Divine Moral Inspiration: Unity in Biblical Theology

Abstract

Scholars of the Bible have long sought a theme that can identify substantial unity in the various Biblical writings without disregarding their undeniable diversity. In this context, scholars have explored the nature and limits of Biblical inspiration in considerable detail, but the moral inspiration of humans by God has received relatively little attention. This neglect is striking, because such divine inspiration of humans is arguably a silver lining throughout the Bible and a source of robust unity for Biblical theology. This article contends that the moral inspiration of humans by God is a substantial unifier for Biblical theology. It also shows how this approach yields (a) a new understanding of the fruit of the Spirit as divine filial values in human experience and (b) a needed veracity check on the unified Biblical theology offered.