The doctrine of the inspiration of Holy Scripture in the ancient Church (I–V centuries). Inspiration of the Bible

The concept of inspiration. The term "inspiration" (θεόπνευστος [theopneustos]) found in the Bible only in 2 Timothy 3:16(“All Scripture is inspired by God...”). Calling Holy Scripture inspired by God, St. ap. Paul sets forth the common belief of the Old Testament and New Testament Church that Old Testament was written under special inspiration from the Holy Spirit (cf. Matt. 22:43). The same idea is affirmed by St. ap. Peter: “...Prophecy was never made by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21).

In the Old Testament, the idea of ​​​​assisting the prophets of the Spirit of God in their sermons are expressed clear enough. For example, the Lord told the prophet Moses: “I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say” (Ex. 4:12). Likewise, other prophets claimed that they spoke for God His words. The prophet and psalmist David exclaimed: “The Spirit of the Lord speaks in me, and His word is on my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2). Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself confirmed that David prophesied by the Holy Spirit (Mark 12:36). The same thing is said about David in the book of Acts (1:16; 4:25).

Regarding the nature of inspiration, there were and are several points of view:

-Mechanistic understanding or verbalism(from the Latin verbum - “word”), that is, the idea that Scripture dictated by God and written down word for word. In this case, the true author of the Bible is God Himself, and man mechanically records His speech. However, God never destroys human freedom and personality.

-Psychological understanding. If verbalism minimizes human participation in the transmission Divine Revelation, then psychological understanding reduces Divine participation to inspiration similar to poetic. In this case, the Bible becomes not the Word of God, but a purely human work. However, no amount of human inspiration or intuition can reveal the future.

-Traditional understanding assumes inseparable interaction of the will of Divine and human. This interaction is similar to the action of God's grace in a symphony with human will in the matter of human salvation.

-The Human Side of Scripture manifests itself in the literary forms used by the writers of the Bible. According to Blessed Augustine (354-430) .), God “speaks humanly through man”(On the City of God, XVII, 6). Blazh. Jerome of Stridon (342-419/420) wrote that “Jeremiah seems rough compared to Isaiah and Hosea.”(Interpretation on Isa.), and holy. Gregory Dvoeslov (c. 540-604) noted that “Isaiah surpassed all the prophets in the beauty of his style.” The important idea in these passages is that The Word of God is written in accordance with the individual characteristics of the author, which are clearly manifested in many biblical books. However, despite all the features of the authors, It is impossible in Scripture to find a boundary where the Word of God ends and the word of man begins. Every word in the Bible is sealed by the Holy Spirit.

The main evidence that the Bible is not only the word of man, but also the word of God, are prophecies, some of which have already been fulfilled, while others will only be fulfilled in the future. Therefore, the Bible can be called the book of God-man.

Thus, inspiration can be defined How the special influence of the Holy Spirit on the personality of the writer, thanks to which the author, with full preservation of all his powers and with their active manifestation, in accordance with the goals of the House of Man’s salvation, wrote down the Word of God in a specific language, in certain cultural conditions and in a specific historical setting, so that in order to reveal Divine Revelation as fully as possible for the people of God.

Of course, you need to understand that in the process of rewriting biblical books, errors could creep into the text. However, this does not contradict the doctrine of inspiration. Autographs of biblical books were inspired by God, and copyists tried to preserve the text as much as possible from typos, especially in those places where doctrinal truths were presented.

Vladimir Degtyarev

Understanding the inspiration of Scripture is very important for a correct attitude towards the Bible, because many other issues are directly related to inspiration, such as the reliability, inerrancy and absolute authority of the Holy Scriptures. It is important for us to know whether the Bible accurately conveys God's words to us? Were the authors of the books of the Bible just “secretaries” who mechanically and without reflection wrote down on paper everything that God dictated to them? The answers to these questions are extremely important for every Christian, and therefore it is necessary to touch on this topic. The basis of our reasoning will be the Bible itself, since it repeatedly declares that it is inspired, that is, a book given to us by God.

A. The concept of inspiration.

The inspiration of the Holy Scriptures indicates the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit over the authors of all the books of the Bible so that they, using their personal qualities and abilities, composed and recorded God's revelation infallibly in human words. We can fully speak about inspiration only in relation to the text recorded by the authors in the original manuscripts of Scripture. Thus, each of the sixty-six canonical books of the Bible are the result of divine inspiration in equal measure (2 Tim. 3:16). Literal or verbatim inspiration refers to every word of Scripture in the grammatical form in which it appears in the text (Gal. 3:16). Translations, even very accurate and perfect ones, are no longer inspired by God, otherwise it would be necessary to recognize the translators of the Bible, along with the authors of the Bible, as “holy men of God who were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

Speaking about this topic, it is first necessary to point out several important elements that help to correctly understand what inspiration is. First, inspiration involves divine participation. This means that God the Holy Spirit controlled the work of the authors during the writing of the text of the Holy Scriptures. Therefore, we can affirm that the words of Scripture are God's words (Isa. 8:1). Secondly, human participation in this work is also important. When reading different books of the Bible, it is impossible not to notice that the authors of the Holy Scriptures wrote certain books according to their personal writing styles and personality. They were not just passive stenographers who took dictation, but people who actively participated in the composition of the text. The authors of the books of the Bible undoubtedly contributed greatly to the composition of the Holy Scriptures. Every book of the Bible in this sense is literary work of this or that author, as we see their historical research, theological reflections, literary style and so on. It is important to emphasize, based on the entire contents of the Bible, that the authors did not add anything to the Bible from themselves that would not correspond to what God wanted to write there. Therefore, the Bible is completely God's creation. This is evident from the understanding of the authors themselves that they say and write what they were commanded by God himself (Jer. 1:7; Ezek. 2:7). The result of such an amazing and supernatural collaboration became the transmission of God's truth without error.

B. Bible teaching about inspiration.

1. Christ's attitude to the Bible.

There is no more convincing proof of the inspiration of the Bible than the attitude of Christ to the Holy Scriptures. By examining His life, we can see that the inspiration of all Scripture was confirmed by Christ. By quoting the Old Testament during His ministry, Christ thus confirmed its truth and inspiration. In Matthew 5:17-18, He states that not one jot or one tittle will pass from the law until all is fulfilled. By using the word law in verse 17, Christ is using it to refer to the entire Old Testament. In Luke 24:44, Christ reminds the disciples that everything must be fulfilled that was written about Him in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms. Christ also confirmed the inspiration and truth of the Old Testament, pointing to the authenticity of the events described in the Old Testament, such as the creation of the world and man (Matthew 19:4), the story of the flood (Luke 17:26-27), the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Luke 17:28-29), the wife of Lot (Luke 17:32), the prophet Jonah (Matthew 12:40-41) and Naaman the Syrian (Luke 4:27). He repeatedly emphasized that the Holy Spirit was in control of what the authors of the Old Testament wrote (Mark 12:36-37) and therefore what they wrote down was true and subject to fulfillment (Luke 4:17-21; Matt. 24: 15). Moreover,

Christ recognized the division of the books of the Old Testament into the Law, Prophets and Psalms, which existed at that time (Luke 24:44) and thus confirmed that He recognizes the entire Old Testament God's Word or Scripture.

Moses, Jeremiah, David, and other Old Testament writers claim that they were directly commanded by God to write down everything God said to them (Ex. 17:14; Jer. 30:2; 2 Sam. 23:2).

The New Testament writers also provide evidence for the inspiration of both the Old and New Testaments. For example, the Apostle Paul realized that he spoke and wrote on behalf of God (1 Cor. 2:13; 1 Thess. 2:13). In 1 Timothy 5:18, Paul states, “For the Scripture says,” and then quotes references from the Old and New Testaments (Deut. 25:4 Luke 10:7), thus early referring to Scripture as the Old Testament. so and New Testament s. By this, Paul confirms that the New Testament is inspired by God to the same extent as the Old. Also, Paul's famous statement in 2 Timothy 3:16 indicates that absolutely all Scripture is inspired by God.

The Apostle Peter also recognized the inspiration of the Bible (2 Pet 1:20-21). His teaching regarding the Holy Scriptures is completely consistent with the teaching of the Apostle Paul. Peter emphasizes that the Scriptures are not the result of human will and talent, but rather the result of supernatural power and the workings of the Holy Spirit. Like Paul, Peter affirms that Scripture is of divine origin. Moreover, and this is important to note, the Apostle Peter treats what Paul wrote with the same authority as the Holy Scriptures in general, that is, he puts the works of the Apostle Paul on the same level with the Bible (2 Pet. 3:15-16). The Apostle John also realized that he was communicating the inspired word of God to people (John 21:24; Rev. 1:1-3; 21:5).

4. Verbatim or literal inspiration of Scripture.

Verbatim, that is, literal inspiration of God is confirmed by Christ themselves (Matt. 5:18; John 6:63; 12:48; 14:10; 17:8). This means that every word, every sign in the original biblical manuscripts was written under the direct direction and knowledge of the Holy Spirit. The authors of Scripture also realized that every word they spoke and wrote was given to them by God. Moses writes and speaks about this (Exodus 4:10-12; 34:27), Balaam (Numbers 22:38; 23:12-16), David (2 Sam. 23:2), Solomon (Proverbs 30 :6), Jeremiah (Jer. 1:7; 36:1-2), Zechariah (Zech. 7:7-8) and Paul (1 Cor. 2:13).

B. False Views of the Doctrine of Inspiration.

The doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture, like any other biblical teaching, has been subject to criticism and doubt. Problems arose with explaining how the Bible can, on the one hand, be completely inspired by God, and on the other hand, each of its books bears the stamp of the author’s individuality, his style, and vocabulary. Next we will look at some false approaches to the doctrine of the inspiration of the Bible.

1. Natural or natural inspiration.

Proponents of this idea believe that the authors of the Bible were simply brilliant people and did not need help from above to write the books of Holy Scripture. They teach that the Bible was conceived and written by them, not by God. In their opinion, it is no different in principle from other brilliant creations of the human mind. With this approach to Scripture, there can be no talk of any infallibility, since even the most brilliant work of man is not immune from the errors of the human mind.

2. Mystical inspiration.

According to this view, the authors who wrote the Bible were not just men of genius, but they were filled with the Spirit and led by the Spirit, just like any Christian. This is certainly a step forward from the theory of natural revelation, but adherents of this idea also believe that every pious Christian, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, can thus be the author of Holy Scripture, and therefore any book written by a Christian author can be equated with the Bible . Based on this, then it can also be stated that the Bible is not a finished book. This, of course, contradicts Scripture, which directly states that “prophecy was never made by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21). And also in the book of Revelation there is a rather convincing statement and warning that the Bible is completely finished and those who want to add something to it expose themselves to disastrous danger (Rev. 22:18-17).

3. “Partial” inspiration.

According to this theory, some parts of the Bible are inspired and some are not. Typically, those parts of the Bible that tell us things that humanity could not have known on its own are recognized as inspired. For example, the story of the creation of the world or biblical prophecies. And descriptions of historical events, according to those who take this position, do not need inspiration, since there are other documents confirming this event. Therefore, the authors of the Bible, in their opinion, could use historical documents, and in this case they did not need special guidance from God. A modern variation of this theory holds that the Bible is inspired only “for its purpose.” The purpose of the Bible is our salvation, therefore in those places where the Bible shows us the path to salvation, it is inspired by God, in the rest it is not. But isn't the Bible's teaching on salvation based on historical facts? How can doctrine be separated from history? For example, the story of the birth of Christ from the Virgin Mary contains both historical narrative and doctrine. How can the Bible be true in one part and wrong in another. This approach is contrary to the Bible, which states that all Scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16).

4. Inspiration of ideas.

Adherents of this theory believe that only the ideas of the Bible are inspired, not its words. Those who take such positions argue that God gave the basic idea to one or another author, who then presented God's ideas with his own. in your own words. Therefore, there may be errors in the Bible, since the set of words to convey the Divine idea was provided to the author, was not controlled by God, and the author wrote down only what he could remember. But this also contradicts the Bible, which states that God is watchful over His Word and He caused the prophets to convey His word accurately (Numbers 23:12; Jeremiah 1:12).

5. Divine dictation.

According to this view, God literally dictated every word of Scripture and the author, like a secretary, passively, often without reflection, wrote them down. This understanding reduces the Bible to the level of the Koran, which according to Arabic tradition was dictated from heaven. Although some parts of the Bible were dictated directly by God (Ex. 20:1), we nevertheless see differences in the styles of vocabulary in the books of the Bible, which suggests that the authors of the various books of the Bible were not just passive transmitters of God's truth. But the Holy Spirit supernaturally controlled the work of inspired authors, helping them and using their personal Creative skills, write down God's Word exactly.

D. Some conclusions from the doctrine of the inspiration of the Bible.

First, inspiration does not imply mechanical dictation, or mechanical writing of the text of the Holy Scriptures by man, or any process of turning off the mind of the author while writing the books of the Bible. God's control did not mean physical or psychological influence to suppress the will of a person, but rather, on the contrary, strengthening his abilities and helping him accurately convey biblical truth. And secondly, the fact that God did not inspire the authors of the books in their style of writing does not mean that His control was not perfect or that they could distort the truth that the Bible was intended to convey in the process of writing the Bible.

Vladimir Degtyarev, Fundamentals of Christian Theology. (DMin Dissertation), Ukraine, Zaporozhye 2007

Inspiration(or Divine inspiration) is a theological term indicating that the Holy Scriptures were compiled (by God's chosen people) with the special assistance of Divine grace, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in collaboration between God and man.

The doctrine of the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures is found already in the Old Testament. It clearly expresses the idea of ​​the action of the Spirit of God in the prophets (; ; ; etc., and many others). The Savior Himself expressed the doctrine of divine inspiration, indicating that David, by inspiration (ἐν πνεύματι - in the Spirit) calls Him Lord () (in the Gospel of Mark: ἐν τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ - the Holy Spirit (literally - in the Spirit e Holy) ()) .

The doctrine of divine inspiration is revealed in detail by the apostles and, above all, Peter and Paul. The Apostle Peter says: “For prophecy was never uttered by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke it, being moved by the Holy Spirit” (). The Apostle Paul teaches: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be perfect for everyone. good deed cooked().

Inspiration and Verbalism

Affirmation of the Theanthropic nature of Holy Scripture means the denial of verbalism - the idea that Scripture is dictated from above “word for word” and is infallible in letter and not in spirit.

The concepts of “God-inspiration,” when correctly perceived, and “verbalism” are incompatible.

Holy Scripture is the result of the (joint) action of God and man. When compiling the Books of Holy Scripture, man was not a passive instrument of God (an impersonal instrument, acting like a medium, as supporters of verbalism think), but was a collaborator, a participant in the all-good Divine action. In inspiring the sacred writers, God did not violate their freedom, did not block their minds, did not force their will, or deprive them of their reason. Raising them to a supernatural state of grace, He revealed to them those truths, those demands of His holy will that He considered necessary to reveal, and they consciously and freely clothed them in one or another literary form.

Verbalism contradicts the Holy Scripture itself, which lays the foundation of spiritual life in a living union with God through faith in Jesus Christ, and not in worship of the dead letter of the text. God “gave us the ability to be ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit, because the letter kills, but the spirit gives life” ().

The Bible was written by inspiration of God. Accordingly, the Holy Scriptures are unique because their authors were people who were under special Divine influence. Biblical inspiration is a mystical act that completely preserves the individual characteristics of a person. A text appears that (in terms of authorship) is both Divine and human. (Therefore, during the Orthodox liturgy, the reading of the Gospel begins with a mention of the human author, and ends with thanksgiving to the author, God.) This is why biblical books are called sacred. This is why they are read differently than human books.

Vereshchagin E.M.

[Inspiration; from Greek θεόπνευστος - divinely inspired; lat. inspiration - inspiration], the concept of Crimea in Christ. Doctrine defines the Divine authority of the Bible and characterizes the process of writing sacred books, which involves the influence of the Holy Spirit on their authors.

The term "B." found in St. Scripture only once - 2 Tim 3. 16, and its content is usually considered in context with a passage similar in semantic meaning from 2 Peter 1. 20-21. This term affirms the Divine origin of the Bible (both the entire collection and individual books), which determines its soteriological essence and allows us to solve the accompanying didactic tasks: “... you know the sacred scriptures, which can make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God (θεόπνευστος) and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:15-17). The concept of B. here appears as a property of the biblical text and in this capacity correlates with the definition of “Sacred” from the full title “Holy Scripture” (2 Tim 3.15; cf. Rom. 1.2), and also, since the emphasis is placed on the completeness of Scripture (πᾶσα γραφὴ), with the concept of the biblical canon (as the full normative composition of the Bible - see Biblical Canon). Essentially, B. is the main factor establishing the sacred and canonical status of the books of the Holy. Scriptures. In this regard, a logically complete circle of 3 concepts becomes synonymous (B., canonicity, sacredness): B. of a particular book of the Bible means its sacred, canonical dignity, and vice versa, a book included in the canon of the Holy. Scripture must be regarded as inspired by God. Saying from 2 Peter 1. 20-21: “No prophecy in Scripture can be explained by oneself. For prophecy was never made by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke it, being moved by the Holy Spirit,” does not use the term θεόπνευστος (in the Latin translation the term inspiration is used), but in addition to 2 Tim. 3. 16 it speaks of B . as about the state of the influence of the Holy Spirit on the chosen one upon receiving Revelation. Since the spoken “prophecy” here is connected with “Scripture”, which actually identifies oral and written Revelation, 2 Peter 1. 20-21 shows by whom and how the sacred text is created. In this regard, B. should be considered as a gift of the Holy Spirit to the author of a biblical book and as a special state in which he is located. Thus, the concept of B. declares the Divine origin and Revealed content of the Bible, as well as human participation in its creation. The assertion of the authorship of the Bible in an absolute sense, which is most clearly reflected in tradition. the formula “The Bible is the Word of God” does not question human authorship, and the writers of biblical books are recognized as sacred, inspired authors. In any case, the main condition of B. in the process of creating a sacred text is the participation of the human subject in the action of the Holy Spirit. The Holy One Scripture in no way establishes a criterion that certifies the B. of this or that biblical book; as such, the church tradition and the Holy Scriptures should be recognized. Tradition. It should be noted that the scope of application of the concept of B. due to its proximity to the concepts of the Holy. Scripture, the canon of Scripture, and the identity of the concept of Revelation expressed in the Bible are not always presented as independent and clearly defined.

The prerequisites for the concept of B. are obviously seen already in the texts of the Old Testament, namely in their declared divinely revealed character, which can be traced in all its historically established parts: the Torah (Law), Neviim (Prophets), Ketuvim (Writings) (see Art. Bible), and also in the special, prophetic status of writers. Thus, the revelation of the Law (Pentateuch) is clearly confirmed by the inscription of the stone tablets of Revelation by the finger of God Himself (Exodus 31.18; 32.15-16; Deut. 10.1-4) and the key phrase indicating the authorship of the Law - “The Law of the Lord” , “The Law of God” (Exodus 13.9; 15.25, etc.), as well as the structure of the eventual part of the OT, where God is the active Person of the Holy. history (one of the most striking examples of this is the description of the exodus from Egypt under the direct guidance of the Lord). The tradition, already recorded in the Bible itself, considers the prophet. Moses as the full-fledged author of the Law (Neh 8.1; Deut. 31.9; 1 Ezra 7.6; in Neh. 8.1 - as the author of the entire Pentateuch). He is a prophet who has the Holy Spirit and is led by Him (Numbers 11.17, 24-25; 12.6-8; Deut. 18.15; 34.10; Isaiah 63.11-14). The biblical text affirms joint authorship and the prophetic status of Moses actually allows us to consider the concept of B. in the closest connection with the concept of Revelation. Revelation constitutes the main content of the speeches of the prophets as ministers of the Spirit and the Word (“The Spirit of the Lord speaks in me, and His word is on my tongue” - 2 Kings 23.2), where the statutory words “hear the word of the Lord” (Isa. 1.2, 10 ; 28.14, etc.) suggest the subsequent direct speech of the Lord. The “genetic” proximity of Wisdom to God (Proverbs 8. 22-31, etc.) determines the frank authority of the section of the Scriptures (Ketuvim) and the genre of biblical literature, and the status of the wise is equated with the prophetic (Wis. 7. 14, 27).

The basic ideas about the Biblical Bible are reflected in the Jewish tradition. So, Josephus, fundamentally separating the literature of the Greeks and the books of the Holy. Scripture, recalls the unchanging faith of the Jewish community in the Divine origin of these books, which is attested by the authority of the prophets who wrote under the inspiration of God (κατά τὴν ἐπιπνοιαν τὴν ἀπὸ θεοῦ), their continuous succession, as a single tradition stva; this faith is cultivated from childhood and is marked by the feat of martyrs (Contr. Ap. I 7-8). The Talmud, combining the period of creation of the holy books and the time of the ministry of the prophets as their authors, declares this time the era of the action of the Holy Spirit in Israel (with its ending “The Holy Spirit departed from Israel” - Sota. 48b). At the same time, both sources assimilate the gift of prophetic inspiration and the status of prophets to all authors of biblical books without exception. Thus, the connection between the idea of ​​the Divine origin of books, and, accordingly, their sacred character, with their creation under the influence of the Holy Spirit through the prophets is obvious.

Strictly speaking, in 2 Tim 3. 15-16, as in all cases of use of the term “Scripture” in the NT, we are talking about the Old Testament books. Nevertheless, the extension of the subsequent church tradition of the concept of B. to the entire composition of Christ. The Bible is conditioned by the very essence of the New Testament proclamation. The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is understood as the fullness and completion of the Old Testament Revelation in all its main aspects: He is the incarnate Word (John 1. 1-14); in Him the mystery of the Revelation of the last times was accomplished (Hebrews 1. 1-2: “God, who spoke of old in many ways and in various ways to the fathers in the prophets, last days He spoke these things to us in the Son, whom he appointed heir of all”), etc. However, the acceptance of even the revealed Truth (1 John 1. 1 ff.) presupposes the condition of Divine participation - such is the confession of the apostle. Peter (Mt 16:13-20); ap. Paul directly concretizes it by the action of the Holy Spirit: “No one can call Jesus Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 12:3). The feasibility of this condition is determined by the nature of the New Testament community, namely by the familiarity of its members with the gifts of the Holy Spirit: the events of Pentecost are interpreted as the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel (Joel 2. 28-32) about the universality of the prophetic gift in the eschatological fulfillment of times (Acts 2. 16-21). The very beginning of the NT era is declared to be the era of the action of the Holy Spirit (John 14. 15-17, 26; 15. 26-27; 16. 5-15). Therefore, the apostles and their followers are able to testify to Divine truth and convey its message, and their authority can be equated with the authority of the Old Testament prophets. This makes it possible for members of the community to hear Her: “...you have been anointed by the Holy One and know everything” (1 John 2.20, 27). This fully applies to written testimony; the history of evangelical events and apostolic preaching is written and collected as a continuation and completion of the Old Testament writings. Already in 2 Peter 3. 16, one of the later works of the New Testament in terms of writing, one can discern a tendency to equalize the messages of St. Paul with Scripture. Christianity has also retained continuity in the Holy Scriptures. Scripture, and the right to continue it.

Thus, the concept of B. is an unchanging part of religions. ideas related to the Bible. In this regard, it cannot be questioned, since otherwise the circle of basic, essential views and beliefs of Christianity and Judaism would be destroyed. However, the theological understanding of the concept of bibliography is associated with a number of issues such as understanding the nature of the interaction of the Divine principle and human participation in the process of creating a text, the inerrancy or limits of the inerrancy of the biblical text as inspired by God, the extent to which bibliography as a method of receiving Revelation is limited to the area of ​​Scripture, etc. The patristic period did not leave a complete and unified doctrine of Biology. The first theological theories of Biology were created in the West during the Reformation, and from that time on, it was there that the discussion of theological issues of Biology became an invariable component of theological thought.

Theological theories B.

Systematization of numerous theories of B. is usually carried out by dividing them into 2 types, according to the ideological principles that formed their basis. The starting position of the 1st can be considered a categorical demand for compliance with the unconditional Divine authority of the Bible; The 2nd involves much broader and freer approaches. These types can be called conservative and liberal, deductive and inductive, word-centred and non-verbal (Law, pp. 41-45), etc., there is no generally accepted classification.

The main provisions of theories of the 1st type were formulated at the stage of pre-critical perception of the biblical text, from which they were borrowed by theologians of the New Age. Already an early Christ. apologists associated the image of the sacred writer with the muses. an instrument on which a melody is played (Athenagor. Legat. pro Christian. 7. 3; 9.1; Iust. M artyr. Or. ad Graec. 8, etc.), which minimizes human participation, and B.’s gift is to dictation from above. This image is widely presented later, for example. in the works of St. John Chrysostom (Hom. In Johan. 1. 1). Blzh. Jerome directly speaks of writing under the dictation of the Holy Spirit (Ep. 120. 10 // PL. 22. Col. 997). Similar judgments can be found in the blzh. Augustine (Enarr. in Ps. LXII 1; De consensu Euang. I. 35. 54). In the iconography of the evangelists and other sacred authors in Wed. century, the Holy Spirit was depicted dictating a text. In the first centuries of Christianity, such views on the process of writing a sacred text can to a certain extent be determined by the very use of the term θεόπνευστος, which originated from the vocabulary of pagan mantics and assumed the state of the soothsayer in an ecstatic frenzy as a prerequisite for receiving prophecy from the deity. The images proposed by apologists are close to the view of literature widespread in antiquity. creativity, according to Krom, a muse or deity speaks through a poet or prophet in a state of sacred madness, and in this respect the author is unlikely to represent anything more than a simple instrument (for example, Aeneid VI 46-51; Plato. Phaedrus 245A) . By analogy with the ecstatic state of the pagan oracle, the nature of Old Testament prophecy was often explained. This understanding of it can be found in Philo of Alexandria (De spec. leg., 4.49; Quis rer. div. haer. 249-266, etc.), this view is quite widely represented among the authors of the ancient Church, for example, it is found in Athenagoras ( Legat. pro christian. 9. 1), Tertullian (Adv. Marcionem. IV. 22, V. 8; De anima. 11, 21), Clement of Alexandria (Paed. II. 4), St. Ambrose of Milan (De Abraham. 2.61), etc. It should be noted that the biblical evidence itself allows us to speak of prophetic ecstasy (1 Kings 10.10-11; 19.23-24; 2 Kings 9.11, etc.) , and about the fully conscious perception of the prophetic state (Isa 6. 1-8; Micah 3. 8, etc.). Placed in the text of Scripture (2 Tim. 3.15), the term θεόπνευστος acquired its biblical content, but for people recently rooted in pagan culture, it primarily meant the reliability of the Divine truth proclaimed and recorded here. So understood, B. met the requirement of authenticity, which extended not only to the meaning of Scripture, but also to the letter of the text. The idea of ​​the B. letters of Scripture is a common place in the patristic tradition. Despite the presence of obvious critical tendencies in their biblical research, even representatives of Alexandrian theology insisted on this (for example, Orig. De princip. IV 7; Clem. Alex. Cohoratio IX 82), finding for themselves a way out of the difficulties that arose with this approach in widespread use of the allegorical method of interpreting the Bible.

The problem of translations of St. Scripture is directly related to the concept of B.: can a translation satisfy the requirement of full compliance with the word and letter of the original language of the sacred text. Already Philo of Alexandria was forced to justify the use of the LXX translation with his version of the history of its origin, according to the cut, with the independent work of each of the 72 interpreters on the entire volume of the text, the versions miraculously turned out to be identical (De Vita Mosis II 37, 40). Essentially, Philo argued that the translators worked under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and, therefore, the LXX translation represents the inspired text of Scripture. In a more complex perspective, this problem was refracted in disputes about acceptable translation languages, when for some of them, for example. for Heb., Greek, Lat., Church Slav., the status of sacred was affirmed. Similar examples include the canonization of the Vulgate text at the Council of Trent, in the Russian church history- an attempt to make a similar decision regarding fame. Bible at the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, gr. N. A. Protasov. Dr. In words, the question is raised about the participation of the Holy Spirit in the translation of the Holy Spirit. Scripture, however, in general, B.’s theology does not provide an answer to it.

A look at B. Priest. The Scriptures remained unchanged throughout the Middle Ages and did not go beyond the basic provisions of the patristic period. They were repeated by the leaders of the Reformation M. Luther and J. Calvin, for whom the Bible is the most important ideological justification for the principle of doctrinal exclusivity and sufficiency of Scripture (sola Scriptura) proclaimed by them. Both figures of the Reformation spoke about the prophets as instruments of the Holy Spirit, about the fact that Scripture is dictated by the Holy Spirit, about the letters of Scripture (for example, Calvin. Institutiones. I 6-8). Their closest followers are Protestant. scholastics of the 17th-18th centuries. M. Chemnitz, I. Gerhard, I. A. Quenstedt, A. Kalov and others created their own theological theories of philosophy, which were called mechanical or instrumental philosophy, verbal (literal) inspiration, Divine dictation, etc. Among themselves, these the theories differ only in details. They were based on theses formulated back in the patristic period: God, as the only source of Revelation, is the author of the Bible in the proper sense; the writers of sacred books, prophets and apostles, are only tools, instruments in the hands of the Divine author, recording Divine verbs under the dictation of the Holy Spirit; God's authorship becomes a guarantee of the inerrancy of the Bible; Every word of the Bible is inspired by God.

Unlike the patristic period, where apologetic goals predominated in the formation of views on this issue, for which the material of Hellenistic culture was used, the theological theorizing of the New Age makes full use of the established tools of scholastic theology. Thus, when deciding the question of authorship, the mechanical theory proceeds from Aristotle’s principle of two efficient causes: the main efficient cause (causa efficiens principalis) and the instrumental efficient cause (causa efficiens ministerialis) as a mechanical instrument of the first. God (the main efficient cause) uses the prophet (the instrumental efficient cause), as a writer uses the instrument of writing. The prophet is not completely inactive - his gifted speech is important to God. However, the conscious participation of sacred writers in this process can only be spoken of as a conscious and voluntary surrender of oneself to the disposal of the actions of the Holy Spirit. The concept of Divine dictation completely fits within the framework of this approach. Supporters of the verbal theory, emphasizing the words of the Bible and several others. smoothing over the straightforwardness of mechanical understanding, they assume that God creates the conditions for choosing the right words. All theologians of this school, in one way or another, insist on the inerrancy of the Bible as a whole.

Catholic theology of this time on the issue of B. Priest. Scripture stands in the same positions. The Council of Trent speaks of the Divine dictation, which necessarily places the sacred writer in the position of a simple copyist (aut ab ipsis Apostolis Spiritu Sancto dictante - Concilium Tridentum. Dicretum de canonicis Scripturis. Sessio 4, 8 Aprilis 1546). The theology of the Dominican D. Bañez follows in line with the theory of verbal inspiration: “The Holy Spirit inspired not only the content, but also dictated and suggested the words with the help of which this content was written down” (Mannucci, p. 174).

The strong and attractive side of type 1 theories for theology is that concepts such as B., Holy. Scripture, Revelation, the canon of the Bible, are established as having an enduring religion. value and unquestioned doctrinal authority. They also allow one to operate with these concepts in their integrity, without raising the question of internal boundaries. This implies full compliance of the scope of the text with its inspired status. However, this advantage simultaneously becomes a weakness of theories of the 1st type, since it makes them unable to adequately explain the undoubted authorial individuality of biblical texts, and most importantly, satisfactorily answer the challenge of historical criticism. They actually exhausted the possibilities of pre-critical perception of the biblical text. Since the 17th century B.'s theological understanding seeks other paths than those that the old scholastic school could offer.

The view of the writers of sacred books as full-fledged authors is quite widely represented in the patristic period. At the same time, the same church writers can speak both about a state of frenzy and about the prophet’s clear awareness of the truths revealed to him. Critical statements regarding the transfer of Hellenistic ideas about divination to the biblical prophets are found in Tatian (Contr. Graec. 19.3), St. Theophilus of Antioch (Ad Autolic. II. 8), Athenagoras (Legat. pro christian. 27), Minucius Felix (Octavius. 26-27), even in the early Tertullian (Apol. adv. gent. 22), Origen (Contra Cels. VII 3-4), etc. Hippolytus of Rome says that inspiration enlightens the prophet’s mind (De Christ. et antichrist. 2). The polemics with the Montanists played a role here, for whom prophecies, and precisely in a frenzied form, formed an invariable part of the life of their communities. The position of the Montanists, unacceptable to the Church, determined the formation of the church opinion about B. In general, it can be stated that the views of the authors of the patristic period on B. are not characterized by a systematic approach to this issue.

The formation of biblical critical studies (see Biblical studies) and development humanities contributed to the creation of theological theories, which sought either to reconcile the concept of B. with the new conclusions of science, or in accordance with them to build their own understanding of B. The same reason can be seen in the emergence of theories of the 1st type, but in this case critical data were ignored, and in contrast to them, traditions were developed and approved. an approach.

Biblical criticism first of all questioned the reliability of the plural. established historical provisions of the Bible, as well as traditions. a look at the time, authorship and nature of the writing of biblical books. In Protestant. and Catholic. theology since the 17th century. there are attempts to divide the biblical books included in the canon according to their degree of B., certain books were denied B. This approach made it possible to explain obvious mistakes in the biblical text, which could no longer be ignored, attributing them to human participation. Protestant. theologians A. Pfeiffer, I. Z. Zemler, I. G. Töllner, I. D. Heilman, G. F. K. Henke and others considered only prophetic books or even parts of them as inspired; the writing of the remaining books was explained by natural reasons. The presence of purely human ideas was allowed in the biblical books. B.'s gift could be differentiated by the degree of her involvement in the process of writing a particular text of the Holy Scripture. Scriptures. Thus, Pfeiffer admitted B. as a Divine suggestion (suggestio divina) only in relation to what the sacred writers could not know for themselves. R. Rothe, considering B. as a transient and short-term ecstatic state, introduced the concept of enlightenment from the Holy Spirit as general state writers during the period of creating the sacred books, separating it from the B.T.O. itself, assumed different degrees of influence of the Holy Spirit and, accordingly, different degrees of reliability of Scripture. While recognizing the inerrancy of St. The Scripture as a whole may have erroneous parts. One of the ways to solve this problem was also to divide the sacred text according to its content: only the moral and doctrinal provisions of the Bible were affirmed as divinely inspired; etc. material (historical, geographical, everyday life, natural science, etc.) was not considered in category B.

Catholic theologians also, starting from the 17th century. made attempts to distinguish between the inspired and natural principles in the text of Scripture (L. Lessius). In the 19th century We have repeatedly tried to understand B. through the psychology of creativity. Thus, the encyclical of Pope Leo XIII Providentissimus Deus (1883) analyzes the psychology of the sacred writer in 3 aspects: mental, volitional, professional (Mannucci, p. 177). Card. J. Franzelin separated the revealed plan of Scripture from its concrete embodiment by the sacred writer: thoughts and concepts are assimilated to God, words and expressions - to the writer. J.M. Lagrange (1st half of the 20th century) distinguished between the concepts of Revelation and B.: B. is a gift that writers possessed, but not everything in Scripture is Revelation. Theological theorizing in relation to B. could be based on the theory of literature, the psychology of creativity, and corresponding epistemological approaches.

A special position in the understanding of B. Priest. Scriptures in Orthodoxy tradition is revealed through numerous examples of its extraordinary impact on the listener or reader. Mn. St. the fathers noted this phenomenon, considering it as a special grace of the Bible (for example, Ioan Damasc. De fide orth. 90). St. John Chrysostom spoke about the beneficial, regenerating effect of Scripture on souls, which was for him proof of B. Christ. history knows enough examples of miraculous conversion or calling when reading the Bible, including one that was fateful for the Church (St. Anthony the Great, etc.). This view is widespread throughout Christ. traditions. Essentially we are talking about the ongoing action of the Holy Spirit in the historical existence of Biblical Revelation, where a continuous succession of generations of readers becomes the object of the application of the Divine grace of Scripture. Thus, B. is an unchanging seal of the Holy Spirit, which is actualized in the heart of the believer. B.'s gift cannot be limited to the time of writing and compiling the Bible; it constitutes an unchanging part of its existence as a Holy. Scriptures in the tradition of the Church (in full agreement with Heb 4. 12-13). For the researcher, this aspect of B. is particularly difficult: since we are talking about personal religion. experience, any attempt to comprehend it theologically can lead to subjectivism.

Currently time, one can definitely state the presence of serious problems in B. theories of both types. The impossibility in our time of remaining within the framework of the understanding of Biblicalism proposed by theories of the 1st type is determined by the generally recognized achievements of all biblical disciplines. The verbal theory is deprived of all foundations by textual studies of the Holy Scriptures. Scriptures that cast doubt on the very possibility of finding an authentic text. (The so-called biblical fundamentalism, which has become widespread primarily in certain areas of Protestantism, continues to insist on the inviolability of the letter of the Bible, which, however, is achieved here at the cost of revising the basic provisions of the fundamental sciences.) Supporters of the theory of the 2nd type also encountered significant difficulties . Any division of the Holy Writings on texts, inspired and uninspired by genre, and the separation of literature from Revelation pose insoluble problems for theology. The scope of the inspired text in such approaches can vary from almost the entire Bible to very minor parts, leaving the status of the rest of the text unclear. In addition, such actions require a clear criterion, on the basis of which the inspired text can be identified. It was not possible to formulate a satisfactory criterion; everyone is Protestant. theories somehow involve subjective decisions. So, according to Zemler, the only proof of the B. of this or that book will be the inner feeling of the believer, which must be understood as the testimony of the Holy Spirit. For F. Schleiermacher, such evidence is the spirit of Christ. communities, but he refuses to consider the Old Testament books as inspired, since at the time of their writing Christ. the community did not yet exist. The substantive division is also flawed, since plural. the truths of faith are expressed through the views and ideas of their time and therefore are difficult to separate from them. The theories of B., which they tried to build on the basis of the achievements of certain scientific disciplines, turned out to be vulnerable to criticism exactly as much as these were criticized scientific directions. It is significant that Lagrange’s criticism of Franzelin’s theory came from the position of its inconsistency with modern theory. then the philosophical concept of language and psychology lit. creativity. All these difficulties forced some theologians to doubt the need to apply the concept of B. to the Holy. Scripture and try to do without it (J. Barton, R. P. K. Hanson, etc.).

A certain bottom line is Catholic. B.'s theological theories were summed up by the Vatican II Council. The dogmatic constitution of the Second Vatican Council “On Divine Revelation” (Dei Verbum) essentially returned to the declarative principle, outlining the boundaries of understanding B. as the revealed truth of the Holy Spirit. Scripture, which establishes the sacred and canonical status of the books of the OT and NT. The Constitution affirms the inerrancy of the books of Scripture in the matter of salvation, names God as the author of the Bible, and the sacred writers of the books of the Bible as real, inspired authors with their own abilities and powers (DV 11). Mannucci proposes to understand the conclusion of the constitution as a call for continued understanding of the problems of B. (Mannucci, p. 182).

Orthodoxy, for which B. has always been the fundamental idea of ​​the Holy. Scripture remained practically aloof from the paths along which the West went. theology in attempts to develop a theory of B. Archpriest wrote about this with all certainty. A. Knyazev: “And if the West, due to its interests and its historical paths, currently has dogmatic definitions and a whole theological literature on the question of the Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, then in the Orthodox East the dogma of the Inspiration of the Holy Books is still awaiting its researcher” ( Knyazev. S. 113, 116). Until 1917, the domestic academic theological school on this issue limited itself to a critical examination of the law. theories of B. in the detailed works of D. S. Leonardov. In his own response to the problems of B. rus. theology did not advance then, and the proposal made in the encyclopedic article by P. I. Leporsky to understand the interaction of the Divine and human in the act of B. by analogy with the relationship of the two natures in Christ can be considered final. Afterwards B.'s questions were discussed at the Paris School. Since the matter did not go further than posing the problem there, all that remains is to state the two positions that have emerged. Prot. A. Knyazev, considering B. as a dogma, proposed building the Orthodox Church. B.'s theory, based on the principle of the synergy of the Divine and human principles in the spirit of the Chalcedonian dogma. B. I. Sove expressed himself similarly: “The mechanical-literal understanding of the inspiration of the holy books is the property of Jewish and conservative Protestant theology, cannot be defended by Orthodox theologians as “monophysitism” that deviates in its own way, but must be corrected in the light of the Chalcedonian dogma on God-manhood "(Sove. P. 68).Dr. The approach was proposed by Rev. G. Florovsky, who denied the very possibility of constructing such a theory: “The Scriptures are “inspired” by God, they are the Word of God. What “inspiration of the Spirit” is, we will never be able to accurately determine - it is a mystery. We cannot fully understand how exactly the “holy people of God” heard the Word of the Lord, how they were able to express it in the words of their own language. But in their human transmission the voice of God sounds. The Word of God in human words: here lies the mystery and miracle of the Bible” (Florovsky, pp. 28-29). The disagreements between these two positions are eliminated if we consider the Chalcedonian dogma as defining the boundaries of the Theanthropic Mystery.

Noting the historically established inextricable connection of the concept of B. with the Holy. Scripture, it should be noted that the own meaning of B. as a way of receiving Revelation necessarily places the problematic of B. in the context of the general theological issues of Revelation. In this regard, the most difficult question arises about B. outside the framework of Scripture - about the possibility of receiving prophecies in the “post-biblical” era. However, the written heritage of St. the fathers, with all their undoubted authority, are not considered on an equal basis with the Holy Father. Scripture as inspired works. Only the affirmation of certain doctrinal provisions, dogmas at the Ecumenical Councils with the proclamation by the fathers of the conciliar formula “it pleased the Holy Spirit and us” should be recognized as an expression of Revealed truth, and therefore allows us to approach them from the position of B. To a large extent, the difficulties of the issue are due to the fact , which satisfies all definitions of the concept of Holy. Tradition in theology has not yet been proposed. The possibility of receiving prophecies after the completion of the formation of the biblical canon was always perceived by the Church with caution, since, starting with Montanism, increased interest to them manifested itself precisely in a heretical environment. In fact, the problem develops into a dogmatic question about the possibilities of receiving Revelation along the historical paths of the Church. The use of the term B. in this area is not typical, and the biblical period should be distinguished as a special, unique, inspired era in the reception and written recording of Revelation.

Lit.: Voronov A., prot. Protestant theology and the question of divine inspiration. Scriptures // TKDA. 1864. No. 4. P. 403-447; No. 9. P. 1-70; Soloviev V. WITH . Dogmatic development of the Church in connection with the question of the union of the Churches. M., 1886; Leonardov D. WITH . The doctrine of divine inspiration of the Holy. Scriptures in the Middle Ages // ViR. 1897. No. 19, 20, 23, 24; 1898. No. 17, 18, 19; aka. The doctrine of divine inspiration of the Holy. Writings of the Apostolic Men // Ibid. 1898. No. 5; aka. The doctrine of divine inspiration of the Holy. Scriptures since the Reformation (XVI century) // Ibid. 1899. No. 16, 17; aka. The doctrine of inspiration among Catholic theologians of the 16th century. // Ibid. 1899. No. 19; aka. Verbal theory of divine inspiration. Scriptures among Western theologians of the 17th century. // Ibid. 1900. No. 15, 16; aka. Semi-rationalistic teachings among Protestants about the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Scriptures (XVI-XVII centuries) // Ibid. 1900. No. 19, 20; aka. The doctrine of divine inspiration of the Holy. Writings of the Apologists of the 2nd century. // Ibid. 1901. No. 9, 11, 13; aka. Theories of inspiration and origin of St. Scriptures in the West in the 18th and 19th centuries: (Historical-critical essay) // Ibid. 1903. No. 3, 5-8, 12, 14, 16-18, 22-23; aka. The theory of the inspiration of the Bible in the Alexandrian school // Ibid. 1906. No. 1-4, 8; 1907. No. 4-6, 9, 11, 13; aka. The teaching of St. John Chrysostom on the inspiration of the Bible // Ibid. 1912. No. 3-5, 7-12; Leporsky P. Divine inspiration // PBE. 1901. T. 2. Stb. 729-747; Sove B. Theses on St. Scripture of the Old Testament // Path. 1936/1937. No. 52. P. 67-69; Knyazev A., priest. On the divine inspiration of St. Scriptures // PM. 1951. Issue. 8. pp. 113-127; Dogmatic Constitution “On Divine Revelation” / Sacred Ecumenical Council, II. Vat., 1967; Beumer J. Die Inspiration der Heiligen Schrift. Freiburg, 1968; Burtchaell J. T. Catholic Theories of Biblical Inspiration since 1810. L., 1969; Hanson R. P. C. The Attractiveness of God. L., 1973; Achtemeier P. J. The Inspiration of Scripture. Phil., 1980; idem. Inspiration and Authority: Nature and Function of Christian Scripture. Peabody (Mass.), 1999; Abraham W. J. The Divine Inspiration of Holy Scripture. Oxf., 1981; Scripture in the Jewish and Christian Traditions / F. E. Greenspahn. Nashville, 1982; Gnuse R. The Authority of the Bible: theories of inspiration, revelation and the canon of Scripture. N.Y., 1985; Barton J. People of the Book? The Authority of the Bible in Christianity. L., 1988; Bloesch D. G. Holy Scripture: revelation, inspiration and interpretation. Carlisle, 1994; Mannucci V. The Bible is the Word of God. M., 1996; Florovsky G., prot. Revelation and interpretation // Dogma and history. M., 1998. P. 19-38; Law D. R. Inspiration. L.; N.Y., 2001; Men A., prot. Divine inspiration // Biblical dictionary. M., 2002. pp. 132-136.

B. A. Tikhomirov

I am posting my lecture, compiled on the basis of conversations of the holy martyr Daniil Sysoev and some other Orthodox sources. For the Glory of God!

In the name of Jesus, God the Gracious, the Merciful!

What is the revelation of God, whether it is the Holy Scripture or the revelation of God is the Qur'an, is the most important issue, separating two world religions. If we accept the Bible, we cannot accept the Koran, and vice versa. The content of these two texts is incompatible, each of which claims to be the Word of God, who created the world out of nothing, out of non-existence.

The history of the creation of the Bible.

The Bible was created as a book of covenant, agreement. Those. God created man sane enough so that he could enter into a covenant, an alliance with him. This is a key idea in both the OT and NT. God does not consider us simply slaves; He considers us fully capable of listening to the Creator, responding to His commands, or not responding and not listening.
In the Bible, God communicates directly with man, even without the mediation of Scripture in Christianity, this still happens today. Revelation is not limited to biblical texts only. There were times when there were no biblical texts; there was a covenant between God and man (Noah, Abraham). Therefore, even if the biblical texts are destroyed, the Covenant with God will not be broken. We know that at the end of time, when there is no need for biblical texts, the covenant with God will also exist.
The Bible was written by 30 authors (farmers, fishermen, shepherds, prophets, judges, kings, doctors), in 3 languages ​​and on 3 continents over 1500 years, but when read it is perceived as a single Book. A single drama of redemption unfolds before the reader: from paradise lost to paradise returned, from the creation of the world to its completion. Moreover, almost all the books are united by one motive - the promise and coming of the Messiah. The Old Testament speaks of Christ coming, and the New Testament speaks of Christ who has come. Sin entered the world first by man, and by Christ the world was saved.
There were no sacred texts from Adam to Moses. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself conveyed His Divine teaching and institutions to His disciples by His word and example, and not by book. In the same way, the apostles initially spread the faith and established the Church of Christ. Not everyone can use books, but everyone can use tradition (this is also the need for Holy Tradition). The Bible as a text appears so as not to confuse the two types of traditions (human and divine). It was codified by the Holy Spirit as the highest canonical part of Tradition (2 Thess. 2:15). All Revelation is verified by the Bible; no part of Tradition that contradicts the Bible can be the Word of God.

What is divine inspiration for apostolic Christians?

When studying the Holy Scriptures, it is necessary to keep in mind that it has two sides - Divine and human. The divine side is that the Holy Scripture contains the revealed Truth (2 Tim. 3:16), that is, the only true author of these books is God Himself. God inspires the authors of sacred books and puts into their consciousness certain dogmatic and moral content. “The Spirit of the Lord speaks in me, and His word is on my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2) - exclaims the king and prophet David. “For prophecy was never made by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21).
In this case, a person’s personal independence is not eliminated (Luke 1:1-3). Eternal, unchanging Truth is expressed in the language of people belonging to a particular culture. The biblical books vary significantly in both style and language, conveying vivid individual characteristics their authors.

A few words need to be said about the misunderstanding of inspiration.

1. The task of writing sacred books is entirely mastered by man, and the action of the Holy Spirit is limited only to the fact that He is guaranteed to protect the author from possible heretical errors.

In fact, such an understanding leads to the denial of inspiration as such, because in terms of their content, sacred books turn out to be purely human works, and the activity of the Holy Spirit is reduced to a kind of spiritual censorship, which “does not let through” any false opinions.

2. The opposite extreme is expressed in the denial of any freedom for a person in general, and the authors of sacred books are considered as some kind of automata, mechanically carrying out the will of the Deity who completely owns them.

What are the objective criteria for true inspiration? God is the Spirit, eternal, all-good, all-knowing, all-righteous, all-powerful, all-present, unchangeable, all-satisfied, all-blessed. All this can be seen from St. Scriptures. From these divine attributes, we can imagine the objective attributes of the Word of God. It is also important to clarify that by God in the Koran and the Bible, the Creator is meant. Without this attribute there is simply nothing to talk about. There are many texts that claim to be the revelation of certain gods and spirits, but there is no point in discussing them: “the gods who did not create heaven and earth will disappear.” Blavatsky, Aleister Crowley, Richard Bach... It is one thing to claim the truth, and another thing to manifest it.
What religious text can be considered a revelation of God and how can it be distinguished from human creativity or the inspiration of the devil? The Church presents the following signs that the teaching of the revelation of God and St. Scripture is the true word of God:

1. The height of this doctrine, indicating that it could not be invented by human reason;

Biblical teaching cannot be derived from the human mind or the data of human experience. The Bible contains non-trivial, non-human judgments, things that are not observed in the usual way, are not deduced from the data of experience, the previous religious life of mankind: the doctrine of the Trinity God or the Incarnation, the dogma of creation from nothing, the redemption by the blood of Christ, the doctrine of the transfiguration of the universe. There is no smooth transition between Christian teaching and the spiritual experience of pre-Christian humanity; there is a gap between them that can only be explained by the direct intervention of God, a new stage of Divine Revelation.
We distinguish between what is made by man and what is made by nature. Non-human things in the Bible indicate that the source is non-human. ANECDOTE – A praying Arab and a mocking Frenchman: camel tracks at night: these tracks were not left by a person.

2. The purity of this teaching, showing that it originated from the purest mind of God;

The highest moral standard, which should and can only belong to the all-good God, naturally He cannot give laws that are not good. God is righteous; He cannot give unrighteous laws. God is merciful; He cannot give cruel laws. Otherwise it will not be the word of God.
Not a single pagan religion teaches about love for enemies. Christ, the only one of all the founders of religions who is morally impeccable. There are no ethical arguments against the Bible, unlike other “holy” books.
The God of the Bible is impartial: He must have one standard for everyone.
The Bible benefits no one: the rich (Mic.6:12, Luke 6:24, Matt.19:23, James 5:1), the poor (Ex.23:1-3), the clergy (1 Samuel 2:12) -17, Jer.26:4-9, Ezek.22:26), kings (the story of Nubuhadnezzar, David had no right to murder and adultery, Ps.2:10-12). Since the Bible is not suitable for anyone except the saints, i.e. those who act according to the will of God, it means that it was given by someone holy.
The moral standards of both covenants gradually grow a person and reach the peak in the Gospel.
The requirements of Holy Scripture are approved by the conscience of people precisely because the Source of the Bible is the same as the source of our conscience - this is God. But conscience can grow, or it can deteriorate. Conscience is what a person should do.
The Bible fully meets all these signs of purity. And the Koran, from our point of view, does not stand up to any comparison with the Holy Scriptures. For us it is outrageous and insulting:
- requirement for a second marriage if a woman wants to return to her ex-husband,
- a huge number of calls for violence.
- partiality of the Koran: why the prophet has privileges that other people do not have.
Thus, we see that the moral standards of the Koran are much lower than the biblical norms that preceded them and were known to the author of the Koran. Therefore, the Koran, from our point of view, is not the Word of God.

3. Prophecies;

The author of the Bible is above time, He predicts what will happen in the future, i.e. He is an eternal being*. God offers to test Himself. “I am the first and I am the last, and besides Me there is no God, for who is like Me? Let him tell, proclaim, and present to Me [everything] in order since the time that I formed the people of old, or let them declare what is to come and what is to come” (Is. 44:6-7). 1000 literally fulfilled biblical prophecies (333 came true in Christ) confirm this.
Of greatest interest are the prophecies that were fulfilled much later than the New Testament was written, for example.
- On the day of the prophet Daniel, the death of Sadam Hussein, who was trying to restore Babylon (Is. 13:19-22), an abomination of desolation.
- scattering of the Jews throughout the whole earth (Zechariah 7:14),
- Glorification in all generations of the Most Holy Theotokos (Luke 1:48),
- Preaching the Gospel to all nations (Matthew 28:19-20).
- The forced return of the Israelites to their land, the constant massacre that occurs there (Deut.28-29),
- Prophet Isaiah predicted the birth of Christ the Savior from the Virgin, which the human mind could not even imagine, and several hundred years after this, our Lord Jesus Christ was born from the Most Holy. Virgin Mary. This prophecy was the word of God omniscient, and the fulfillment of the prophecy was the work of God omnipotent. Therefore ev. Matthew, narrating the birth of Christ, cites the prophecy of Isaiah: “And all these things happened, that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying: Behold, a virgin shall be with child and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which means: God is with us. ” (Matthew 1:22-23).

There are no fulfilled prophecies in the Koran. Excl. “The Romans were defeated, but in a few years they will win” cf. After the end of the storm there will be calm. Accordingly, this is not a divine text.

There is a prediction in the Bible about the prophet Muhammad. But not what Muslims like to refer to to justify their mission, “about the Coming of the Paraclete (Holy Spirit),” Who actually appeared in the world fifty days after the resurrection of Christ. Muhammad is not a Paraclete (Comforter), he did not console anyone, but rather became the culprit of great bloodshed. He is not spirit, but flesh. And therefore the words of the Gospel of John (chapters 14-16) do not refer to him. Here is the first question: if Scripture is distorted, then how can one refer to it? The only prediction about Muhammad is “false Christs and false prophets will arise” (Matt. 24:23-24). There was and could not be any new Revelation after God Himself became Man (see Hebrews 1).

4. Miracles;

The authors of the Bible performed miracles, i.e. they witnessed what was at work in them divine life, the power of God. Miracles are works that cannot be done through human knowledge or ability, but only by the almighty power of God. Most shining example God's miracle– the creation of the world from non-existence is recognized first in the Bible, and then in the Koran. But only in the Bible are there attested miracles of creation**:
- The expulsion of demons manifests itself in the correction of life, not only does the roar cease, but the ability of the mind is restored.
- Miracle resurrection of the dead not in other religions. It can never be reproduced by anyone. 10 resurrections: Ave. Elijah, Ave. Elisha the youth, bones of Elisha, NT: the daughter of Jairus, the son of the widow of Nain, Lazarus, Himself resurrected, Peter to Tabitha, Paul to the fallen Euthychius, dead in tombs at the time of the Crucifixion.
- Creations of missing organs: healing of a man born blind, guard's ear (relief for people).
- Changing the nature of substances: water into blood, water into wine, multiplication of loaves.
The miracles of creation are a sign of the true word of God. He who works true miracles acts by the power of God, therefore, he is pleasing to God and partakes of the Holy Spirit. Such a person speaks only the truth. And therefore, when he speaks in the name of God, the word of God speaks through him. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself performed miracles, which were evidence of His Divine mission: “The works that the Father gave me to do, these very works that I have done, testify of Me that the Father has sent Me” (John 5:36).

5. The powerful influence of this teaching on human hearts, characteristic only of God’s power***.

a) The powerful effect of Christian teaching can be seen in the example of the twelve apostles, chosen from people who were poor, unlearned, and of low social status, but with this teaching they defeated and conquered the strong, the wise, the rich, kings and kingdoms to Christ.

b) The effect of the word of God on man. Perhaps this is the most convincing evidence of the inspired dignity of the Holy Scriptures, for a huge number of people of different nationalities, different ranks, education and condition, under the influence of the Word of God, most decisively changed their lives, completely devoting themselves to the service of God. Biblical teaching, both in the Old and New Testaments, is addressed to people of different nationalities.

c) Loyalty to death. An example is the massive spread of Christianity during persecution. Biblical prophets, apostles, and holy martyrs of Christianity proved by their deaths the truth of the Word of God. An example with Father Daniil Sysoev. The Bible still has divine power. We know of cases where people were healed through the simple laying on of the text of Scripture. Divine power is inherent in the biblical text.

d) This point is easy to verify; the argument is based on experiment. If you don’t believe that the Bible is the Word of God, try it yourself. Pray, read. There are many instances where God has revealed His will through the Bible.

Conclusion: “The foundation of a religion is not the text, but the one with whom the adherents of this religion communicate. Pagans communicate with demons, and therefore their religion is false. Christians communicate directly with God, and therefore their religion is the truth. Islam does not communicate personally with God; even Muhammad himself did not see the Creator. If so, then this religion is false. Moreover, Muhammad did not confirm in any way his imaginary messenger. He did not leave a single fulfilled prophecy (there were several unfulfilled ones). He did not resurrect or heal anyone, but only imposed his faith by force. His commandments are much lower than the Gospel ones, and Muhammad himself, who lived with a 9-year-old girl, robbed caravans, killed an entire tribe of his enemies, and did not disdain deception and contract killings, cannot in any way serve as a model of righteousness.” The most attentive and unbiased look shows that it is the Bible that is the intact Word of God, which has been preserved, because Almighty God Himself preserves it, and the very idea that the Bible can be distorted is contrary to the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe omnipotence of God. On the other hand, we believe that Muhammad is a false prophet and his Scripture is false. A person who speaks for God but does not conform to biblical standards cannot be a true prophet of God.

Other criteria:

1) The Bible itself asserts its divine inspiration: 1. What the Bible says (Ps. 2:7), God says (Heb. 1:5). What God says (Gen.12:3), the Bible says (Gal.3:8). 2. and also 2 Timothy 3:16; 3. The words “Thus said the Lord” are mentioned 2,500 times in the Bible. Only two books do not mention the name of God (Song of Songs and Esther);

2) Practical wisdom of the Bible: how to become happy in everyday life, family, at work, how to get along with others;

3) Testimony of Jesus Christ, a unique historical figure, Her Divine authority - “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). Eternity - “Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle will pass from the law, until all is fulfilled” (Matt. 5:17,18). Inerrancy – “If He called them gods to whom the word of God came, the Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).

4) Accuracy in matters of science (Job.26:7, Is.40:22), early knowledge of hygiene.

5) Religious plagiarism, which began with the teachings of the Gnostics, who sought to fake their occult texts as the Christian Gospels, continuing with the Koran, the so-called. the 15th century Gospel of Barnabas, the Book of Mormons, modern occult revelations, none of which can be done without stolen bible quote. Let's show it using the example of the Koran. Muhammad himself did not consider the Scriptures to be distorted, but on the contrary, in the Koran (2 Sura) he referred Christians and Jews to their own books as evidence. If the Scriptures were distorted from his point of view, then he could not refer to them as authority. Even in the 2nd century before the birth of Muhammad, the text of the Bible was the same as it is now. This means that his objections to the Bible are at the same time objections to the Koran. All Muslim stories about late insertions are nothing more than fiction, for which you will have to answer before God.

6) The literary superiority of the books of the Bible over other books of mankind. It is the Bible that is quoted, its stories are used to paint pictures, and films are made.

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*Prophecies

The activities of the biblical prophets are incompatible with any personal gain. According to the Bible, only the purest soul can enter the spirit of wisdom (Book of Proverbs, Solomon). Feeling themselves to be servants of God alone, prophets are forced to prophesy even to their own detriment (like, for example, the prophet Jeremiah, when he predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of God’s chosen people).

There is a prediction of some events. But any person with scientific knowledge can foresee future events with a certain degree of probability. life experience and intuition (weather forecast). A person can make a forecast and indicate development trends. Pagan predictions have their source in the world of fallen spirits and can also come true.

Irreversible destruction of the Galilean cities condemned by the Savior (Matthew 11:21-24)

The description of miracles in any book in itself, naturally, cannot convince of its divinely inspired dignity. Other books talk about Miracles of control - people, angels and demons can do them. Example: - healing from illnesses. Creative exchanges: One demon exchanges for another. Example: coding for drunkenness. A person stops drinking, but becomes extremely proud or develops terrible depression, even suicide. IN ordinary life: scandal, phone call, speaks affectionately. If common sense is not restored, if a person does not correct his life, if he does not begin to live according to the will of God, the real exorcism of demons has not taken place.
- Animal hypnosis: the miracle of the Magi with snakes.
- The splitting of the month in the Koran, which was not seen by people who were not its adherents. Muhammad turned out to work miracles. Therefore, we do not recognize the Koran as a revelation of God.

In relation to miracles, a fundamental difference is revealed between the Bible and pagan myths. The purpose of miracles is to surprise, to amaze a person’s imagination. Refusing to come down from the Cross when the Jews offered Him to do so (Matthew 27:40-42), the Lord rejected a miracle as a means of persuasion. The miracles of Christ are not forced evidence, but evidence that, being addressed to a person’s heart and conscience, does not destroy his inner freedom: “the works that the Father gave Me to do, these very works that I have done, testify of Me” (John 5 , 36). The criteria are whether a miracle comes from God: whether it leads to the fulfillment of the commandments, whether it corresponds to the will of God, or whether it leads to repentance. Thus, what is important for Holy Scripture is not the fact of a miracle itself, but its meaning, its internal content, for every miracle is a revelation of God, the manifestation of “the Kingdom of God coming with power” (Mark 9:1).

The importance of miracles: “They came to [Jesus] and said: John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask: Are you the one who should come, or should we expect someone else? And at this time He healed many from diseases and illnesses and from evil spirits , and gave sight to many blind people. And Jesus answered them: Go, tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor are preached to the gospel; and blessed is he who is not offended because of Me!” (Luke 7:20-23)

***Powerful spread

Nowhere does it say that Adam was white or black. God promised Abraham: “And through your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Gen. 22:18).
God says to the people of the covenant: “If a stranger settles with you and wants to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, then circumcise all his males, and then let him begin to celebrate it and be like a natural inhabitant of the earth; but no one who is uncircumcised shall eat it; Let there be one law both for the natural inhabitant and for the stranger who has settled among you. And all the children of Israel did: as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they” (Ex. 12:48-50).
The prayer of the wise King Solomon is also indicative: “If a stranger, who is not from Your people Israel, comes from a far land for the sake of Your name, for they too will hear about Your great name and about Your mighty hand and about Your outstretched arm, and he will come he will pray at this temple, hear from heaven, from your dwelling place, and do everything that a foreigner calls to you for, so that all the nations of the earth will know your name so that they may fear You, like Your people Israel, so that they may know that this temple which I built is called by Your name” (1 Kings 8:41-43).
God through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah: “I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them glad in My house of prayer; Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices [shall be] acceptable on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. The Lord God, who gathers the scattered Israelites, says: I will also gather others to those who are gathered with him” (Is. 56:7,8).
Prophecy about Jesus Christ: “My covenant which I made with you when you came out of Egypt, and my spirit remains among you: do not be afraid! For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once more, and it will be soon, I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the One desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts" (Hag. 2: 5-7).
Christ gives the commandment to bring the Gospel to all nations: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen" (Matt. 28:19,20). Apostle Paul: "Is God really the God of the Jews only, and not also of the Gentiles? Of course, also the Gentiles, for there is one God, who will justify the circumcision through faith and the uncircumcision through faith” (Rom. 3:29,30).

As for the Apostle Paul, it should be noted that the Muslim attack against him misses the mark. All those things that Muslims do not like about Christianity are found not only in Paul, but also in John, and Peter, and in the Gospel. As for your opponent’s statements about the book of Acts and about the apostles Peter and Paul, all this is called slander. In jurisprudence and in life, there is a presumption of innocence, and all these statements about the murder of Ananias are only malicious slander, especially since there are no other sources about this event except the book of Acts. All secular historians recognize Luke as one of the most accurate historians Ancient world, and his stories, even in small details, are confirmed by archaeology. So you don’t need to refute these theories, but just say: “Where is the evidence of your lies?” And if they are not there, then each time we must state: “I congratulate you, sir, having lied.”