What Are They Saying About Biblical Inspiration?

by Mark J. Zia

What does St. Paul mean when he writes in 2 Timothy 3:16 that "all scripture is inspired by God"?  Is there a difference between biblical inspiration and spiritual illumination?  Does biblical inspiration primarily pertain to the text itself, the reader, or the original author?  What is the relationship between biblical inspiration and biblical inerrancy?  

This book examines diverse theories of biblical inspiration as articulated by scholars Abraham Heschel (Jewish), James Burtchaell (Catholic), Bruce Vawter (Catholic), William Abraham (Methodist), Kern Trembath (Episcopalian), and Paul Achtemeier (Presbyterian) in light of the understanding of biblical inspiration as understood by the Catholic Church, most notable in Dei verbum of the Second Vatican Council.

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 7, 2011

Reviews

[Timothy Harmon]

This book is written from a Roman Catholic (RC) perspective. However, the author’s point is not merely to engage with RC theologians, but to survey diverse contemporary viewpoints found in Anglo-American scholarship as a whole. To that end, Zia describes and interacts with six scholars, each representative of a unique perspective. After doing so, the author posits his own take on the doctrine of inspiration (a Eucharistic model), and finally offers ten concluding affirmations culled from his study of the topic.

I was hoping that this could be a nice concise overview of various perspective on the topic. However, I found Zia's choice of conversation partners puzzling. Furthermore, for the ones that he did engage with, I found his summaries clunky and his analysis less than penetrating.

All in all, I am still searching for the book that I thought this one might be...