction. He gives reference to inspiration perhaps as a consequences of the translation into Latin of 2 Timothy 3:16. But He does not fix these term dogmatically because He also refers to the inspiration of faith and love. He recognizes the fact that each of the evangelist recorded Christ works and did in their own way and style. In this connection Polman points out that in Augustine’s mind, the Bible is entirely the work of the Holy Spirit and at the same time the entirely work of the Bible authors. To Augustine the Bible is the supreme authority and those who do not believe this cannot be Christian and cannot be save. Inspiration implies the reliability and the divine authority of Scripture ( c.f. Bavinck, R.D., 1-402-5; Polman 1905, 37-74).
In medieval theology, the doctrine of the Holy Scripture was hardly developed any further. But there was a movement of the council that God is the author of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The saints of both testaments spoke through inspiration of the Holy Spirit. ( Florence, 1439)
In the time of reformation Luther and Calvin believed that the Bible is not only the source of information about truth and precepts but in Scripture they encounter the living God and His message. To Luther, the Bible is a personal document of the spirit. The Holy Spirit makes the author to speaks the truth meaning that God is the prime mover or what we call the divine causality, although he accommodates himself to human understanding. For the Reform view especially Calvin- God is the author of what the Scripture teaches. God has spoken through the mouth of Moises, David, and Peter. He also employed expressions such as
The Doctrine of Inspiration and Its Critics
Clements Romanus a church father refers to the scripture as being true through the Holy Spirit.
Augustine refers to scripture as god’s handwriting or a letter from heaven. Aside from the term inspiration he also used dictation and direction. He gives reference to inspiration perhaps as a consequences of the translation into Latin of 2 Timothy 3:16. But He does not fix these term dogmatically because He also refers to the inspiration of faith and love. He recognizes the fact that each of the evangelist recorded Christ works and did in their own way and style. In this connection Polman points out that in Augustine’s mind, the Bible is entirely the work of the Holy Spirit and at the same time the entirely work of the Bible authors. To Augustine the Bible is the supreme authority and those who do not believe this cannot be Christian and cannot be save. Inspiration implies the reliability and the divine authority of Scripture ( c.f. Bavinck, R.D., 1-402-5; Polman 1905, 37-74).
In medieval theology, the doctrine of the Holy Scripture was hardly developed any further. But there was a movement of the council that God is the author of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The saints of both testaments spoke through inspiration of the Holy Spirit. ( Florence, 1439)
In the time of reformation Luther and Calvin believed that the Bible is not only the source of information about truth and precepts but in Scripture they encounter the living God and His message. To Luther, the Bible is a personal document of the spirit. The Holy Spirit makes the author to speaks the truth meaning that God is the prime mover or what we call the divine causality, although he accommodates himself to human understanding. For the Reform view especially Calvin- God is the author of what the Scripture teaches. God has spoken through the mouth of Moises, David, and Peter. He also employed expressions such as
References: J. van Genderen and W.H. Velema, Concise Reformed Dogmatics Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible