When the question is asked, “Can the Bible be God’s inspired word?”, the simple answer is, “Yes!” As has been previously noted, the concept of inspiration presupposes the existence of God. While it is not the purview of this study to argue God’s existence, we agree with Paul’s contention, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20). As the Psalmist testified, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). The contention of scripture and those who believe it is that the very existence of the universe demands the hand of a divine Designer. If an omnipotent and omniscient God exists, then nothing could preclude Him sharing His will with man through any means He chooses. This truth is axiomatic.
Accepting this truth, there are some practical matters to be considered. God chose to share His message with man through inspired writings. And He did so early on in the history of mankind. In the past, objections were raised about the Bible, as claims concerning the human authors were disputed. The basic claim was that the art of writing was either not yet developed, or insufficiently developed for Bible claims to be substantiated.
Archaeology has long since validated the claims made concerning the Bible’s antiquity. In fact, the earliest writings found in the Old Testament are hardly the earliest writings in existence.
The first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are commonly referred to as the books of the Law. Jewish tradition states that, except for a small portion of Deuteronomy, these books were penned by Moses. This is certainly what Jesus Himself indicated in such places as Mark 12:26 and Luke 16:29-31. It is now known that writing began at least 15 centuries before Moses lived, and that a Semitic alphabet preceded his life by at least 200 years. Add to that the fact that Moses was raised and educated in the courts of Egypt, during a time where even the scribblings of uneducated workers in the turquoise mines of Egypt have been discovered, and the possibility that he is the author of the Pentateuch is obvious. Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness of Judea. Means and opportunity (time) were available to him.
That is not to say that writing was accomplished the same way as it is today. There are references in the Old and New Testaments to the writing materials that were used in antiquity. Among the earliest methods used were the carving of letters into stone (cf. Exodus 31:18); and clay (cf. Ezekiel 4:1). The Code of Hammurabi is carved upon a stone stele monument), dated from 1750 B.C. The Moabite Stone, which contains Canaanite script, is dated to the 9th century B.C. Some of the 16,000 clay tablets found in Elba (in Syria) are dated as far back as 2,400 B.C. The famous Sennacherib Prisms (three in number), dated at approximately 690 B.C., describe the siege of the Babylonian king against Hezekiah (cf. 2 Kings 18).
Other materials were ink on plaster (cf. Deuteronomy 27:2-3); wood (cf. Numbers 17:2-3) and wax. It is believed that the tablet of Isaiah 30:8 may well refer to a wax writing surface.
Writing has been found on many other ancient materials, including metal and shards of pottery. In fact, the pottery pieces, called Ostraca were what we might refer to as the ancient equivalent of scrap paper.
Of course, there were drawbacks to such materials, such as limited space and bulkiness. The two most important writing materials in ancient history were papyrus and leather.
A type of “paper” was produced from the papyrus plant, and was used for writing by the Egyptians as early as 3,000 B.C. The Greeks and Romans adopted its use, and by the time the New Testament was written, papyrus was the primary medium in use. The initial books and letters which make up the New Testament were probably written on papyrus scrolls.
Leather was also in use from ancient times. However, in about 200 B.C., a particular type of treatment of the skins was developed which produced what is known as vellum or parchment. Paul probably has reference to such skins in 2 Timothy 4:13 when he asks Timothy to have the “parchments” brought to him.
From these facts, we can be assured that all of the claims regarding both primary authorship (the Holy Spirit) and secondary authorship (human hands) are well within possibility.
Many other questions have to be answered. Can we know we have the actual inspired text as contained in the original autographs? How accurate are the translations that have been made from the original Biblical languages? What were/are the safeguards that have been put in place to assure that what we have today is what God wants for us to know?
Keep in mind that the Bible claims God does want us to “know” His will for us. He is the great “I AM.” The “Alpha and the Omega… Who is and Who was and Who is to come” (cf. Revelation 1:8). If He wants us to know His will, He is certainly able to make it happen!
