When Claude Pepper was running for senator from Florida in 1950, one of his opponents attacked him this way: "Are you aware that Claude Pepper is known all over Washington as a shameless extrovert? He also practiced nepotism with his sister-in-law, and has a sister who was once a thespian in wicked New York City. Worst of all, before his marriage he habitually practiced celibacy!" Mr. Pepper lost the election.

Words matter.

A Gutenberg Bible, printed in 1455 in Mainz, Germany, was sold at an action in 1987 for $5.39 million, more than twice the previous record price for a printed book. The Bible is indisputably the best-selling book of all time; Christian bookstores sell more than 30,000 each day.

Word about the Bible matter.

As we continue our study of biblical authority, we come to this practical question: what are we to call this book? What words best describe its authority? Which terms should we avoid, and which should we encourage? And why does it all matter?

We'll start our very brief tour within the pages of the Bible itself. Does this book consider itself to be authoritative? Or do those of us who affirm the timeless truth of Scripture misunderstand the book we defend? Critics of the sixteenth century reformers accused them of making a "paper pope" of Scripture. Is our commitment to biblical authority warranted by the Bible itself? What does God's word say about itself?

The Author of this book made the most stupendous claim in all of recorded literature: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Mt 28:18). No Caesar, general, or dictator ever thought to claim all authority over the entire universe. If Jesus possesses "all" authority over every dimension of reality, how much authority do you and I have? The words given to us by such a Person obviously become the most significant and authoritative in all the world.

The Bible agrees. It claims to be "inspired" ("breathed into") by its Author: "All Scripture is God-breathed" (2 Tim 3:16). It claims divine, not human, authorship for its source: "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pt 1:20-21).

Paul says of his words, "The gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ" (Gal 1:11-12). He made the same statement to the Corinthians: "This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit" (1 Cor 2:13).

Scripture claims to possess this divine authority for all time:

• "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever" (Is. 40:8).
• After quoting this passage, Peter adds, "And this is the word that was preached to you" (1 Pt 1:25).
• Jesus was clear and adamant: "My words will never pass away" (Mt 24:35).

The Bible claims to be the authoritative word of God on every subject it addresses. It asserts that its truths are objective and eternally relevant. It could not possibly claim a higher authority for itself.

So we know that the Bible is literally "God's word," given to humans through human agency. How did he use men to get his word to mankind? Here we must consider "theories of inspiration."

First, let's dispense with mistaken approaches. Some consider the Bible to be "inspired" like all great literature--no less and no more. This is the "natural" inspiration theory. Others believe that the Bible was inspired to the same degree as Christian writing, preaching, and teaching today. This is the "general Christian" theory. Still others accept as inspired only certain sections of Scripture. This is the "partial inspiration" approach. The Bible rejects all three by claiming God's special authorship of all the Scriptures (2 Tim 3:16).

Now let's consider the three most popular theories in church life today. One is the dictation approach. By this view, God gave the literal words of Scripture directly to their human writers. The authors functioned something like stenographers. Some of the Bible clearly came to exist in this way (the Ten Commandments, for instance). But we find different vocabularies, writing styles, and goals within the various books. For this reason, the "dictation" theory is not popular with most scholars today.

The verbal approach suggests that God inspired the individual words of the Bible while also allowing human personality to be used. This view is usually combined with "plenary," meaning "all." It teaches that God took the initiative in inspiring each of the individual words of Scripture, but he did this in a way which engaged their personalities as well.

A third approach is the dynamic theory. Those who hold this view believe that God guided the writers more often than he gave each word to them. In this way their personalities were used, while God's purpose was achieved. This approach, while not insisting on the direct verbal inspiration of each word of the text, still maintains the divine inspiration of the Scriptures. This view affirms that inspiration is verbal not so much in its method as in its result.

Which approach is best? All three contain ideas which should be combined into one concept. We should affirm both the divine and the human elements behind the creation of Scripture, without allowing either to minimize the other.

Sometimes God dictated his words; sometimes he gave the authors his words in very direct ways (dreams and visions, for instance); and sometimes they use their own vocabularies to express the truth he gave them. Perhaps an analogy can clear up this confusion. Many writers, both ancient and modern, have compared the divine/human authorship of Scripture to the divine/human nature of its subject, Jesus Christ. Jesus was fully divine, but fully human as well. We cannot understand this mystery fully, but we can affirm it. In the same way, Scripture can be the very word of God, and yet use the words of men.

All significant spiritual truth requires the acceptance of paradox. God is three and yet one; and the Lord is sovereign while we have free will. Jesus is fully God and fully man; his word retains both the divine and the human as well.

The first Christians were convinced of the divine, authoritative nature of Scripture. They were clear on the fact that the Bible is the absolute, authoritative word of God. For instance, Peter cited Old Testament prophets as his authority in his Pentecost address, the first "Christian" sermon. Stephen's defense of the incipient Christian faith was largely a retelling of Israel's history in the biblical narrative (Acts 7). James argued for Gentile inclusion in the Church on the basis of biblical prophetic witness (Amos 9:11, 12; Acts 15:16-18).

Much of Paul's ministry was spent explaining how Jesus fulfilled Old Testament Messianic promises. An early example from his first missionary journey: "From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. After reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue rulers sent word to them, saying, 'Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak'" (Acts 13:14-15). Paul immediately recited the biblical history of his people (vs. 16-22), and showed the people how Jesus fulfilled their Scriptures (vs. 23-31). He then claimed Psalm 2:7 (v. 33), Isaiah 55:3 (v. 34), Psalm 16:10 (v. 34), and Habakkuk 1:5 (v. 41) as warrant for the gospel he proclaimed.

The letters of the New Testament and early Christian history are replete with biblical citations. In fact, if we had only the letters written by second-century Christians we could reconstruct most of the New Testament on the basis of their voluminous quotations. There is no doubt that the first Christians considered the Bible to be the authoritative revelation and word of God. Critics can say they were right or they were wrong, but they cannot say they were ambiguous. These men and women would rather die than deny the truths they found in God's word. We should feel the same way.