RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Inspiration
distance from God and nearness to him. In the earlier part, even when God enters into relations with those whom he chooses as witnesses of his rt ieeming purpose, he still speaks from without tl j world that they know. Thus in the Old Testament an expression is found which is foreign to tl i New, to designate his communications with his v *,nesses. This communication with the prophets i constantly designated by the expression " the ^ rd of Yahweh was upon," and the reception of t. is word by " he saw (Heb. hazah) the word of Yxhweh" (Isa. ii. 1; Mic. i. 1; Amos i. 1). This distance between God and man is only rarely bridged, at special moments, and the immediate subjective perception of the word of God can only take place in an extraordinary manner. In the New Testament, on the other hand, the word of God, the expression of his saving will, has entered the world in Christ (Rom. x. 5-8; Titus i. 3; Acts x. 36, x.ii. 26) . To perceive and acknowledge the revelation now made, there is no need of special endowment, as in the case of the prophets; all that is required is the believing attitude toward Christ (Matt. xi. 25, xvi. 17). Those who are first called to look in- o the mystery of the love of God revealed in Christ are therewith called and qualified to be witnesses to him (Matt. x. 27; John xv. 15). This witness is conditioned by the objective revelation and redemption, taking place in Christ and entering the personal life by the indwelling of the Spirit. But it L-i not the same thing to participate in this salvation and to be called to witness it. The latter is a special mission, though not one confined to the apostles who were chosen as the first witnesses. Their assistants and the generation to whom they testified /ere also witnesses; and as such, from the special importance of their position in regard to all subsequent generations, they needed special assistance of the Spirit (I Cor. ii. 10 sqq.). The prerequisite i,s their own experience of salvation — the first experience of salvation ever given to man ; but inspiration, in addition to this, is the special preparation for the bearing of testimony of a fundamental kind. It is their grace of office, their charisma, which empowers them, irrespective of their individual imperfections, to testify for all generations of the facts of salvation and their significance In contrast with this condition, the inspiration of the Old Testament was temporarily, one might almost say accidentally, connected with the personality of those who received it, and not always given to those whose moral and religious nature qualified them for its reception (Num. xxii.xxiv.; Jonah; cf. John xi. 49-52). Compared with the New Testament, it is less free. The apostolic witnesses have the Spirit of God for the spirit of their own personal lives, which makes it possible for them to be independent witnesses, not mere organs of God's activity. Another thing follows from the peculiar character of their inspiration as a permanent qualification. When Paul makes a distinction between what he says by commandment and his own opinion (see Consilia Evangelica), he does not mean to make a distinction between inspired and uninspired words; and accordingly he comr lends what he says with perfect confidence VI.— 2
to the judgment of his readers (I Cor. x. 15, xi. 13; II Cor. iv. 2). And the inspiration of the witnesses being permanent, they can speak of things which do not pertain to salvation (as in II Tim. iv. 13) without the inspiration ceasing.
One more characteristic point of the manner of inspiration must be mentioned. The qualification of witnesses includes the presentation of historical events; but that which the Spirit of God here effects, whether in the Old or in the New Testament, is the understanding of history, not the knowledge of it. The latter is to be obtained in the ordinary way of life, by the witnessing of events or their collection from written or oral tradition. This explains certain phenomena in sacred history which resemble those of all other historical writing — discrepancies in minor details or in chronological order and the like. The question is not how such errors are possible in the inspired word of God, but how far the equipment named inspiration is meant to extend. The knowledge of and witness to the purest eternal truth is not only not inconsistent with human limitations, but stands out all the more strikingly when they are admitted. Inspiration is not the abolition of independent human personality, but rather a reenforcement of it; it is not condescension to human weakness, but a hallowing or transformation of it, that the human personality may take its part in the divine work. There is nothing in it foreign to Christian experience or to knowledge of the other operations of the Holy Spirit. It takes its own place in the system of the charismata, the gifts of grace operative in the Church of God. (H. CREMERf.)
Views of inspiration may be grouped in two general classes — those of plenary or verbal inspiration, and those of partial inspiration. 9. The Advocates of plenary inspiration hold Theory of that the writers of Scripture had the
Plenary immediate influence of the Spirit to Inspiration, such an extent that they could not err in any point; every statement is accurate and infallible, whether " religious, scientific, historical, or geographical " (Charles Hodge, Theology, i. 163; cf. F. L. Patton, Inspiration, p. 92). Besides Hodge and Patton, Gaussen, Shedd, Given, and others represent this view. It is admitted, however, that there may be errors in the Scriptures as we now possess them and infallibility is asserted " only for the original autographic text " (A. A. Hodge and B. B. Warfield in the Presbyterian Review, ii., 1881, p. 245). This class of views has in its favor (1) the difficulty of conceiving how the thought could have been suggested by the Spirit without the language; and (2) the support it gives to the authority of the Scriptures as a system of truth and a guide of action. On the other hand, the following objections are urged: (1) It is hard on this general theory to account for the individual peculiarities of the writers. The style of Hosea differs from that of Isaiah, that of John from that of Paul, although the same Spirit suggested the language of each. It is urged, however, that the Spirit accommodated himself to the peculiarities of the writers. (2) There are differences of statement in the Scriptures concerning the same facts (cf.
Inspiration Inspired, The