Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 26:3 (Fall 2022)
Article: Compatibilism And The Inspiration Of Scripture
Author: Randall K. Johnson

SBJT 26:3 (Fall 2022) p. 72

Compatibilism And The Inspiration Of Scripture

Randall K. Johnson

Randall K. Johnson is the Wisdom Head at Scholé Christian Tradition in Louisville, Kentucky. He received his PhD in Systematic Theology from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. He has authored articles in journals such as Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Philosophia Christi, and Journal of Analytic Theology.

The verbal plenary view of biblical inspiration holds that all the words of Scripture are supernaturally inspired by God such that they are fully the words of human authors and fully the words of God himself. In this article, I argue that the verbal plenary view of inspiration requires a compatibilistic view of human freedom. In other words, for the verbal plenary view of inspiration to be true, human freedom must be compatible with God determining human choices and actions. In what follows, first, I explain verbal plenary inspiration (VPI) and provide motivation for affirming it. Second, I discuss the differing views on the relationship between human freedom and determinism, namely, compatibilism and incompatibilism. Third, I test VPI against three incompatibilist models of divine providence—Responsivism, Open Theism, and Molinism—in order to show that incompatibilism is inconsistent with VPI. I conclude by showing that compatibilism is a necessary component to VPI.

Verbal Plenary Inspiration (VPI)

Of all the views of biblical inspiration, VPI is the view best supported by Scripture itself. The verbal plenary view of biblical inspiration claims that all of the words of Scripture are fully the words of God and fully the words of men. In this section, I explain VPI and provide motivations for affirming it. My goal in this essay is not ultimately to argue for VPI but rather to argue

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that VPI requires compatibilism. VPI is best understood in comparison to its nearest competitors: the mechanical dictation view and the dynamic view of inspiration.

Mechanical Dictation

To the right of VPI is the mechanical dictation view of biblical inspiration. The mechanical dictation view of Scripture claims that Scripture is the product of God directly giving the biblical authors the words to write. “According to the mechanical view of inspiration God dictated what the auctores secundarii wrote, so that the latter were mere amanuenses, mere channels through which the words of the Holy Spirit flowed. It implies that their own mental life was in a state of repose, and did not in any way contribute to the contents or form of their writings, and that even the style of Scripture is that of the Holy Spirit.”