Subtitle: What does "divinely inspired" really mean?

Excerpt: The Bible’s diverse tones and styles, reflecting human authors, enrich its consistent, divinely inspired, and inerrant message of God’s love and salvation.

Author: Jeff Hilles

A Comment from a Reader: “Your view, along with others, is that God authored the Bible, and therefore you have to take everything as a whole to understand it. When I read the gospels and Paul and the epistles and all the other books of the NT, I see glaring differences in tone, intent, and even theologies, and I realized that over the past 2000 years, these differences have been harmonized by the church and [theologians such as] Luther and Calvin. I guess what I’m saying is, each book has its own purpose. This doesn’t take away from their influence, but it does position them differently, at least in my mind.

My initial response: Understood, and you do bring up an excellent point that I have never dealt with either in a post or a comment. That is, the difference in tone and style of each book is clearly distinct and would logically suggest the writers were human with natural differences in personality and style, suggesting the insertion of human frailties within what Biblical Christians believe to be a singular Author, God. At a point in the future, I need to respond to this in a post.

A response from Rich Holt, our devotional author on BCW: Regarding your post about the Scriptures having different tones, etc., I have heard an explanation that goes along the lines of the Scriptures being like an orchestra and God the conductor – the music is all the same, but each instrument sounds different.

The analogy Rich offers could not be better said. Each of those who were chosen by God to pen His thoughts approached the task applying their own personalities and style to the work. However, their idiosyncrasies only serve to provide depth to a consistent message divinely inspired by the original Author. Paul used a similar analogy when speaking both to the Corinthian church and indirectly to all of humanity (below). He is not changing the core message of the gospel but is removing unnecessary cultural or secular obstacles so that the truth can be understood by all types of listeners (and future readers of God’s Word).

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Conclusion

Today, we as evangelicals tailor our testimony and Good News to the audience we stand in front of. God’s truth remains unchanging, but we employ a symphony of instruments in a beautiful harmony of expression of God’s love and desire that all can come to Him (1 Timothy 2:4) for salvation.