A further question arises over what we mean when we say that the Bible is inspired by God. To all Christians the Bible is a very special collection of writings through which truth about God's nature and character is seen. Through the Bible accounts of what God does, how he acts, we begin to understand what his nature and character are like. We can say that in the Bible, God shows himself to mankind; the Bible contains the revelation of God, the 'self-showing' of God to mankind, in time and history and to a particular people.

When the writers of the Bible are described as 'inspired' it means that these men were responsive to the power of God so that his Holy Spirit worked through their human powers of mind, will, and imagination, enabling them to write down what God intended them to communicate to others about himself. There is no idea here of these men writing mechanically. Each writer responded freely, according to his individual character and situation. The Bible may therefore be described as holy Scripture, writing by men who were guided by the Holy Spirit.