When we say that Scripture is “inspired by God,” we are not simply using a poetic phrase. The Apostle Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, tells us plainly: “All Scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). The original Greek word Paul used—theopneustos—literally means “God-breathed.” This means that the words of the Bible were not born of human wisdom alone but were breathed into existence by the Holy Spirit.
Many people ask, “If human authors wrote the Bible, how can it truly be from God?” It’s a good and honest question. God did not dictate the Bible word for word like a teacher reciting notes. Rather, He worked through human writers—their languages, their cultures, their experiences—so that what they wrote truly expressed His will and truth. The divine inspiration of Scripture means that the Holy Spirit guided them so that what they recorded would faithfully reveal God’s message for all generations.
The Church teaches that this inspiration safeguards the Bible from error in what it teaches about faith and salvation. The writers were fully human, yet their words were also fully divine in origin. This is a mystery much like the Incarnation itself—just as Jesus is both fully God and fully man, so Scripture is both truly the word of man and truly the Word of God. Through this mystery, God chose to speak in human voices so that every heart might hear Him clearly.
What this means for us is deeply personal. When we open the Bible, we are not just reading an ancient book. We are encountering the living God who still speaks through those same words today. The Spirit that inspired the prophets and apostles is the same Spirit who moves in our hearts when we read Scripture in faith. That is why the Bible has power to comfort, to challenge, and to change us—it carries the breath of God within it.
May we never take lightly the sacred gift of Scripture. Each time we open it, we can whisper a simple prayer: “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
— Fr. John Matthew, for Christian Way
