Divine inspiration
concept of a supernatural force causing a creative desire
Divine inspiration is the concept of a supernatural force, typically a deity, causing a person or people to experience a creative desire. It has been a commonly reported aspect of many religions, for thousands of years. Divine inspiration is often closely tied to the concept of revelation, information being revealed or disclosed through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities.
Examples
Besides ancient mythology, the religious texts of traditions including Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mormonism, and the Baháʼí Faith are all claimed to be divinely inspired to some degree.
Ancient Mesopotamia: In the Mesopotamian epic Atra-Hasis, the writer describes his work as dictated by the Goddess in a dream-vision.
Ancient Greece: The ancient Greek muses were said to be supernatural forces that gave artists their skill, while the Ancient Greek oracles were said to be subject to supernatural forces.
Hinduism: Music has historically been considered a medium through which performers can become a vehicle for divine inspiration. The goddess Saraswati is also sometimes invoked for assistance with inspiration.
Judaism: Judaists believe that the Tanakh and the Talmud were divinely inspired.
Christianity: Christians claim Biblical inspiration for the Old and New Testament, and, by some branches, the Deuterocanonical books.
The public source identifies “Divine inspiration” as concept of a supernatural force causing a creative desire. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Divine, inspiration and concept.
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This entry incorporates text from “Divine inspiration” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.