As the other topic had digressed from the original intent, it was moved into the SDA Church Issues forum, therefore, this new topic has been created to take its place.

I will expect this topic will focus strictly on whether or not the whole Bible is inspired by God or not inspired by God.

Both the Bible and EGW quotes may be used, but only as it relates to the inspiration of the Bible, not to whether or not the writings of EGW are also inspired by God or not.

I am now repeating the opening post I made in the other topic.

In light of the news item that Avalee posted in the News & Announcements forum, I decided to create this topic here in response to that topic.

Is the whole Bible the inspired Word of God?

Visitors, those who are not registered members of MSDAOL, are also invited to participate in this topic.

Let us begin by first examining what the Bible says about itself.

quote:

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2 Tim. 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

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It says that all Scripture is inspired obviously referring at that time to what we refer today as the Old Testament.

The above tells me that the whole Old Testament was inspired from Genesis to Malachi inclusive.

Let's do this differently this 2nd time around.

quote:

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2 Tim. 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

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Let us first determine whether or not the Scriptures (Old Testament), as stated in the above New Testament Bible reference, is wholly and completely inspired by God.

Daryl, just so I am clear on the topic under discussion, could you please expand on the phrase "wholly and completely".

Currently my thinking when I see this phrase is that every incident, person, event, etc. actually happened as recorded, including the numbers (such as Jonah in the belly of a whale for 3 days and 3 nights). As well, every word, line, and incident in Scripture was recorded for our salvation and has significance for such.

I am not saying that this is my position, but this is what I understand the above phrase to mean.

Second, I am assuming that this thread will eventually deal also with the NT.

Another thought that comes to mind on this topic is the question of what should we take as authoritative regarding the inspiration of Scripture. If we use Biblical texts to prove the inspiration of Scripture, this is a circular arguement. We can not use Scripture to prove Scripture. Nor can we use SOP to prove Scripture unless we first establish the authority of SOP

This is not an attack on Scripture or SOP, but an honest inquiry into the methods of establishing both authority and evidence.

If you say "I am the most honest man in the world."
and I ask you "How do I know that?"
and you say "Because I never tell a lie."
how do I know this is true?

By wholly and completely, I mean totally inspired by God, not partially inspired but completely inspired.

If we can't use the Scriptures, then, unless you know of another authority beyond the Scriptures, what can we use?

And yes, once we will eventually move from the OT to the NT.

As stated before, on the other thread, the original manuscripts were completely and wholly inspired. However, some things were lost in translation when they were translated into other languages, including the English versions. Fortunately, though, we have the SOP to guide us, to help us understand the Bible. Between the two sources of inspired material we can confidently learn the truth as it is in Jesus, the truth that sets us free.

Just a reminder and a caution to everybody that the focus is on whether or not the Bible is totally inspired by God, therefore, let us not discuss whether or not the SOP is totally inspired by God in this topic.

No. The translations are not completely and wholly inspired. Verses, paragraphs, punctuations, and italicized words are not inspired. An inspired commentator is necessary to correctly understand the Bible. The NT is an inspired commentary on the OT. Without it we would be unable to experience the truth as it is in Jesus.

MM,

That doesn't make sense as both the OT and the NT were translated, therefore, what would be true of the OT would also be true of the NT.