God Breathed

The Faith Question

What do you think the Bible means when it claims to be "inspired" or "God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16)? Is this claim true?

My answer

When I first tried to attempt the question I reached an impass while trying to understand the first half of the question. Are the scriptures "inspired" or are they "God Breathed". Please bear with me on this as I find this subtle difference in the words can have huge implications.

When the prophets quote the law or speak of commandments or visions, they are speaking of there conversation with the Lord. Here, they do not add/subtract/modify content that is part of their minds. They are speaking the word that the Lord has uttered to them...and through the scriptures, to all of humanity. In such a situation, the words we read are "God breathed"...or alteast the literal translations of it.

In the case of various epistles (like those in the new testament) or prohesies or accounts mentioned in the old testament that record the history of the chosen people, or relate to conversations between the apostles/prophets with the public at large, we see working of the Lord in a person's life or the community at large. When Paul goes from claiming to be the strongest believer to accepting that he is the most lowly sinner, that is when you know that he is truly "inspired" by the word of the Lord. When Nehemiah rebuild the wall in 52 days...that is the Lord working through his people.

So it is my firmest belief that the scriptures are both "inspired" by the Lord as well as "God breathed". I hope I have understood and answered the first half of the question correctly.

The claim that the scriptures are true have been proved through the entire horizon that is spanned by both testaments. From prophesies that have been made, to their fulfilment in Jesus. Dates & events have been confirmed even by sceptics usingscientific methods. The most important aspect of this is that we believe them to be true. Unfortunately, I haven't yet read enough to refer from any specific section of the bible that talks about the truth of the word from an apologetics perspective. Once again, I am not too sure if I have understood and answered this question sufficiently.