Is The Bible Infallible?

[IndieVisible]

Is the Bible the actual "Word of God" or is it simply the revelation of God inspired thru and written by men?

This is an important distinction and thought it might be interesting to see how we all pair up to this in a poll.

 

[chilehed]

No, it is not infallible, because infallible is the wrong word. The Sacred Scriptures are inerrant: they record without error those truths which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see put into written form.

Yes, Sacred Scriptures are the word of God. He is their primary author.

But the Word of God isn't a book. He's a person: Jesus.

 

[metherion]

As Chilehed says. The Scriptures are infallible about those truths God wishes to communicate to us regarding salvation and Himself and our relationship with Him.

History and science are not necessarily among them.

And the Bible contains words of God, and words of the Word of God, but the Word of God is Jesus. And the Bible also contains words of men, as well as words of the Devil! Remember Jesus' temptation in the desert, where Satan spoke to Him? The Devil's words, in the Bible. Remember times where it quoted what men said, like the words of Pontius Pilate? Words of men.

Metherion

Edited after Gluadys' post below, because I mixed up some words when I typed them earlier.

 

[gluadys]

As Chilehed says. The Scriptures are inerrant about those truths God wishes to communicate to us regarding salvation and Himself and our relationship with Him.

History and science are not necessarily among them.

And the Bible contains words of God, and words of the Word of God, but the Word of God is Jesus. And the Bible also contains words of men, as well as words of the Devil! Remember Jesus' temptation in the desert, where Satan spoke to Him? The Devil's words, in the Bible. Remember times where it quoted what men said, like the words of Pontius Pilate? Words of men.

Metherion

"Infallible" and "inerrant" are both terms that have been applied to scripture. "Infallible" is the term used in most statements of faith rooted in the Protestant Reformation. And it is usually qualified by a phrase which limits its application to doctrinal and moral instruction. In this light it was also connected to the Protestant doctrine of the sufficiency of scripture--meaning that all that is needful for a person to know for salvation is found in scripture.

These two doctrines together challenged the role of Church officialdom as the authoritative teachers of the faith. One does not need a pope or a college of cardinals to sort out what is what if all you need to know is in the Holy Writings and they are guaranteed to be an infallible guide to both correct doctrine and right living.

"Inerrant" as applied to scripture has a more recent history, stemming from the birth of the fundamentalist movement in the early 20th century. It differs from infallible in that it is held to apply to the text itself and to all subjects in the text--not just doctrine and moral behaviour. The doctrine of inerrancy holds that the text of scripture contains no error on any matter it speaks of, including history, cosmology, and any of the sciences. This is usually coupled with the doctrine that the text is to be interpreted literally except where there is a clear textual indication that this is not the intended meaning.

The doctrine of inerrancy was aimed primarily at the Higher Criticism (as it was then called) of the bible, as well as at new scientific and historical theories that were calling the accuracy of the biblical accounts, as history, into question.

I don't have a problem asserting the infallibility of the Bible as the Reformers understood it; but I do not consider the Bible to be inerrant.

 

[metherion]

You're right, glaudys. I mixed them up when I typed them this morning, and I just copy pasted them over later. The Scriptures are infallible when instructing on faith, the role of our relationship with God/to God, etc.

I will be editing my post now to use the correct one.

My bad.

Metherion

 

[PaladinValer]

The, IMO, correct option, isn't listed.

The Bible is inspired as it is the written revelation of God which is infallible on doctrinal, salvific, moral, and faith issues.

It can be, and often is, dead wrong on historical and scientific issues yet still be inspired.