The Holy Bible is a book of dual authorship. It is a writing which involves a partnership between man and his God which produced one unified set of volumes that could never have been produced by man alone under any natural circumstances. Let us consider why such a bold statement is true, shall we? Let us begin with the unity which runs unwavering throughout the entirety of The Scriptures from Genesis chapter one to Revelation chapter twenty-two. Throughout these sixty-six books, one will find that the singular purpose which binds them tightly together is the expression of God’s revelation concerning Himself unto humanity.
While there are some allusions as to the use of secondary means through which this is partially achieved, the main theme of The Scriptures is God’s revelation of Himself through Jesus, The Christ. When examining this concept, it is critical to be able to demonstrate the truth of it from the claims of Scripture itself. To do this I urge you to consider carefully the following passages from the Bible.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
[2] The same was in the beginning with God.
[3] All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
[4] In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
[5] And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
[6] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
[7] The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
[8] He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
[9] That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
[10] He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
[11] He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
[12] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
[13] Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
[14] And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
[15] John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
[16] And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
[17] For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
[18] No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
(John 1:1-18)
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
[40] And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”
(John 5:39-40)
“I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
[44] How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?
[45] Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.
[46] For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
[47] But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?“
(John 5:43-47)
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
[2] Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
[3] Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;[4] Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.“
(Hebrews 1:1-4)
“For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
[17] For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
[18] And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
[19] We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
[20] Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
[21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”.
(II Peter 1:16)
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
[2] Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
[3] Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
[4] John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
[5] And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
[6] And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
[7] Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
[8] I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
[9] I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
[10] I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
[11] Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.“
(Revelation Chapter One: verses 1-11)
Here then is the message which God intends to convey unto humanity. How He would choose to do this is the question at hand. Earlier I made the assertion that this was a book of dual authorship. God chose to speak unto, and thereby through, men to deliver His revelation in written form. This interaction is known as inspiration. It is to be noted that God did not simply dictate the words which were to be recorded, but rather worked within the limitations of the style and the vocabulary of each man He chose to write each portion of Scripture.
Understand that the Scriptures were penned by over 40 different authors from every background of life. These would include Kings, fishermen, Medical Doctors, farmers, tax collectors, religious leaders, and men from a host of other professions and vocations. Most of these men never had the privilege of meeting each other. Some wrote during a period of exile. Others wrote as eyewitnesses to the Living God upon the earth. At times these men wrote of things which they did not personally comprehend in their entirety due to the fact that God gave The Scriptures unto all men for all ages. One by one they were chosen to interact with God and pen that which He gave them to write so that those who came before us, we ourselves, and all who come after us, would know that what we read therein is still relevant unto the day in which we live.
The process of penning the Divine revelation from God which was put down by their hands took over 1500 years to complete. In addition, there is a 400-year period of silence between the last book of The Old Testament and the first of The New Testament. Consider the possibility of any book of purely human origin being penned under such circumstances. Consider carefully the possibility of such a work maintaining the consistent, accurate adherence to one singular theme. In pondering these things concerning the authoring of this book there is yet one thing more that causes a person to affirm that it is Divine in its creation. That factor is the absolute and irrefutable accuracy of every prophetic pronouncement found within it.
When one hears the term “Prophecy” there is most often a mental equation made with fortune telling. It is therefore vital to understand the role of a Prophet of God and what such a one actually did in fulfilling that role. In order to see how this separates The Scriptures from all other spiritual or religious writings I invite you to click the link below as we continue this introduction to Biblical Study.