A New Thought Concerning Biblical Infallibility

[TheMatman]

Assume for the moment that the Bible is completely without contradiction AND that everybody, including the athiest recognizes the same.

(Of course, this would not necessarily mean that the Bible is true, but only that the Bible is homogenious--that it is consistent through and through.)

Instead of focusing upon perceived contradictions, the atheist might use the lack of contradiction to disprove the Bible. He might argue that the Bible was written by one person (but not God) who made up all the stories and then hired a good proofreader to ensure that the story line remained consistent.

 

[HistoryMaker]

Interesting...

But why chose the to make the plot of the story like he did? There aren't many really popular stories you come across where the protagonist dies and then calls upon his followers to do the same for their faith. Ok, it would seem like a good twist in the tale to add the Resurrection - quite a good climax, but then why add in all the epistles afterwards?

Also, that 'lone writer' must have hit copy and paste a few too many times - Chronicles and Kings say much the same thing twice. It is not usually the sign of a good book if it simply repeats itself over and over again.

There are soo many parts of the Bible that simple do not resemble anything that we would find in this world, which is why many believe it is from God. Surely if someone was writing the sacred text for a religion, they would make another story.

An interesting if not a little bizarre theory, but I am afraid I don't think you'll find many people on here agree with you.

 

[TheMatman]

Interesting...

But why chose the to make the plot of the story like he did? There aren't many really popular stories you come across where the protagonist dies and then calls upon his followers to do the same for their faith. Ok, it would seem like a good twist in the tale to add the Resurrection - quite a good climax, but then why add in all the epistles afterwards?

Also, that 'lone writer' must have hit copy and paste a few too many times - Chronicles and Kings say much the same thing twice. It is not usually the sign of a good book if it simply repeats itself over and over again.

There are soo many parts of the Bible that simple do not resemble anything that we would find in this world, which is why many believe it is from God. Surely if someone was writing the sacred text for a religion, they would make another story.

An interesting if not a little bizarre theory, but I am afraid I don't think you'll find many people on here agree with you.

Don't misunderstand me. I am neither an atheist nor a person who believes the Bible to be wrong.

However, my point is that even if you could convince an atheist into believing the Bible is contradiction-free.... he still will use the lack of contradiction to prove his point.

But your points are well taken.

 

[HistoryMaker]

Don't misunderstand me. I am neither an atheist nor a person who believes the Bible to be wrong. However, my point is that even if you could convince an atheist into believing the Bible is contradiction-free.... he still will use the lack of contradiction to prove his point. But your points are well taken.

Yes, I kind of assumed that from your OP, no offence intended. Would an atheist really use lack of contradiction to prove the point? Ok, there is the possibility for a really skilled author, but there is such a wide variety of works (poems, history, prose etc) and I am sure the atheist could find other things to attack the Bible (maybe the existance of God). In my opinion, it seems that we can attack the infallibility of the Bible from two opposing viewpoints; if there is no contradiction then one could argue it was written by one really clever author, and if there is contradiction then surely the atheist would argue that the religion is false. Kind of catch 22 situation!

 

[TheMatman]

Yes, I kind of assumed that from your OP, no offence intended. Would an atheist really use lack of contradiction to prove the point? Ok, there is the possibility for a really skilled author, but there is such a wide variety of works (poems, history, prose etc) and I am sure the atheist could find other things to attack the Bible (maybe the existance of God). In my opinion, it seems that we can attack the infallibility of the Bible from two opposing viewpoints; if there is no contradiction then one could argue it was written by one really clever author, and if there is contradiction then surely the atheist would argue that the religion is false. Kind of catch 22 situation!

Precisely, which is why the issue of infallibility is by and large irrelevant.

 

[JimfromOhio]

Those who are without the Holy Spirit will see the Bible have contradictions. Those will have the Holy Spirit will understand the why there is contradictions and go deeper than the surface.

 

[GraceInHim]

Those who are without the Holy Spirit will see the Bible have contradictions. Those will have the Holy Spirit will understand the why there is contradictions and go deeper than the surface.

amen

 

[pussycat61]

like jimfromohio said. the Holy Spirit gives us insight and things are clear in front of our eyes. Sometimes we can have new insights through the Holy Spirit for one and the same Scripture. It can be quite mindblowing

 

[Maynard Keenan]

Those who are without the Holy Spirit will see the Bible have contradictions. Those will have the Holy Spirit will understand the why there is contradictions and go deeper than the surface.

Or in other words, cognitive dissonance.

 

[OzSpen]

Why don't you try this old view of biblical infallibility? It seems to have more weight than some of these modern views.

If we are perplexed by an apparent contradiction in Scripture, it is not allowable to say, The author of this book is mistaken; but either the manuscript is faulty, or the translation is wrong, or you have not understood (Augustine, Against Faustus, 11.5, available from: http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF1-04/npnf1-04-24.htm#TopOfPage)

Seems to me that this has a resonance with 2 Tim. 3:16 and the "breathed out by God" Scripture (ESV).

Sincerely,
Spencer