Virtual Vestry ~ Inspiration

This is the first of 4 (turned out to be 5...) discussions on 'inspiration' and I'd like it to be a general "let's figure out what we're talking about" session.

I'm going to propose a few 'thought experiments' which I'd like you to invest in fully. Do as instructed and give it a go!

Firstly, I want you to bring all your prejudices and pre-dispositions with you. Don't think too hard about the questions. Just go with your first response.

Secondly, I'm deliberately not defining any of my terminology! Again, go with whatever your own personal definitions tell you.

Consider this passage from the book of Acts. We discussed this book for most of 2023 and so the stories contained therein should be fresh in our minds.

Then the commander called two of his officers and ordered, "Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o'clock tonight. Also take 200 spearmen and 70 mounted troops. Provide horses for Paul to ride, and get him safely to Governor Felix."

Then he wrote this letter to the governor:

From Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings!
This man was seized by some Jews, and they were about to kill him when I arrived with the troops. When I learned that he was a Roman citizen, I removed him to safety. Then I took him to their high council to try to learn the basis of the accusations against him. I soon discovered the charge was something regarding their religious law - certainly nothing worthy of imprisonment or death. But when I was informed of a plot to kill him, I immediately sent him on to you. I have told his accusers to bring their charges before you.

So that night, as ordered, the soldiers took Paul as far as Antipatris. They returned to the fortress the next morning, while the mounted troops took him on to Caesarea. When they arrived in Caesarea, they presented Paul and the letter to Governor Felix. He read it and then asked Paul what province he was from. "Cilicia" Paul answered.

"I will hear your case myself when your accusers arrive", the governor told him. Then the governor ordered him kept in the prison at Herod's headquarters.

Acts 23:23-35

This passage was written by Luke and is a straightforward description of an event that happened to Paul.

1. Is this passage 'inspired'?
2. If 'yes', what do you mean by that?
3. Say some archaeologists dug up a scroll containing more-or-less the exact same words written by some unknown author (for the sake of our thought experiment let us call him Questus) who happened to be privy to these events and also wrote them down, would you consider that scroll 'inspired'? Why/why not?
4. If your answer to (3) was 'no', then what is it about the Luke+text combination that makes it inspired, whereas the Questus+text combination is not? I appreciate that your answer to this question might be long and complicated - but that's OK!

The spectrum of 'inspiration' definitions for most Christians runs from 'every single word that appears on the page is directly from God' (with the necessary addendum that nothing was lost in the various translations - indeed this viewpoint requires that the translators were inspired in a similar manner to the original author) to some rather more vague 'God provided the thoughts and there is something special about those thoughts that ended up in the Bible, but I'm not entirely sure how it all works'.

Let's go even further along that spectrum. For this Thought Experiment have a go at forgetting that you've ever heard of 'inspiration'. There's no such thing. And it's never even occurred to anyone else that 'inspiration' might be a thing. It's an unknown concept.

So, try and put 'inspiration' aside and ignore it for now: the Bible is a splendid collection of stories about the interaction between God and humanity and is not meaningfully different from, say, the writings of C.S. Lewis.

1. Note your initial reaction to this request. Write it down!

2. Having thought about it a bit more...

   If your initial reaction was "Well, that's wrong!" then:
   • Can you articulate why?
   • Can you express (as rigorously as you can!) what is missing from C.S. Lewis that is present in, say, Jeremiah?
   If your initial reaction was "I could go along with that..." then:
   • Is the usual Christian notion of 'inspiration' a categorisation error?
   • What is then to stop anybody from claiming that they have had a message from God, and that all Christians need to pay attention to their new vision?
   • How can you tell the difference between the actual messages from God and the self-claimed supposed messages from God?

The last point, that of "telling the difference", is something I find interesting. I wonder if our aversion to not having an easily identifiable set of messages from God has to do with our difficulties in parsing the differences. Just as we much prefer a hard set of rules that are clear (if not necessarily easy) to follow over the nebulous instruction from Jesus to "Love your neighbour as yourself", could our need for a clearly defined set of texts just be laziness?! Discuss...

At the risk of giving away my personal position on Thought Experiment #2, I must admit that I took this approach when reading the book of Acts over the last 9 months. I read it as a quasi-diary, a story, and crucially, a story in which people changed their minds, had arguments and in one case seemed to ignore a prophet! Rather than treating it as a mystical book of 'wooooo' it's a realistic telling of a story. 'Inspiration' seems unimportant for such a book. What do you think?

I've stolen this example from Alden Thompson's book "Inspiration", Chapter 3.

But suppose a team of archaeologists in the Middle East unearthed an ancient manuscript. Experts conclude that the apostle Paul wrote it as a letter to the church in Corinth, a letter different from the two we now have in the New Testament. The question is: Would you include this additional letter in your Bible?

• If 'yes', does this mean we think that the important inspiration here is the authorship of Paul? It is he that is 'inspired' and, because we know this book is from him, then we must include it?
• If 'no', does this mean that God didn't want us to find this document? It is not part of the Bible because God hid it and it was unknown to the men who collated the canon? Thus, the 'inspiration' here lies with the collators and not with Paul?

As a scientist I'm uneasy with the idea of fixed truth. I'm a big fan of the maxim that "Everything you know is wrong", with the sub-clause "But some things are more wrong than others". Science is not fixed truth. It changes perpetually and that is its strength. The aim is to be less wrong.

Religious folks are (am I begin unfair here?) not happy at all with that way of thinking. They want, as Douglas Adams puts it, "rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty". The contents of the canon of scripture, that book we call the Bible, are most definitely not in one of those areas of doubt and uncertainty.

But that's not what we've got. If God had wanted to tell us directly what to do via words (as opposed to via experiences) he would have chosen the language of mathematics, rather than Hebrew and Aramaic; we would have one gospel, rather than four; we would have something akin to a legal document rather than the poetry of the Psalms, the misery of Ecclesiastes and the 'what was all that about?' of Revelation. Perhaps the Bible is something other than what we think it is?

The next four weeks will be interesting!

• PDF of these notes
• Slides used in the presentation
• Audio recording of class discussion (password protected)

Last week Steve asked important questions, that deserve careful considerations. Too many of the current concepts of Inspiration have long since lost all credibility, and there needs to be an open and honest reassessment of the whole topic.

I believe the Holy Spirit still speaks and moves within the family of believers, and that we need to be open to that and accommodate it, without necessarily expanding the Canon of Scripture. We need a reassessment of our understanding of the OT and NT that has enough flexibility and reality to make it easier for us to identity their strengths and weakness.

I will provide an assessment of Alden Thompsons book (Revised Edition) and the review by Normal R Gulley in Ministry Magazine. Alden's Revised Edition has a more developed understanding of his thinking, and Norman's review is addressing that reality.

My purpose today is to provide a refence framework which addresses the broad spectrum of our topic that hopefully will help us all in pursuing our goal of understanding the topic more completely and productively.

I believe the human theory of Verbal Inspiration is a grave crime against the Scripture.

The bible is replete with examples of contradictory evidence in both Testaments.

If the Spirit dictated the bible, this could only have happened if the Spirit has a FAULTY MEMORY! I admit that bad memory is an issue that afflicts myself, and I expect all of us experience the same limitation.

If any of you don't suffer from same problem, please let us all know, for we must treat you with great reverence.(Laugh here!)

Verbal Inspiration is an idea that implies that the Holy Spirit suffers from onset-dementia.

Alden Thompson takes the view that we should never impose on scripture anything that is incompatible with the documentary evidence of Scripture itself.

I can imagine some brave soul suggesting the Book of Life is to ensure that God gets it right on day of Judgment. In my mind that is compatible with the idea that God created dinosaurs to test our faith.

• Is the teaching of Verbal Inspiration an act of Blasphemy?

There are a few passages of Scripture where we know God Wrote!

• The 10 Commandments were written by God.
• God wrote on the wall in Babylon to tell the King he was under Judgment. (Dan 5)
• Do you believe there are other parts that could be clearly identified?

I believe that it's important to let the bible speak for itself, rather than superimposing our own ideas on the biblical content before we attempt to understand it. There are many references to Scripture in the New Testament, but the two most important ones were given by Peter (Apostle to the Jews) and Paul (Apostle to Jews, but primarily to the Gentiles).

2 Timothy 3:14-4:4
2 Peter 1:12-2:3

Both these passages assert the following:

• Holy Spirit inspired and guided the Prophets.
• They emphasis the humanity of the Prophets.
• They were driven by the Spirit who sustained and emboldened them to faithfully bear testimony to what God had revealed to them.
• They never say the Spirit directed the words they wrote.
• There were always those who for personal power, greed or pure ego opposed the purposes of God. Both the above passages specifically identify that this would be constant, and in time would be stronger than when the passages were written.

• If you have read the passages above do you think the above assessment is a fair one?

1 Cor 10:1-10 tells us that Christ was the presence of God that led Israel out of Egypt.

Exodus 20 Tells us that GOD SPOKE the 10 Commandment from the mountain.

Exodus 21:1-24:8 is the record of the Book of the Law (Covenant). This was confirmed twice by the people. The Ten Commandment seem to be the foundation of the Covenant which would explain why they were in the Ark of the Covenant. The Laws are a practical application of the 10 commandments, with promises of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.

1. (vv3-4) Moses spoke it to the people, and they gave their first acceptance. Only then did he write it down.

2. (vv4-8) The following day, young men selected by Moses offered the first burnt offering on an altar they had made. There was no priesthood at this point.

   Half the blood was sprinkled against the altar.
   Then Moses read the Book of the Covenant. The congregation repeated their acceptance: "We will do everything the Lord has said, we will obey". The rest of the blood was sprinkled on the people as a sign of the ratification of the Covenant.
   This appears to be the TOTALITY OF THE MOSAIC COVENANT!
   

   The Pentateuch doesn't exist at this point.

The incident of the GOLDEN CALF and the events that followed demonstrates a pattern that unfortunately reasserted itself on a recurring basis.

To what extent the OT writings were developed through into the period of David & Solomon Is somewhat opaque. We know that genealogical records of the Tribes and the Rulers were kept. Who did so, where these records were kept is also opaque.

There is a significant probability that a lot was carried forward in the form of Oral Traditions, which probably explains many of the inconsistencies when the records were finally collated and documented.

1. THE 10 TRIBE DISASTER (Northern Kingdom)

   David's kingship was saved by the support of the 10 Tribes.

   The alliance was weakened by Solomon's greed and destroyed by Solomon's son.

   Despite of the witness of prophet to these kingdoms (Elijah and Elisha, etc) They fell into idolatry, and the KINGDOM WAS DESTROYED BY ASSYRIA. Much of the population were sent into slavery, and other Assyrian captives transplanted into those land.

   The remaining amalgam were the SAMARITANS.

2. The Disaster in Judea (Judah and Benjamin)

   2 Kings 21:1-26 describes to decent into pure paganism during the reigns of Manasseh and his son Amon.

   22:1-23:30 2 Kings 22:1-23:30 covers the life of Josiah.

   In 640BC king Josiah (means "Yahweh will give") comes to the throne at 8yrs old. There is a regency because of his age. Until 622BC the only advancement was a program of building repairs on the Temple.

   (21:8) 622BC Hilkiah the high priest finds a the "Book of the Law", and for the first time in long time it is set free.

   Josiah is shocked to the core because he realizes that the nation deserves the CURSE OF BANISHMENT as had the 10 tribes. He decides to boldly recommit the nation to the Covenant but seeks a word from the Lord. The prophet HULDA (a woman) tells him God still implement the banishment, but not in his lifetime.

   (23:1-2) it clarifies that the book was in fact the Book of the Covenant.

   Josiah reads the Covenant to the people, and they recommit to obey it.

   I expect if there had been a secret ballot there would have been a split vote. The events of the next few years attest to that reality.

   • Joshua begins to implement reforms.
   • 609BC Josiah dies
   • 605BC The Babylonians invade Jerusalem and Judea for the first of three times and by 587BC the Temple and City are destroyed, and the people mostly in exile.

   NOTE: The parallel account in 2 Chronicles 34:29 -36:1 tells the story with significantly different timelines for the events. This is another example of the human touch in the records.

3. A RENEWAL IN BABYLON

   How many manuscripts and records went with the exiles we don't know. However, the above realities suggest it was limited.

   But God did not abandon them: JEREMIAH and others were witnessing in Judea.

   Ezekial, Daniel and other were witnessing in Exile. There has always been a REMNANT among God's people, wherever they may be-Jew or Gentile.

   By the waters of Babylon, they remembered Zion.

   In a spirit of repentance, the remnant rescued an honest record of all the dealings they had with God. THE GOOD, THE BAD , EVEN THE CONFLICTING RECORDS.

   The OLD TESTAMENT they began to pull together, is the ONLY ANCIENT DOCUMENT that shrieks out a spirit of TOTAL HONESTY.

   But in its honesty (it tears to shreds the idea of VERBAL INSPIRATION)

1 Corinthians 12, 13, 14

We have already looked at Paul's observations on the inspiration of Scripture and the witnesses chosen by Christ. Paul is now looking at the future of Spiritual Gifts in the ongoing experience of the god's people. Why would he encourage people to aspire to the greater gifts if he thought they were not intended to continue?

12:1-11 focuses on the role of Spiritual Gifts in the church.

• Each member of the body of Christ should have a spiritual calling and be equipped to fulfil it.
• The gifts are intended to be a blessing to the whole church.
• The Spirit choses which gift each believer should have.

12:12-31

• The gifts can only accomplish their task when all the gifts are allowed to function as intended.
• (vv29-30) There is a hierarchy of gifts. (Apostles, prophets, teachers....) and it is rare for anyone to have all the gifts.

• (vv31) Some Gifts are greater than others, and it is not wrong for someone to ask the Spirit to empower them with one of those gifts.

  Some in the modern church believe the gift of apostleship ended with the death of the Apostles chosen by Christ himself.

  Paul suggests that is not so, and Romans 16 indicated that there were other Apostles. John Stott suggest that the Church can recognize and commission Apostles when they display the Spiritual Leadership qualities this entails.

12:31-13:13 If any revelation or activity is incompatible with the principles of Love, it stands condemned in the sight of God.

14:1 "Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy".

• What do you think of this advice?

14:2-25 and 14:34-35 One problem that Verbal Inspiration exacerbates is that in some of his letters, Paul addresses problems that have been reported to him by believers in the churches he is writing to. Those churches were aware of the exact nature of the questions, but we don't know what they were. The two passages above are examples of this .

• There are churches today where speaking tongues is considered an identifier of a true believer. It's a gift that has throughout history has been elevated out all proportion to the extent of being destructive of the unity of the church. Paul is facing this issue head on, honouring the gift but imposing a policy strict containment at the same time.
• (v:35) In some manuscripts this is at the end of the chapter. The comment about women speaking in the church is related to woman who are somehow being disruptive. We don't know the details. This is used to silence the voice of women, while ignoring the fact that Paul in other letters considers the ministry of women to be extremely valuable. (Romans 16)

14:26-34 and 14:35-40 We must be careful that we don't think this is the only type of worship within the church. Paul has already identified the gifts of Apostle and Teacher which clearly come with an additional form of church gathering. We clearly see this within the ministry of Paul himself.

• Would Paul be horrified if we treated the details as being more important than the principles?

• Does this counsel make space for an EXCLUSIVE gift of prophecy to one person?

The original edition of Alden's book was published by the Review and Herald, at their request. It soon garnered both praise and hostility. The hostility came primarily from the conservative wing of the church, and the GC.

Alden wanted to expand his thinking, but there was no possibility of this being published or approved by the church. Eventually he published the Revised Edition through Energion Publications.

Norman Gulley's review in Ministry Magazine is of this edition.

I have no intention of doing an extensive review of the book, although it deserves that level of attention. In general, I admire Alden for his honest attempt to address this subject within the context of working in an Adventist University. He has a burden to bear that is not my burden.

Both Alden and Norman both approach their analysis of INSPIRATION through the filter of EGW. It's an acknowledgement of the stranglehold that the writings of EGW have on the SDA church.

Alden has found multiple quotations from EGW asserting that it's the person who is inspired, not the words. The words are human words, not God's words, even though God inspired the writers. This of course causes consternation in the church circles where Verbal Inspiration still has a strong foothold.

Alden developed a concept in his first book of CODEBOOK AND CASEBOOK but did not fully develop the idea. In the second book he spells it out with much greater clarity. He also classifies INSPIRATION into 3 Categories for which he supplies multiple examples by way of explanation.

1. REVELATION: "A VISION"

   By vision, or dream god communicated to a prophet who writes what they are shown in their own human words. It could also be as an outcome of a Direct Encounter with God through a range of divine like encounters.

2. INSPIRATION: " A FIRE IN THE BONES"

   God inspiring individuals with a compulsive need to bear witness to the things they had seen and know. The gospel writers being examples of this, as would be the case with most of the NT, and large parts of the OT.

3. ILLUMINATION: "A GREAT IDEA"

   Enlightenment given by the Holy Spirit to ordinary people.

The CODEBOOK and CASEBOOK concept is a tool Alden sees as a solution the multiple contradictions that exist in the Scriptures.

The CODEBOOK is the legal framework which acts as the guiding principles for understanding all inspiration.

This is based on the law pyramid:

• THE ONE: Romans 13:10 "Love is the fulfilling of the law"

• THE TWO: Jesus' two great commands.

  Matt 22:37(Deuteronomy 6:5) "Love the Lord your 'god with all your heart".

  Matt 22:39 (Leviticus 18:18) "Love your neighbour as yourself".

• THE TEN: The commandments spoke by God from Sinai and then written on the stone tablets. Deuteronomy 4;13, Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5

He displays this as a PYRAMID in the book and explains why he did that.

In essence he is saying that ALL THE OTHER PARTS OF SCRIPTURE must be understood within the context of this FILTER.

The CASEBOOK is a concept akin to the development of the good human legal construct. The understanding of any event must be within the context of the culture and knowledge base within which the events being recorded occur. In other words, God can change his guidance over time in relationship to the maturity of the people, cultural setting of the events, and in the framework of salvation history. If I have not fully captured that essence, I hope Alden will forgive me.

This fits the pattern of Casebook Law ruling within most good modern Justice Systems. Judges consider the accumulated rulings over time that accommodate the multiple facets of the circumstance in which the events occur. This is more important than the actual words used in the biblical records.

It is this Codebook and Casebook concept that Norman Gully demeans in his review.

• His assessment is that EGW has a Christocentric focus, but Alden has a LEGAL focus.
• To me Alden's Codebook is totally Christocentric. I'm not an Adventist, and it makes sense to me, because it puts Christ at the centre of the Law. What better filter could you get for the OT?
• He also argues that Alden must be wrong because EGW never uses this sort of construct in her deliberations, and quotes extensively from EGW to support his position, which means he is even more wedded to the traditional SDA view of EGW than Alden is.
• He accuses Alden of undermining the concept of the Bible being its own interpreter.
• He ends with a quote from JOHN STOTT to support his overall stance.
• Unfortunately, he clearly states that he agrees with much of what Alden has written but chooses not to identify those areas of agreement.

I found Norman's review to be disingenuous. It's as if he wrote a review to give himself a level of acceptability in the denomination, while indulging in his own disenchantments with some of the church's positions.

Alden repeatedly asserts that the bible must be its own interpreter. It's one of the arguments he uses to undermine the concept of verbal inspiration. He believes that we should not overlay the Bible with theories clearly incompatible with the content of the Biblical Text. He also takes the view that each author in Scripture should be allowed to speak for themselves.

Norman Gulley essentially accused Alden of discrediting the testimony of Paul. If we impose our own understandings on Paul's witness, rather than on what he really believed from a comprehensive study of his teachings and actions we can hardly complain if someone disagrees with us. Who is discrediting Paul in those circumstances?

He quotes from John Stott to affirm that Jesus submitted to the authority of the OT Canon, but John Stott clearly knew that Jesus was reinterpreting some of the OT understandings of his day. I found his reference to John Stott rather amusing since I would classify John Stott as a modern-day Apostle. If John Stott's books had been in print 100yrs earlier, I expect EGW would have borrowed from his writings without crediting him as the source, as she did countless other.

I believe that Alden realizes that the SDA leadership has used EGW to bolster their own authoritative approach to the interpretation of Scripture and the governance of the church. He has been a brave soul to challenge that status quo and for that reason I applaud his candour and integrity.

What concerns me the most, is that Alden's book and Norman Gully's response are wholly dependent on the affirmative support of Quotations from EGW to even be heard within the church at all.

• Why is that?
• Was EGW partially responsible for that?
• Would the church ever be able to listen to another Prophet?
• Has the inability of the church to embrace a broader level of thinking been destructive?

• PDF of these notes
• Goodreads summary of Inspiration, by Alden Thompson
• Ministry Magazine review of Alden Thompson's book
• Audio recording of class discussion (password protected)

The revelation in the Scriptures is primarily about who God is and what He is about.

The 66 books, are, in the main about His interaction with humanity. By reading through the Scriptures, from beginning to end, and observing His interaction with fallen humanity, I have a much clearer picture of His personal characteristics. Personally, I would have a much more restricted view of God if humanity hadn't fallen. Do you think this interaction between perfection and imperfection provides a better platform on which inspired writers could give a much more comprehensive picture about the nature of God? This doesn't imply I want a fallen creation. Do you think this biblical interaction highlighted the role played by Divine Inspiration?

On the whole, the Old Testament appears to have been stated and/or written by authors that were considered by the inhabitants of Judea to be close to God. The New Testament writers appear to have known Christ, or knew someone who was close to Christ, or lived in the same historical period as Christ. As a result of this they appear by many, to have carried an authority and Divine insights which others wouldn't have carried. Do you think the historical proximity to Jesus of the NT authors and the perceived spiritual closeness of a number of OT writers to God played a significant role in them being regarded as 'Divinely Inspired'. If you were faced with someone who had a growing reputation for being 'Divinely Inspired', what would you look for?

If Scriptures are Divinely inspired, this doesn't imply infallibility. Discuss!

There are 342 instances of quotations in the NT from the OT. The following books are the only ones not quoted:

• Ezra,
• Nehemiah,
• Esther,
• Ecclesiastes,
• Song of Solomon

Unsurprisingly, the most quoted book is Psalms (56 quotes), followed by Isaiah (37 quotes), followed by Deuteronomy (28 quotes). Considering this interaction, what may this inform you about the quality of inspiration regarding the two, separate Testaments?

I have some problems with a number of passages in the OT.

• Ps 93:1 ~ "The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
• Ps 96:10 ~ "The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.

I think even my most conservative critics may concede the earth rotates around the sun, which rotates around the galaxy etc.

I don't accept the literal interpretation of the 6-day creation story, although my belief in God the Creator is at the core of my religious belief.

I think the flood was a major local event which was extraordinarily destructive. The worldwide flood, which would have been a physical happening, occurring at one time period in our earthly history, would have left indisputable evidence of its occurrence. I can't find such evidence in the scientific literature.

However, I believe the OT has been written by authors inspired by God.

Am I being disingenuous?

In Alden Thompson's book, "Who's afraid of the Old Testament God", he identifies Judges 19-21 as the worst story in the Old Testament. It is worth reading because it is horrendous, and may even challenge the most conservative scholar to find anything that could be classed as 'Divinely Inspired' in it.

Please read it and attempt to construct a positive interpretation from lessons it may teach you?

We have been studying Paul and the immense contribution which he had been able to make to early Christianity. His authority was greatly enhanced because of his 'Road to Damascus' conversion. Because of this experience, resulting in a complete about face in terms of his belief concerning the Messiah, God was able to use him to convey, undoubtedly, a Divinely Inspired message.

Why doesn't God do something similar with Richard Dawkins? What a vehicle he would be for Divine Inspiration to a modern audience!

To be continued in two weeks...

• PDF of these notes
• Audio recording of class discussion (password protected)

I read the Bible as the written account of God's love, interactions with, and self-sacrificing focus on humanity - as well as our various responses. I think God takes a great risk working with us mortals to represent Heaven; be we in-person liaisons, writers, translators, editors etc. "God with us" is a chancy venture - for Heaven. I appreciate that risk because I learn more and grow more when I try to represent Heaven's values to others. I see and work with people in my time who respond best to someone from their culture or who is working to understand their culture. For me this is an object lesson in how God works. I think inspiration is core to this collaboration between humans and Heaven. As with all things of Heavenly origin we have the inspiration given us of Heaven and we have the choice of what we do with it. Emmanuel; God with us. A complicated mix. This, of course, is my perspective and my "witness".

English definition of the word inspiration:

1. The drawing in of breath; inhalation.
2. The process of being mentally stimulated.

Since inspiration is about breath and Hebrew is a concrete language, I am making this study about the use of "breath" in the Bible. I found "breath" to be used in terms of individuals and communities; as beginnings, nurturing, guiding or warning. These entities responded to, grew with, or rejected the use of "breath" based on a variety of factors. With communities or people who chose to accept the "breath" of God the Bible tells stories of how they grew or changed. Examples, off the top of my head include Moses, Peter, Paul, David, Deborah, Abraham, Ruth, Sarah, Rahab, Mary ... and, extra Biblically as well as much later, Ellen White

Two examples of people who were given the breath of God and chose to be... well, shall we say, grumpy about having the breath or inspiration are Balaam and Jonah.

For me, David is an example of someone who grew, made terrible mistakes, was confronted by Nathan, turned around, learned, and grew more.

One of my favorite texts in the Bible talks about what happens when people choose to act from the breath of God... or the Spirit of Prophecy...

...those who prophecy speak to others for their strengthening, encouragement, and comfort
I Corinthians 14:3.

Lenses

...I have used to think about this study.

1. Principles, policies, practices, present truth.
2. Object Lessons.
3. The original meaning of words.
4. The importance of story and the arcs of story.
5. Literary Devices.
6. The importance of understanding stages of growth in spiritual, cultural, and personal development.
7. Cultural humility and curiosity.
8. The importance of names and descriptors.
9. Notes and Reflections of Translators.
10. My life Experience and how it affects me and this study.

Personal Lens

A childhood of asthma. For me the notion of breath and breathing in is visceral and personal. I got another reminder this week when walking in below freezing weather began to affect my respiratory centers. The metaphor of breathing in what is healthy giving life and breathing in what is toxic giving illness or possible death is not theoretical for me.

Object Lesson

Trees

I have included the following article on trees because they also have something to do with breathing in. As you will notice, all of us who choose to be around trees breathe in their healthy emanations. What we do with the benefits of that breathing has to do with who we are and choices we make.

Research is showing that visiting a forest or green space, sometimes for as little as five minutes, has quantifiable benefits for mental and physical health. Numerous studies in the U.S. and around the world are exploring the health benefits of spending time outside in nature, green spaces, and, specifically, forests. Recognizing those benefits, in 1982, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries coined a term for it: shinrin-yoku or Forest Bathing. The reference list in 'Resources', below, has links to that and other specific studies. Exposure to forests and trees boosts the immune system, lowers blood pressure, reduces stress, improves mood, increases ability to focus, even in children with ADHD, accelerates recovery from surgery or illness, increases energy level, and improves sleep. In the forest while we breathe in fresh air, we breathe in phytoncides, airborne chemicals that plants give off to protect themselves from insects. Phytoncides have antibacterial and antifungal qualities which help plants fight disease. When people breathe in these chemicals, our bodies respond by increasing the number and activity of a type of white blood cell called natural killer cells or NK. These cells kill tumor- and virus-infected cells in our bodies. In one study, increased NK activity from a 3-day, 2-night forest bathing trip lasted for more than 30 days. Japanese researchers are currently exploring whether exposure to forests can help prevent certain kinds of cancer. Numerous studies show that exercising in forests or simply sitting and looking at trees reduces blood pressure as well as the stress-related hormones cortisol and adrenaline.

The complete article is shared in 'Resources', below.

Biblical Principles

...found in the origin stories of the Bible (Genesis 1-11)

1. God is a God of love.
2. Choice is an absolute mandate.
3. Judgments are only an acknowledgment of choices we have made.
4. Judgments are delayed, sometimes for centuries to give people, communities, and nations time to learn the qualities of God so they can make an informed decision.
5. Dominion was given as an object lesson of the way Heavenly beings use power: protect, nurture, build life skills, serve the vulnerable.
6. Relationships are sacred.
7. There is a conflict with God and the serpent as to who is focused on our best good.
8. God meets us where we are and offers skills and supports to bring us home.

Understanding Words: The Meaning of Breath

1. Neshamah the breath of God: the Life force.
   Genesis 2:7/; Job 4:9, 32:8, 33;4, 34:14, 37:10/Isaiah 57:16
2. Yapah - to gasp for breath like a woman in labor. Jeremiah 4:31 - the cry of the daughter of Zion
3. Ruah - the wind; the immaterial part of a person that can respond to God; the seat of life. As with most things in Hebrew this word can have two sides to its meaning (patient/quick tempered or tempestuous/trustworthy) depending on the context.
   Genesis 2:7, 7:22/ Job 7:15, 12:10/ Psalm 18:15, 33:6, 39:5, 104:29, 135:17/ Isaiah 40:17, 33:20, 59:19/ Jeremiah 51:17/ Lamentations 4:20/ Ezekiel 37:5-10/ Habbakuk 2:17
4. Nepos - breath or by extension the life force, the seat of emotion and desire.
   Genesis 1:30
5. Epaggelia - a promise given or what is promised.
   Psalm 39:5, 11, ; 62:9, 144:4/Isaiah 57:13

Greek

1. Pneu - the root word of Pneuma.
   Acts 2
2. Pneuma - breath or blow, air in motion as something necessary to life.
   John 3:8/ Hebrews 1:7/ 2 Thessalonians 2:8

Names of God used in these texts.

1. The Lord God - Yahweh - Brings into Existence whatever exists. Often used when God is making a covenant relationship. This name is usually seen as God's personal name.
2. Lord - Adonai - sovereignty or majesty. Adonai's syntactic usage is generally interpreted as plural of majesty.
3. God - Eloah or Elohim the Hebrew common noun used to refer to the true God in an honorific way.
4. Almighty or Lord God Almighty - El Shaddai - a longer description is found at the end of this study.
5. Spirit of the Lord - the Ruah of God
6. Greek - Holy Spirit - counselor, advocate, counselor
7. Greek words for God - Theos
8. Greek word for Lord - Kyrios
9. Pater - father

Place or Stage of Spiritual Development

People in Biblical stories responded differently to the breathing in inspiration available to them (which was, from my perspective of the texts always available to them.) There are many works on spiritual or corporate development. I am attaching Kohlberg's work (see 'Resources' so you can get a sense of options.

"Inspired" Communities

1. The proposed structure of Eden in Genesis 1 and 2
2. The proposed structure of Israel in Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus
3. The proposed structure of the early Christian Community in 1 Corinthians 12-14
4. The new Earth

Yahweh - Neshemah - Ruah - The Word - pneuma

I had the rest of this study sent to Steve before I realized what I wrote to you all in Telegram.

There was a time when people (a person or two (John and Matthew)) literally heard The Word and wrote down what they saw and the words they heard.

Then I started tracking. There was a time in the Biblical story where the personal God who covenanted with human beings (Yahweh) personally breathed life into us.

Then there was the time after Yahweh (even after sin the Deity is still using their personal covenant name) cursed the serpent. In those years ruah was the description of the way the Deity could bring us breath and yet still give us choice about whether or not we use it.

Then there was the time that our Deity chose to be the Word incarnate and Jesus showed, very clearly, the character of God and the length's God self-sacrificing love would go to rescue us; and have witnesses that would write it down. He gave the promise of Pneuma, the breath. And, as always, there was the choice of whether or not we would choose to use that Breath.

Sin is that which causes harm to a relationship: with people, with animals, with the planet, with our Deity. The sin against the Holy Spirit would be that which harms our relationship with Pneuma. As is written in Revelation, Jesus knocks at the door; He doesn't bang it down. God will not be where God is not invited. The sin against Pneuma is to reject the Breath; just like Baalam did in His time.

Clearly, I don't think inspiration ended with the words of Biblical canon. Those who have the Spirit of Prophecy speak strength, courage and comfort. Those who chose to live a life that grows into Agape, self-sacrificing love, grow into a life that reflects the principles by which Jesus lived.

We all have the opportunity, every day, to choose to breathe healthy air. We have the opportunity to change and love better.

1. David and Naomi made similar decision paths with similar outcomes and had very different responses (See Psalm 51 and Ruth 1:20). What do you think their responses had to do with accepting or rejecting the breath (Inspiration of God)?
2. From what inspiration did David write Psalm 51? What was the mix of inspiration and his own choice?
3. With Samson, do you think inspiration ever left or his choices about how he dealt with inspiration affected his life at various points?
4. What do you think it is about is God's breath or God's inspiration that allowed stories like a usually avoid in Judges?
5. Why do you think the writer of Judges might have been inspired to share them?
6. What's it like for you to consider the possibility that God inspired not just writers, but editors and translators...and readers?
7. What are your criteria for deciding if something is God inspired or not?
8. Why do you think God might want to work with all of us to get Their message across?
9. I am working in some of my trainings to have people look at ways our weaknesses are our strengths. What are the ways you think Jeremiah's experience affected his message? Why do you think that mix might be important?
10. What is your criteria these days for assessing if a message someone is giving is inspired by God?
11. How do you see the breath of God/Holy Spirit/inspiration changing Paul over his life.
12. How do you see it changing Ellen White?
13. Moses?
14. How do you think stages of spiritual development affect the way a writer writes?
15. ...or a reader understands?
16. What's it like to deal with the unknown, uncontrolled, or intangible?

I may change my mind but, at the moment, I am planning to do something a little different and let you discuss the questions that are particularly important to you. I am glad you are getting this early, so you have some time to ruminate.

I wish you gentle, unexpected blessings.

Catherine

• PDF of these notes, including many extra resources referred to in the notes, above.
• Audio recording of class discussion (password protected)

A continuation of the 'Inspiration 3, Part 1' discussion from two weeks ago. See previous notes....

• Audio recording of class discussion (password protected)
• Referred to in the discussion:
  • Niall Ferguson ~ "The Treason of the Intellectuals"
  • Review of "Zone of Interest" in The Guardian, with particular reference to the two stills from the film included in the review.