Inspiration Fred Acquistapace We have all heard that the Bible was inspired by God. Some would have us believe that every word in the Bible was dictated to the writers and they wrote exactly what God said. In fact, many people through the years have claimed God inspired them to do, say, or write the things they did, said, or wrote. How are we to understand what inspiration is all about? Is there a way we can separate what we decide for ourselves from what God decides for us and inspires us to do? Just what does it mean to be inspired? Once we understand this we will take a look and see what these writers wrote and what they meant. To inspire means to breathe or blow upon, to take air into the lungs, or to inhale. This air or breath stimulates and has an animating effect on and infuses life into our bodies. The Hebrew word ruwach means air, wind, or breath, as does the Greek word pneuma. These words are also translated spirit and we see here the idea that when we inhale we take in spirit. This is the basis of the story of the creation of Adam. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul, Genesis 2:7KJV. That was the first time man was inspired by God. In the Hebrew Scriptures we read of the prophet Samuel saying, The Spirit of the LORD God spake by me, and his word was in my tongue, 2 Samuel 23:2. Isaiah wrote, The Spirit of the
Inspiration 2 LORD is upon me, Isaiah 61:1. Then there was Jeremiah To whom the word of the LORD came, Jeremiah 1:2. Ezekiel said, I saw visions of God, Ezekiel 1:1. Hosea wrote, The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, Hosea 1:1. All the prophets claimed to have received the word of the LORD, whether in dreams, trances, visions, or some other manner in which God s spirit revealed information to them. In the New Testament many were said to have been filled with the Holy Ghost. In the gospels we read of the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him [Jesus], Matthew 3:16. Jesus is quoted saying, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Luke 4:18. The postresurrection Jesus was said to have appeared to his disciples and he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost, John 20:22. Sometimes called the Spirit and sometimes the Holy Ghost, it was apparently considered to be a part of God given to whomsoever God chose. This idea was to change as we will soon see. Just as inspire means to take in life by inhaling, expire means to breath out or expel your breath and to give up your life. Abraham gave up the ghost and died, Genesis 25:17. Isaac gave up the ghost and died, Genesis 35:29. Just to be a little different, Jacob yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people, Genesis 49:33. Matthew says Jesus Gave up the ghost, Matthew 27:50. Mark, Luke, and John all say Jesus gave up the ghost. So it was that the dead body of man became a living soul as he took his first breath, and he becomes a dead body again as he gives up his last breath. Man does not have a soul, man is a soul, Genesis 2:7. Man, or soul, is composed of body and spirit. Without the spirit or breath, man is only a dead body, and that rots away in the grave.
Inspiration 3 There is another aspect of spirit that is of interest. If you blow up a balloon with your breath, you have inspired that balloon, and it is filled with the spirit. To be full of spirit is to be full of air. I think we can agree that many who claim to be filled with the Spirit are just full of hot air. Strange as it may seem, to say someone has an evil spirit could mean nothing more than that person has bad breath. One could even say that when God told Ezekiel A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh, Ezekiel 36:26, he was looking forward to a heartlung transplant! In the Greek language the words ghost and spirit are synonymous and when they were associated with God they became Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit. Once that happened and the words were capitalized, the rushing mighty wind of Acts 2:4 became not only the Holy Ghost, but was transformed into a person. Sometime in the early part of the second century Jesus became the literal Son of God, and as a result, a part of the Godhead. Not long afterward the Holy Ghost was also given divine attributes. It was at that time, between 125 and 150 that the so-called Trinity came into being. I say so-called because the Trinity is not universally accepted. Some Christians believe the theory of three persons in one God suggests polytheism so since God is one, there is only a Unity. Some accept God the Father and God the Son, but not a ghost, so a Duality. Most Christians believe in God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, so a Trinity. They take this belief from two alleged references in the New Testament. First, by the supposed post-resurrection Jesus, and second from a supposed letter written by the Apostle John. Let s take a close look at these two passages and see why some reject them.
Inspiration 4 After the crucifixion and burial of Jesus, three days passed without incident. Then some women went to the tomb and found it empty. According to Mark s gospel, that was all there was. The other gospels basically agreed up until about 125-150 when some additions were made to the gospels. Among other things Jesus was said to have appeared to his Apostles and, according to Matthew, given them a new command. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Matthew 28:19. The second reference reads, For there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one, 1 John 5:7. You may wonder why I find these two references untrustworthy. I rely on eminent Bible scholars to help me understand which parts of the Bible can be taken as authentic, and which parts are suspect. In my home library of over 1,100 books I have eight sets of Bible Commentaries so I can read the findings of a number of qualified scholars. These include the works of Ministers, College Professors, Authors of Church History, Theologians, etc. I read the reports of, Jews, Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, Atheists, Agnostics, and anyone else who has something to say based on study, research, history, or any other qualified source. Read what is written in regards to these two passages, and judge for yourself. A careful reading of Matthew, especially when it is compared with Mark, shows that the book cannot have been written by an eyewitness. It is a compendium of church traditions, artistically edited, not the personal observations of a participant, The Interpreter s Bible, Volume 7, page 242, by Sherman E. Johnson, a Professor at Episcopal Theological School. As for 1 John 5:7,
Inspiration 5 This verse in the KJV is to be rejected (with RSV). It appears in no ancient Greek MS nor is it cited by any Greek father; of all the versions only the Latin contained it, and even this in none of its most ancient sources It is first quoted as a part of 1 John by Priscillian, the Spanish heretic, who died in 385, The Interpreter s Bible, Volume 12, page 293, by Amos N. Wilder, a Professor at Chicago Theological Seminary. An author wrote, The existing Gospel according to Matthew is obviously not the work of that apostle; for, firstly, it is written in Greek, and not in Hebrew or Aramaic; and, secondly, one who was an apostle and eye-witness of the ministry of Jesus would not have gone, on the one hand, to Mark, who was neither, for his knowledge of the facts and his arrangement of them; or, on the other, to a Greek document like Q for the teaching of his master. He would have known first hand the incidents of Jesus life, and in what sequence they occurred, and also how and what Jesus taught, F. C. Conybeare, The Origins of Christianity. These are all strong statements showing that these passages were not originally part of the inspired story of the Trinity. Looking at these two passages I noticed that the Trinity is virtually anonymous. In Matthew the emphasis is on names. They are to baptize in the name of the Father, but that name never appears in the entire New Testament. They are to baptize in the name of the Son, which we can assume to be Jesus. And they are to baptize in the name of the Holy Ghost, which name also never appears in the New Testament. In 1 John there is the Father, unnamed, but assumed to be God, the Word, unnamed, and the Holy Ghost, again unnamed. If Jesus told the Apostles this on the day he came out of the tomb, why did Peter, who should have been there, not follow that formula when he mentioned it on Pentecost, just 50 days later? Instead Peter said they were to be
Inspiration 6 baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus, Acts 2:38. I find this not only interesting but also mysterious. In the Hebrew Scriptures their God called himself Jehovah, Exodus 6:3. We can be absolutely certain that ancient Jews never called him Jehovah. The Christian Son of God is said to have been called Jesus, Matthew 1:21. We can be equally certain no one, not even his parents, ever called him Jesus. The reason we know this is simply because there is no J in Hebrew, Greek, or Latin. As for the Holy Ghost, for some unknown reason, it, or he, was never given a name. Perhaps it s time to have a worldwide contest to name the Holy Ghost. Maybe the World Council of Churches could set it up. Anyone in the world who wants to could send their entry by regular mail or Email, the WCC could pick out ten finalists, and everyone interested could vote and select the winning name. After all, even the Three Stooges have names, Larry, Moe, and Curly, so the three members of the Trinity should also have names. There is another aspect of this Holy Ghost that has perplexed me for the last fifty years. Matthew wrote, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, Matthew 1:20. If the Holy Ghost was the one by whom Jesus was conceived, why is the Holy Ghost not the Father? Why is it that God never had a female consort and yet he is supposed to have fathered Jesus? Is that why the whole idea of the Trinity is called a mystery? It is going to be even more interesting if those in the Catholic Church, who want to promote Mary, get their way and she becomes part of the Godhead. Will we then have a Quaternity?
Inspiration 7 Back on the subject of inspiration, some people believe God inspired the writer of Genesis to write the stories of Creation, Adam and Eve, and the Flood. Actually the writer was inspired by the myths of the Babylonians, and borrowed them for his own versions of the stories written with a Hebrew twist. Some think God inspired Moses to write the Books of the Law, but someone else actually wrote them based on the Code of Hammurabi, and put the name of Moses on them to give them authority. Some think Paul was inspired to make up the Christian religion, but he borrowed many ideas from the Mystery Religions around the Mediterranean world, and put a Christian spin on them. Probably the main reason we connect inspiration with the Bible is because of Paul. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works, 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Peter wrote, holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, 2 Peter 1:21. Many New Testament characters were said to have been filled with the Spirit, or the Holy Ghost. Even Jesus is quoted as saying, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Luke 4:18. In the gospels we read of the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him [Jesus], Matthew 3:16. Sometimes called the Spirit and sometimes the Holy Ghost, it has now become a he and is called the Holy Spirit. If that wasn t enough, he even became the third person of the so-called Christian Trinity. When Paul wrote about inspired scripture he obviously wasn t referring to the gospels, Acts, epistles, or Revelation. At the time Paul wrote, the New Testament had not even been considered, let alone written. Paul was writing about the Books of the Law, made scripture about 400 BCE.,
Inspiration 8 and the Books of the Prophets, made scripture about 200 BCE Even in the time of Paul the parts of the Hebrew Scriptures called the Writings weren t yet scripture. These books became scripture about 90 CE. You will do well to remember that what we call scripture became such by the decisions of mere mortals, not by a divine God. The 66 books of our Bible are there because they received the votes necessary to qualify them for the Bible. The greatest feats of inspiration gone astray, however, were the gospels of Matthew and Luke. As stated elsewhere, Mark was written about 70, and was from all appearances an original piece of writing. About ten years later someone wrote another gospel called Luke. This writer used Mark as a source and some 360 of the 661 verses of Mark found their way into Luke. As if that wasn t enough, about ten years after Luke was written, someone wrote another gospel called Matthew. About 606 of the 661 verses of Mark were appropriated and appear in Matthew. Today we call that plagiarism, but some call it inspiration. Mark wasn t the only source used for Matthew and Luke, however. There was also another document that supplied the writers with sayings of Jesus. This document, which no longer exists, was liberally used as a framework with which the writers each built their stories around the words of Jesus. Scholars call this reconstructed document Q or Quelle, a German word that means source. If you still want to believe Matthew and Luke were inspired to write what they wrote, dream on. Some actually think the Apostle Matthew wrote the gospel 60 years after the crucifixion, based on his personal recollections. But the evidence shows he simply copied Mark and Q.
Inspiration 9 Luke wrote, Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, Luke 1:3. Luke admitted he used other people s work while Matthew led his readers to believe it was his own. Maybe God inspired the writers of the Bible to copy the work of others. So now that you know how many of the books of the New Testament came to be written and included, you can see that inspiration from God had nothing to do with it. The only inspiration involved was the inspiration to claim the works of others and put the names of Apostles on them to give them authority. In any case, the Bible was written by people using people s ideas to control other people. They didn t need a God for they were capable of making it look like they were writing what they claimed were the very words of God dictated to them and copied down word for word. The Bible is one of the greatest frauds there is, and the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on mankind.