Yeah; on a few occasions it is rather clear He did just that, hence we have apostolic authors saying, "this is my position, not (necessarily) Gods." The problem is when God is NOT inspiring their words, He is not inspiring them to say THAT either. So how do we know which is which?

For me, it is a matter of consistency with the rest of scripture, and above all of harmony between the Holy Spirit and the text. The word of God communicated by the text and by the Holy Spirit must always be in harmony. If one understands the text to say something while all the time feeling the Spirit saying, "No, no NO!" then clearly what one is getting from the text is not Gods word. Likewise, if an Andrea Yates thinks the Holy Spirit is telling her to drown all her children, then commit suicide, the bible is a pretty good indication she is NOT hearing from the Holy Spirit.


The Church Fathers had a unique place in history that gave unique insights to Christs intent for the Church. They were not, however, God, so they were neither infallible nor on the clock 24/7. And when we say, "the Church Fathers," that obviously and definitely includes the Twelve and the first apostles, a fact that, in my experience, many people tend to often overlook when it comes to divine inspiration. Just because something came from the pen of Paul, Peter or another of Christianitys seminal teachers, does NOT necessarily make it the divinely inspired word of God, ESPECIALLY when the author says point blank it is not. Unfortunately, when I say many people often overlook that, I fear I must include the the canons compilers. That leads me back to my previous point, which I trust is now clear.