Why should we believe in Biblical Inerrancy?

[Quasar92]

We live in a time that tends to shrug its shoulders when confronted with error. Instead of asking, like Pilate, “What is truth?” postmodern man says, “Nothing is truth” or perhaps “There is truth, but we cannot know it.” We’ve grown accustomed to being lied to, and many people seem comfortable with the false notion that the Bible, too, contains errors.

The doctrine of biblical inerrancy is an extremely important one because the truth does matter. This issue reflects on the character of God and is foundational to our understanding of everything the Bible teaches. Here are some reasons why we should absolutely believe in biblical inerrancy:

1. The Bible itself claims to be perfect. “And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times” (Psalm 12:6). “The law of the Lord is perfect” (Psalm 19:7). “Every word of God is pure” (Proverbs 30:5 KJV). These claims of purity and perfection are absolute statements. Note that it doesn’t say God’s Word is “mostly” pure or scripture is “nearly” perfect. The Bible argues for complete perfection, leaving no room for “partial perfection” theories.

2. The Bible stands or falls as a whole. If a major newspaper were routinely discovered to contain errors, it would be quickly discredited. It would make no difference to say, “All the errors are confined to page three.” For a paper to be reliable in any of its parts, it must be factual throughout. In the same way, if the Bible is inaccurate when it speaks of geology, why should its theology be trusted? It is either a trustworthy document, or it is not.

3. The Bible is a reflection of its Author. All books are. The Bible was written by God Himself as He worked through human authors in a process called “inspiration.” “All scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). See also 2 Peter 1:21 and Jeremiah 1:2.

We believe that the God who created the universe is capable of writing a book. And the God who is perfect is capable of writing a perfect book. The issue is not simply “Does the Bible have a mistake?” but “Can God make a mistake?” If the Bible contains factual errors, then God is not omniscient and is capable of making errors Himself. If the Bible contains misinformation, then God is not truthful but is instead a liar. If the Bible contains contradictions, then God is the author of confusion. In other words, if biblical inerrancy is not true, then God is not God.

4. The Bible judges us, not vice versa. “For the word of God...judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Notice the relationship between “the heart” and “the Word.” The Word examines; the heart is being examined. To discount parts of the Word for any reason is to reverse this process. We become the examiners, and the Word must submit to our “superior insight.” Yet God says, “But who are you, O man, to talk back to God?” (Romans 9:20).

5. The Bible’s message must be taken as a whole. It is not a mixture of doctrine that we are free to select from. Many people like the verses that say God loves them, but they dislike the verses that say God will judge sinners. But we simply cannot pick and choose what we like about the Bible and throw the rest away. If the Bible is wrong about hell, for example, then who is to say it is right about heaven—or about anything else? If the Bible cannot get the details right about creation, then maybe the details about salvation cannot be trusted either. If the story of Jonah is a myth, then perhaps so is the story of Jesus. On the contrary, God has said what He has said, and the Bible presents us a full picture of who God is. “Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (Psalm 119:89).

6. The Bible is our only rule for faith and practice. If it is not reliable, then on what do we base our beliefs? Jesus asks for our trust, and that includes trust in what He says in His Word. John 6:67-69 is a beautiful passage. Jesus had just witnessed the departure of many who had claimed to follow Him. Then He turns to the twelve apostles and asks, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” At this, Peter speaks for the rest when he says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” May we have the same trust in the Lord and in His words of life.

None of what we have presented here should be taken as a rejection of true scholarship. Biblical inerrancy does not mean that we are to stop using our minds or accept what the Bible says blindly. We are commanded to study the Word (2 Timothy 2:15), and those who search it out are commended (Acts 17:11). Also, we recognize that there are difficult passages in the Bible, as well as sincere disagreements over interpretation. Our goal is to approach Scripture reverently and prayerfully, and when we find something we do not understand, we pray harder, study more, and—if the answer still eludes us—humbly acknowledge our own limitations in the face of the perfect Word of God.

Recommended Resource: The Big Book of Bible Difficulties by Geisler & Howe.

Source: gotquestions.org


Quasa92

 

[EllyGrace7]

I agree with you. God's word is perfect. However that doesn't mean man's translations of His words are. There are numerous translation errors in all of our modern day bibles - I personally have gone through and corrected them all so as to garner myself a bible that is as complete as possible. God never promised that translators would correctly translate His words. In fact, He implied it would happen by stating that plagues will come open people who do! Although God is perfect and supreme, He is not going to make sure every single bible on this earth is just as supreme and perfect; that would require ignoring humanity's God-given free-will, and overriding one's choice to sin. God is all about free will and the right to choose - that's why none of us are robots. I think some of us go so far in terms of saying our modern day bibles are perfect, that we start allowing false doctrines into our churches due to translation errors. Anyways, here are some translation errors but not all from the KJV. If you truly believe that our translations are perfect I suggest researching and studying them - comparing them to the original hebrew and greek. Most of our bibles today are being sold for profit, not for biblical accuracy. Remember... There is a HUGE difference between God's word being perfect, and the translation of His words being perfect. HUGE.


Here is a partial listing of King James Version translation errors:


Genesis 1:2 should read "And the earth became without form . . . ." The word translated "was" is hayah, and denotes a condition different than a former condition, as in Genesis 19:26.

Genesis 10:9 should read " . . . Nimrod the mighty hunter in place of [in opposition to] the LORD." The word "before" is incorrect and gives the connotation that Nimrod was a good guy, which is false.

Leviticus 16:8, 10, 26 in the KJV is "scapegoat" which today has the connotation of someone who is unjustly blamed for other's sins. The Hebrew is Azazel, which means "one removed or separated." The Azazel goal represents Satan, who is no scapegoat. He is guilty of his part in our sins.

Deuteronomy 24:1, "then let him" should be "and he." As the Savior explained in Matthew 19, Moses did not command divorcement. This statute is regulating the permission of divorce because of the hardness of their hearts.

II Kings 2:23, should be "young men", not "little children."

Isaiah 65:17 should be "I am creating [am about to create] new heavens and new earth . . . ."

Ezekiel 20:25 should read "Wherefore I permitted them, or gave them over to, [false] statutes that are not good, and judgments whereby they should not live." God's laws are good, perfect and right. This verse shows that since Israel rejected God's laws, He allowed them to hurt themselves by following false man made customs and laws.

Daniel 8:14 is correct in the margin, which substitutes "evening morning" for "days." Too bad William Miller didn't realize this.

Malachi 4:6 should read " . . . lest I come and smite the earth with utter destruction." "Curse" doesn't give the proper sense here. Same word used in Zechariah 14:11.

Matthew 5:48 should be "Become ye therefore perfect" rather than "be ye therefore perfect." "Perfect" here means "spiritually mature." Sanctification is a process of overcoming with the aid of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 24:22 needs an additional word to clarify the meaning. It should say "there should no flesh be saved alive."

Matthew 27:49 omits text which was in the original. Moffatt correctly adds it, while the RSV puts it in a footnote: "And another took a spear and pierced His side, and out came water and blood." The Savior's death came when a soldier pierced His side, Revelation 1:7.

Matthew 28:1, "In the end of the sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week . . ." should be translated literally, "Now late on Sabbath, as it was getting dusk toward the first day of the week . . . ." The Sabbath does not end at dawn but at dusk.

Luke 2:14 should say, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men of God's good pleasure or choosing." That is, there will be peace on earth among men who have God's good will in their hearts.

Luke 14:26 has the unfortunate translation of the Greek word miseo, Strong's #3404, as "hate", when it should be rendered "love less by comparison." We are not to hate our parents and family!

John 1:31, 33 should say "baptize" or "baptizing IN water" not with water. Pouring or sprinkling with water is not the scriptural method of baptism, but only thorough immersion in water.

John 1:17 is another instance of a poor preposition. "By" should be "through": "For the law was given by [through] Moses . . . ." Moses did not proclaim his law, but God's Law.

John 13:2 should be "And during supper" (RSV) rather than "And supper being ended" (KJV).

Acts 12:4 has the inaccurate word "Easter" which should be rendered "Passover." The Greek word is pascha which is translated correctly as Passover in Matthew 26:2, etc.

I Corinthians 1:18 should be: "For the preaching of the cross is to them that are perishing foolishness; but unto us which are being saved it is the power of God", rather than "perish" and "are saved." Likewise, II Thessalonians 2:10 should be "are perishing" rather than "perish."

I Corinthians 15:29 should be: "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the hope of the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the hope of the dead?"

II Corinthians 6:2 should be "a day of salvation", instead of "the day of salvation." This is a quote from Isaiah 49:8, which is correct. The day of salvation is not the same for each individual. The firstfruits have their day of salvation during this life. The rest in the second resurrection.

I Timothy 4:8 should say, "For bodily exercise profiteth for a little time: but godliness in profitable unto all things . . . ."

I Timothy 6:10 should be, "For the love of money is a [not the] root of all evil . . . ."

Hebrews 4:8 should be "Joshua" rather than "Jesus", although these two words are Hebrew and Greek equivalents.

Hebrews 4:9 should read, "There remaineth therefore a keeping of a sabbath to the people of God."

Hebrews 9:28 is out of proper order in the King James. It should be: "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them without sin that look for him shall he appear the second time unto salvation."

I John 5:7-8 contains additional text which was added to the original. "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one." The italicized text was added to the original manuscripts. Most modern translations agree that this was an uninspired addition to the Latin Vulgate to support the unscriptural trinity doctrine.

Revelation 14:4 should be "a firstfruits", because the 144,000 are not all the firstfruits.

Revelation 20:4-5 in the KJV is a little confusing until you realize that the sentence "This is the first resurrection." in verse five refers back to "they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years" in verse four.

Revelation 20:10, "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are [correction: should be 'were cast' because the beast and false prophet were mortal human beings who were burned up in the lake of fire 1,000 years previous to this time, Revelation 19:20], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." The point is that Satan will be cast into the same lake of fire into which the beast and false prophet were cast a thousand years previously.

Revelation 22:2 should be "health" rather than "healing."

Italics: Sometimes Helpful, Sometimes Wrong

No language can be translated word for word into another language. Hebrew and Greek idioms often do not come through clearly into literal English. Thus, beginning in 1560 with the Geneva Bible, translators initiated the practice of adding italicized clarifying words to make the original language more plain. The fifty-four King James translators did the same. Often, the added italicized words do help make the meaning clearer. At other times, the translators through their doctrinal misunderstandings added errors instead.

In Psalms 81:4, "was" is totally uncalled for and not in the original Hebrew. New Moons are still a statute of God.

We have shown how in Revelation 20:10 that the italicized "are" is incorrect and that "were cast" in italics would have been more appropriate. Another instance is John 8:28 where Jesus said (KJV), "I am he." The "he" is in italics and was not actually spoken by Jesus, completely obscuring the fact the Jesus was claiming to be the great "I AM" of the Old Testament, John 8:58 and Exodus 3:14.

In Luke 3:23-38, the italicized words "the son" are not in the original Greek. Actually, Luke gives the fleshly descent of the Savior through Mary, while Matthew gives the legal descent through Joseph.

Matthew 24:24 should not have the italicized words "it were". It IS possible for the elect to be deceived. We need to be on guard!

Romans 1:7 incorrectly has the italicized words "to be." The fact is, Christians are now saints.

I Corinthians 7:19 needs some italicized words to make the meaning clear. It should say: "Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but [the important thing is] the keeping of the commandments of God."

Colossians 2:16-17 can be properly understood only if the KJV italicized word "is" in verse 17 is left out, as it should be. The message of these verses is: don't let men judge you as doing wrong when you observe the holy days, new moons and sabbaths; let the body of Christ (the Church) do the judging.

I Timothy 3:11 has "their" in italics, which is not implied in the original.

II Peter 2:5 should not have "person, a." Noah was the eighth preacher of righteousness.

I John 2:23 has "[but] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also" in italics. This is an addition based upon the Latin text and not in the original Greek.

Punctuation Problems

Luke 23:43 has been erroneously used by some to claim that Jesus went straight to heaven at His death. The original Greek did not have punctuation marks as we do today. The KJV states, "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." The comma should not be after "thee", but "day." The believing malefactor would be with Christ in the paradise of the redeemed when he was resurrected far into the future.

Mark 16:9 does not say that Jesus was resurrected Sunday morning. There is a missing implied comma between "risen" and "early" and there should be no comma after week as the KJV has it: "Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene . . . ." Thus, it should say, "Now when Jesus was risen, early the first day of the week he appeared first to Mary Magdalene . . . ."

 

[tdidymas]

We live in a time that tends to shrug its shoulders when confronted with error. Instead of asking, like Pilate, “What is truth?” postmodern man says, “Nothing is truth” or perhaps “There is truth, but we cannot know it.” We’ve grown accustomed to being lied to, and many people seem comfortable with the false notion that the Bible, too, contains errors.

The doctrine of biblical inerrancy is an extremely important one because the truth does matter. This issue reflects on the character of God and is foundational to our understanding of everything the Bible teaches. Here are some reasons why we should absolutely believe in biblical inerrancy:

1. The Bible itself claims to be perfect. “And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times” (Psalm 12:6). “The law of the Lord is perfect” (Psalm 19:7). “Every word of God is pure” (Proverbs 30:5 KJV). These claims of purity and perfection are absolute statements. Note that it doesn’t say God’s Word is “mostly” pure or scripture is “nearly” perfect. The Bible argues for complete perfection, leaving no room for “partial perfection” theories.

2. The Bible stands or falls as a whole. If a major newspaper were routinely discovered to contain errors, it would be quickly discredited. It would make no difference to say, “All the errors are confined to page three.” For a paper to be reliable in any of its parts, it must be factual throughout. In the same way, if the Bible is inaccurate when it speaks of geology, why should its theology be trusted? It is either a trustworthy document, or it is not.

3. The Bible is a reflection of its Author. All books are. The Bible was written by God Himself as He worked through human authors in a process called “inspiration.” “All scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). See also 2 Peter 1:21 and Jeremiah 1:2.

We believe that the God who created the universe is capable of writing a book. And the God who is perfect is capable of writing a perfect book. The issue is not simply “Does the Bible have a mistake?” but “Can God make a mistake?” If the Bible contains factual errors, then God is not omniscient and is capable of making errors Himself. If the Bible contains misinformation, then God is not truthful but is instead a liar. If the Bible contains contradictions, then God is the author of confusion. In other words, if biblical inerrancy is not true, then God is not God.

4. The Bible judges us, not vice versa. “For the word of God...judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Notice the relationship between “the heart” and “the Word.” The Word examines; the heart is being examined. To discount parts of the Word for any reason is to reverse this process. We become the examiners, and the Word must submit to our “superior insight.” Yet God says, “But who are you, O man, to talk back to God?” (Romans 9:20).

5. The Bible’s message must be taken as a whole. It is not a mixture of doctrine that we are free to select from. Many people like the verses that say God loves them, but they dislike the verses that say God will judge sinners. But we simply cannot pick and choose what we like about the Bible and throw the rest away. If the Bible is wrong about hell, for example, then who is to say it is right about heaven—or about anything else? If the Bible cannot get the details right about creation, then maybe the details about salvation cannot be trusted either. If the story of Jonah is a myth, then perhaps so is the story of Jesus. On the contrary, God has said what He has said, and the Bible presents us a full picture of who God is. “Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (Psalm 119:89).

6. The Bible is our only rule for faith and practice. If it is not reliable, then on what do we base our beliefs? Jesus asks for our trust, and that includes trust in what He says in His Word. John 6:67-69 is a beautiful passage. Jesus had just witnessed the departure of many who had claimed to follow Him. Then He turns to the twelve apostles and asks, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” At this, Peter speaks for the rest when he says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” May we have the same trust in the Lord and in His words of life.

None of what we have presented here should be taken as a rejection of true scholarship. Biblical inerrancy does not mean that we are to stop using our minds or accept what the Bible says blindly. We are commanded to study the Word (2 Timothy 2:15), and those who search it out are commended (Acts 17:11). Also, we recognize that there are difficult passages in the Bible, as well as sincere disagreements over interpretation. Our goal is to approach Scripture reverently and prayerfully, and when we find something we do not understand, we pray harder, study more, and—if the answer still eludes us—humbly acknowledge our own limitations in the face of the perfect Word of God.

Recommended Resource: The Big Book of Bible Difficulties by Geisler & Howe.

Source: gotquestions.org


Quasa92

I agree with you 100%. However, I would like to point out some fallacies that are inherently taught in modern churches:

1. The Bible is not a scientific textbook. Therefore, there are Biblical expressions which should not be taken scientifically. One is "the circle of the earth." Some people think of this from a position in space, seeing the earth as a sphere. But the original contextual meaning is from the perspective of a person where his view of the world is a 2-dimensional circle, as he sees a 360 degree horizon around him. The meaning of the expression is "the whole world." There are many other Biblical expressions that ought to be taken from a non-scientific point of view, such as "rising and setting of the sun." Trying to reconcile the Bible with modern science is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It's frustratingly controversial, and a distraction from real Christianity.

2. The inerrancy of scripture is in the meaning of the text, not in the particular words used. Many people try to force a crass "perfection" on the specific words used in the scripture. One example is the idea of "The Signature of God" where secret prophetic messages can be extracted from the scripture by counting the Hebrew letters. Such things are distractions from truth, and people can't see the forest for the trees. They focus on words and argue about definitions coming from lexicons, when the definitions of words really come from the context in which they are used. The Bible, and especially the NT, is a conversation, and should be taken as such. If God wanted perfection in words, He would have preserved particular words. But instead, we have a wide variety of words used in thousands of manuscripts and various translations that convey the exact same meanings.

I understand the importance of using certain words, and I feel better about having a Biblical text that can be construed as being 99% accurate to the original autographs. However, I don't read Hebrew or Greek, so I have to be satisfied with translations.
TD

 

[Apex]

I agree with you 100%. However, I would like to point out some fallacies that are inherently taught in modern churches:

1. The Bible is not a scientific textbook. Therefore, there are Biblical expressions which should not be taken scientifically. One is "the circle of the earth." Some people think of this from a position in space, seeing the earth as a sphere. But the original contextual meaning is from the perspective of a person where his view of the world is a 2-dimensional circle, as he sees a 360 degree horizon around him. The meaning of the expression is "the whole world." There are many other Biblical expressions that ought to be taken from a non-scientific point of view, such as "rising and setting of the sun." Trying to reconcile the Bible with modern science is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It's frustratingly controversial, and a distraction from real Christianity.

2. The inerrancy of scripture is in the meaning of the text, not in the particular words used. Many people try to force a crass "perfection" on the specific words used in the scripture. One example is the idea of "The Signature of God" where secret prophetic messages can be extracted from the scripture by counting the Hebrew letters. Such things are distractions from truth, and people can't see the forest for the trees. They focus on words and argue about definitions coming from lexicons, when the definitions of words really come from the context in which they are used. The Bible, and especially the NT, is a conversation, and should be taken as such. If God wanted perfection in words, He would have preserved particular words. But instead, we have a wide variety of words used in thousands of manuscripts and various translations that convey the exact same meanings.

I understand the importance of using certain words, and I feel better about having a Biblical text that can be construed as being 99% accurate to the original autographs. However, I don't read Hebrew or Greek, so I have to be satisfied with translations.
TD

Both of these are good points. As for your first point though, the same is true in reverse. A science textbook is not Scripture. Trying to reconcile science with spiritual truths (e.g. miracles) is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It's frustratingly controversial and a distraction from real science. Keep philosophical discussion out of the science classroom.

 

[hedrick]

It's exactly because truth matters that we have to reject inerrancy.

 

[Apex]

It's exactly because truth matters that we have to reject inerrancy.

Is this statement free from error or true?

 

[Servant232]

לעולם יהוה דברך נצב בשמים

Verse 15988 | Psa 119:89 LAMED. For ever, O YHWH, Thy Word is settled in Heaven.

Total: 962 ~

1 לעולם 176
2 יהוה 26
3 דברך 226
4 נצב 142
5 בשמים 392

~~~~~

Verse 15988 | Psa 119:89 LAMED. For ever, O YHWH, Thy Word is settled in Heaven.

Total: 962 ~ Gen 33:1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.

1.
176 ~ Gen 7:16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and YHWH shut him in.

2.
26176 ~ Joh 4:19 The woman saith unto Him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a Prophet.

3.
22626176 ~ 15022| Psa 73:1 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

4.
14222626176 ~ 23698| Mat 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose It: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find It.

5.
39214222626176 ~ 26682| Joh 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that The Father may be glorified in The Son.

Same verse: Stacked left to right

1 לעולם 176
2 יהוה 26
3 דברך 226
4 נצב 142
5 בשמים 392


Verse 15988 | Psa 119:89 LAMED. For ever, O YHWH, Thy Word is settled in Heaven.

Total: 962 ~ Gen 33:1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.

1.
176 ~ Gen 7:16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and YHWH shut him in.

2.
17626 ~ Sol 6:11 I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded.

3.
17626226 ~ 22494| Amo 8:12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek The Word of YHWH, and shall not find It.

4.
17626226142 ~ 7396| 1Sa 9:4 And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not.

5.
17626226142392 ~ 25218| Luk 7:22 Then YESHUA answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor The Gospel is preached.

Here Is Wisdom