All Scripture is inspired by God

All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)

In the controversies over the Bible in the late 19th century and early 20th century, this verse was a rallying cry for those who wanted to resist criticism of the Bible. Scholarly "criticism" (simply meaning "close analysis") was demonstrating in the 19th century how the Bible was a multi-layered composition from different times and places. For example, compare Genesis 1 and 2 for two different portrayals of the creation of life. Genesis 1 shows the priestly vision of an orderly universe that God created by Word in six days in rested, the basis for a seven-day week. Genesis 2, on the other hand, portrays the personal God YHWH (God's name disclosed to Moses in Exodus 3:1) who walks in the garden with Adam and creates animals as potential companions to the earth-man ('Adam').

This scholarly criticism became social criticism: some non-believers took this as evidence that the Bible was a human-made book and concluded it was unreliable for knowledge about the world or humanity or God. Some believers heard this criticism, and their faith was shaken. Others picked up 2 Tim 3:16-17 as a battle cry: the Bible is inspired and because of its inspiration it is reliable, and anyone who said differently is a heretic!

Here's the first problem: In 2 Timothy,  Paul was not talking about what we call the Bible or the creation of the world in seven 24-hr days. At his time "scripture" referred to what we call the "Old Testament!" He is concerned that some are tossing aside the Jewish scriptures because Christ set them free, but here he argues the "scripture" (Old Testament) is useful for shaping righteous people who do good works. Ironically, Paul is arguing for the reliability of Genesis 1, but not for a seven 24-hr day, but to shape righteous people who, in the image of God, will work in service to others six days a week and take a day of rest to worship God and be renewed.

The bigger problem is that some people try to deny that the Bible is a human book at all. Paul assumes the human element. The word translated "inspired" is literally "God-breathed". He never claims that God dictated every word and letter of the Bible, but argues that the Holy Spirit breathed through the human authors and human situations. The Bible, in this way, is what human beings wrote after and during encounters with the One True God. It is both the Word of God and the Word of Man simultaneously.

Paul's point is that God works through scripture and through interpreters who use it to teach, reprove, correct, and train people to do good works that glorify God. Without the Holy Spirit working through us to listen to the words of scripture as the Word of God, it would only be the Word of Man. Without the Holy Spirit working through teachers and interpreters and readers, the Bible would only be words on a page, bits of ink copied, interesting historical documents but nothing that demands attention, changes lives, or directs finite human beings to the infinite God.