December 17, 2010 by Allen Coleman 0 comments

Posted in: Theology

In the new doctrinal statement our church put out, we affirm the the following:

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, and God-breathed.

But what does ‘verbally inspired’ mean? Some confusion can exist because a common use of the word is to mean ‘oral’ (e.g. in a workplace you have verbal warning and a written warning). Usually when talking about the inspiration of the bible, we assume it means simply ‘textual’ and ‘written’?

The word verbal is defined as follows: relating to or in the form of words.

Verbal should not ever mean “oral.” That is a clear misuse by many. No lawyer, for example, will ever use the term “verbal” in a contract, because it means “with/of/by words” and has no distinction with writing. With respect to the Scriptures then, “verbal” means that the very words of the Bible are inspired, not just the “concepts” as many modern day attackers of Scripture assert. In this case verbal refers to writing, because the object (the Bible) is written, not spoken. Take note of what Paul says:

"And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.“-1 Corinthians 2:13

“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”-1 Thessolonians 2:13

Actually, it would be impossible to have a Bible whose thoughts are inspired and yet whose words are not inspired. Thoughts are expressed by words, and the words deliver thoughts. If the words are not inspired, then the thoughts must also be suspect. Most confusion surrounding this issue is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of verbal inspiration. God prepared the authors, the circumstances, and all the motivation for the biblical authors. He did not normally dictate the words at the end of the process. Their freedom is maintained, yet the result is the words of God.