One of the issues which is rarely, if ever, payed attention to by readers of the Bible is that of whether the writings of Scripture were original with the authors, or whether the authors borrowed from previous writings. For the person who takes a ¨literalist" approach to the Bible and believes that the Bible is the ¨inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God," the notion of borrowing from previous writings sounds like pure blasphemy. Their view of inspiration does not leave much room for such a thing, especially if the previous writing or writings are not considered ¨divinely inspired," and if anything, to be attributed to a demonic or diabolical source. Many people who read the Bible and claim to ¨believe in its message¨ ignore the fact that the sacred texts of other religions were written long before the Bible. They also tend to ignore and overlook the fact that some of these previously written texts have contents similar to that of what we find in the Bible. The Babylonian accounts of Creation and the Flood are very similar, in some respects, to that of the biblical accounts of Creation and the Flood.
In the Gospel accounts, we find that the writers who narrate the birth of Jesus, quote passages from the Old Testament and apply them to the things that occurred when Jesus was born. When one examines these passages, one will find that what the writer intended (or for those who are strong in their beliefs, what the Holy Spirit intended through the writers) was far from the way it was understood and subsequently interpreted by the writers of the New Testament.
A question for those of us who take a faith approach rather than a literary approach would be ¨Does it really make any difference whether the writers borrowed from previous writings?¨ Would borrowing from previous writings vitiate the doctrine of divine inspiration? Would it detract us from learning the lesson that God wants us to learn from the reading? Does God´s sovereignty allow room for borrowing while being ¨inspired¨ and ¨supervised" by the Holy Spirit, or does believing in divine inspiration require us to assume that what the authors wrote was given directly to them by God without the filtering and mediation of culture, language, and history?
In the Doctoral-level classes which I am teaching at the Tainan Theological College/Seminary, I urge the students to be both creative and original in their writings. I encourage them to write on a topic which has not been written on before. Nevertheless, they know that when they write, they will have to demonstrate rigorous and serious research by quoting previously written documentation that supports their position.
Borrowing does not cancel out creativity as long as the writer is quick to document her/his sources of information. At times we hear in Scripture the saying ¨As was said by the prophet.¨ Even when Jesus picked up the scroll of the book of Isaiah and said ¨This day the Scripture is fulfilled right before your very eyes," He did not attempt to deny or cover up the fact that He was quoting from a previously written text.
The Apostle Paul quoted from previously written poems that the people in his time were familiar with. He utilized something that would appeal to his audience in order to effectively and faithfully get the message of the Gospel across.
Let us continue to search the Scriptures to ¨see if these things are so.¨ In the process, let us also check out previously written material, compare it with Scripture, and determine both the differences and the similarities. The study of comparative literature just might turn out to be a task enjoyable without measure.
In the Name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dr. Juan A. Carmona
Visiting Professor of Theology, Tainan Theological College/Seminary
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