Sufficient and Profitable (17)

Third, the dictation theory is far too weak to describe or explain the divine inspiration of Scripture. This might surprise some people, since they think that dictation would have been the strongest possible method for God to produce the Bible through human writers. However, we have shown that if the Bible was nothing more than dictated from God to men, then it was not inspired at all. For if such were the case, although the dictation would indeed be God-breathed, and thus infallible and inerrant, we would not be able to say the same about the written product.

People usually oppose the dictation theory because they think that pure dictation would have obscured the personal characteristics of the human writers, but since the Bible exhibits these characteristics, it is said that the Scripture was not given by dictation. Inerrancy is not in question here, as these people could also affirm it, but we are trying to ascertain what happened in inspiration, and the implication of this perspective is that dictation is too "strong" to describe or explain inspiration.

However, the opposite is true. The above fails to consider where these human characteristics came from in the first place. They were not self-created, and the human writers were not autonomous. Dictation is not false because it minimizes the human role, although the human role was merely to be "carried along," but the theory is false because it undermines the sovereignty of God. It is false not because it gives too little freedom to man, but because it leaves too little control to God.

Consider the relationship between an employer and his secretary, not only on the interpersonal level but on the metaphysical level as well. In the first place, they have to find each other. The employer puts out an advertisement for the opening, and an interested person applies for the job. After reviewing her qualifications, the employer either accepts or rejects the applicant. This continues until the employer finds a satisfactory candidate and hires her.

As she begins to work for this employer, the secretary brings into her work her education, experience, personality, belief system, and even health condition – the employer has no influence over these previously determined factors. He assigns a number of tasks for her to do, and one of these is probably to take down his dictation. He would dictate to the secretary memos, letters, and various documents. For our purpose, we can even assume that his dictation is always perfect, so that all the secretary needs to do is to write down his words exactly as spoken. The written product, of course, should reflect only the personality, vocabulary, and other characteristics of the employer, and not that of the secretary.

After work, the secretary goes home. The employer has no access to her private life, inner thoughts, personal decisions, and physical condition. He has no right or power to determine how many children she has, where they go to school, where her husband works, what friends she makes, and when her mother dies. All he can do is to dictate his words to her, but she has to write them down of her own will (the human employer has no direct control over her will)¹⁷ and according to her ability.

 

Notes

¹⁷ Here we are not speaking of her relation to God, who exercises direct, total, and continuous control over her will.

(to be continued)