Verbal Inspiration

The belief that the individual words and even verbal relationships of the Bible were inspired by God. Some would make a distinction between the words themselves and the ideas expressed by the words, holding that only the latter were inspired. This theory, therefore, stressed the inspiration of the biblical text itself rather than the inspiration of the hearts and minds of the human authors. It has traditionally been espoused by those who view the Bible as inerrant. See Fundamentalism; see Plenary Inspiration.