On this page (see below) I will add content that illustrates how scripture is both human and divine. I am working on content to show that although scripture isn’t perfect, it has divinity throughout.
I believe that the Spirit of God worked with human prophets, but these prophets were still people. They had views like those in their time and place. They viewed God and the cosmos the way we would expect, and until they had further revelation to clarify these views, they worked with the light they had. At least this is what I think went down, we really don’t know! The more I am subject to the opinions of scholars using the best tools available, the more I am exposed to the realities of our own limitations. There simply is so much we just do not know!
Hugh Nibley once said:
“A common pitfall in the reconstruction of the past is the illusion that if one has explained by a proper scientific method how a thing COULD have happened, one has actually explained how it DID happen.” 1
There is no evidence that the prophetic biblical authors spoke or wrote differently from us. God didn’t turn these inspired human authors into sock puppets to produce God’s words or into secretaries that took word for word dictation. In the words of Peter Enns, “The Bible, at every turn, shows how ‘connected’ it is to its own world is a necessary consequence of God incarnating himself. When God reveals himself, he always does so to people, which means that he must speak and act in ways that they will understand….It is essential to the very nature of revelation that the Bible is not unique to its environment. The human dimension of Scripture is essential to its being Scripture.” 2
Notes
- Hugh Nibley, open letter to Loren F. Wheelwright (16 September, 1965), as cited in Vern Swanson, Legacy of the Holy Grail, Cedar Fort, 2006, p. 411.
- Peter Enns, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the problem of the Old Testament, Baker Academic, 2005, p. 20-21.
Articles
Ark – The Nephite Temple and the Ark
Book of Mormon – Could the Book of Mormon be an “E Source” document?
Balaam – Is he a good guy or a bad guy?
Bene Elohim – The Sons of God and Deuteronomy 32
The Birth of Moses and the Sargon Birth Legend
Brick walls, scientific laws, and questions
Conflicting views of God in the Bible
Construction of the Synoptic Gospels
Deuteronomy 1:1 – “On this side Jordan” or is it the other side of the Jordan?
Documentary Hypothesis – A Short Introduction
Don’t Curse the Deaf! The Enchanted Worlds of the Ancient Near East
Egyptian stories repackaged in scripture: Lazarus and the Rich Man
Evidentiary Equilibrium – A look at John 6
Exodus 17 and Numbers 20 – The Movable Rock, or The Mobile Drinking Fountain
Exodus 32 – Two Kingdoms, Two Writers
Genesis 6:3 and the 120 year age limit of mankind
Genesis 6-9 With Sources Revealed – The Composite Nature of the Flood Narrative
Habbakuk 3 and Resheph in the Hebrew Bible
How’d We Get the Bible? (The Short Version)
The Baal-Peor Incident – Numbers 25
John – Seeing the composition of the Gospel of John
John – Evidence of Authorship – The Conflict with “The Jews”
John 5 – The myth of the pool of Bethesda
Joseph Sold into Egypt – 2 Narratives Stitched Together – E and J
Josiah – How did Josiah change the religion of the Jewish nation?
Love and Hate in Helaman 15 – Ancient Vassal Treaties in the text of The Book of Mormon
Lord’s truths are hidden in the scriptures
Nephi compared to the Deuteronomist
Monolatry in the Old Testament
Paul – Reasons why Paul is so confusing (part 1)
Problems with numbers in the Old Testament
Professional Prophets in Old Testament times? Yes – See Micah 3 and Amos 7
Quail! Lots and lots of quail! – Numbers 11
Did God provide quail before or after Sinai? (Comparing Numbers 11 to Exodus 16)
No revelation is entirely perfect
Scripture Comes in its Cultural Packaging
Scripture is both human and divine – Dummelow
Second and Third Isaiah
Slaves be obedient to your masters!
Slave Laws in the Old Testament – An analysis of Exodus 21, Deuteronomy 15, and Leviticus 25
Stories told twice in the Bible
Will the real priests please stand up? A rivalry between the House of Aaron and the Levites
Zedek in the Ancient Near East – Another example of repackaging
I was made aware of Enns’s Inspiration and Incarnation and have been working my way through it. I’m finding it very insightful.
Peter Enns is a good introduction to this topic, especially in helping literalists with the hard landing that takes place when we start really reading the scriptures in detail, seeing the inconsistencies. He helps readers understand that this is okay, as God speaks to man in the language and the culture of those who are coming unto him. In my opinion, that is how God works with us, because he is trying to bring us to him -see D&C 1:24. Thanks for visiting, great comment.