Is the Bible Without Error?

greenguzzi · Jun 6, 2017

The doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture is foundational to evangelical faith...
Or is it????!!

HereIStand · Jun 6, 2017

That should be evangelical doctrine. Lately though, there seems to be weakening on the evangelical denial "that Biblical infallibility and inerrancy are limited to spiritual, religious, or redemptive themes, exclusive of assertions in the fields of history and science. We further deny that scientific hypotheses about earth history may properly be used to overturn the teaching of Scripture on creation and the flood."

Monk Brendan · Jun 6, 2017

greenguzzi said:
The doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture is foundational to evangelical faith...

I would rather say, the indefectability--meaning that it was and remains inspired of the Holy Spirit, but error MAY have crept in in the various translations into other languages, even going from Greek to Latin. I am sure only of the inspired Word of God, which was made manifest in the Septuagint, (Greek) translation of the OT, and the Greek NT.

Tree of Life · Jun 6, 2017

It depends on what you mean by "bible" and "without error". I would affirm that the Bible is inerrant in the original manuscripts. But if we have a different understanding of "inerrant" then this might cause some confusion.

Tree of Life · Jun 6, 2017

Monk Brendan said:
I would rather say, the indefectability--meaning that it was and remains inspired of the Holy Spirit, but error MAY have crept in in the various translations into other languages, even going from Greek to Latin. I am sure only of the inspired Word of God, which was made manifest in the Septuagint, (Greek) translation of the OT, and the Greek NT.

Interesting that you hold the LXX to be inerrant. Why is this? Is this official Catholic position?

greenguzzi · Jun 6, 2017

HereIStand said:
That should be evangelical doctrine. Lately though, there seems to be weakening on the evangelical denial "that Biblical infallibility and inerrancy are limited to spiritual, religious, or redemptive themes, exclusive of assertions in the fields of history and science. We further deny that scientific hypotheses about earth history may properly be used to overturn the teaching of Scripture on creation and the flood."

To be clear, I'm one of those pesky evangelicals who question the Bible's inerrancy. (I've never heard of any evangelical claiming that the Bible is infallible, but that's cool too!)

Monk Brendan · Jun 6, 2017

Tree of Life said:
Interesting that you hold the LXX to be inerrant. Why is this? Is this official Catholic position?

This is the official position of my monastic superior. He has been Orthodox for 40 years or so. That is the reason I use it--also, we read from the Orthodox Study Bible, which uses LXX.

greenguzzi · Jun 6, 2017

Tree of Life said:
It depends on what you mean by "bible" and "without error". I would affirm that the Bible is inerrant in the original manuscripts. But if we have a different understanding of "inerrant" then this might cause some confusion.

What are the original manuscripts that you trust, and why?

Sure, let us discuss the meaning of "inerrant". That is pretty important.

Root of Jesse · Jun 6, 2017

Monk Brendan said:
I would rather say, the indefectability--meaning that it was and remains inspired of the Holy Spirit, but error MAY have crept in in the various translations into other languages, even going from Greek to Latin. I am sure only of the inspired Word of God, which was made manifest in the Septuagint, (Greek) translation of the OT, and the Greek NT.

Amen.

Root of Jesse · Jun 6, 2017

Tree of Life said:
Interesting that you hold the LXX to be inerrant. Why is this? Is this official Catholic position?

It is the official Catholic position.

Tree of Life · Jun 6, 2017

greenguzzi said:
What are the original manuscripts that you trust, and why?

Sure, let us discuss the meaning of "inerrant". That is pretty important.

I forget which tradition of manuscripts goes into what I read. But I read from the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia for Hebrew and from the Byzantine text of the Greek.

Inerrant means, to me, that the Bible does not affirm anything contrary to fact.

Halbhh · Jun 6, 2017

Yes, but people make a lot of errors in interpreting verses without being aware of many other needed parts in other verses, often even in other books of the Bible. Many verses require a broad reading through the Bible to get the intended meaning, and so it's quite easy for people to come up with what seem meaningful contradictions, due to lack of the full context, which at times is even in other books. It's almost like a lock and key system at times -- you aren't given a chance to understand, unless you commit and read through much or all the Bible with a truly open ear, where you fall silent, and the Word does the teaching, and you the listening. Where you don't impose doctrine, but seek to have the Word teach you. You have to take the position that the Word is the teacher, and knows more than you know, and then continue reading, in trust. Faithful trust, even though you don't get something right this moment at times, trusting that you will later. Prayer can help in this I have found.

JoeP222w · Jun 6, 2017

Yes, the Bible is the inerrant and all sufficient word of God.

greenguzzi said:
The doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture is foundational to evangelical faith...
Or is it????!!

If a person denies the doctrine of inerrancy, they have nothing to base their faith in Christ on, so they are likely not a Christian.

HereIStand · Jun 6, 2017

greenguzzi said:
To be clear, I'm one of those pesky evangelicals who question the Bible's inerrancy. (I've never heard of any evangelical claiming that the Bible is infallible, but that's cool too!)

In what sense do you consider the Bible to not be inerrant?

Hank77 · Jun 6, 2017

greenguzzi said:
The doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture is foundational to evangelical faith...
Or is it????!!

The scriptures are inerrant as written in the original autographs. The original documents written by the original authors.
I don't have any problem including the LXX in this because the LXX was translated from the Hebrew by the Jews themselves for their own Greek speaking Jews. So I trust it.

greenguzzi · Jun 6, 2017

JoeP222w said:
Yes, the Bible is the inerrant and all sufficient word of God.

If a person denies the doctrine of inerrancy, they have nothing to base their faith in Christ on, so they are likely not a Christian.

When I first became a follower of Christ I barely knew one verse of scripture. The doctrine of inerrancy of the Bible is not necessary for salvation, in my opinion.

greenguzzi · Jun 6, 2017

HereIStand said:
In what sense do you consider the Bible to not be inerrant?

Well, to begin with, the Bible has internal discrepancies. Would you like me to start listing them?

HereIStand · Jun 6, 2017

greenguzzi said:
Well, to begin with, the Bible has internal discrepancies. Would you like me to start listing them?

No. Only trying to understand your general frame of reference. If this is your belief, how is that you identify as evangelical? Why not be mainline?

Hank77 · Jun 6, 2017

greenguzzi said:
When I first became a follower of Christ I barely knew one verse of scripture. The doctrine of inerrancy of the Bible is not necessary for salvation, in my opinion.

How did you get saved if it wasn't through the scriptures? How did you know that Jesus died for your sin and was resurrected so that you to can have eternal life if it wasn't through the scriptures?

redleghunter · Jun 6, 2017

greenguzzi said:
The doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture is foundational to evangelical faith...
Or is it????!!

I think such a proposition to 'vote' should be founded on proper definitions.

Evangelical Biblical Inerrancy definitions:

From the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy:

1. God, who is Himself Truth and speaks truth only, has inspired Holy Scripture in order thereby to reveal Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge. Holy Scripture is God's witness to Himself.

2. Holy Scripture, being God's own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God's instruction, in all that it affirms: obeyed, as God's command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God's pledge, in all that it promises.

3. The Holy Spirit, Scripture's divine Author, both authenticates it to us by His inward witness and opens our minds to understand its meaning.

4. Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God's acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God's saving grace in individual lives.

5. The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if this total divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible's own; and such lapses bring serious loss to both the individual and the Church.

Source: Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy

Excerpts from the same source:

Article VIII.
WE AFFIRM that God in His work of inspiration utilized the distinctive personalities and literary styles of the writers whom He had chosen and prepared.

WE DENY that God, in causing these writers to use the very words that He chose, overrode their personalities.

Article X.
WE AFFIRM that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture, which in the providence of God can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy. We further affirm that copies and translations of Scripture are the Word of God to the extent that they faithfully represent the original.

WE DENY that any essential element of the Christian faith is affected by the absence of the autographs. We further deny that this absence renders the assertion of Biblical inerrancy invalid or irrelevant.

Article XI.
WE AFFIRM that Scripture, having been given by divine inspiration, is infallible, so that, far from misleading us, it is true and reliable in all the matters it addresses.

WE DENY that it is possible for the Bible to be at the same time infallible and errant in its assertions. Infallibility and inerrancy may be distinguished, but not separated.

Article XIII.
WE AFFIRM the propriety of using inerrancy as a theological term with reference to the complete truthfulness of Scripture.

WE DENY that it is proper to evaluate Scripture according to standards of truth and error that are alien to its usage or purpose. We further deny that inerrancy is negated by Biblical phenomena such as a lack of modern technical precision, irregularities of grammar or spelling, observational descriptions of nature, the reporting of falsehoods, the use of hyperbole and round numbers, the topical arrangement of material, variant selections of material in parallel accounts, or the use of free citations.

Article XVI.
WE AFFIRM that the doctrine of inerrancy has been integral to the Church's faith throughout its history.

WE DENY that inerrancy is a doctrine invented by scholastic Protestantism, or is a reactionary position postulated in response to negative higher criticism.

Transmission and Translation
Since God has nowhere promised an inerrant transmission of Scripture, it is necessary to affirm that only the autographic text of the original documents was inspired and to maintain the need of textual criticism as a means of detecting any slips that may have crept into the text in the course of its transmission. The verdict of this science, however, is that the Hebrew and Greek text appear to be amazingly well preserved, so that we are amply justified in affirming, with the Westminster Confession, a singular providence of God in this matter and in declaring that the authority of Scripture is in no way jeopardized by the fact that the copies we possess are not entirely error-free.

Similarly, no translation is or can be perfect, and all translations are an additional step away from the autographa. Yet the verdict of linguistic science is that English-speaking Christians, at least, are exceedingly well served in these days with a host of excellent translations and have no cause for hesitating to conclude that the true Word of God is within their reach. Indeed, in view of the frequent repetition in Scripture of the main matters with which it deals and also of the Holy Spirit's constant witness to and through the Word, no serious translation of Holy Scripture will so destroy its meaning as to render it unable to make its reader "wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:15).

Holy Scripture, as the inspired Word of God witnessing authoritatively to Jesus Christ, may properly be called infallible and inerrant. These negative terms have a special value, for they explicitly safeguard crucial positive truths.

lnfallible signifies the quality of neither misleading nor being misled and so safeguards in categorical terms the truth that Holy Scripture is a sure, safe, and reliable rule and guide in all matters.

Similarly, inerrant signifies the quality of being free from all falsehood or mistake and so safeguards the truth that Holy Scripture is entirely true and trustworthy in all its assertions.

We affirm that canonical Scripture should always be interpreted on the basis that it is infallible and inerrant. However, in determining what the God-taught writer is asserting in each passage, we must pay the most careful attention to its claims and character as a human production. In inspiration, God utilized the culture and conventions of His penman's milieu, a milieu that God controls in His sovereign providence; it is misinterpretation to imagine otherwise.

So history must be treated as history, poetry as poetry, hyperbole and metaphor as hyperbole and metaphor, generalization and approximation as what they are, and so forth. Differences between literary conventions in Bible times and in ours must also be observed: since, for instance, non-chronological narration and imprecise citation were conventional and acceptable and violated no expectations in those days, we must not regard these things as faults when we find them in Bible writers. When total precision of a particular kind was not expected nor aimed at, it is no error not to have achieved it. Scripture is inerrant, not in the sense of being absolutely precise by modern standards, but in the sense of making good its claims and achieving that measure of focused truth at which its authors aimed.

More: Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy

Note: the Bible manuscripts we have today are in 99% agreement with each other. Errors noted in the 1 percentile are punctuation, word endings, minor grammatical issues, word order, etc.

Is the Bible Without Error?

Is the Bible Without Error?

Of course it is, why would you ask that!?

Heck, no! Where shall I start!

I have no idea.

It depends on what you mean by "without error".

It's complicated.

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