Tests of Inspiration (Tests for determining which writings are from God)

1. Be spoken from, and in the name of, the Lord (Jer. 30:2; 1 Pet. 1:21).
2. Exalt and glorify God (John 5:39 & 17:4-10; Eph. 1:13-14).
3. Directs the love of men toward God (Col. 3:16; Rev. 19:10).
4. Draw men to repent of their rebellion against God and to submit fully to Him (Ps. 19:17; 2 Tim. 3:16).
5. Prophecies come to fulfillment with 100 percent accuracy (Deut. 18:21-22).
6. Support the laws, precepts, and principles set forth in the rest of Scripture–without contradiction (Is. 8:20; Matt. 5:17; John 10:35).
7. Communicate truth, and only truth, in all disciplines of knowledge (Ps. 119:160; Heb. 6:18).

1. Establish the correct frame of reference for any given passage.
2. Make no conclusions about a given theme, doctrine, or principle without examining and considering the whole Word of God.
3. Draw and accept only those conclusions that are consistent with the whole Word of God.
4. Interpret narrative passages in the light of didactic or "instructive" passages.
5. Interpret illustrations and examples in the light of principles.
6. Take any passage literally unless its context clearly indicates that it should be taken figuratively or symbolically.
7. Accept a symbol definition only if the symbol is defined as such elsewhere in Scripture.
8. Recognize that many prophecies are fulfilled more than once.
9. Be prepared to draw more than one application from any given passage.
10. Be alert to occasional problems in translation from the original languages.

Scripture contains no contradictions except those it accurately reports as being committed by various people, e.g., the Pharisees (John 7-9). The word contradiction means "direct opposition between two statements or between any two things compared." A paradox; on the other hand, is a seeming contradiction that can be resolved by any one or more of the following means:

1. Establishing the true frame of reference, or point of view, of a given passage or passages.
2. Establishing the correct definition of a given system or systems under consideration. (Examples of "systems" are an eye, a family unit, a church, a galaxy, the kingdom of heaven, etc.)
3. Observing over a longer or shorter range of magnitudes (e.g., over a longer or shorter span of time or distance).
4. Observing over more or other dimensions (e.g., three dimensions instead of two, five instead of three, time instead of distance, etc).
5. Gathering more detailed or complete information.

Scripture definitely does contain many paradoxes, all of which may be resolved by applying one or more of these steps of resolution. These paradoxes, when they involve more than just four dimensions of space and time, attest to the words of the Bible coming from a source transcendent to human experience and capacities.

REASONS TO BELIEVE, P.O. Box 5978, Pasadena, CA 91117 (626) 335-1480.

Copyright 1980, Reasons To Believe

Sword & Spirit Ministries
P.O. Box 712 • Murrieta, CA 92564

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