The Narnia 3 Blog

A valid objection, but not new - Wesleyanism, where your pastor probably is, upholds the Bible as authoritative in issues of salvation and morality, but not on issues of history or science.

*There is importance to affirming inerrancy*. We agree that Scripture is inspired (speaking fictitiously), meaning “God inspired all the words” (“verbal plenary”). To speak of inspired “meanings” rather than words is fruitless, for ideas are couched in words. Thus, to say that only some words have authority is to fail in submission to Revelation. However, they must be correct to have authority, for if incorrect, God is a liar or small, unable to see or know all. Is the Bible reliable? Jesus addresses this in John 3:12: “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (ESV) This authority starts in Genesis, with God’s claim to create the physical. If the veracity of this is doubted, then God cannot be trusted for salvation.

The inerrancy of the Bible is a foundational doctrine of the Christian faith. If one book, passage or verse of the Bible were deemed incorrect, then the entire Bible would become suspect to error. If miracles are called into question and discredited, then we leave the door open to question the existence of Christ. If we allow the debunking of Biblical history, then we are forced to question the historicity of our incarnate God. Without inerrancy our theological position quickly erodes and we are left with a moralist religion devoid of any need for Christ, a redeemer, or even God himself. The full scope of Scripture, and not solely the parts pertaining to Christ and salvation, is of the utmost importance as, “All scripture is inspired by God”. The Bible contains the words of our all-knowing God so all earthly wisdom must be checked against divine wisdom by using Bible, which indeed is inerrant.

Even though it isn’t specifically stated, if you believe that the Bible is correct when it talks about the Gospel, you also believe that the Bible is the Word of God, which means that you believe in inspiration. If any parts of the Word of God contain error, whether in regards to history or other parts of the Bible, what value, then, does the Bible have? In other words, what authority does God have if His Words are prone to error?

The Gospel and “other important stuff about Jesus and God” are not isolated books or facts written in the Bible. St. Augustine said: “…the Old Testament revealed in the New, the New veiled in the Old.” The Bible is intricately knitted together. We can’t choose to believe in some parts and not in others.

If God says that history is correct, then history is correct. I think that there is simply no argument against that. The Bible being the authoritative Word of God, it is, then, inerrant in its entirety.

Like your pastor, many feel that the Bible is authoritative on issues pertaining to morality and salvation, but not necessarily when it speaks to history or science. However, this raises difficult questions about our salvation and the power of the God we worship. It might seem harmless to question whether David had 1,100,000 fighting men, (1 Chronicles 21:5), but is it so harmless to question whether it is a fact that Christ was crucified, died, and rose again? If Christ was not slain for our sin, then we have no claim as heirs in His kingdom. Which history are we to question? Is it harmless to question the science behind a seven day creation? If man evolved from nothing, we have no obligation to worship or be held accountable to a higher authority. The Bible must be inerrant. We can not base our eternal security on a book that may be nothing more than a collection of fictional stories.

You're right, my school completely believes in the inerrancy of the Bible. We believe it is God Breathed and as such it is the inspired word of God and is alive to each person who reads it. All of the books are infallible and authoritative. It does not lie or teach us lies. According to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 1:20-21, it is of precious use to promote truth and total knowledge about God, all the sciences, created matter, history, literally everything past, present and future including eternal Salvation through Jesus Christ.

Your pastor may be a liberal Christian; this is a sad commentary to his knowledge and understanding of the Word of God. As a parishioner I might be inclined to disbelieve the whole Bible if my pastor were to tell me that there is a theological mistake in any of the books. If I am placing my eternal soul and eternal salvation in the truths of the Bible, complete inerrancy needs to be of the utmost importance for me. Wouldn’t you agree?

My friend, why put your trust in imperfect man rather than a perfect God? Trust the Scriptures, they are entirely true and trustworthy, inerrant from Genesis to Revelation. God Himself is the author and perfecter of the Scriptures. God chose men with varied styles to express exactly what He wanted to say, inspired by the Holy Spirit, (paraphrased 2 Peter 1:20, 21) undistorted by human interpretation.
The prophetic word (utterances of God), were made sure by the writing of the Scriptures. When the Berean's (paraphrased Acts 17:11) heard Paul speak, they searched the Scriptures to see what he spoke was true. They did not just accept his spoken word .
“...God created the heavens and the earth.”(Genesis 1:1) There cannot be a problem with history or science in the Bible for God created time and the capacity for science. Everything in the Bible relates to the Gospel nothing is superfluous. ALL Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable...that the man of God may be fully equipped... (paraphrased 2 Timothy 3:16,17).

Well, it makes all the difference in the world! You see, if the Bible is not inerrant meaning, free from error or falsehood, then one could say that God can err. Now if you believe that God can err, then you have a much bigger problem than biblical inerrancy. 2 Timothy 3:16 states that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…” meaning that the Scriptures were “God-breathed”. This implies that the Scriptures (the original autographs) were inspired by God who chose to use men as human instruments. These men, under the guidance of The Holy Spirit wrote exactly what God intended. Now, if the Bible, God’s Word, is capable of error or falsehood then how could you and I trust in what it teaches? With what authority does your pastor teach the Bible if he does not believe in biblical inerrancy? How can a finite human being with limited knowledge tell you what parts of the Bible are correct and which ones aren’t? Think about this; if the Bible is capable of having errors, we could not trust John 3:16-21 to be true? Now, if we can’t trust John 3:16-21 to be true, then we are all hopeless!

This is a claim commonly made but one with no foundation. The Bible itself clearly states that it is without error, never claiming inerrancy merely in matters pertaining to faith and practice. Instead it states that “all scripture is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16)” and refers to God’s Word as perfect, sure, right, pure, clear, and true (Psalm 19: 7-9). It never restricts these characteristics only to certain parts of Scripture.
Inerrancy is not a minor claim made in Scripture but is a major doctrine essential to the Christian faith. In denying inerrancy, we elevate mans’ ability to determine truth over God’s knowledge and all claims made in Scripture should then be questioned. If any part of the Scripture is found to be untrue, despite the claims the Bible makes about itself, we have no basis to determine truth in any aspect of life, especially matters pertaining to salvation.

Well, if the so called unimportant things about God are not truth then, how can one say that the other stuff about God is true? Who gets to decide what is important and what is not? Scripture says that God’s word is truth in John 17: 17 it says, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” So if one part of Scripture is not true then God’s word is a lie. Why should we believe in any of it or even obey it for that matter. When we stop believing that one part of Scripture is true it is easier to ignore its authority and therefore no longer be submissive to any of it because things then become subjective according to what we believe is true. Logically, if God was not omniscient then He would not be God. And we worship Him in vain. Our whole moral system is without credibility.

The Bible claims it's own inerrancy. In 2 Timothy 3:16 it states, "All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; The word inspired in this verse is translated from the Greek word, "Theopneustos" literally meaning God breathed or exhaled. If all scripture is God breathed, exhaled by God, then it must be inerrant. Also in 2 Peter 1:20 it states, " But know this that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of ones own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Therefore your pastor or anyone else that disregards the scripture is disregarding what is spoken by God. Do not forget the power of the word of God, for by His word He created the heavens and earth. How people treat the word of God will determine whether they spend eternity with the Him in glory or tormented in Hell. As seen in Luke 16:27-31, the rich man in Hell pleads with Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers to repent and Abraham replies " If they did not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead." Therefore if you will not heed God's word then nothing else will save you.