My Thoughts on Biblical Inerrancy

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While there is so much to say on this subject, I’m not necessarily making a case for anything.  Thinking about Biblical inerrancy, infallibility and inspiration have always been concepts for me to wrestle with, as they should be with most Christians.  Here are my recent thoughts on the subject:


DEFINE THE TERMS
These are the definitions I am using:

            Inerrancy: The Bible is totally free from all errors; factual, historical, theological, etc.

            Infallibility: The Bible is totally true in all things that it teaches.

Inspiration: The Bible is God’s Word to humanity, as He has divinely inspired the authors.

Growing up in church, I have always believed in all three.  Christians love to say things like, “The Bible is true and trustworthy,” and “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.”  Conservative Christians view Biblical inerrancy as a “Tier 1” issue; it is at the core of Christianity.  On the other hand, more liberal Christians view this subject as something of little importance.
IS IT REALLY THAT IMPORTANT?
What is the right view?   Is the Bible inspired, infallible, and inerrant?  Does it even matter if it is any of these things?


No.  It isn’t important to conclude that God exists, Jesus resurrected from the dead, or that Christianity is true.  No one has to believe in inerrancy of Scripture in order to believe in Jesus Christ.

Yes.  It is important because Christianity centers on the Bible.  The Bible itself claims to be inspired (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21).  Why base our lives around this book if it doesn’t have a foundation in God?  What makes it more special then anything else?  Why should we preach from it?  Why should we read it with particular intent?

For this reason, it can be regarded as an “in-house debate” among Christians.


TAKING IT TOO FAR | DON’T BE AN EXTREMIST
These three ideas all flow from each other.  If we can conclude that the Bible is inspired by God, then by virtue of inspiration it should also be infallible.  If it is infallible, it follows that it should also be inerrant.  “If God inspired the Bible, it therefore follows that the Bible is totally true in all things it teaches.  If the Bible is infallible, it therefore follows that the Bible is totally free from all errors.”

However, if the Bible is free from all errors, what about the translations?  My NASB Bible should also be free from errors, shouldn’t it?  If God inspired the Bible, it’s infallible, and it’s inerrant, shouldn’t it follow that all translations of the Bible are also inerrant?  Wouldn’t God want to preserve His Word and make sure that all copies of the Bible would remain free from error?  If this is the case, and being that language is always changing, God would have to constantly be updating Bible translations in order for it to remain inerrant.  However, we see that this is simply taking it too far.

Yet by the same token, I don’t think Christians can comfortably go the opposite direction and throw out inspiration and infallibility.  If the Bible isn’t even inspired by God, what makes it unique?  Why preach from it?  And what can we use as a basis for truth and knowledge of God?  Human reasoning?  Well, we’ve just established above that human reasoning can lead us to places that don’t make sense.

The fact of the matter is that the Bible is a combination of perfect, divine inspiration, and flawed, human error.  There is a line between divine inspiration and human error, but the question is where.

I think this is why it’s important to make a distinction between inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy.  Fuller Theological Seminary, for example, has abandoned their view of inerrancy but still retains their view of infallibility.  They allow the possibility that the Bible could have factual or scientific errors, but is wholly trustworthy in areas such as theology and morality.


LOGICAL PROGRESSION LEADING TO BIBLICAL INSPIRIATION
At the very least, the Christian must eventually conclude that the Bible is inspired by God.  Here’s why I think so:

1. Jesus claims to be God, and the source of truth.
                        -John 14:6 (source of truth, only way to God)
                        -John 17:5 (shares glory with God)
                        -John 11:25 (gives eternal life)

2. We can establish that Jesus is God
-Historical evidence http://thewaymattseesit.blogspot.com/2014/03/lets-argue-resurrection.html
-Reliability of the New Testament (apart from inspiration, infallibility and inerrancy) http://carm.org/when-were-gospels-written-and-by-whom

3. Jesus, who is God, affirmed the inspiration of scripture*.
-(See section of article: Christ’s Use of Scripture: https://answersingenesis.org/jesus-christ/jesus-christ-on-the-infallibility-of-scripture/)

4. Therefore, the Bible* is inspired by God.

Being that we can reasonably commit ourselves to inspiration, we can also commit to infallibility.  It follows that if the Bible is divinely inspired by God, it should be totally true in all that it teaches (infallible).  Although one could try to make a case against inerrancy, which has become the controversy right now, I don’t believe that we can stray from inspiration and infallibility.  I think I like the stance Fuller Theological Seminary has taken.

*I realize that Jesus only affirmed the Old Testament (as the New Testament had yet to be written).  A different case would have to be made for the NT.  Simply establishing its historical credibility isn’t enough for us to say it is divinely inspired or infallible.


SOME FINAL THOUGHTS
These are just my thoughts on the subject.  This could be so much more detailed, but I think I’m more just explaining my thought process.  These are beliefs I’ve held most of my life, yet I am trying to think critically about this and not just believe something “because I’m supposed to.”

While I’m still wrestling with this, and I do believe this issue is not core for someone to come to faith in Christ or establish the truth of Christianity, for now I’d say that inspiration and infallibility are still incredibly important for the Christian to subscribe to, and should not be lightly abandoned.


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