Why do we call the AV "the holy scriptures" (Rom 1:2; 2 Tim 3:15)

"GIVEN by inspiration of God"?

By Moses LemuelRaj  

We believe that we have "the holy scriptures" (Rom 1:2; 2 Tim 3:15) with us, exactly as Timothy had them and known them. "And have ye not read THIS scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner" (Mat 12:10). So the sentence "The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner" is a SCRIPTURE (singular), an INDIVIDUAL scripture. "And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced" (John 19:37), and this speaks about another INDIVIDUAL scripture (singular). Further, "Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?" (Mat 21:42). The above individual scripture (singular) is found IN THE SCRIPTURES (plural). The Lord Jesus referred to the complete OT as "all the scriptures" (Luke 24:27) - the INDIVIDUAL scriptures together. Paul's epistles were called  "other scriptures" (2 Peter 3:16). And all these INDIVIDUAL scriptures TOGETHER are called as "the holy scriptures" (Rom 1:2; 2 Tim 3:15), and when spoken as a single ENTITY is called as "ALL scripture" (2 Tim 3:16). Now this "ALL scripture" which Paul refers to, "IS GIVEN by inspiration of God, and IS PROFITABLE." 

The AV does NOT say, "EVERY scripture is given by inspiration of God." It says "ALL scripture." "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the SCRIPTURE is of any PRIVATE INTERPRETATION. For the PROPHECY came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God SPAKE as they were MOVED by the Holy Ghost." (2Peter 1:20-21). Please notice that subject in 2 Peter 1:20-21 is NOT scripture, but "prophecy of the scripture." The holy men of God DID NOT speak SCRIPTURE - they spoke PROPHECY. All we have there is SPOKEN prophecy, and not WRITTEN prophecy. Scripture is always written. Every thing that is WRITTEN is NOT scripture, but SCRIPTURE is always WRITTEN. The Bible does not say anything about "holy men of God" being INSPIRED, nor their WORDS individually "GIVEN by inspiration." But the Bible says, "ALL scripture is GIVEN by inspiration of God." We are talking about "ALL scripture" as a UNIT, which is "GIVEN by inspiration of God."

What do you mean by "inspiration of God"? Please consider this verse. "The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me LIFE" (Job 33:4). Look at this verse also, "But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding" (Job 32:8). Do you see the connection now? The INSPIRATION of God is the "BREATH of the Almighty." And that BREATH gives LIFE. 

The first case of "inspiration" (Job 32:8) is found in Gen 2:7. "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Please notice that the Lord did not make individual living cells, and assembled them into a living man. He first FORMED the man to COMPLETION. Adam had the full FORM, but was not living, until the Lord gave the breath of life. And then the man became a living soul, with every CELL of his body showing the signs of LIFE.

Another case of "inspiration" (Job 32:8) is found in Ezek 37. The Lord made the dry bones live. The Lord sent a prophecy unto the dry bones saying, "I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall LIVE" (v.5). The bones came together; sinews, flesh and skin were formed. Complete BODY was formed, "but there was no breath in them" (v.8). Then we read, "and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army" (v.10). 

The "inspiration of God" is the "breath of the Almighty." And this breath always came INTO a completely FORMED thing. And that thing into which the breath came LIVED. This is what we believe exactly. We are NOT saying that EVERY WORD of the AV was "GIVEN by inspiration." But we say that the Lord has sent the "inspiration of God" inside the AV thus making it "the holy scriptures," and therefore the AV is "GIVEN inspiration of God." Therefore "EVERY WORD of God is PURE" (Prov 30:5), and the Lord said, "the WORDS that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT, and they are LIFE" (John 6:63). Note that the Lord equated "scripture" with "word of God" (John 10:35). The "Word of life" (1 John 1:1) gave us the "word of life" (Phil 2:16).

Further, "the holy scriptures" were KNOWN by Timothy when he was a CHILD, exactly as my 5 year old son (in 2005) KNOWS it when he recites from memory Psalm 23, 91 and 100 verbatim from the King James Bible. The term "the holy scriptures" found in 2 Tim 3:15 DOES NOT refer to any "original autographs" or any "original manuscripts." The "scriptures" that Timothy had known, are "GIVEN by inspiration of God" according to 2 Tim 3:15-16. 

We believe that the AV is "the holy scriptures" because, 2 Tim 3:16 says, "All scripture IS given by inspiration" and DOES NOT say "all scripture WAS given by inspiration." It IS presently available with us, so that we can "search the scriptures" as per the commandment of the Lord Jesus (John 5:39), and follow the example of the Bereans who "searched the scriptures DAILY" (Acts 17:11).

We believe that the AV is "the holy scriptures" because, 2 Tim 3:16 says, "All scripture ... is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." Notice this carefully. The scripture which is given by inspiration of God is PROFITABLE. Today the AV is "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness," and therefore AV is "the holy scriptures." It says, "All scripture ... IS profitable" and DOES NOT say "WAS profitable." Therefore, "ALL scripture" IS there here today, and THAT is "GIVEN by inspiration of God." Tell us something. Are the "original autographs" PROFITABLE for us NOW? They are NOT profitable, because they are NOT there ANYWHERE in the first place!!! If they are NOT profitable NOW, that means they are NOT "GIVEN by inspiration of God" NOW, because "ALL scripture IS given by inspiration of God, and IS PROFITABLE."

The fact that "ALL scripture" (2 Tim 3:16) should NOW contain 66 books, divided into 39 books in the OT, and 27 books in the NT is confirmed by the chapter divisions in the book of Isaiah. The book of Isaiah contains 66 chapters, and is divided into two parts - first 39 chapters, and the next 27 chapters - corresponding to the OT and the NT. You can see that the ministry of John the Baptist in Isa 40. Therefore, the "Holy Scriptures" published by the Jewish Publication Society containing only the the OT, with 2 Chronicles as its last book is NOT "the holy scriptures," and this fact can be verified by the denial of virgin birth of the Lord in Isa 7:14 in the JPS "bible." Please note that Peter calls all the 14 epistles of Paul as "scriptures" in 2 Peter 3:16, and Paul calls the gospel of Luke as "scripture" (1 Tim 5:18 with Luke 10:7), and these are missing from the JPS "bible."

None of the Hebrew Old Testaments (there are more than 5 varieties) in the Hebrew language can be called "ALL scripture" TODAY, as they DO NOT contain the 14 epistles of Paul, nor the gospel of Luke, which were called "scriptures" in "the holy scriptures" (2 Peter 3:16; 1 Tim 5:18 with Luke 10:7). Further, none of the Hebrew OT texts have 39 books; neither do they end with Malachi as the LAST book!!! Now that which is "GIVEN by inspiration of God" is "ALL scripture" and NOT "EVERY scripture."

None of the Greek New Testaments (there are at least 10 that I know) in the Greek language could be called "ALL scripture" as they DO NOT contain "Moses and all the prophets" which are contained in the "scriptures," according to the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 24:27). As we have said before, that which is "GIVEN by inspiration of God" is "ALL scripture" and NOT "EVERY scripture."

If you claim that you would make a single volume, with an Hebrew OT, and a Greek NT together and call it "ALL scripture," then we would ask, which of the 50 combinations (5 OT x 10 NT varieties) do you pick? Further, Hebrew is read from right to left, and Greek is read from left to right. So you cannot join both the testaments in the ORIGINAL LANGUAGES. If you put the OT first, it would mean that the NT is BEFORE the OT according to the Hebrew language. If you put the NT first, then the OT is AFTER the NT according to the Greek language. Therefore you CANNOT join them together, without contradicting the ORDER of the testaments! If you did, then the teaching of "the holy scriptures" about the "FIRST testament" (Heb 9:15, 18) will be violated!! You cannot join these two "CLOVEN tongues" (Acts 2). Interestingly, the United Bible Societies has published one combined volume (Biblia Sacra Utriusque Testamenti, Editio Hebraica et Graeca) without realizing that they would violate Heb 9:15 by joining the Hebrew and the Greek volumes.

The DIVIDING of the TONGUES is an act of the JUDGMENT of God (Gen 10:5; Gen 11:7). The Lord warned Israel that He would bring people of strange tongue (Deut 28:49). "For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people" (Isa 28:11), is a prophecy that has fulfilled in the giving of the NT (the epistle of HEBREWS to be specific - "spoken unto US by his Son" - Heb 1:2) in GREEK.   

The Lord used the "CLOVEN tongues" (Hebrew and Greek) to give the OT and the NT respectively in order that people "might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken" (Isa 28:13) - please read Isaiah chapter 28, and especially verses 9-13 prayerfully. You cannot "search the scriptures" and compare "spiritual things with spiritual" (1 Cor 2:13) using a single volume made out of an Hebrew OT and a Greek NT.   

Joseph is a type of Christ. Joseph was rejected by his brethren (John 1:12), and was sold (Mat 27:9), suffered, glorified and exalted (Phil 2:7-11), and had married a GENTILE bride (Rom 15:16; 2 Cor 11:2), and then Joseph spoke in ANOTHER TONGUE with his brethren (Gen 42:23; Isa 28:11) as an exalted man. It was not until the "second time" that Joseph was made known unto his brethren (Acts 7:13; Isa 11:11). Don't you see the similarity between this, and the giving of the NT in "another tongue" (which is Greek in AD 100, and English since 1611) after the Lord was rejected, crucified, resurrected, exalted and glorified??

What about the ASV? Well, nothing is "GIVEN by inspiration of God" according to the ASV, but "EVERY scripture inspired of God is ALSO profitable" (2 Tim 3:16, ASV). Now the ASV does not tell us WHICH scripture is "inspired of God" and which is NOT. And by saying "ALSO profitable," the ASV invites the question, what ELSE is profitable? Further, Timothy DID NOT have "the holy scriptures" (Rom 1:2) according to the ASV, but he just had "sacred writings" (2 Tim 3:16, ASV). And we are not sure if the "sacred writings" that Timothy had were "inspired" because the ASV does not tell us anything about that. You cannot find any "sacred writings" anywhere ELSE in the ASV. 

What about the JN Darby's version? Is that "the holy scriptures"? JND does not say so. In fact you cannot find "the holy scriptures" mentioned anywhere in the JND, and what Timothy had with him are merely some "sacred LETTERS."