How Much of the Bible is Inspired?

(Dr. Norman Geisler from our series “Is the Bible Unique, or just Another Religious Book?”)

2 Peter 1:20-21 says all the prophetic writings came as people were moved by the Holy Spirit:

“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

The word there is the same word used for a wind blowing on a sailboat—moved along by the Holy Spirit. They did not come from the will of men but from the will of God.

Now, if all prophetic writings are inspired—and the New Testament is also a prophetic writing because it says it was written by apostles and prophets, Ephesians 2:20 and Ephesians 3:5; and even John was called a prophet in Revelation 22:18—if all Scripture is prophetic, and the New Testament is also prophetic, then the New Testament is inspired Scripture as well. So, we have literally hundreds of claims in the Bible that tell us the Bible claims to be the Word of God.

In fact, let me mention one other thing. Jesus said that the Bible is the Word of God. He said in Matthew 5:18 that the Bible is imperishable—“not a jot or tittle will pass away until all is fulfilled.” He said in John 10:35, “the Scripture cannot be broken;” it’s literally unbreakable. He said it’s exalted above all human tradition. Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 15:6: “You have made the word of God void with your tradition.”

The Bible can be trusted when it talks about history, when it talks about origins, when it talks about science. Jesus quoted Adam and Eve as being the first literal pair created by God.

We used to sing the song in Sunday School, “Jesus said it, that settles it.” If Christ, the Son of God, said the Bible is the Word of God, then the Bible must be the Word of God, or else Christ is not the Son of God.