Wouldn’t it be more accurate to state that the Bible was written under either the “guidance” or “authority” of the Holy Spirit rather than the “inspiration”? I realize that at first blush this might seem like hair splitting; however, I think that using a word slightly stronger than “inspiration” would better convey the authority of the Gospels. People might question less and read more.
The term “inspiration of the Holy Spirit” is used to indicate our belief that the words used by the various writers of the Bible came from the Holy Spirit Himself. Therefore they weren’t just writing with His guidance or under His authority but were in effect receiving dictation from Him. This idea originated in 2 Tim 3:16 where Paul said, “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” (literally, God-breathed). This means the words came from God’s mouth into the ear of the writer who transferred them to paper.
This concept was confirmed in 2 Peter 1:21 which says, “For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” I don’t know of a stronger way to convey the authority of the Scriptures.
Personally, I find it very reassuring to know that as we read the Bible, we’re not reading something long-dead men and women wrote on their own, but something that originated in the mind of God Himself.