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within his own denomination he labors to demonstrate that the attacks against Scripture have yet to prove anything against it. Then came his famous 1881 “Inspiration,” co-authored with A.A. Hodge, a work that gained him wide recognition and established a course that would mark his life and career forever, culminating in perhaps 1,500 published pages devoted to the theme and a body of material that stands still today as the highwatermark in the exposition of this doctrine. Warfield on Inspiration In more contemporary Christian literature on inspiration frequent mention is made of Warfield’s extensive treatment of the doctrine of inerrancy. This is true but only in a secondary sense. It does not quite capture Warfield’s own burden in the debate. Indeed, it is surprising to many to learn that mentions of “inerrancy” are very seldom found in Warfield. He is very concerned for the doctrine of inerrancy, of course, and he speaks often of the Bible’s “trustworthiness” and “authority” and so on. But the focus throughout his writing is not on the narrow question of inerrancy. His attention is given, rather, to the divine origin and character of the Bible — the doctrine of “inspiration.” That is to say, Warfield’s over-riding concern is to demonstrate that the Bible is the very Word of God himself. Once it is established that the Bible is God’s Word, then the question of inerrancy-infallibility-trustworthiness-authority falls immediately into place. As he says in his 1880 inaugural lecture at Western Seminary, “Inspiration and Criticism,” inspiration is a doctrine which claims that by a special, supernatural, extraordinary influence of the Holy Ghost, the sacred writers have been guided in their writing in such a way, as while their humanity was not superseded, it was yet so dominated that their words became at the same time the words of God, and thus, in every case and all alike, absolutely infallible (italics added). More often and more formally he defined inspiration as
a supernatural influence [sometimes “superintendence”] exerted on the sacred writers by the Spirit of God, by virtue of which their writings are given Divine trustworthiness. Consistently Warfield presses the truth of the divine origin of Scripture, and it is this more fundamental concern that occupies his attention. And for this foundational concern he famously provided a massive exegetical defense. One primary dimension of this defense, of course, was a comprehensive analysis of the major statements of the doctrine of inspiration found in the New Testament. Three passages stand out. The first is 2 Timothy 3:16, the primary contribution of which is its description of Scripture as “God-breathed” — “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” Warfield quibbles with the older translation, “inspired of God.” The point is not that God breathed into the Biblical writings, thus giving them a divine quality. Rather, the point is that Scripture itself is breathed out by God. Which is to say, the Bible — “all” of it — is God’s spoken Word. Second Peter 1:18-21 enforces and extends our understanding of 2 Timothy 3:16 by stating just how God “inspired” or “breathed out” Scripture. We ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. Warfield highlights two assertions here. First, an emphatic denial: Scripture does not find its ultimate www.credomag.com | 47