The Bible - the wholly Inspired Word of God

The Bible Manuscript Society is dedicated to the protection, preservation and promotion of the Holy Bible down through the centuries. This is because we believe the Bible is the wholly inspired Word of God, God-breathed, and incapable of error, except for man-made errors such as those in translation or copying.

We believe this for three major reasons.

The first reason is simply one of observation. About a third of the Bible is prophecy. If we follow Bible prophecy through time, we find that the Bible has foretold world history for thousands of years, and continues to do so. World empires and nations have all risen and fallen, or remained, exactly as the Scriptures said.

As the Bible says:

This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

(Daniel 4:17)

In other words, world rulers may think they rule and are in control, but they are put in place by the Lord God Almighty, and he will dispose of them when they have served His purpose. As we follow prophecy in the Bible down through thousands of years, we find this to be true. We see the finger of God in human history, exactly as the Bible has said. Of course, only God's Servants, who read and understand the Bible, will ever know this. Most people neither know nor care about what the Bible says.

In fact, nothing of significance happens in this world without it being revealed first, through the prophets, in the Holy Bible:

Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

(Amos 3:7)

The second reason is archaeology. As we read through the pages of the Bible, either we are reading prophecy - Bible prophecy which has been fulfilled, or Bible prophecy which is being fulfilled - or we are reading history. And if we are reading Bible history, over and over again we find overwhelming evidence of it through archaeology.

Archaeology literally proves that the Bible, God's Word, is true. We find that events happened exactly as the Bible said they happened. Cities have been lost or destroyed, or remain uninhibited, exactly as the Bible said they would. World empires have risen, then come to an end just as the Bible said they would. Individuals lived and died just as the Bible says they did. Archaeology proves the Bible. Dig up the past, and the archaeologist finds more evidence that the Bible is true. Only a fool disbelieves the Bible. In fact, the Bible says this:

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

(Psalm 14:1)

And so, we have already seen two major reasons why the Bible is the wholly inspired Word of God - (1) archaeology, and (2) prophecy. But there is a third reason. "In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established" (Matthew 18:16), and, "A threefold cord is not quickly broken." (Ecclesiastes 4:12).

The third reason for believing that the Bible is the wholly inspired Word of God is that the Bible itself says so. We are told that:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

(2Timothy 3:16-17)

Thus, ALL SCRIPTURE in the Bible is given by inspiration. Whether it is prophecy, or history, or exhortation, or rebuke - it is all given by inspiration, and all the wholly inspired Word of God.

To be the inspired Word of God, it means that the Bible was written by prophets, by holy people through whom God revealed His message. Or, as the Bible puts it:

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

(2Peter 1:21)

What does the phrase, "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit", actually mean? Well, let's answer the question by looking at a few facts, from the pages of the Bible.

In the Bible, the phrase, "Thus saith the LORD" occurs 415 times in the Old Testament, in Exodus, Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and Luke. You can hardly go a page or two in the Bible before you come across this phrase. The Bible is the exact and precise Word of God.

Let's look at another phrase in the Bible. The phrase, "The word of the LORD came unto... [someone]" occurs 92 times in the Old Testament, in Genesis, 2 Samuel, 1Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Jonah, Haggai and Zechariah. Again, you don't have to read far in the Bible, to find that God is speaking to someone, or through someone.

In fact, the people to whom the word of the LORD is explicitly said to have come, include not just the prophets who have had books of the Bible named after them, but also Abraham, Nathan, Gad, David, Solomon, Jehu the son of Hanani, Elijah, Shemaiah, Ezekiel, Jonah, Haggai, Zechariah, and John the son of Zechariah in the New Testament.

Over and over again, therefore, we are told that the Bible is the wholly inspired Word of God. Archaeology proves it. Prophecy proves it. Only a fool would deny it, but the world isn't short of those.

The Bible is given through, "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit". The Bible was revealed through the prophets. As well as unnamed prophets in Scripture, many other prophets are spoken of in the Bible, including Samuel the seer, Gad the seer, Nathan the prophet, Iddo the seer, Hanani the seer, Asaph the seer, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite, the prophet Jehu, Elijah the prophet, Elisha the prophet, Shemaiah the prophet, Oded the prophet, Hananiah the prophet and Jesus the prophet.

There are also prophetesses, including Miriam the prophetess, Deborah the prophetess, Huldah the prophetess, the prophetess Noadiah, Isaiah's wife who is called a prophetess, and Anna a prophetess in the New Testament.

Prophets and prophetesses, therefore, were those to whom the Word of God was revealed. No wonder, then, that prophecy proves that the Bible is the inspired Word of God.

The Bible says that:

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth.

(2Chronicles 16:9)

God makes certain that His Word is fulfilled. This is why the Bible is inspired. This is why we can trust the Bible. This is why the Bible can give us hope. As the Bible says:

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

(James 4:8)

As we saw in the beginning, the Bible is the wholly inspired Word of God. And so, let us draw nigh to God, by whose Spirit the Bible was written.