Problems of the modern approach to the concept of divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures: attempt of comprehensive analysis

This article attempts to complexly analyze the concept of divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, the key one for Orthodox theology. The analysis is carried out in five aspects: dogmatic, historical, textual, canonical and authorial. The dogmatic perspective brings to the conclusion that this inspiration concerns the impact of the Holy Spirit on the human authors of the Bible, with this effect itself being able to take place in different forms. The historical perspective remains the most difficult to study, because the opinion of historical errors in the Holy Scriptures as allowed remains debatable. The textual perspective makes it obvious that the text of any versions or translations of the Bible is divinely inspired, except those containing overtly anti-Christian or blasphemous passages. The main thing about the canonical perspective is that all canonical books of the Bible (adopted by the Old Testament and New Testament Churches) are recognized as inspired by God, while specific circumstances concerning non-canonical books of the Old Testament require serious discussion. In case of the perspective of the article, a serious discussion of non-traditional opinions about the authorship of the biblical books is required, admitting at the same time, the possibility of divinely inspired impact on the people not recognized as biblical authors by the tradition. This study may become a prerequisite for a more serious and comprehensive consideration of the topic of divine inspiration, including consideration at the church-wide level.