Q: How can we trust the Bible is 100 percent Holy Spirit inspired and no human error got in the way?
The Explanation
What an excellent question! I can tell you’ve been thinking deeply about your Bible. The most important thing to know is that the Bible says it was “breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16).
We sometimes think a human author just got a “good idea” and wrote it down. But “breathed out” means God took the lead. Think about when God breathed into Adam to give him life (Genesis 2:7). In the same way, the Holy Spirit “breathed” life into the words of the Bible. The Holy Spirit “carried along” the writers so that they wrote exactly what God wanted (2 Peter 1:21).
Why No Errors?
Since God is the one “breathing out” the message, and God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), we know the message is 100% true. Even though God used human writers with different personalities, He guided them so perfectly that no mistakes got in the way of His message (WCF 1.4).
How Do We Know We Have the Right Books?
We can trust these 66 books because the very first Christians recognized them as God’s Voice almost immediately. Even the Apostle Peter recognized that the Apostle Paul’s letters were “Scripture,” just like the Old Testament (2 Peter 3:15-16). Early Christians made thousands of copies and sent them everywhere. Today, we have discovered so many ancient copies that we can be sure what we are reading is what was originally written (WCF 1.8).
A Note on How to Read It
Being “without error” doesn’t mean the Bible is a modern science textbook. It means it tells the truth!
- Observation: If a writer says the “sun rose,” he is describing what he saw from his eyes. That’s a true statement, even if we know the Earth is what’s actually moving.
- Pictures: Sometimes God uses metaphors (word-pictures) to explain big ideas.
- The Trinity: When the Bible calls Jesus the “Son,” it doesn’t mean he is younger or less important than the Father. Jesus is 100% God, just like the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Because the Bible is God’s very own speech, you can trust it to lead you perfectly to the God who loves you.
What Doctrine Says
- The Bible is made of 66 books that were all “given by the inspiration of God” (WCF 1.2).
- The Bible proves itself. We trust it because it comes from God, not because a person or a church says so (WCF 1.4).
- God loves His Word so much that He keeps it pure and protects it from being lost or changed (WCF 1.8).