that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." (Matt. X. 20.) They spake " as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts ii. 4.) " Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Pet. i. 21.) All these, and similar modes of expression with which the Scriptures abound, imply that the words uttered were the words of God. This, moreover, is the very idea of inspiration as understood by the ancient Avorld. The words of the oracle were assumed to be the words of the divinity, and not those selected by the organ of communication. And this, too, as has been shown, was the idea attached to the gift of proph- ecy. The words of the prophet were the words of God, or he could not be God's spokesman and mouth. It has also been shown that in the most formally didactic passage in the whole Bible on this subject (1 Cor. ii. 10—13), the Apostle expressly asserts that the truths revealed by the Spirit, he communicated in words taught by the Spirit.
Plenary Inspiration. The view presented above is known as tlie doctrine of plenary inspiration. Plenary is opposed to partial. The Church doctrine denies that inspiration is confined to parts of the Bible ; and af- firms that it applies to all the books of the sacred canon. It denies that the sacred writers were merely partially inspired ; it asserts that they were fully inspired as to all that they teach, whether of doctrine or fact. This of course does not imply that the sacred writers were infallible except for the special purpose for which they were employed. They were not imbued with plenary knowl- edge. As to all matters of science, philosophy, and history, they stood on the same level with their contemporaries. They were in- fallible only as teachers, and when acting as the spokesmen of God. Their inspiration no more made them astronomers than it made them agriculturists. Isaiah was infallible in his predictions, although he shared with his countrymen the views then prevalent as to the mechanism of the universe. Paul could not err in anything he taught, although he could not recollect how many persons he had baptized in Corinth. The sacred writers also, doubtless, differed as to insight into the truths which they taught. The Apostle Peter intimates that the prophets searched diligently into the meaning of their own predictions. When David said God had put " all things " nnder the feet of man, he probably little thought that " all things" meant the whole universe. (Heb. ii. 8.) And Moses, when he recorded the promise that childless Abraham was to be the father ' of many nations," Httle thought that it meant the whole world.
166 INTRODUCTION. [Ch. VI. - P. R. op Faith.
(Rom. iv 13). Nor does the Scriptural doctrine on this subject imply that the sacred writers were free from errors in conduct. Their infallibility did not arise from their holiness, nor did inspira- tion render them holy. Balaam was inspired, and Saul was among the prophets. David committed many crimes, although inspired to write psalms. Peter erred in conduct at Antioch ; but this does not prove that he erred in teaching. The influence which preserved him from mistakes in teaching was not designed to pre- serve him from mistakes in conduct.
H. Greneral Considerations in Suijport of the Doctrine. On this point little need be said. If the questions, What is the Scriptural doctrine concerning inspiration ? and, What is tlie true doctrine ? be considered different, then after showing what the Scriptures teach on the subject, it would be necessary to prove that what they teach is true. This, however, is not the position of the Christian theologian. It is his business to set forth what the Bible teaches. If the sacred writers assert that they are the organs of God ; that Avhat they taught He taught through them ; that they spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, so that what they said the Holy Spirit said, then, if we believe their divine mission, we must believe what they teach as to the nature of the influence under which they spoke and wrote. This is the reason why in the earlier period of the Church there was no separate discussion of the doctrine of inspiration. That was regarded as involved in the divine origin of the Scriptures. If the}^ are a revelation from God, they must be received and obeyed ; but they cannot be thus re- ceived without attributing to them divine authority, and they can- not have such authority without being infalHble in all they teach. T The organic unity of the Scriptures proves them to be the prod- «^ uct of one mind. They are not only so united that we cannot believe one part without believing the whole ; we cannot believe the New Testament without believing the Old ; we cannot believe the Prophets without believing the Law ; we cannot believe Chi'ist without believing his Apostles ; but besides all this they present tlie regular development, carried on through centuries and millen- niums, of the great original promise, " The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." This development was conducted by some forty independent writers, many of whom understood very little of the plan they were unfolding, but each contributed his part to the progress and completion of the whole.
If the Bible be the work of one mind, that mind must be the
§ 2, H.] mSPIRATION. 167
mind of God. He only knows the end from the beginning. He only could know what the Bible reveals. No one, says the Apos- tle, knows the things of God but the Spirit of God. He only could reveal the nature, the thoughts, and purposes of God. He only could tell whether sin can be pardoned. No one knows the Son but the Father. The revelation of the person and work of Christ is as clearly the work of God as are the heavens in all their majesty and glory. TT^ Besides, we have the witness in ourselves. "We find that the '*-^ truths revealed irrtire"Bible have the same adaptation to our souls that the atmosphere has to our bodies. The body cannot live without air, which it receives and appropriates instinctively, with full confidence in its adaptation to the end designed. In like man- ner the soul receives and appropriates the truths of Scripture as the atmospliere in wliicli alone it can breathe and live. Thus in receiv- ingTlie Bible as true, we necessarily receive it as divine. In believ- ing it as a supernatural revelation, we believe its plenary inspiration. yrr This doctrine involves nothing out of analogy Avith the ordinary ^"'"^ operations of God. We believe that He is everywhere present in the material world, and controls the operations of natural causes. We know that He causes the grass to grow, and gives rain and fruitful seasons. We believe that He exercises a like control over the minds of men, turning them as the rivers of water are turned. All religion, natural and revealed, is founded on the assumption of this providential government of God. Besides this, we believe in the gracious operations of his Spirit, by which He works in the hearts of his people to will and to do ; we believe that faith, re- pentance, and holy living are due to the ever-present influence of the Holy Spirit. If, then, this wonder-working God everywhere operates in nature and in grace, why should it be deemed incred- ible that holy men should speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, so that they should say just what He would have them say, so that their words should be his words. f]/^ After all Christ is the great object of the Christian's faith. We believe him and we believe everything else on his authority. He hands us the Old Testament and tells us that it is the Word of God ; that its authors spoke by the Spirit ; that the Scriptures cannot be broken. And we believe on his testimony. His testi- mony to his Apostles is no less explicit, although given in a differ- ent way. He promised to give them a mouth and a wisdom which their adversaries could not gainsay or resist. He told them to take no thought what they should say, " For the Holy Ghost shall
168 INTRODUC HON. [Ch. VI. — P. R. op Faith.
teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say." (Luke xii. 12.) " It is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father vvliich speaketh in you." He said to them " he that receiveth you receiv- eth me " ; and He prayed for those who should beheve on Him through their word. We beheve the Scriptures, therefore, because Christ declares them to be the Word of God. Heaven and earth may pass away, but his word cannot pass away.
I. Objections'.