page_title: Christian theology
section_title: Biblical inspiration
hierarchical_section_title: Christian theology / Prolegomena: Scripture as the basis of theology / Biblical inspiration
context_page_description: Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, rational analysis and argument. Theologians may undertake the study of Christian theology for a variety of reasons, such as in order to:
  help them better understand Christian tenets
  make comparisons between Christianity and other traditions
  defend Christianity against objections and criticism
  facilitate reforms in the Christian church
  assist in the propagation of Christianity
  draw on the resources of the Christian tradition to address some present situation or perceived need
  Christian theology has permeated much of Western culture, especially in pre-modern Europe.
context_section_description: The Bible contains many passages in which the authors claim divine inspiration for their message or report the effects of such inspiration on others. Besides the direct accounts of written revelation, such as Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, the Prophets of the Old Testament frequently claimed that their message was of divine origin by prefacing the revelation using the following phrase: "Thus says the LORD" (for example, 1 Kgs 12:22–24;1 Chr 17:3–4; Jer 35:13; Ezek 2:4; Zech 7:9; etc.). The Second Epistle of Peter claims that "no prophecy of Scripture ... was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet 1:20–21). The Second Epistle of Peter also implies that Paul's writings are inspired (2 Pet 3:16).
  Many Christians cite a verse in Paul's letter to Timothy, 2 Timothy 3:16–17, as evidence that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable ..." Here St. Paul is referring to the Old Testament, since the scriptures have been known by Timothy from "infancy" (verse 15). Others offer an alternative reading for the passage; for example, theologian C. H. Dodd suggests that it "is probably to be rendered" as: "Every inspired scripture is also useful..." A similar translation appears in the New English Bible, in the Revised English Bible, and (as a footnoted alternative) in the New Revised Standard Version. The Latin Vulgate can be so read. Yet others defend the "traditional" interpretation; Daniel B. Wallace calls the alternative "probably not the best translation."
  Some modern English versions of the Bible renders theopneustos with "God-breathed" (NIV) or "breathed out by God" (ESV) to avoid the word inspiration, unlike its Latin root.
caption: Rembrandt's The Evangelist Matthew Inspired by an Angel, 1661
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