The Breath of God

Many Christians will say that the bible, or scripture, is the word of God (and doesn’t merely contain the word of God). But, does scripture itself ever make that claim?

2 Timothy 3:14-17 says…

¹⁴ But as for you [Timothy], continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it ¹⁵ and how from childhood you have known sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. (NRSVUE)

Presumably, the “sacred writings” Paul refers to in vs 15 are Old Testament writings. I don’t know what Timothy would have had available to him, other than the letters he’s receiving from Paul, which would later be considered New Testament scripture. Did Timothy consider his letters from Paul to be “sacred writings?” Or were they just letters from his spiritual father and teacher? In order for the writings to be sacred they would have to be clearly set apart and holy for special use. Regardless, they are scripture to us today.

The translation above uses “inspired by God” to describe the scriptures. The Greek word is θεόπνευστος (theopneustos), which means “God-breathed,” or “divinely inspired.” One can think of Adam (the “soil creature”), with his newly formed yet inanimate body, being filled with the breath of God and thus being made alive. Adam’s body, or at least the substance which Adam’s body was formed from, was created by the word of God. But, Adam’s life came from the breath of God.

As far as I know (and I don’t know much), the word of God is shown to us in at least three different ways in scripture: in creation (“God said…”), in prophesy (“Thus saith the Lord…”), and in Jesus (John 1:1-18). Notice how Paul does not say, “All scripture is spoken by God,” or “All scripture is dictated by God,” rather, he says that all scripture is God-breathed, or breathed into by God. One can think again of Adam’s beginning and compare that event with scripture. Scripture is formed and inanimate, then God breaths life into it. Or, we could also say that God breaths life out of it.*

So, instead of saying the bible is the word of God, it would be truer to say the bible is made alive by the breath of God. God breaths life into the scriptures to make them alive, and He breaths life out of the scriptures to make its readers alive. If the Word of God is Jesus, then the Breath of God is the Holy Spirit (see John 20:22). Without the Spirit, the bible is just a book of sayings and stories.

I think this is the best way of thinking of the scriptures as coming from God. Rather than placing conditions on scripture which it does not place on itself, which then reduces the effectiveness of scripture, we can trust the Holy Spirit to use scripture fittingly to lead us to all truth and understanding. “[F]or the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” -2 Corinthians 3:6

*λόγος (Logos) and ῥῆμα (Rhema) are two Greek words used for “word” in the NT. Whereas “logos” can mean the whole of God’s word (what God has to say), “rhema” can mean the actual presented word (how God says it). See John 12:48 as an example: “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words [rhema], hath one that judgeth him: the word [logos] that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” Ephesians 6:17 also speaks of the word of God as being the sword of the spirit, with rhema being used for “word” there. It’s common for Christians to read the bible as both logos and rhema, where “logos-reading” is reading the bible simply as it is, like any book, and “rhema-reading” is reading to receive a direct and personal word from God, in the here and now, regardless of the context of the particular text.

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