Perhaps motivated by his theological bias, as he offers his exposition on this same verse, Michael Green writes, "For revelation was not a matter of passive reception: it meant active co-operation."¹³ However, this is the very opposite of what Peter emphasizes in the verse. Green makes no mention of the obviously passive sense of "carried along," or how he could derive active human cooperation from the text. Of course, Green serves only as an illustration here in our discussion, since many others describe divine inspiration in such a manner.

What beliefs and assumptions is Green trying to protect, so that he would assert them even when they are nowhere to be found in the verse, or anywhere around the verse? He continues, "The fact of God's inspiration did not mean a supersession of the normal mental functionings of the human author….Moreover, he did not use any men, but holy men, those who were dedicated and pledged to his service. And even with such men, he did no violence to their personalities…."¹⁴

Green is concerned to preserve the "mental functionings" and the "personalities" of the human writers, and also the fact that they were holy men. And from this he infers that revelation could not be "a matter of passive reception," but demanded man's "active co-operation." To put this another way, he wants to prevent the misunderstanding that the human writers were unconscious, unthinking, unaware, or in a trance when they spoke and wrote from God.

However, Green's inference does not follow from his concerns. When I write, of course the "pen moves," and when I play tennis, of course the "racket swings." In this sense, both the pen and racket are active, but they are active only relative to themselves, and relative to their previous resting condition. Relative to me, they are completely passive, being carried along by my strength and my design to do my bidding. Do they "cooperate"? Of course! But this is not because I politely request their assistance, to allow me to channel my thinking and energy through them. They "cooperate" because I have control over them.

Such an analogy will stir up much indignation: "How much greater is a man than a pen, and an intelligent thinking being is in an entirely different category compared to a tennis racket!" Rather than enforcing a right view of man, this objection betrays a false view of God. For if you think that God needs you to be in a trance or somehow get your mind out of the way to exercise exhaustive control over you, then your view of God is way too small.

Of course the "mind thinks," but what causes it to think? And what causes it to think a certain thought in a certain way at each moment of the man's life? Do you think that God does not continuously control man's conscious mental states? Of course God spoke through holy men, but what caused them to be holy? Did they create themselves or make themselves holy, or did God, as the Scripture says, out of the same lump of clay created some for noble purposes and others for common use? "It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Philippians 2:13). It is God who works in man to produce holy decisions and actions.

Moreover, although he rarely did it, God could just as easily speak his words through a wicked man, exercising exhaustive control over him just as he does all his other creatures, including the holy prophets, so that he would speak his words just as infallibly as the prophets did. Balaam is such an example. For inspiration is not a matter of man's cooperation, but the Spirit's power to carry the person to do and say all that God wills. And God's control over man is so exhaustive that he does not need to suspend the person's thinking and personality in order to speak through him exactly what he wills, since even the person's thinking and personality are under his direct and continuous control.

Therefore, that the prophets retained their "mental functionings" (most of the time), their personalities, and that they were holy men have no immediate relevance to whether they offered active cooperation – God had direct access and total control over all of these factors. Rather, we must ask Peter what happened as the prophets spoke, and he tells us that they were "carried along by the Holy Spirit," as if they were ships passively driven by the wind.

 

Notes

¹³ Michael Green, 2 Peter and Jude (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987), p. 103.

¹⁴ Ibid.

(to be continued)

Posted in Theology, Expositions, Spirituality, Ministry | Permanent Link