The sacred scriptures are the word of God to man. In theological language they are called 'inspired' writings. But what is the reality that lies behind the word 'inspiration'? To accept the fact that God does speak to man poses the theological problem of how this is possible. It is this problem that is the substance of the present study. Bruce Vawter begins his investigation by examining the quasi-technical descriptive vocabulary of inspiration in Judaism and by the Fathers of the Church. He then proceeds to trace the beginnings of a theology of inspiration in the Fathers, and its development. He finds there a certain over-emphasis on the authorship of God and most of the elements of the classical problematic of instrumental causality.