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Inspiration (of Scripture)

The doctrine that God so superintended the human authors of Scripture that their writings are his word — “God-breathed” (2 Tim 3:16).

Not To Be Confused With

Inspiration is HOW Scripture came to be (God-breathed through human authors); inerrancy and infallibility are claims about the RESULT (that it does not err / does not fail).

From Latin inspirare, “to breathe into” — translating Greek theopneustos, “God-breathed” (2 Tim 3:16). Inspiration affirms a dual authorship: real human writers with their own styles and research (Luke 1:1–4), carried along by the Spirit (2 Pet 1:21), so that what they wrote is what God says.

Models differ — verbal-plenary (every word, all parts), dynamic, and others — but historic Christianity rejects both mechanical dictation (authors as typewriters) and a merely human Bible that only “contains” God's word.

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Inspiration (of Scripture) — Definition | Theologos Media