By Mike Edwards
Many who claim the Bible is inspired by God seem to imply that God guided and controlled the writers, ensuring they wrote exactly what God intended, even while using their own vocabularies and styles. What proof do they have for such a claim?
Circular reasoning is not proof
Verses like 2 Timothy 3:16 (“All Scripture is God-breathed”) and 2 Peter 1:21 (“men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God”) are used to support the idea of divine inspiration and inerrancy. My claiming this Post is inspired by God doesn’t make it so. Those who claim this proof would not accept the Koran being inspired by Allah because internally it claims to be so
Fulfilled Prophecies are not proof
It is claimed the Bible contains hundreds of prophecies that have been fulfilled with precision, demonstrating God’s sovereignty and inspiration. I have written here why it is doubtful God’s knows the future, thus negating genuine freedom. Thus, prophecies aren’t likely claiming what will happen in the future. They can’t. God doesn’t know what will happen in the future. Did God really have Jesus killed so God’s supposed words could be fulfilled? One can assume most prophecies are conditional because God changes if people will repent of their evil ways. See here. Old Testament passages interpreted as Messianic prophecies could be conditional – Jesus will be killed if people don’t turn from evil.
Many passages, assumed to be Messianic, are not interpreted as such by many biblical scholars. Psalm 22 is often interpreted as regarding Jesus’ crucifixion, including reference to Jesus’ broken bones (Jn 19:36). Other scholars suggest this psalm regards a current suffering individual and later claimed by NT writer as referring to Jesus.
It is often claimed archaeological confirmation prove God’s inspiration of the Bible
Many archaeological claimed discoveries are disputed. One only needs to internet search biblical archaeology to notice not all biblical scholars confirmed the historical accuracy of all biblical accounts. For example – findings do not support the biblical account of Jericho’s destruction around 1400 BC, as was uninhabited during Joshua’s supposed invasion. These scholars are not intentionally trying to disparage the Bible
Unity of the Bible written by 40 authors over 1500 years
The unity of the Bible having an undisputed message is debatable. Contradictions are one reason to doubt God’s inspiration/oversight of the Bible. If God can raise the dead, God can obviously control transmissions of words supposedly given to the biblical writers – but God didn’t! The list of contradictions may be trivial but are sizable (See Gregory Boyd, Inspired Imperfection, Chapter 1):
- II Sam 24:1 says God incited David to sin; I Chr 21:1 blames it on Satan
- 2 Kgs 24:6 says Jehoiakim had a son; Jer 36:30 says Jehoiakim didn’t have a son to reign after him
- Does God take pleasure in destroying (Deut. 28:63), or does God take no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 33:11)?
- Does God punish children for the sins of parents (Ex. 34:7; Num. 14:18), or does God never punish children for what parents do (Ezek. 18:20)?
- Matthew says Jeremiah rather than Zechariah spoke about the thirty pieces of silver (Mt 27:9-10. Zech 11:12-13)
- Did Jesus say the rooster would crow once after Peter’s three denials (Mt 26.34, Lk 22:34, John 13:38), or did the rooster crow twice (Mk 14:30)
9 Reasons To Not Trust The Bible’s Claims About God!
Why it matters if you assume the Bible is inspired by God
An inspired Book can lead to violence in God’s name. God supposedly orders Israel to commit hundreds of atrocities in the OT (i.e. I Sam 15:3). God’s assumed justification of violence can lead to imitation of violent solutions such as capital punishment, blowing up abortion clinics, or unnecessary wars in the name of God. An inspired book can lead to false claims about God concerning moral issues. The truth is biblical scholars who have a deep respect for Scriptures don’t agree what the Bible says about gays, women, hell, and other moral issues. See here. See here. See here. Gays are often condemned, women’s leadership roles are limited despite their gifts, and it is suggested a fiery torturous afterlife awaits infidels in God’s name. It is perfectly okay to question if writers always understood God perfectly. It is only natural to wonder if God’s actions would ever violate our moral intuitions of a loving God regardless of one’s interpretation.
Can We Prove The Bible Is Inspired By God?
Mike Edwards has been writing for Done with Religion for some time and has been a great addition to the site. He couldn’t find enough people to discuss God openly so he started blogging years ago. Mike also has his own site where he writes that can be found at What God May Really Be Like He can be contacted by email at: medwar2@gmail.com
Done with Religion 