“INSPIRED OF GOD”

About forty different individuals served as secretaries of the one great Author to record the inspired Word of Jehovah. “All Scripture is inspired of God,” wrote the Christian apostle Paul. And this includes the writings of the Christian Greek Scriptures along with “the rest of the Scriptures.” (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 3:15, 16) But what is meant when one speaks of the Bible’s inspiration?

By “inspiration” is meant, not a mere heightening of the intellect and emotions to a higher degree of accomplishment (as is often said of secular artists or poets), but the production of unerring writings that have the same authority as if written by God himself. How did the Creator accomplish this?

God caused his own spirit to become operative on faithful men whom he used to record things at his direction. For this reason the apostle Peter could declare: “Prophecy was at no time brought by man’s will, but men spoke from God as they were borne along by holy spirit.” (2 Pet. 1:21) In at least one case, however, the information was supplied in written form by God himself. This was the set of Ten Commandments, God giving it to Moses on two “tablets of stone written on by God’s finger.”​—Ex. 31:18.

In some cases information was transmitted word for word, by verbal dictation. (Ex. 34:27) The prophets also were often given specific messages to deliver. (1 Ki. 22:14; Jer. 1:7) The evidence indicates, however, that the men used by God to record the Scriptures did not always simply record dictated material. For example, John received the Revelation through God’s angel “in signs” and John was told: “What you see write in a scroll.” (Rev. 1:1, 2, 10, 11) So, God apparently saw good to allow the Bible writers to select words and expressions to describe the visions they saw, while he always exercised sufficient guidance over them so that the end product was accurate and suited his purpose. (Eccl. 12:10) This doubtless explains the different styles evident in the books of the Bible.

That the writings of Moses were inspired of God there can be no doubt, in the light of internal evidence. It was not Moses’ idea to become the leader of the Israelites. At first Moses drew back at the suggestion. (Ex. 3:10, 11; 4:10-14) Rather, God raised Moses up and gave him miraculous powers. Even magic-practicing priests had to acknowledge that what Moses did originated with God. (Ex. 4:1-9; 8:16-19) In obedience to God’s command and with the divine credentials of holy spirit, Moses was moved first to speak and then to write down part of the Bible.

Following Moses’ death, the writings of Joshua, Samuel, Gad and Nathan (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel) were added. Kings David and Solomon also made contributions to the growing canon of the Holy Writings. Then came the prophets from Jonah to Malachi, each contributing to the Bible canon. And each in turn met the requirements of true prophets as outlined by Jehovah: They spoke in the name of Jehovah, their prophecies came true and they turned the people toward God.​—Deut. 13:1-3; 18:20-22.

COLLECTING THE INSPIRED WRITINGS

Just as Jehovah inspired men to write, it logically follows that he would direct the collecting of these inspired writings. According to Jewish tradition, Ezra had a hand in this work after the exiled Jews were resettled in Judah. He was well qualified for the work, being one of the inspired Bible writers, a priest, and also “a skilled copyist in the law of Moses.”​—Ezra 7:1-11.

The canon of the Hebrew Scriptures was well fixed by the end of the fifth century B.C.E. It contained the same writings that we have today. No council of men made them canonical; from their beginning they had divine approval. The most conclusive testimony on the canonicity of the Hebrew Scriptures is the unimpeachable word of Jesus Christ and the writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures. Though they used the inspired Hebrew Scriptures freely, never did they quote from the apocryphal books.​—Luke 24:44, 45.

THE BIBLE CANON COMPLETED

The writing and collecting of the twenty-seven books of the Christian Greek Scriptures was similar to that of the Hebrew Scriptures. Christ “gave gifts in men,” yes, “he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelizers, some as shepherds and teachers.” (Eph. 4:8, 11-13) With God’s holy spirit upon them they set forth sound doctrine for the Christian congregation. Jesus assured his apostles that God’s spirit would help them, teaching, guiding and recalling to their minds the things they had heard from him, as well as revealing to them future things. (John 14:26; 16:13) This assured the truthfulness and accuracy of their Gospel accounts.

The real test of canonicity is not how many times or by what nonapostolic writer a certain book has been quoted. The contents of the book itself must give evidence that it is a product of holy spirit. Consequently, it cannot contain superstitions or demonism, or encourage creature worship. It must be in total harmony with the rest of the Bible. Each book must conform to the divine “pattern of healthful words,” and be in harmony with the teachings of Jesus.​—2 Tim. 1:13.

The apostles clearly spoke with divine authority. By holy spirit they had “discernment of inspired utterances” as to whether such were of God or not. (1 Cor. 12:4, 10) With the death of John, the last apostle, this reliable chain of divinely inspired men came to an end. And so with the Revelation, John’s Gospel and his letters, the Bible canon closed.

The sixty-six books of our Bible, by their harmony, testify to the oneness of the Bible, and recommend it to us as indeed Jehovah’s Word of inspired truth.

Of course, the mere writing of a religious book, its preservation for hundreds of years and its esteem by millions do not prove that it is of divine origin. It must bear credentials of Divine Authorship demonstrating that it was inspired by God. A careful examination of the Bible convinces sincere persons that it truly has such credentials.