Resource request - views on inspiration

I have "uncovered" about a dozen views on what "inspiration" means with regards to scripture. For some, the difference between views is obvious - but some appear to depend upon subtle theological assumptions unknown to me. What is your go-to source for understanding the multiple meanings of inspiration? Again, no need for discussion - I simply want to be able to understand and define the various meanings.

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Olli-Pekka Ylisuutari

Could this be of any help?

Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy (Counterpoints) | Logos Bible Software

At least in my mind "biblical inerrancy" comes close to some views on inspiration.

Dave Hooton

Try:

Pink, A. W. (1917). The divine inspiration of the Bible.

Bloesch, D. G. (1994). Holy Scripture: revelation, inspiration & interpretation.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1202491#Comment_1202491

Thanks - those get me going and may lead to additional sources.

Rosie Perera

I don't have a "go-to source" but here are some resources that might help:

Archibald Alexander, Evidences of the Authenticity, Inspiration and Canonical Authority of the Holy Scriptures

The central chapters look to be the most relevant. Screenshot from TOC:

John Dick, An Essay on the Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament

The table of contents:

I. Howard Marshall, Biblical Inspiration

The chapters are:

What does the Bible say about itself?
What do we mean by ‘inspiration’?
What are the results of inspiration?
How are we to study the Bible?
How are we to interpret the Bible?
What are we to do with the Bible?

James Orr, Revelation and Inspiration

It includes the following relevant chapters:

Arthur T. Pierson, ed., The Inspired Word: A Series of Papers and Addresses Delivered at the Bible-Inspiration Conference, Philadelphia, 1887

Of note within is the paper titled “Theories of Inspiration” by James H. Brookes, which begins with this paragraph:

It is worthy of notice that the Bible itself says nothing whatever of the subject assigned for this hour. No theory of inspiration is presented or even suggested from the first of Genesis to the last of Revelation, but the Book everywhere asserts that the words it contains are words which God spoke to men, through whom He revealed His will and purpose. If we had read the sacred Scriptures alone, apart from human opinions, we could never have thought of different kinds or degrees of inspiration, but must have seen that the writers at least claim for the very language of their communications divine origin, divine accuracy, and divine authority. There is no attempt to explain how they were inspired, but from first to last historians, poets, prophets, and apostles come before us with the sublime announcement, “Thus saith the Lord.”

J. Paterson Smyth, How God Inspired the Bible: Thoughts for the Present Disquiet

Not available in Logos, but full text available on Google Books.

Benjamin B. Warfield, The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield, Volume 1: Revelation and Inspiration

Here's the opening paragraph from Chapter III, "Inspiration and the Bible":

The subject of the Inspiration of the Bible is one which has been much confused in recent discussion. He who, seeking to learn the truth, should gather about him the latest treatises, bearing such titles as, “Inspiration, and other Lectures,” “Inspiration and the Bible,” “What is Inspiration?” “How did God inspire the Bible?” “The Oracles of God?”²—would find himself led by them in every conceivable direction at once. No wonder if he should stand stock-still in the midst of his would-be guides, confounded by the Babel of voices. The old formula, quot homines tot sententiæ, seems no longer adequate. Wherever five “advanced thinkers” assemble, at least six theories as to inspiration are likely to be ventilated. They differ in every conceivable point, or in every conceivable point save one. They agree that inspiration is less pervasive and less determinative than has heretofore been thought, or than is still thought in less enlightened circles. They agree that there is less of the truth of God and more of the error of man in the Bible than Christians have been wont to believe. They agree accordingly that the teaching of the Bible may be, in this, that, or the other,—here, there, or elsewhere,—safely neglected or openly repudiated. So soon as we turn to the constructive side, however, and ask wherein the inspiration of the Bible consists; how far it guarantees the trustworthiness of the Bible’s teaching; in what of its elements is the Bible a divinely safe-guarded guide to truth: the concurrence ends and hopeless dissension sets in. They agree only in their common destructive attitude towards some higher view of the inspiration of the Bible, of the presence of which each one seems supremely conscious.

²Titles of recent treatises by Rooke, Horton, DeWitt, Smyth, and Sanday respectively.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1202508#Comment_1202508

Thanks Rosie - I'll check these out.

Lew Worthington

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1202511#Comment_1202511

Since you mentioned subtle theological assumptions unknown to you, I thought about approaches that may have different starting points than resources others have alluded to -- which often reveal subtle theological assumptions. For example, here's the first part of the TOC from the first volume of Pannenberg's Systematic Theology:

CHAPTER 1 The Truth of Christian Doctrine as the Theme of Systematic Theology
§ 1 Theology
§ 2 The Truth of Dogma
§ 3 Dogmatics as Systematic Theology
§ 4 The Development and Problem of So-called Prolegomena to Dogmatics
§ 5 The Truth of Christian Doctrine as the Theme of Systematic Theology
CHAPTER 2 The Concept of God and the Question of Its Truth
§ 1 The Word “God”
§ 2 Natural Knowledge of God and Natural Theology
§ 3 The Proofs of God and Philosophical Criticism of Natural Theology
§ 4 Theological Criticism of Natural Theology
§ 5 The “Natural” Knowledge of God
V 1, p vi CHAPTER 3 The Reality of God and the Gods in the Experience of the Religions
§ 1 The Concept of Religion and Its Function in Theology
a. Religion and the Knowledge of God
b. The Concept of Religion, the Plurality of Religions, and the “Absoluteness” of Christianity
§ 2 The Anthropological and Theological Nature of Religion
§ 3 The Question of the Truth of Religion and the History of Religion
§ 4 The Religious Relation
CHAPTER 4 The Revelation of God
§ 1 The Theological Function of the Concept of Revelation
§ 2 The Multiplicity of Biblical Ideas of Revelation
§ 3 The Function of the Concept of Revelation in the History of Theology
§ 4 Revelation as History and as Word of God

He does dive into inspiration as it relates to Scripture, but mostly while on his way addressing other issues.

For a completely different take -- more by what he does NOT say than what he does -- I've found Schleiermacher profound and interesting. His "Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers" sidesteps the issue almost entirely (for example, he says, "What is revelation? Every original and new communication of the Universe to man is a revelation, as, for example, every such moment of conscious insight as I have just referred to. Every intuition and every original feeling proceeds from revelation.") But in his "Brief Outline of the Study of Theology", he talks about Scripture in a different, albeit typically enlightenment, way, as he expounds on the topic of "Exegetic Theology".

And if you have a LOT of time, I hear Barth's CD is pretty good reading. (If I remember correctly, both of these latter writers required a good deal of caffeine for me.)

Then your question got me thinking about how I would approach that topic. I thought I would try a basic search of "Heading Text" in all my Systematic Theology resources. I'm not nearly as interested in the conclusions the resources come to as the way they get there. That's a little off topic from your request, but it did get me exploring those types of resources (I'm not always a fan of STs); and for the inspiration ([;)]), I am grateful.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1202529#Comment_1202529

Thank you -- this definitely puts me on the trail of better understanding. All the answers in this thread have been very useful in somewhat different ways -- I enjoy considering the material from different perspectives.

Mattillo

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1202508#Comment_1202508

Arthur T. Pierson, ed., The Inspired Word: A Series of Papers and Addresses Delivered at the Bible-Inspiration Conference, Philadelphia, 1887

Off-Topic Question... how did you make a image with a tear in it?

Rosie Perera

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1202557#Comment_1202557

Off-Topic Question... how did you make a image with a tear in it?

I use SnagIt to take screenshots, and it has that feature.