A Simple Case for Inspiration

Why should we believe Jesus?

How do we justify our confidence in biblical authority when many—including some Christians—deny that the Bible is inspired by God and inerrant? The Scripture’s own claim about its divine source is clear, but it’s insufficient for skeptics outside the church or in.

As I recall, I first heard this method for making the case for inspiration and inerrancy from the late John Warwick Montgomery.

I’d like to suggest a line of reasoning that is compelling and holds promise to get people thinking about Scripture as God’s Word—and if God’s Word, then inerrant, of necessity. If God can’t err, then his Word can’t err, the thinking goes. Simple.

As I recall, I first heard this method for making the case for inspiration and inerrancy from the late John Warwick Montgomery. He dubbed the technique “retroduction.” The approach goes something like this.

First, instead of starting with a presumption of inspiration—“God said it, I believe it, that settles it”—the first step in our case for inspiration and inerrancy focuses on Jesus in the Gospels. The testimonies of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, tested according to the standard canons of historical research, demonstrate that, on the main, the Gospels are reliable accounts of the life of Christ—as an abundance of academic research attests to.

Second, we examine that reliable historical record to determine Jesus’ own view of Scripture. In Matthew 15:6, he calls the Old Testament “the Word of God,” as he does in John 10:35—adding, “and the Scripture cannot be broken,” implying inerrancy. When he prays for his disciples, he asks, “Sanctify them in the truth,” then adds, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17).

During his earthly ministry, Jesus consistently affirmed the divine authority and complete reliability of all categories of Hebrew Scripture, frequently quoting from every section—the Torah, the prophets, and the writings. Sometimes it was enough for Jesus simply to say, “It is written,” to secure his point (Matt. 11:10, Mark 9:12–13, Luke 19:46). Curiously, Jesus cited as historically sound the most controversial accounts currently, like Jonah (Matt. 12:40), Adam (Matt. 19:4), and Noah (Matt. 24:37–39).

According to Jesus, then, the entire corpus of Hebrew Scripture had divine authority because God himself authored the words. Christ took his claim a step further, though, indicating that his own words were also God’s words since both are eternal (Matt. 24:35, cf. Isa. 40:8). Thus, Jesus’ words in the Gospels had the same authority as God’s words in the Old Testament.

Why should we believe Jesus, though? Is there anything in the historical record that gives us a reason to take Jesus seriously on his claims about Old Testament authority and his own authority to speak for God? That’s the next step. Here’s what we find.

Those same historically reliable accounts record that a man named Jesus claimed to be God (e.g., John 8:58), worked attesting miracles, predicted his own death and resurrection, was executed on a Roman cross, then raised himself from the dead three days later (John 2:19–21)—to which his disciples were all witnesses (Acts 2:32). The miracles confirm Jesus’ claims to divinity, also securing the truth of his view of Scripture.

A caveat is in order here. Many give the nod to the historical reliability of the Gospels in general but then dismiss out of hand any references to miracles. This will not do, though, since the same texts attest equally to both. If we can trust the record regarding the one, why not the other? Miracle claims in the text must be assessed on their merits according to the evidence at hand—just like the Gospels’ other historical claims—instead of being arbitrarily dismissed due to bias against the supernatural.

If we have good reason to trust Jesus’ opinion, then we have good reason to trust the authority of the Bible.

Here’s the final piece to our case for biblical inspiration and, therefore, inerrancy. In the upper room on the night of Jesus’ betrayal, he promised his disciples that the Holy Spirit would be given to them to bring to their remembrance the past things he’d taught them during his ministry (John 14:26) and also to guide them into all future truth (John 16:13).

Thus, Jesus transferred his authority to his apostolic band to continue his mission and to provide divinely ordained instruction that carried the same authority as Christ himself—which is exactly how the early church understood their authority.

If we have good reason to trust Jesus’ opinion, then we have good reason to trust the authority of the Bible—both Old Testament and New—that he fully endorsed. If Jesus is God, then when he identifies the Bible as the word of God, he speaks with authority from the “inside,” not from the “outside.”

A Simple Case for Inspiration