Inspiration in the Bible

[CorrWaveClan]

Are there different levels of Inspiration in the Bible? I mean, are some books in the Bible more “inspired” than others? God bless and keep all of you.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

CorrWaveClan:

Are there different levels of Inspiration in the Bible? I mean, are some books in the Bible more “inspired” than others? God bless and keep all of you.

Good question ​

Some books are more theologically central than others - for instance, it would presumably be a greater loss to lose the Gospel of John than the prophecy of Obadiah, because the life and teaching and work and Death and Resurrection of Christ are more central to our faith as Christians than the doom of Edom.

Again, the letter to Titus is not as central to the theological meaning of the NT as the gospels - it would be interesting, but not as intelligible it is, if the gospels did not exist.

If there’s room for a theory ISTM that inspiration is not a fixed quantity, but something dynamic and living, a Divine influence by which God makes a writing powerful to further our salvation. The objection to this is, that it allows other books to be as inspired in their effectiveness as those in the Bible; and so deprives the Biblical texts of their unique status.

OTOH, I’m not sure that this is a fatal objection - the trouble with describing the Biblical texts as being “inspired”, IMO, is that, while they are in some sense unique, there needs to be a doctrine of inspiration which will make room both for the Church’s certainties about the character of the Biblical books; and also for outstanding literary masterpieces, many of which can ISTM only be described as, well, inspired. There are passages in the Odyssey, the Aeneid, or the “Divine Comedy” which soar far above anything in the book of Esther: so unapproachable quality of insight is not what makes inspiration, as applied to the Biblical texts, to be inspiration. Inspiration is not of itself any guarantee of supreme literary artistry or insight - although much of the Biblical literature is of very high quality on both counts; all of it is not - and the hard cases, not the easy ones only, must be included in any notion of inspiration which fits the facts of what the Bible is. IMHO

What do you think though ? Any ideas ? ##

 

[CorrWaveClan]

That is a pretty good answer. I was asking because I know that the Jewish peoples see some scripture (in what we would consider the Old Testement), to be less inspired than others. So I was wondering it there was any belief like this amongst Christians concerning the NT.
Thank you for your time, and God bless you!!!

 

[CorrWaveClan]

Maybe I should put this as a new post, but this question concerns what was just discussed.

In the Bible, there is non-scriptural Tradition that is referred to in order to support a point. Matt 2:23; Acts 20:35; and 1 Cor. 7:10 are but a few examples. In the Spirit of this, The Catholic and Orthodox Churches quote from tradition as well, in order to support a point.

This is my question: What constitutes Tradition? Could the Infancy Gospel of James; The Odes of Solomon, and the Didichae all be considered “Tradition”?
Hope that this question isn’t to complex! Thank you, whoever can answer this!!!

 

[Catholic2003]

From Dei Verbum:

1. It is common knowledge that among all the Scriptures, even those of the New Testament, the Gospels have a special preeminence, and rightly so, for they are the principal witness for the life and teaching of the incarnate Word, our savior.