Article October 1, 1966 Issue

"The inspired Word"

JAMES BUTLER

"As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life." So runs the first religious tenet of Christian Science, as set out by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."^{Science and Health, p. 497;} By recognizing the Bible as an authority which renders ecclesiastical tradition superfluous, this declaration places Christian Scientists squarely within the fold of Protestant Christianity.

Is all the Bible inspired? The sentence in II Timothy translated in the King James Version, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable,"^{II Tim, 3:16;} may also be translated, as in the American Standard Version, "Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable." And what is meant by inspiration?

Inspiration is in general understood to mean some form of intuition or insight differing from the ordinary processes of the human mind. As used in a religious sense, the word implies revelation, an impartation of the divine; thought is inspired when it catches a glimpse of spiritual reality, of the presence and power of God. Such glimpses, amounting at times to continuous perception, are characteristic of the Bible, but of some parts of it much more than others, and especially of the New Testament, since the Bible represents the stages of a progressive unfoldment of the truth of God and man. The psalms are full of such insights, and the great prophets derived from them guidance and encouragement in the circumstances of their day.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

An Individual Contribution to World Peace