Is the Bible the Word or God or the words of God?

Question

In other words, did the authors of the books of the Bible simply write down what God told them with God correcting their fallible human mistakes or is what they wrote a reflection of God's influence on them. Should we take each word literally or take the spirit of what was intended?

Answer 1

God inspired the Bible through forty writers.
Inspiration doesn't mean the biblical writer just felt enthusiastic, like the composer of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Nor does it mean the writings are necessarily inspiring to read, like an uplifting poem. The biblical Greek worked for inspiration literally means "God-breathed." Because God breathes out Scripture - because it originates from Him - it is true and inerrant.
Biblical inspiration may be defined as God's superintending of the human authors so that, using their own individual personalities - and even their writing styles - they composed and recorded without error His revelation to humankind in the words of the original autographs. In other words, the original documents of the their own personalities and literary talents, wrote under the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit, the result being a perfect and errorless recording of the exact message God desired to give to man.
Hence, the writers of Scripture were not mere writing machines. God did not use them like keys on a typewriter to mechanically reproduce His message. Nor did He dictate the words, page by page. The biblical evidence makes it clear that each writer had a style of his own. (Isaiah had a powerful literary style; Jeremiah had a mournful tone; Luke's style had medical overtones; and John was very simple in his approach.) The Holy Spirit infallibly worked through each of these writers, through their individual styles, to in errantly communicate His message to humankind.

Answer 2

The text you are interested in is 2 Timothy 3:16. My Bible, the Good News Bible, says, "All Scripture is inspired by God ... ".
It is also important to not build a foundation on just one verse from the Bible.
I used to believe the first part of your question, but my opinion at the present is largely the first with some of the second, that is, God gave certain people a special gift which enabled them to write down the texts in the way he wanted.
Also, you have to remember that unlike today, the ancient texts had to be copied by hand and were written in the local language. The Jews and Christians were very careful with the copying, but nevertheless, small errors do appear to have crept in, and I don't know what the process was if a person reading a text believed a mistake in copying had been made. In addition, a small amount of meaning is lost during translation.
In regards to taking literally or the intent, there is always debate on this issue. It depends a lot on what the text is about. A friend once told me that she never took a text on it's own, she would read two paragraphs above and below the text in question. My current belief is you should check a theme with what Jesus said in the Gospels and what the other New Testament writers (especially St Paul) say on the issue.
For example, should Christian men wear hats? If you are bald and it's a very sunny day then God would expect you to wear a hat!

Answer 3

The Bible is the words of the people who stated their interpretation of the idea of what God's words would be.

The spiritual influence of God was probably a motivator in the writings of the book....but language and time have clearly taken their toll on our current understanding of the words.

Answer 4

Neither. Just the best piece of propaganda the world has ever seen. Remember that there were more than 12 cobbers to Jesus but the Catholic Church decided who was in and who was out. In the end, it is politics, not about the word of an arab jew.

Also, there were other people out there saying the same things, doing the same healings, all trained in Shamanism including Jesus. It's just that Jesus was the charasmatic one.

Answer 5

Neither.
God is the main fictional character of the selection of ancient middle eastern tales and legends called the Bible.
The authors invented him. Like Peter Pan or Harry Potter

Answer 6

coming from a man that has had Ramon noodles cooked and uncooked between my butt cheeks, i would have to say good luck.

Answer 7

Neither, Scotty. Now, beam me up.

Answer 8

the bible was made so people could understand him more

Answer 9

you appear to be an incredibly intelligent person. i like you. we should have coffee.

Answer 10

ah, no, it was written primarily by a guy named Chuck