“The intuition theory teaches that the biblical authors possessed a religious instinct, or intuition, one that is also present in other ancient pagan philosophers. This view rejects the universal, absolute truth claims made by the biblical authors.”

“The illumination theory goes a step further, suggesting that the Holy Spirit was active, having influenced the biblical authors, increasing their insight. However, while the Spirit’s impression may have been different in degree, it was not any different in kind, for he leaves his impression on others too.”

“The encounter theory argues that though the Bible is not that different from other religious books, nevertheless it is unique when the Spirit utilizes it as a means of revelation within the community of God. Though the Bible is not inherently the Word of God in this theory, it becomes the Word of God when applied by the Spirit, which entails that inspiration is an ongoing process.”

“The dynamic theory takes us a step further, arguing that God left a unique, one-of-a-kind impression on the biblical authors. Yet the Spirit’s influence in this view was at the conceptual level; the exact words were left up to the human authors.”

“The verbal plenary inspiration theory, argues that there is a dual authorship to Scripture. In this view the human authors wrote exactly what they intended in their own distinct style, yet at the same time what they wrote was superintended by the Holy Spirit so that what the human author said, God said, down to the exact words and phrases. Since the author’s words are God-breathed, they are without error.”

“Finally, the dictation theory believes that God literally dictated his words to each human author. Since the mode is strictly mechanical, the human authors were mere secretaries. Unfortunately, some confuse the dictation view with the verbal plenary inspiration view.”

Source: Matthew Barrett, God’s Word Alone. Zondervan Academic (September 20, 2016).