IT IS worthy of notice that the Bible itself says nothing whatever of the theories of inspiration. No theory of inspiration is presented or even suggested from the first of Genesis to the last of Revelation, but the Book everywhere asserts that the words it contains are words [which God spoke to men, through whom He revealed His will and purpose. If we had read the sacred Scriptures alone, apart from human opinions, we could never have thought of different kinds of degrees of inspiration, but must have seen that the writers at least claim for the very language of their communications divine origin, divine accuracy, and divine authority. There is no attempt to explain how they were inspired, but from first to last historians, poets, prophets, and apostles come before us with the sublime announcement, "Thus saith the Lord."

So profound was the impression made by this announcement that the Jews for many centuries accepted without hesitation the Old Testament books as coming directly from God, and they dared not tamper with a word or letter of it at the peril of their souls. Josephus I says: "Every one is not permitted of his own accord to be a writer, nor is there any disagreement in what is written, ' — they being only prophets that have written the original and earliest accounts of things as they learned them of God Himself by inspiration . . . For so many ages that have already passed no one has been so bold as either to add anything to them or to make any change in them." Philo, although strongly influenced by the philosophy of his times, boldly affirms his faith, and the faith of his countrymen, in the fact that God inspired the men who composed the Old Testament, and spoke through them as His mouthpiece. Esdras, who may be taken as a representative of all the Apocryphal writers, tells us: "When the Lord spake unto them, they made a sport of His prophets"; "In the first year of Cyrus, king of the Persians, that the word of the Lord might be accomplished, that He had promised by the mouth of Jeremy"; and when he had read the law, "All they that were then moved at the word of the Lord God of Israel assembled unto me."

In the early Church also, while it does not appear that any theory of inspiration was discussed, there was entire unanimity among those who had a right to be called Christians, as to inspiration itself, an inspiration that was supernatural in its source, unerring in its truthfulness, and extending to the very words of Scripture. Thus Clement says: "Look into the Holy Scriptures, which are the true words of the Holy Ghost"; "Ye know, beloved, ye know full well the Holy Scriptures; and have thoroughly searched into the oracles of God." Barnabas, in the epistle ascribed to him, writes: "The Lord hath declared unto us by the prophets'''; "Thus saith the Lord by the prophets"; "Moses in the Spirit spake." Irenaeus testifies: "Well know in that the Scriptures are perfect, as dictated (or spoken) by the word of God and His Spirit." Hippolytus says: "Be assured they did not speak in their own strength, nor out of their own minds, what they proclaimed; but first by the inspiration of the word they were imbued with wisdom." Origen declares: "The sacred books are not the writings of men, but have been written and delivered to us from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by the will of the Father of all things, through Jesus Christ. The sacred Scriptures come from the fullness of the Spirit, so that there is nothing in the prophets or the law or the gospel and the epistles which descends not from the Divine Majesty."

Any amount of similar evidence could be adduced, but it is sufficient to say that up to the Reformation, if even one voice was raised to advance some theory of inspiration, it was too feeble to be heard. The Protestant churches which followed the revival that swept over Europe as the result of the labors of Luther and others, promulgated no new or unknown doctrine, when they embodied in their Confessions clear and distinct statements of the plenary inspiration and supreme authority of the Scriptures. Thus the Belgic Confession, A. D. Tt;6l, asserts: "We confess that this Word of God was not sent nor delivered by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved, by the Holy Ghost, as the Apostle Peter saith." The Helvetic Confession, A. D. 1566, declares: "We believe and confess the canonical Scriptures of the holy prophets and apostles of both Testaments to be the true Word of God itself, for God Himself spoke to the fathers, the prophets, and the apostles, and still speaks to us by the sacred Scriptures." The Westminister Confession, among other like things, affirms: "The Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees, councils, opinions of ancient writings, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scriptures."

When rationalism invaded England, impiously attacking the infallibility of the Bible, and asserting the existence of many errors in the sacred pages, those who defended it were weak enough to admit the errors, and then claimed that there were different kinds and degrees of inspiration, as the inspiration of excitement, the inspiration of invigoration, the inspiration of superintendence-, the inspiration of guidance, and the inspiration of direct revelation. Thus, after many centuries had passed, during which the people of God in the Jewish and the Christian dispensations had -accepted the sacred Book in all its parts as coming immediately from Him and dictated by His Spirit, the first theory of inspiration made its hateful appearance. Happily, it has passed away, and is no longer mentioned; but it must be borne in mind that it was invented to account for supposed imperfections and errors and mistakes in the sacred Scriptures.

There is another theory, called the mechanical, and even the most reverent students of the Bible seem to agree that this cannot be true. But precisely the same objection lies against the great mass who reject it, and perhaps the few who accept it, that can be urged against all other theories. That is to say, it is a theory, and for this very reason it is worthless. No man has a right to affirm that God used the men through whom He communicated His revelations, just as we use a printing-press or typewriter, or other mechanical contrivance to express our thoughts, and no man has a right to affirm that He did not so use them, because the Scriptures do not inform us how they were inspired. If it had been written that the prophets and apostles were mere machines, employed for the transmission of God's thoughts and words, we would be bound to believe it; and had it been written that they were not machines, we would be bound to believe that also. But inasmuch as it is plainly and repeatedly declared that their writings are inspired, without a single statement of the manner of their inspiration, we are bound to believe that they are inspired, without believing at all in one way or another, in what manner they are inspired

IT IS a real relief to get away from man's fruitless speculations, and vain guesses, and laborious groping in the dark, and philosophical disquisitions, to the calm clear, and straightforward statements of the Bible itself. We turn to the first man God commissioned to make known His will, and we find him saying, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant: but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him Who hath made man's mouth.'' . . . Now therefore go and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say" (Exo. 4:10-12). It will be observed that Jehovah does not promise to be with his mind, and teach him what to think, but to be with his mouth, and teach him what to say. So far as the record testifies, the thoughts of Moses were not inspired in any degree, but his words were inspired, and it is with these we have to do.

Turning to the second division of the Old Testament, which our Saviour recognized and adopted, We find David to be the principal actor and agent, through whom God made known His will; and we bring all the theories of inspiration side by side with his dying testimony. "Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raise up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said. The Spirit of the Lord throught by me, but "spake by me", and "His word was in my tongue" (II Sam. 23:1-2). He does not say, The Spirit of the Lord thought by me," but "spake by me"; nor does he say "His ideas were in my mind," but "His word was in my tongue." So far as we can gather from the record his thoughts were not inspired at all; and it is probably from the use made of his Psalms in the New Testament that his language often bore a meaning far beyond his conception of its import; but it is certain that his words were given by inspiration o: the Holy Spirit.

Hence the value of the written Word as it is set forth in all of his Psalms. "The words of the Lord are| pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times". "The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." "Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven." "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." "The entrance of Thy words giveth light." "Thy Word is true from the beginning." "Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name," or above every other manifestation of Himself, in nature, or in science, or in human reason. In the historical books and in the Psalms, including the other poetical books, "The Lord said," "The Lord spake, saying," "Thus saith the Lord," "The word of the Lord came," occur about three hundred times; and are we to dismiss such testimony at the bidding of man's idle theories of inspiration? That Word can do more for us than any earthly parent or power; for "when thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee." No wonder it is said at the close of this second part of the Scriptures, "Every word of God is pure;... add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."

Glancing for a moment at the third division of the Old Testament, known as the Prophets, let us compare human theories with divine testimony. We learn that Jeremiah recoiled, as Moses did, from the disagreeable mission upon which he was sent, saying: "Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me. Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak... Then the Lord put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me. Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth." He did not say, observe, "I have put My thoughts in thy mind and left thee to selection of any language that occurs to thee as suitable," but "I have put My words in thy mouth." Hence, all through his prophecy, "Thus saith the Lord," "The Lord saith unto me," are found at brief intervals, frequently sounding out again and again in the same chapter. But precisely the same thing is true of all the other prophets, without a single exception. Every one of them claims that he was delivering the very message God told him to deliver, and in the words of God. No man can dispute this statement, and there is not a hint in any part of the prophecies that in- the least passage the writers were cast back upon their own thoughts or their own words. "Hear the word of the Lord," "The word of the Lord came," "Thus saith the Lord God," and similar declarations, are found, about twelve hundred times in the prophecies; "saith the Lord" being repeated twenty- four times in the four short chapters of Malachi.

Are we to make nothing of all this? Is it to be set aside at the bidding of man's wholly uncalled-for theories of inspiration? Because he chooses to fancy that there are different kinds and degrees of inspiration, because he prefers to believe in inspired thoughts and uninspired words, because he tries to comfort himself with dynamic inspiration, because he is opposed to mechanical inspiration, are we to treat the explicit testimony of the Word itself, given in more than two thousand places, as of no value? Out with all of these foolish theories, that are not worth the paper on which they are written! Men have no right to their opinions when God has most explicitly and fully revealed His truth, as He has done upon this subject. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them"; and it is certain that the theories of inspiration have only darkened His counsel. He does not set before us the foolish task of trying to explain how His Book is inspired, but to believe, because He says it, that it is inspired and verbally inspired.

About this there can be no doubt whatever, when we come to see the extent of the inspiration our Lord Jesus Christ promised to His disciples. "When they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." At another time He said, "When they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what things ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say." At another time, still later. He said: "When they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost."

It is impossible to imagine any stronger proof of verbal inspiration than is found in these passages. The apostles were actually forbidden to think, to premeditate, to prepare their defense, to give themselves the slightest concern; and this upon the ground that they were not to speak, but the Spirit of God would speak through them, that the words they ought to utter should be given them the same hour they were needed. If it be urged by those who hold theories of inspiration that this was a special promise for a special occasion, still the main point is conceded; for it is admitted that God did sometimes at least communicate His own words, without interfering with the mental idiosyncrasy and peculiar style of each of His servants. What He does at one time, He can do at another; and what He did for the apostles when they were called to defend themselves. He did when they were called to preach His Gospel and to write epistles.

Thus there is most perfect unanimity among all the witnesses whom God commissioned, concerning the inspiration of their messages and writings. It is a unanimity so striking, Robert Haldane truly said:

"Nothing can be more clearly, more expressly, or more precisely taught in the Word of God. And while other important doctrines may be met with passages of seeming opposition, there is not in the language of the Scriptures one expression that even appears to contradict their plenary and verbal inspiration."

Men may say that there was no need of inspiration in the historical books of the Bible, forgetting that it is an exceedingly difficult and rare thing to write history truthfully, or even the most common occurrences, as illustrated daily in the newspapers, although the reporters may have no temptation to lie. They may say that they cannot understand how God inspired the words, forgetting that they cannot understand any better how He inspired the thoughts. They may say that differences of style disprove verbal inspiration, forgetting that the very same mind has often used a different style in the composition of legal documents, fiction, poetry, and philosophical dissertations; forgetting that the very same mind uses one style in sending a message through an illiterate boy to laborers on his farm, and another style in transmitting his views to a political convention assembled in his interests, and another style in communicating the results of his investigations to a scientific association, and another style in expressing his good wishes for the success of a benevolent organization; forgetting that the Holy Spirit dwells in the believer, controlling his speech and actions without reducing him to the helpless condition of an unthinking machine, and without changing his style or natural gifts and tendencies. They may'^say that if verbal inspiration is true, the four accounts of the inscription on the Cross of our Lord would have been precisely alike, forgetting that they would have been precisely alike but for verbal inspiration, the Holy Ghost requiring the writers to arrange the words according to His special design in the preparation of each of the gospels, and that all taken together form the complete inscription. They may say that it was unworthy of the Spirit of God to concern Himself about an old cloke and the parchments, which Paul left at Troas, forgetting that it was altogether worthy of Him to consult the comfort of His faithful servant, sending for the things that are the symbols of service and study, if the critics had eyes to see, and reminding them, if they had ears to hear, that He will not forget the lonely prisoner suffering for His truth.

But amid all the cavils and objections of foolish and ignorant men, the voice of God sounds out high and clear in more than two thousand places from Genesis to Revelation, affirming the inspiration of the very words of the sacred Scripture. Sinful creatures, that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth, whose days are as an handbreadth, may construct their little theories of inspiration, but above them all, and outlasting all, is "the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away: but the Word of the Lord endureth forever." "Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven." "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."