Is the Bible Without Error?

[Steve Petersen]

I would affirm that the Bible is inerrant in the original manuscripts.

What value is there holding this opinion given the fact that we don't have the originals to examine?

 

[Steve Petersen]

Inerrancy is often said to be true of the original documents. We don't have those, so this is a non-starter.

Since we don't have the originals, the only way for the Bible to be inerrant would be for God to insure that NO errors crept into the copies. Now we are talking about inspired copies too?

Since the many various biblical manuscripts DO have differences, now you have to sort out which, if any, was the manuscript God intended for us to have.

Even when you settle on the copy that you believe is God-inspired, we don't have the original manuscript to check it against.

Finally, when you talk about Biblical inerrancy, I have to ask, 'Which Bible?' Different Christian groups have had different collections of books in their Bibles throughout history. Which collection of books is the 'true Bible.'

Even between the Catholic and Protestant Bibles you will find differences TODAY. The Catholic bible has a longer version of Daniel and a shorter version of Jeremiah than the Protestant bibles. Which versions of these two books is 'God-inspired?'

 

[Steve Petersen]

the dead sea scrolls included a full version of Isaiah which has been dated to 100 or more years before Christ, and confirms our own text of Isaiah as correct.

The fact that the Dead Sea Isaiah scroll contains variants from the Masoretic text behind most OT translations belies the idea of inerrancy.

 

[greenguzzi]

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?

I knew just one verse, John 3:16. I had known it for years without it having any effect on my life.

I won't give my testimony here, but my becoming a believer had nothing whatsoever to do with the doctrine of the inerrancy of scripture. In fact it had little to do with scripture at all.

My subsequent behaviour was affected by what I read in the Bible. But this didn't require me to believe that the Bible is inerrant.

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

Yes, the bible, which is the inspired Word of God, is absolutely without error.


Translations are a different story....

 

[Tree of Life]

So, for example: When the Bible says that the world was created in seven days, you believe that this is a literal fact?

I do hold to the regular day view of creation in Genesis 1. But I also admit that this is not the only way to responsibly interpret Genesis 1. You can still hold to inerrancy and take a different view on this passage (such as the literary framework view which views Genesis 1 as poetry).

 

[Tree of Life]

What value is there holding this opinion given the fact that we don't have the originals to examine?

I deliberately did not say "autograph". We no longer have the autographs but we do have original manuscripts. And I believe these received, majority texts to be inerrant.

 

[surrender1]

In the book of Job, three friends try to comfort Job with their theological opinions. Nearly everybody today agrees that their theology about God is false. What Job’s three friends say about God is an error. (I propose that Job himself was wrong as well). Yet although they are wrong about God, their theological ideas are still found within inspired words of the Bible. Why did God inspire false ideas about Himself to be recorded in Scripture? Because so many people around the world and throughout time (including in our own day) believe these false things about God. The theology of Job’s three friends is still the commonly held theology of most people. God put it in Scripture to show us how wrong it is so that we might correct and change our own theology.

This is why these other wrong ideas about God are also included in Scripture. God included them to show us the bad theology that is in the hearts of most people, so that we might see it and correct it in our own hearts. Some of the truest and greatest revelations in Scripture are found when it reveals our own hearts to us. This happens most in those portions of the Bible where people are doing horrible things in the name of God and blaming God for the most horrible of crimes.

 

[Tree of Life]

Since we don't have the originals, the only way for the Bible to be inerrant would be for God to insure that NO errors crept into the copies. Now we are talking about inspired copies too?

This is where the doctrine of infallibility comes in. Not only are the Scripture inerrant but they are also infallible. The Scriptures are unable to be corrupted by man or lost (on the whole). While corruptions might creep in at some time and in some places, the original words of God cannot be extinguished or lost. They will always ultimately prevail. If God has ever spoken a word then it will stand forever. He will also ensure this. Otherwise why speak at all? So I also believe in the infallibility of Scripture - that God preserved the autographs and we have a faithful representation of them in the received, majority texts.

Since the many various biblical manuscripts DO have differences, now you have to sort out which, if any, was the manuscript God intended for us to have.

You use the received, majority text.

Even when you settle on the copy that you believe is God-inspired, we don't have the original manuscript to check it against.

If you believe in infallibility this is not a problem.

 

[greenguzzi]

Yes, the bible, which is the inspired Word of God, is absolutely without error.
Translations are a different story....

Interesting. That's exactly the same position that Muslim's have of the Qur'an.

What leads you to believe this?

 

[Hank77]

The same way that many, many, many people have been saved for 2,000 years: by hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ and believing it.

Praise the Lord.

I'm still waiting for an answer from the poster that I asked these questions.

 

[dqhall]

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

There are passages of the Bible that I would not describe as errors. To describe the entire Bible as perfect would be a mistake.

Paul was preaching we are not saved by the law, but by the teachings of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

 

[Hank77]

I knew just one verse, John 3:16. I had known it for years without it having any effect on my life.

I won't give my testimony here, but my becoming a believer had nothing whatsoever to do with the doctrine of the inerrancy of scripture. In fact it had little to do with scripture at all.

My subsequent behaviour was affected by what I read in the Bible. But this didn't require me to believe that the Bible is inerrant.

Thanks for you response. I just wondered how someone could know about what Jesus had done to save them without hearing the scriptures, the message, that relates to salvation.

 

[Thedictator]

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

I do not know about evangelical faith, but it is foundational for TRUE Christianity. There are some who like to call themselves Christian but are far from being Christian. Either the Bible is God's Word and is without error or it is not God's Word and is in error. God is Perfect and without error, his Word must also be without error or it is not from him. There are false teachers and false Christians ( who are really not Christian ) who embrace an idea of God but not the true nature of God, and therefore are diluted in their thinking and except falsehood.( Romans 1:18-32 ) These people have no fellowship with the one true God, and his people the Church. John 1:1-5 states that Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh and blood. Jesus Christ is without error and so is the Word that he became one with.

Now I'm not talking about the English Bibles that we have, but the Original Word in the Original language of Hebrew and Greek, of which we have over 5000 copies. More than any other ancient document of History. The Original Word has been well Preserved.

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

Interesting. That's exactly the same position that Muslim's have of the Qur'an.

What leads you to believe this?

Scripture nowhere indicating those who would later translate the Bible into different languages were lead by the Holy Spirit.

 

[Thedictator]

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.

Well you would be wrong. God does not like to be called a Liar, and that is what your doing when you say his Word is in error.

 

[surrender1]

Well you would be wrong. God does not like to be called a Liar, and that is what your doing when you say his Word is in error.

Um...no. Weren't Job's friends "in error" on their theology about God? Yes? Yes.
So God allowed error (about Him!) to be included in scripture.

 

[Thedictator]

Um...no. Weren't Job's friends "in error" on their theology about God? Yes? Yes.
So God allowed error (about Him!) to be included in scripture.

Really!
In no way do we see that Job's so called friends were saved by God. The Erroneous information given by those people was stated in the Bible as erroneous statements therefore there is no error.

 

[Thedictator]

Scripture nowhere indicating those who would later translate the Bible into different languages were lead by the Holy Spirit.

Yes but we still have the Word in the Original Language with over 5000 copies.

 

[Thedictator]

Necessary for salvation, no. I did not say that. However, if after being saved, you deny that God can speak to us without error through His scriptures, do you really know God?

Ephesians 5:26 States that we are saved by the Word.

The only way one can know anything about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the plan of salvation, God's Grace, Sin, the forgiveness of sins, is by God's Word. Without the Word we would be ignorant of God, and lost.

2 Timothy 3:15-17 - states the Scriptures are needed for salvation.