Thought inspiration

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Thought inspiration is a form of divine inspiration in which revelation takes place in the mind of the writer, as opposed to verbal inspiration, in which the word of God is communicated directly to the writer. The theologian George La Piana claims that after 19th century advancements in philological and historical criticism showed sacred books of different religions to be similar in form and content, the "theological doctrine of biblical inspiration which had put these books in a class by themselves underwent a rapid change, from 'verbal inspiration' to 'thought inspiration' and from 'thought inspiration' to a vague 'moral inspiration,' such as could be attributed to many a book of ancient philosophy or poetry."^[1]

In one instance ^[2] Ellen White expressed it this way:

"The Bible is written by inspired men, but it is not God's mode of thought and expression. It is that of humanity. God, as a writer, is not represented. Men will often say such an expression is not like God. But God has not put Himself in words, in logic, in rhetoric, on trial in the Bible. The writers of the Bible were God's penmen, not His pen. Look at the different writers.

It is not the words of the Bible that are inspired, but the men that were inspired. Inspiration acts not on the man's words or his expressions but on the man himself, who, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, is imbued with thoughts. But the words receive the impress of the individual mind. The divine mind is diffused. The divine mind and will is combined with the human mind and will; thus the utterances of the man are the word of God."

But she wrote many times about "the inspired words", and even wrote two strong passages supporting the belief that the Bible is dictated.

He who is the father of lies, blinds and deceives the world by sending his angels forth to speak for apostles, and make it appear that they contradict what they wrote when on earth, which was dictated by the Holy Ghost. ^[3]

The scribes of God wrote as they were dictated by the Holy Spirit, having no control of the work themselves. ^[4]

[edit] References

^ "Ancient and Modern Christian Apologetics," The Harvard Theological Review © 1931 Cambridge University Press and Harvard Divinity School
^ Manuscript 24, 1886 (written in Europe in 1886). {1SM 21.1-2}
^ The Great Controversy Between Christ and His Angels, and Satan and His Angels, chapter 30 - Spiritualism [1]
^ Testimonies for the Church, as quoted in "Inspiration of the Scriptures in the Writings of Ellen G. White" © P. Gerard Damsteegt. Journal of the Adventist Theological Society, 5/1 (1994):155-179. [2]