Smiling, thank you. So, it's not important to hold to 66 books? Or the ordering of the books? We are keeping in consideration, doctrines, right? And, when it comes to the doctrine of inspiration, doesn't that actually lend to the integrity of the meaning(words) and message(doctrines)?
Dare I say, I just got my rider from the repair shop yesterday -_- and the weather is amazing here this week... I too need to go cut my grass! I loved your response to that earlier, yes, unfortunately, it will just grow back I know, but my dog needs a yard and short grass keeps the vermin at bay... chat later, it took me forever to catch up on the posts, whew
Oof! You're taking me into deeper waters--uncharted territories.
Let me share from an article I just read.
"The proper view of biblical inspiration is the orthodox view of the church, which says that the Bible is the plenary, verbally inspired Word of God."
Source:
What are the different theories of biblical inspiration?
Now, I'm being super-honest here (I always seek to be honest; just mean I'm sharing some personal weakness here) -- I do not agree with the quote from the article above. Personally, my view looks more like a combination of all of the views presented in this article.
In the article, the author states: "...neo-orthodoxy denies that the Bible is the Word of God. Rather,
the Bible is a witness, or mediator, to the Word of God, Jesus." This is my understanding.
I know this will likely be a red flag for many--and I welcome their input into my life.
I do not agree with the author's interpretation of the neo-orthodoxy view that "... the transcendence of God denies any concept of natural theology (i.e., that God can be known through His creation)." --
I believe God can be known through His creation.
"The theory of limited inspiration says that
God guided the human authors but allowed them freedom to express themselves in their works..." and I agree with this understanding--but I think "freedom to express themselves" means "retain the personality of the individual authors" as communicated by the orthodox view: "When the human authors were putting pen to paper, the Holy Spirit “carried them along” so that what they wrote were the “breathed-out” words of God. So, while the writings retain the personality of the individual authors (Paul’s style is quite different from that of James or John or Peter), the words themselves are exactly what God wanted written."
This is a tough subject! I do not think there is a correct answer which is supported by the Scriptures.