Scripture:
Inerrancy
Inerrancy
means that the Bible does not contain errors or contradictions. This
applies only to the original autographs. Put simply, when God moved
authors to write, they wrote what God willed them to write, and since
the Lord is perfect and cannot ere, what was written originally was
without error. The word of God is always true. The Bible is never
false in anything it affirms, whether it be doctrine, ethics, or
science (such as social, physical, or life science).
Inerrancy
extends only to the original manuscripts. Copies and copies of
copies may contain errors because they were copied by fallible humans
who make mistakes. These errors or inaccuracies are always minor.
They are usually copying errors and do not change or affect doctrine
or anything of importance. Other errors may be in translations.
Words or phrases may be interpreted or translated incorrectly (the
Latin Vulgate is an example of this).
However,
God in his providence has overseen thousands of copies and their
transmission. What we have today, since the originals have been lost
to time, is what God desires his church and children to possess.
When manuscripts are compared to older manuscripts (which have less
copyist errors because they are older and have been copied from
copies closer to the original source), errors can be detected and
corrected. It is believed that the copies of Scripture we possess
today are 99% accurate in comparison to the originals. The more
copies that are compared, the more errors are discovered. The more
errors that are discovered, the more errors that can be fixed in
order to get that much closer to the original manuscript.
The
Bible itself argues for inerrancy. In fact, inspiration requires
inerrancy (2Tim. 3:16). If the word of God is breathed out by God,
then it follows that since God is indeed perfect, his word is without
mistakes or errors. Divine messages are absolutely true and
trustworthy. But, what is false fails. God explained this through
Moses in Deuteronomy.
“If
a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a
sign or a wonder, and
the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says,
'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us
serve them,' you
shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of
dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you
love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
You shall walk after
the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his
voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.
But that prophet or
that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught
rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land
of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you
leave the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So
you shall purge the evil from your midst.” (Deut. 13:1-5)
“But
the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not
commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that
same prophet shall die.'
And if you say in your
heart, 'How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?'-
when a prophet speaks
in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come
true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has
spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.” (Deut.
18:20-22)
If
what was said happened, it was from God. If the words failed, the
prophet was false. The main thing to see is that God gave his people
a way to test the message and messengers. This would not be possible
if the words of God contained errors. Since they were given criteria
to distinguish the true from the false, it follows that God's word is
always true.
The
Bible is also authoritative which requires inerrancy. Matthew
5:17-20 and John 10:34-35 demonstrate that the law's authority hinges
on the fact that it must be fulfilled. “Do not think that I
have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to
abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to
you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will
pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore
whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches
others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven,
but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the
kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your
righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will
never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:17-20)
“Jesus answered them, 'Is it not written in your Law, 'I said,
you are gods'? If he called them gods to whom the word of
God came-and Scripture cannot be broken...'” (Jn. 10:34-35)
Scripture
cannot be broken and is, therefore, binding and authoritative. In
order for something to be absolutely authoritative it cannot contain
errors. The trustworthiness and inerrancy of Scripture derives from
the character of God. God cannot lie, make mistakes, or communicate
errors (Num. 23:19; 1Sam. 15:29; Tit. 1:2; Heb. 6:18). He is
perfect.
What
cements the inerrancy of the word of God is 2 Timothy 3:16-17. “All
Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
that the man of God
may be competent, equipped for every good work.” As was already
discussed, the Scripture is exhaled or breathed out by a perfect God.
He has given the church his word in order to equip her for good
works that result in God being glorified. Also, the word of God is
central to the life of the church. God's words are profitable. They
teach, reprove, correct, and train. This would be impossible,
however, if the word of God contained errors.
Remember,
God gave his church his word. It is to grow and glorify God by
following his word. How would this be possible if his word contained
errors? If it misled? If it taught something that was wrong? If it
could not be trusted? The word of God is inspired, and as a result,
the word of God is inerrant. Scripture can be trusted because our
great God is trustworthy and able to communicate truthfully and
accurately his will to his church.
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