While many Christians give little thought to the workings of divine inspiration, it is a crucial area of biblical study. How we imagine the way God inspires scripture shapes how we use and are guided by it.

(From Lumo)

Divine inspiration—how God’s word is communicated to human authors—has been interpreted in several ways across Christian traditions. Below is a concise overview of the main strands of thought, grouped by theological family and then by the particular nuances each tradition tends to emphasise.

Classical/Traditional Views

Roman Catholic

The Roman Catholic view on inspiration is one of divine-human cooperation. (Concurrence).

• God moves the author, but the writer’s personality, style, and cultural context remain intact.
• Scripture is both inerrant (truthful in all matters it intends to teach) and inspired (the Holy Spirit guided the composition).
• The Council of Trent (1546) affirmed that the books are “written by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost”, yet preserve the human author’s literary qualities.
• The Catholic catechism writes that the Christian faith is not a "religion of the book". Christianity is the religion of the "Word" of God, "not a written and mute word, but incarnate and living". If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, "open (our) minds to understand the Scriptures." So scripture is a living document open to some interpretation.

Eastern Orthodox

This tradition believes in mystical illumination rather than a strict doctrinal formula. Emphasis on the theosis (deification) of the believer through the living Word. Scripture is seen as a living voice that transforms the believer.

The reformed evangelical

Reformed churches believe in verbal plenary inspiration (sometimes called “verbal dictation”).

Every word of the original manuscripts is directly inspired by the Holy Spirit (“plenary” = whole, “verbal” = word‑by‑word). The original autographs are inerrant, but copies may contain scribal errors. The doctrine undergirds the authority of Scripture in matters of doctrine, worship, and life.

Summary

So the Catholic and Orthodox view of inspiration is that the Spirit guides the writing of scripture within the culture and experience of the prophet. Scripture continues to be a living text that can be understood under the leading of the Holy Spirit and applied to the current cultural context as it transforms the believer. The evangelical view is that God dictated each word of scripture in the original language. The process of translation and transmission may introduce errors.

We see these different views played out in the way each tradition uses and studies scripture.