Is the New Testament inspired?

[drew89]

How do we know all of the New Testament is truly inspired? Of course the words of Christ are inspired, but what about the rest? When did God command anyone to compile the New Testament? How do we know the right books were included? I know that's a lot of questions, just something I have been thinking about lately.

 

[gzusfrk]

How do we know all of the New Testament is truly inspired? Of course the words of Christ are inspired, but what about the rest? When did God command anyone to compile the New Testament? How do we know the right books were included? I know that's a lot of questions, just something I have been thinking about lately.

...The New Testament is the living Word of God, God created the entire universe, our sun and planet, and every living thing on it, I think He could do a book. In james it says to receive the Word implanted for it is able to save your soul. There is nothing in the old testament that can save your soul. The New Testament also says to be a doer of the Word. You cannot be a doer of the old testament and be saved.several places in the New Testament say's that the Word is alive and so it is. Most people have a hard time doing away with the old testament, But thats what Jesus did. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ begin's in mark 1:1

 

[LST 1154]

God's word is eternal and everlasting. It has always been here and it will always be here.

Eternal:
adj. 1. Being without beginning or end; existing outside of time.
2. Continuing without interruption; perpetual.
3. Forever true or changeless: eternal truths.
4. Seemingly endless; interminable.
5. Of or relating to spiritual communion with God, especially in the afterlife.

Everlasting: n. 1. Something timeless, uninterrupted, or endless.
2. Eternal God. Used with the.

n. 1. Everlasting God. Used with the
2. Eternal duration; eternity
adj. 1. Lasting forever; eternal.
2. a. Continuing indefinitely or for a long period of time.

Don't believe those who would attempt to convince you that their church "wrote" God's word or that they "assembled" God's word and if it were not for them God's word simply would not exist.

Jesus said in Matt 5:18 "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God's law will disappear until its purpose is achieved." Isaiah 55:11 "It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it."

LST

 

[Knee V]

How do we know all of the New Testament is truly inspired? Of course the words of Christ are inspired, but what about the rest? When did God command anyone to compile the New Testament? How do we know the right books were included? I know that's a lot of questions, just something I have been thinking about lately.

The New Testament is the written legacy of those who were eye witnesses to Christ's life, death, and resurrection. That is why the church kept those writings, and that is why she reads them in her services. The relatively new notion of "the Bible" was unknown to the early Christians.

 

[mog144]

How do we know all of the New Testament is truly inspired? Of course the words of Christ are inspired, but what about the rest? When did God command anyone to compile the New Testament? How do we know the right books were included? I know that's a lot of questions, just something I have been thinking about lately.

You can know that the NT is definitely inspired, in fact, it was at one time, Rightly Divided until God gave the world over to reprobate minds and the world became as Gentiles (mindset).

This gentile nation then derived millions of 'Other Gospels' from a twisted and unbalanced Law that was made into one.

The Authentic NT is a proportion of the Mosaic Law, and this proportion is not equal in flesh but equal in Spirit when God becomes the Author and finisher of each person's faith.

The True Gospel was trodden under the Gentiles for 3.5 years and then the Christ comes and raises up their Temple's, which is the mind.

The Bible texts that we have today are dead in spirit until the Everlasting Gospel comes and replaces the counterfeits.

So, this said, what we have before He comes is not inspired by Him, it was changed in the 19th century.

The Good News is that it is here now and here on CF but only about two-thirds will eventually accept it. There will come greater persecutions before the eyes of the gentiles open more so that they can see a little, and enough to believe. The Messiah then rules the world and is the only one who can with His Father's Authority.

...

 

[pgp_protector]

Inspired like a Rose might Inspire a Painting, or how some define Inspired being Dictated word by word with no allowances for any human error?

 

[childofdust]

How do we know all of the New Testament is truly inspired? Of course the words of Christ are inspired, but what about the rest? When did God command anyone to compile the New Testament? How do we know the right books were included? I know that's a lot of questions, just something I have been thinking about lately.

There are only two good answers to this:

1. You can know that the New Testament is entirely inspired because the Church chose books that were authentic and true based on its authority and guidance by the Spirit, which is why you can trust them. However, in order to believe this, you have to accept Apostolic Succession or admit some sort of authority structure in the ancient Christian church that can govern you. So you either have to be Roman Catholic, Orthodox, or Anglican.

2. You can know that the New Testament is entirely inspired because you have read, investigated, and tested it to see if it is true and divine in all its parts. However, in order to believe this, you have to be willing to put the bible to the test. And, personally, I've never meet anyone who went this way with the result that they ended up concluding everything entirely inspired. Usually, when people go this way, they tend to discover flaws - like I did (and Luther as well) with Revelation, which I do not consider divine scripture. You have to be Protestant or non-Protestant to go this way.

There is a third answer, which is a really a non-answer, but it's popular:

3. You can know that the New Testament is entirely inspired because you believe it. In order to believe this, you can be anything. Since this belief is based on nothing, it doesn't matter what you believe. It's a position that will convince nobody who doesn't already blindly believe as you do. It doesn't have an answer for why it believes because it isn't an answer.

A fourth answer is pretty much a throw-away, but it might be the only option left for some people:

4. You can know that the New Testament is entirely inspired because god has spoken to you through all of its texts in a very personal, spiritual, non-physical, non-rational way that god has not done with anything else. In order to believe this, you can be gnostic, you can be a post-modern existentialist, you can, possibly, have had real divine experiences related to all the texts in the NT, or you can be a certified loony.

 

[Knee V]

The Body of Christ, which is filled with the Holy Spirit since Pentecost, is itself "inspired by God". Everything good that she has done down through the ages is "inspired by God". The New Testament, as well as the rest of the Scriptures, is a product of the Holy Spirit (or "Breath", and "inspire" means "breath in/into") working through His people. The New Testament is "inspired" because the life of the Church is "inspired". Her councils are "inspired"; her saints are "inspired"; everything good about her is "inspired".

Generally speaking, the entire discussion of the "inspiration of the Scriptures" is coming from the wrong angle, and we're usually starting the discussion with the wrong questions and the wrong frame of reference.

 

[The Conductor]

So, this said, what we have before He comes is not inspired by Him, it was changed in the 19th century.

...

... I can access, right now, on the internet, multiple translations made before then. They say the same thing. Current translations use all the manuscripts we have, from the second century to the sixteenth. I have enclosed a picture of my copy of the Greek text.


Here you can read Calvin's commentary on the books of Matthew,Mark, and Luke, written in the sixteenth century. Same as we have now. If you poke around on the site you can find other commentaries and translations written before the nineteenth century.


Here is a list of New Testament papyri, when they were copied and where they are.There's also codices and other sources.

Here's the Early Church Fathers. You could probably reconstruct the entire New Testament just from their works.

On textual criticism: (I know this is mostly about KJV Onlyists, but it's important to know.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP5YTe_I-9g

With regards to the original question, this could help a bit:
Does the Holy Bible claim to be the inspired Word of God?
Because Paul quotes Luke as scripture, we know two things:
1) There is scripture beyond the Old Testament.
2) Luke is in it.
It's a start.

Here's some more resources to help you on your way: New Testament Introduction

 

[Knee V]

Also, "Scripture" simply means "writing". There is no difference between calling something a "writing" and a "scripture". Anything that is written down is a scripture. However, there are certain writings that have been produced within the life of God's people that hold a place above any other "profane" writings, which is why we call them the "holy writings", to separate them from the other millions upon millions of "scriptures" all over the world and throughout time.

So, while I agree that Luke's writings/scriptures are "holy" writings/scriptures for special use by the church, that is not necessarily what Paul is saying. We just tend to give that word too loaded of a meaning very often. Since Luke's writings are "written down", it wouldn't make much sense not to call them "scriptures".

Islam is the "religion of the Book". That is not what Christianity is; it is the religion of the risen incarnate God, and it also happens to have a collection of sacred writings. Let's not mix up our priorities.

 

[timewerx]

How do we know all of the New Testament is truly inspired? Of course the words of Christ are inspired, but what about the rest? When did God command anyone to compile the New Testament? How do we know the right books were included? I know that's a lot of questions, just something I have been thinking about lately.

Why don't you test it?

Read the New Testament with an open mind (Not with a religious mind!) and if you find many contradictions, confusions, big loopholes - means the teaching can be interpreted to mean it's okay to sin or to do the ways of pagans, would you still regard it as inspired all throughout?

And for real world tests, just ask yourself, how many Christians actually obey the teachings of Christ in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and why are they so few.

 

[drew89]

I'm not saying that none of the New Testament is inspired. I believe there are certain books that were inspired, but how do we know each and every word of the New Testament was inspired by God? Many Biblical scholars disagree on the authenticity of certain books. We're not even certain who wrote the Gospels.

 

[cyberlizard]

the real question is, does the new testament say that its own books are inspired.

I cannot find a justification for this. In my opinion men wrote as required to address particular issues at particular times to particular audiences. Whilst the texts may provide a level of teaching for us, we should always look to the historical method of approaching the scriptures in the first instance. We should interpret them according to social context and the last thing we should do is look for hidden 'spiritual' meanings. Allegorization has probably caused more damage than any heresy ever has. In fact it probably led to most of them.


Steve

 

[LST 1154]

the real question is, does the new testament say that its own books are inspired.

I cannot find a justification for this. In my opinion men wrote as required to address particular issues at particular times to particular audiences. Whilst the texts may provide a level of teaching for us, we should always look to the historical method of approaching the scriptures in the first instance. We should interpret them according to social context and the last thing we should do is look for hidden 'spiritual' meanings. Allegorization has probably caused more damage than any heresy ever has. In fact it probably led to most of them.


Steve

All I need to do is determine what scriptures apply personally to me, meaning those that I feel were written directly to me, then follow them. Okay the OT was written to the nation of Israel so it applies to the Jews and I ain't a Jew so all of it is out. My name is not Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Timothy, Titus, Philemon, James, Peter or Jude so I can ignore everything found in those books. I don't live in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Colossae or Thessalonika, I live in the USA so I can ignore everything found in those books too. That leaves The Acts of the Apostles and I am not an apostle and finally The Revelation of John. As mentioned above my name isn't John!

LST

 

[cyberlizard]

you'll find very few scriptures which apply 'personally' to you as the books were not written to you.

You will find verses which you can apply to your life, but that is not the same thing.



Steve

 

[drew89]

the real question is, does the new testament say that its own books are inspired.

I cannot find a justification for this. In my opinion men wrote as required to address particular issues at particular times to particular audiences. Whilst the texts may provide a level of teaching for us, we should always look to the historical method of approaching the scriptures in the first instance. We should interpret them according to social context and the last thing we should do is look for hidden 'spiritual' meanings. Allegorization has probably caused more damage than any heresy ever has. In fact it probably led to most of them.


Steve

That's exactly what I was thinking, but you worded it better. I doubt Paul ever intended for his letters to be considered the Word of God. In some instances he even says it is specifically his opinion, not God's, when speaking to them on certain issues.

We have to keep audience relevance in mind when reading any scripture. Some of it was written for all Christians, but some of it was written for a very specific audience (like Revelation was written specifically for the seven churches in Asia which were in existence at the time it was written).

 

[timewerx]

I'm not saying that none of the New Testament is inspired. I believe there are certain books that were inspired, but how do we know each and every word of the New Testament was inspired by God? Many Biblical scholars disagree on the authenticity of certain books. We're not even certain who wrote the Gospels.

There's no hint of sarcasm that I'm asking you to test it.

However I can offer you a guide. If an idea in the New Testament agrees or is favorable/easy to accept by your average unsaved suburban families, e.g. they won't hate you for saying it to them, there's a high certainty that it is uninspired.

Because your average suburban family imposes a huge burden to God's creations, trees, animals, and also the poor. They consume a lot of meat, kill a lot of trees (displace a lot of animals) just to have their nice 3 bedroom house in the burbs. They have a big carbon and garbage foot print. And they have a good share of the money that came off the backs of the poor. Those poor people who worked in the mines, forests, factories in 3rd world.

You will notice upon reading of the four Gospels that in a nutshell, Jesus is anti-wealth, anti-society, anti-technology/worldly wisdom or knowledge/intelligence, and pro-poor.

It's almost funny to think that is the case because it is the poor who are content with their situation who imposes the least burden upon God's beloved creations. They are also the ones who render cheap labor so the world could make insane profits off their labor.

If we were to be made accountable of all the times we took advantage of one another for profit maybe whether we are aware of it or not, the poor would be at the bottom of the list.

One could justify we are to take dominion over God's creations.... But did God commanded us to be greedy and evil masters of His creations? No!

There you go! Actually, the four Gospels is the guide, the unsustainable greed and exploiting the poor of the ways and wisdom of the world is there for scientific proof.

In a nutshell, if an Idea in the Bible, agrees, befriends, and tolerate worldly ways and wisdom it is not inspired. You might think the world got some ideas from the Bible, well it only got ideas that aren't inspired. The world will destroy itself just to satisfy its greed!

 

[drew89]

There's no hint of sarcasm that I'm asking you to test it.

However I can offer you a guide. If an idea in the New Testament agrees or is favorable/easy to accept by your average unsaved suburban families, e.g. they won't hate you for saying it to them, there's a high certainty that it is uninspired.

Because your average suburban family imposes a huge burden to God's creations, trees, animals, and also the poor. They consume a lot of meat, kill a lot of trees (displace a lot of animals) just to have their nice 3 bedroom house in the burbs. They have a big carbon and garbage foot print. And they have a good share of the money that came off the backs of the poor. Those poor people who worked in the mines, forests, factories in 3rd world.

You will notice upon reading of the four Gospels that in a nutshell, Jesus is anti-wealth, anti-society, anti-technology/worldly wisdom or knowledge/intelligence, and pro-poor.

It's almost funny to think that is the case because it is the poor who are content with their situation who imposes the least burden upon God's beloved creations. They are also the ones who render cheap labor so the world could make insane profits off their labor.

If we were to be made accountable of all the times we took advantage of one another for profit maybe whether we are aware of it or not, the poor would be at the bottom of the list.

One could justify we are to take dominion over God's creations.... But did God commanded us to be greedy and evil masters of His creations? No!

There you go! Actually, the four Gospels is the guide, the unsustainable greed and exploiting the poor of the ways and wisdom of the world is there for scientific proof.

In a nutshell, if an Idea in the Bible, agrees, befriends, and tolerate worldly ways and wisdom it is not inspired. You might think the world got some ideas from the Bible, well it only got ideas that aren't inspired. The world will destroy itself just to satisfy its greed!

And where did you get this guide from? Jesus was not anti-wealth; he was anti-greed. Those are two very different things. There are plenty of wealthy people who are truly generous. It's possible to be wealthy without living in an expensive house, driving expensive cars, etc. Many wealthy Christians appear no different than anyone else and freely give as they feel led to. We are called to be good stewards of what we are given. Being poor because you have been a poor steward of what God has given you is not admirable. Of course some are poor through no fault of their own.

 

[REPHAIAHPEDAHEL]

2 Timothy 3:16-17 NASB
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; [17] so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

 

[REPHAIAHPEDAHEL]

Drew89, who wrote the words of Christ in the new testament?