Inspiration of the Scriptures

[St_Worm2]

I read the statement, and I still fail to see where you believe it elaborates what inspiration meant with regards to the how of it. The entire statement seems to be focused on what was produced, without any clarification upon the processes involved. It leaves to the interpreter mechanical questions regarding how God inspired the writers, using vague terms like "superintended" rather than giving any kind of explicit operational language.

Two or three points are important, I think. First, much most of the Divine "processes" of which you speak, IOW, the exact means of transmission and/or inspiration, are shrouded in mystery, just like the Trinity is. We know what the Biblical text reveals to us, including the fact that the Bible is "inspired" or literally, "God-breathed", but much of the rest is conjecture on our parts, to one degree or another, and venturing beyond what we know to be true should always be done cautiously, yes, as we are headed into deep waters whenever we do.

Like the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of Divine inspiration is used by the church to circumscribe and safeguard the truth that the Bible reveals to us, not to explain it, because most of it is simply beyond all of us (at least on this side of eternity anyway). IOW, we know that it's true because the Bible tells us that it is .. e.g. 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21, just like we know and accept that the Trinitarian nature of the Godhead is true.

Second, the Chicago Statement, as I mentioned, is just that, a concise "statement" (not a thorough treatment), so you need to look beyond it for additional explanation and insight. The good news (for all of us who are interested in knowing more) is that there is ready access to much more about the Statement, thanks to Dr. Sproul's teaching series.

As far as words like "superintended" go, those who gathered to write the Chicago Statement and, quite frankly, most who would take the time to read it, understand the meaning of the various words that it uses. For those who do not, the simplest/quickest way to gain an understanding of them is to read one of the many books on the topic, or in our case, turn to the teaching series provided by Dr. Sproul. In it, he has, no doubt, defined the important, but uncommon theological words for his students who, like us, may not know them like his colleagues do.

If I find out anything else as I continue to look into all of this, I'll come back and share it with you (and please do the same for me too, if you would be so kind ).

Thanks!

God bless you!!

--David