The Claims of Scripture:

Did Bible Writers View Their Writings as Divine Revelation ?

Did Bible writers claim to be guided directly by God so their message was the inspired revelation of Divine Will? Did God intend the Scriptures to be a standard of religious authority to guide mankind to eternal life? Should they have been collected and preserved even for future generations? Is the Bible an infallible pattern of Divine instruction and commands even for us today?

Introduction:

Years ago I heard a public discussion between a gospel preacher and a denominational preacher in which the denominational preacher claimed he could write letters like those in the New Testament. He was not claiming to be directly guided by the Holy Spirit to write divine commandments. He meant that, because of his spiritual maturity and wisdom, he could be "inspired" to write helpful spiritual lessons like poets are "inspired" to write poetry.

This illustrates the view that many people today take of Scripture.

* Many people claim that the Bible writers never believed they were writing an infallible message from the mind of God. They just wrote good thoughts like a person today might express his own thoughts and wisdom.

* Still others claim the Bible writers had some good ideas, but they were not intended to be a pattern or Divine commands that men must follow to please God and receive eternal life.

* Other people claim that God never intended for these writings to be collected and preserved for later generations. They were simply intended to benefit the people to whom they were immediately written, not for people of other times and places, certainly not for people today.

The purpose of this study is to examine the claims made by the Scriptures about themselves.

Do they claim to be a message revealed from God Himself to man? Do they claim to be an infallible standard of religious authority for people to obey? Do they claim that people of future generations should study them to learn God's commandments?