To Everyone Quoting 2 Timothy 3:16 at Me...This One's For You

I figured I’d write this post mainly for one reason: To have a link ready for the next well-meaning (or not-so-well-meaning) person who says, “But what about ‘All Scripture is God-breathed’?!”

“All Scripture Is God-Breathed”? Cool. Let’s Talk About That.

I’ve been sent 2 Timothy 3:16 a dozen times in the past two weeks alone. Usually in response to something I said about the Bible not being perfect or inerrant or divinely dictated like a holy fax machine.

It goes a little something like this:

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”

Most people quote it like it’s checkmate.

But it’s not.

Not even close.

So I figured I’d write this post mainly for one reason:
To have a link ready for the next well-meaning (or not-so-well-meaning) person who says,
“But what about ‘All Scripture is God-breathed’?!”

Here’s why that verse is not the argument you think it is:

---

1. We don’t know exactly what “God-breathed” means.

The Greek word here—theopneustos—only appears once in the whole Bible.
So we don’t get to compare it to how it’s used elsewhere. That means it’s vague by default.

It could mean “divinely inspired,” “Spirit-filled,” “mysteriously meaningful,” or “full of divine breath.”
It could even mean something more poetic or metaphorical.

But it does not say: “Everything in the Bible is factually accurate and morally perfect because God dictated it word-for-word.”
That interpretation is doing a lot of extra lifting.

---

2. We don’t know what “Scripture” means here either.

Most scholars agree this is referring to Hebrew Scriptures—what Christians often call the Old Testament.
But even that’s not simple.

Different Jewish communities had different canons.
Some included books you’ve probably never read. Others didn’t include ones you take for granted.

So when it says “all Scripture,” it doesn’t mean what your modern English Bible means by “Scripture.”

And it definitely doesn’t mean the 66-book Protestant canon, bound in imitation leather and sold at your local Christian bookstore next to the Point of Grace cookbook.

---

3. We don’t know who wrote this letter.

The author claims to be Paul.
But most scholars (including many moderate and conservative ones) now agree that Paul likely didn’t write 1 or 2 Timothy.

It was probably written decades later by a follower, using Paul’s name—a common (though still debated) literary practice in the ancient world.

Timothy himself was likely a real person, someone Paul mentored. But this letter probably wasn’t actually sent to him—at least not directly. It was more like a spiritual memo written as if Paul were still speaking to his protégé, addressing issues that had come up in the church after Paul was gone.

So when people say, “But Paul said all Scripture is God-breathed!”
…he probably didn’t.

And even if he did, he wasn’t talking about your leather-bound ESV.

---

4. It Was Almost Left Out of the Bible.

Yep, 2 Timothy barely made the cut when the Bible was being canonized.

There were debates about its authorship, usefulness, and theological consistency with other writings.
It wasn’t a clear inclusion from the start.

So it’s kind of ironic that some people use this verse to defend the idea that all of Scripture is perfectly authoritative—when the verse itself was as on the bubble as a 7th place SEC basketball team in early March.

---

5. The Author Wasn’t Trying to Write Scripture.

Whoever wrote 2 Timothy wasn’t thinking:
“I’m writing the infallible Word of God right now.”

They were writing a pastoral letter to a specific person (or at least pretending to), offering advice, encouragement, and theology.

It’s only much later that Christians started treating it as “Scripture” in the canonical sense.

So if the letter says “all Scripture is God-breathed,” it’s absolutely not even including itself.

That would be like me writing in my own journal:
“All journal entries are divinely inspired.”

---

6. Even If It Did Mean What You Think, It’s Still Circular.

Let’s just assume, for the sake of argument, that:

• Paul really wrote it.
  (He didn’t.)

• He meant the whole modern Bible.
  (No way he did.)

• “God-breathed” means “100% inerrant and flawless.”
  (96% sure it doesn’t.)

It would still amount to this:

“The Bible is true because the Bible says the Bible is true.”

That’s circular logic 101.

And it doesn’t hold up.

Trust me.

---

7. It Says “Useful,” Not “Perfect.”

The verse doesn’t claim the Scriptures are inerrant.
It says they are useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.

I actually agree with that.

I think the Bible can be deeply useful in the right hand with good intent.

I just don’t think it’s a flawless rulebook dropped straight from heaven.

Even the guy pretending to be Paul, writing to a maybe-real Timothy, seems to agree.

---

So, if you’re reading this in the future because I sent you this link…

Hi. 🙂

I’m not mad. I really do appreciate your passion.

I just think you might be asking that verse to do a lot more than it was ever meant to do.

Seems like we both really value the Bible.
Let’s honor it for what it is—not what we wish it were.

Oh, and for everyone else reading along…

Thanks for reading.
Keep wrestling.
God’s not scared of your questions—and neither am I.