The special activity of the Holy Spirit, by which the recording of revelation was effected, is usually referred to by the name of inspiration, 2 Tim. 3:16. Some light is shed on the nature of this inspiration by comparisons borrowed from nature and by specific explanations in Scripture itself. In general, a human being is susceptible to having thoughts of others taken into his consciousness and to being guided in his train of thought by others; all education and instruction, all knowledge and science, are based on this susceptibility. Usually this communication of thoughts by others to us takes place by means of signs or gestures, of spoken or written words. And we, with consciousness and intention, often with great effort, incorporate these thoughts into our thinking and make them a part of our spiritual life. But the phenomena of hypnotism, suggestion, etc., prove that even without any self-effort on our part, ideas and thoughts can be introduced into our consciousness and imposed as a dominating force on our will and actions. In this way, people can be reduced to mindless tools that simply carry out what someone else (the hypnotist) commands them to do. Scripture and experience show that in this way man is also susceptible to the influences and effects of evil spirits, so that he himself no longer speaks or acts, but is controlled in his thoughts and actions by the evil spirit. For example, in Mark 1:24 it is the evil spirit that speaks through the possessed person and recognizes Jesus as the Holy One of God.
Another phenomenon which may serve to clarify the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is what is known as inspiration among artists. All great thinkers and poets have the experience that the best and most beautiful things they have produced are not due to their own efforts but to thoughts that suddenly come to them. Of course, such an experience does not exclude previous research and thought; genius does not make effort and diligence superfluous.
But even though study is generally an indispensable condition for gaining such experiences, they are not necessarily the logical conclusion or the mature result of them. There is always a mysterious force at work in genius that cannot be calculated. In writing to his sister, Nietzsche said: “You have no idea how powerful such inspirations are; they fill one with a passionate enthusiasm, one feels transported and quite beside himself, one hears nothing and sees nothing, one simply accepts. The thought comes like lightning. Everything happens involuntarily, as though borne in upon in a storm of freedom, independence, power, and divinity. Such is my experience of inspiration.”
If such phenomena already occur in the ordinary life of man or artist, all grounds for opposing God’s influence on the thoughts and will of His creatures are lost. God dwells with His Spirit in all things created, Genesis 1:3, Ps. 33:6, Ps. 104:30, and especially in man, who was created by the Spirit of God and made alive by the breath of the Almighty, Job 33:4, Ps. 139:1-16 ff; in Him we live, move and are, Acts 17:28. Our thinking and willing and doing, even in their sinful course, take place under the rule of God, and nothing happens outside the counsel of His will, Eph. 1:11. The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord as rivers of water; He turns it to whatever He wants, Prov. 21:1. He weighs the hearts and all the steps of men, Prov. 5:21, 16:9, 19:21, 21:2. In another and much more intimate way God dwells with His Spirit in the hearts of His children; by that Spirit He brings them to the confession of Christ as Lord, 1 John 12:3, makes them know the things that have been given to them, 1 Cor. 2:12, 1 John 2:20, 3:24, 4:6-13, grants them gifts of wisdom and knowledge, 1 Cor. 12:8, and works in them both to will and to do of His good pleasure, Phil. 2:13.
All these influences of the Spirit of God upon the world and the church are not identical with the inspiration which came to the prophets and apostles, but they can serve all the same as a clarification and explanation. If it be true that not in name only but in very deed also there is such a thing as an indwelling and operation of the Spirit of God in all creatures, and if that same Spirit in a different and special sense dwells in the children of God, then there is no ground at all for regarding the special activity which is called inspiration as impossible or improbable. But then again, it is necessary to understand the difference between the working of God’s Spirit in the world and the church, and that in the prophets and apostles. The difference becomes clear when we compare Romans 8:14 with 2 Peter 1:21. In the former, Paul says that all those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God; but Peter explains in the quoted text that the holy men of God, the prophets, were driven by the Holy Spirit and thus brought forth prophecy. The guidance of the Spirit is the part of all believers and consists in an enlightenment of the intellect and a guidance and control of will and affections, through which they receive knowledge, desire and strength to do what is pleasing to God. But the inspiration of the Spirit was given only to the prophets and apostles, and consisted of a revival and an impetus to make known to mankind the revelation of God’s counsel which they had received.
Herman Bavinck. Magnalia Dei.
