“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;” – 2 Timothy 3:16

“Theopneustos” is the Greek transliteration of “θεόπνευστος” from which “God breathed” or “inspired by God” is derived in English. Does not the former seem more divine than the latter? God breathing seems better than Him inspiring. Why do most Bibles go with the “inspired” part?

God inspires people to do many great things. Help little old ladies cross the street. Give money to the poor. Volunteer at animal shelters. Love your neighbor. Of course, His inspiration is amazing, but His breathing is the pinnacle. He breathed life into existence. He breathed the Holy Spirit onto the 12 disciples. His breath is everything good in this world. Check out Strong’s Concordance for the breakdown of “God breathed.”

So did God inspire the Bible to be written or literally give the words to Moses and the other writers? Apparently, even within Christian circles, this is up for debate. Consider this newsletter I received from Bible Gateway.

How Could Moses Have Accurately Recorded the Events of Genesis?

Today’s reading: Genesis 26:1-6

The events recorded in Genesis occurred hundreds of years before Moses was born, yet the Bible attributes the first five books to Moses’ authorship. How could he have accurately recorded the events in Genesis without having been present to witness them?

Some Christians who stress the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture believe that the Holy Spirit gave the full text to Moses by revelation. As the Holy Spirit moved him, Moses wrote. Others argue that Moses relied on written records from eyewitnesses such as Adam, Noah, Abraham and Jacob. The original wording of Genesis 26:5 suggests that Abraham might have had a written copy of God’s law. These men may have recorded their experiences, most likely on clay tablets, and passed down their stories to others. The records made their way to Egypt with Jacob, ultimately landing in Moses’ hands. Moses then compiled these stories into one book, which explains why the Bible credits him with their authorship.

My questions are these: Where are the Adam, Noah and Jacob papers now? Did Moses throw them away? And why is the Bible silent on this whole “Moses copied n’ pasted” subject? And when in the course of naming all the animals and populating the earth did Adam have time to learn reading and writing?

Of course God could have simply given Adam the ability to read and write like a Matrix upload I guess.

But, that’s my tangent. I found a website that explains “God breathed” way better than I can. Check out TruthNet.org. Their article is really good.