The Bible’s

Revelation and Inspiration

Revelation:
Is it in the Bible?

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through

the prophets at many times and in various
ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to
us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all
things, and through whom also he made the
universe.”
Hebrews 1:1,2 (NIV)
Inspiration:
Is it in the Bible?

“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 complete, thoroughly
equipped for every good work”
(2 Timothy 3:16, 17, NKJV).
Theopneusis

• (i) Theos=God
• (ii) Pneuma=breath
• (iii) Sis=a suffix indicating an on-going process
Revelation

“Revelation”

The informational content of the message

communicated through the process of inspiration.
Inspiration

“Inspiration”

A process by which God enables the prophet to

receive and to communicate accurately His
messages for His people.
Illumination

“Illumination”

The work of the Holy Spirit (who originated and

communicated the message to the prophet) which
now enables the non-inspired hearer/reader to
comprehend and enact the message in his/her life.
The Process of R/I

GOD

Ill
um
in
at
Revelation
io
n

God’s
People
Prophet

Inspiration
Three Popular Views
of Inspiration:

• The Verbal/Mechanical View

• The Existential/”Encounter” View

• The Conceptual/Thought View

EGW’s View of Inspiration
“It is not the words of the Bible that are inspired, but
the men that were inspired. Inspiration acts not on
the man's words or his expressions but on the man
himself, who, under the influence of the Holy Ghost,
is imbued with thoughts.
But the words receive the impress of the individual
mind. The divine mind is diffused. The divine mind
and will is combined with the human mind and will;
thus the utterances of the man are the word of God.”
(Manuscript 24, 1886 in 1SM 21).
EGW’s View of Inspiration
“According to her…the process of
revelation/inspiration reaches the words even
though the words themselves are not inspired,
that is to say they do not represent the divine language
per se and neither were they dictated by the Spirit.
However the Spirit guided the prophets in the writing
process in the sense that the Spirit made sure that
the prophets used to the best of their abilities
their own vocabulary to express the message they
received in a trustworthy and reliable form.”
-Angel Manuel Rodriguez
Is thought inspiration
an adequate model?
• In the experience of Ellen White we see that
revelation and inspiration is much more broad
and multi-faceted than just thought inspiration.
She receives revelation from God in a wide
variety of ways and is inspired by God to deliver
it through different means.
• Denis Kaiser says, “It would be more fitting to
describe that experience as dynamic,
incarnational, multi-faceted divine inspiration.”
Models of R/I
Though many have suggested different models of
Revelation-Inspiration, we will limit our
discussion to these two:

• Prophetic Model

• Research Model
The Process of R/I

GOD

Ill
um
in
at
Revelation
io
n

Spirit-led
Research God’s
People
Prophet

Inspiration
Degrees of Inspiration
• G.I Butler believed in degrees of inspiration. His
efforts were actually to defend Ellen White.
• In response to his ideas Ellen White wrote,
“God sets no man to pronounce judgment on His
Word, selecting some things as inspired and
discrediting others as uninspired.” 1SM, 23
• “There is no indication in Scripture or in the
writings of Ellen White that allows for any concept
of partial inspiration or degrees of inspiration.”
-Frank M. Hasel
Textual Criticism
• The study of copies of any written document
whose original is unknown in order to
determine the exact wording of the original.
Textual Variants
• After the New Testament was written, some
2,500 words were added to it that were not in
the original autographs.
• This came about because the documents were
copied by hand.
Textual Variants
1. Spelling differences and nonsense errors.
2. Differences that do not affect translation.
3. Meaningful variants that are not viable.
4. Meaningful variants that are viable
1.Textual Variants
Spelling differences and nonsense errors.
• Example: John or Johnn
• Example: a or an
Textual Variants
Differences that do not affect translation.
• Example: “Mary” or “The Mary.”
• God loves Paul, Paul loves God, Loves God Paul,
Paul God loves.
• In Greek, the syntax resides in the word form,
and not in word order, so any of those can be
correct.
Textual Variants
Meaningful Variants that are not Viable
• Some variants make sense. For example, it will
say “Gospel of Christ” instead of “Gospel of
God.”
• However, these are written down in manuscripts
that are 1) very late, and 2) isolated.
• Therefore, we can be sure that they are not
viable, meaning they do not go back to the
original autographs.
Textual Variants
Meaningful and Viable
• Represent about 1% of all textual variants.
• Example: 1 John 1:4
• “Our joy” or “Your joy”
• Example: 1 Thess. 2:7
• “gentle” or “little children” / “epioi” or “nepioi”
Textual Variants

• However, since no doctrine of Christianity or

SDA is based on a single text, we need not worry
even this less than 1% of textual variants.
• None of the textual variants affect any doctrine
in Adventist or Christian theology!
Textual Variants Among Versions

John 5:4
Some Different Greek Text Types
• Textus Receptus- the edition of the Greek New
Testament that reflects the largest number of the NT
Greek manuscripts (Byzantine texts) lying behind the
KJV. In this study, references to the TR are based upon
Stephanus’s third edition of the Greek NT published in
1550 and Beza’s fourth edition published in 1598.
• Alexandrian text- the type of text that is found in
many of the oldest NT manuscripts, best represented by
Codex Vaticanus (B, 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus
(Aleph 4th century), and the papyrus MS P75 (3rd
century). This text‑type has now become the accepted
text among textual scholars and the basis for new Bible
versions.
 The King James Version
1. The number of Greek manuscripts we have
today is nearly 100 times greater than in 1611,
when the KJV was made.
2. The Greek manuscripts we have today are much
earlier than the ones that stand behind the KJV.
 What Bible Version?
• Although the KJV is an expanded text, as has been
shown above, there is nothing in the extra material that
contains doctrinal error.
• Those who prefer the KJV should understand that they
are reading a conflated text and they should not take a
hostile attitude toward those who prefer to read one of
the modern versions.
• Those who read modern versions should choose
carefully, however, for the editors of some paraphrases
take too much liberty in rendering the biblical text.
Inerrancy

While all conservative Christians agree that the

Bible is a reliable source of knowledge about God
and His will for human life, some insist that this
divine source of knowledge guarantees that the
Bible is entirely free from errors or discrepancies.
Inerrancy

1. God is the author of the Bible

2. God is never the author of errors
3. Therefore the Bible is free of all kinds of
error.
Inerrancy

In general, this is based upon some sort of verbal

dictation model of revelation and inspiration.

For some, it is motivated by the fear that the Bible

would lose its authority if it contained any errors.
Some possible
Biblical discrepancies
• Who wrote the Messianic prophecy about Christ
being sold for 30 pieces of silver? Was it
Jeremiah (Matt. 27:9) or Zechariah (Zech.
11:13)?
• Performing the healing of blind Bartimaeus by
Jesus at Jericho: Was it done as Christ
approached the city (Luke 18:35) or as He left
the city (Mark 10:46)? Or was it two blind men
as He departed (Matt. 20:29, 30)?
 Problems with
Inerrancy

1. It overlooks the human dimension of Scripture

2. It leads to some distorted and unconvincing
interpretations of the Bible.
3. It miscasts the fundamental purpose of
Scripture.
 What does EGW say
on the matter?

• “Everything that is human is imperfect.” 1SM 20:2

• "God and heaven alone are infallible.” 1SM 37. 
• In response to the question about the possibility of
mistakes by copyists or translators, she says:
"This is all probable…”
Yet she was convinced that “these mistakes will
not cause trouble to one soul, or cause any feet
to stumble, that would not manufacture difficulties
from the plainest revealed truth.” (1SM 15,16)
 What does EGW say
on the matter?

In fact she also says: "The Holy Scriptures are to

be accepted as an authoritative, infallible
revelation of His will. They are the standard of
character, the revealer of doctrines, and the test of
experience" (GC vii).
The Bible is “an unerring guide” (AA 506) and
“an unerring counselor, and infallible
guide.” (FE 100)
 What does EGW say
on the matter?

• How do we interpret her words on this subject?

• I believe that if we study her writings in their entirety, it
is best to understand her as allowing for the possibility
(or even probability) of inconsequential errors as a
byproduct of the human authors.
• And yet we can affirm that since God was guiding the
process of R/I, the Bible taken as a whole is a safe,
reliable, and infallible guide.
• ”I take the Bible just as it is, as the Inspired Word. I
believe its utterances in an entire Bible.” (1SM 17)
 SDAs and
Inerrancy

1. SDAs have never advocated biblical inerrancy.

2. SDAs support the divine authority and
reliability of Scriptures.
3. SDAs do believe in the Scriptures as an
infallible guide.