Psalms 12
The words of the Lord are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times. Psalms 12:6 NKJV
Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible is perfect and contains no mistakes. This pertains to factual and historical information, as well as teachings and spiritual elements. Is this really true? There are many groups of people in the world today that argue against this idea of Biblical inerrancy and attempt to use apparent inconsistencies in the Bible as a way to show that it is unreliable and false. As believers in a Holy and perfect God, however, we can have absolute confidence in every page of the Bible. Understanding and trusting God’s Word in its entirety is foundational to our faith and how we are expected to live as followers of Christ. The Bible was written by God Himself, who inspired human authors to record everything for Him: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Since we know that God is infallible and incapable of sin, then we know the same applies to His Words. Proverbs 30:5 clearly proclaims, “Every word of God is flawless…” In the New Testament, Jesus assures us of this as well when He prays for His disciples: “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Having said that, God does not expect us to blindly believe everything in the Bible just because we know we are supposed to. If someone starts a discussion with you about an apparent discrepancy in the Bible, or you come across something that seems contradictory, make sure to investigate! St. Augustine said “If we are perplexed by any apparent contradiction in Scripture, it is not allowable to say, The author of this book is mistaken; but either [1] the manuscript is faulty, or [2] the translation is wrong, or [3] you have not understood.” Here are a few discussion points that will explain this in a little more detail:
1. The Bible was written by 40 different people, over a period of 1500 years, each with their own interpretation of events, their own beliefs, and their own writing style. This creates subtle apparent discrepancies that are sometimes misinterpreted as errors. The most notable examples of this can be seen in the Gospels, where four different men were inspired to record many of the same events of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. In Matthew 28:2-7, only one angel was described as being present at the empty tomb. John 20:11-13 says there were two angels. Isn’t this a contradiction? Not necessarily. Matthew did not specifically say there was only one angel. It is possible that there were two angels, but he only chose to focus on the angel that spoke to Mary. Another possibility is that at one point there were two angels, and then at another point there was only one. The important thing to remember is that we should not get caught up in small details that have nothing to do with the overall message of The Bible. In addition, when we forget the humanity of Scripture it can lead us to incorrectly, unnecessarily, and unwisely challenge its integrity.
2. We must understand, and not be afraid to admit, that the only text that is 100% inerrant is the original text, which we do not have today. The Bibles that we read today are translations that have been revised and edited over thousands of years. The amazing thing about Biblical translation, however, is how incredibly accurate it is. We can attest to the accuracy of the Old Testament because of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were discovered in Israel in 1947. These scrolls contain nearly every book of the Old Testament and are virtually identical to modern day translations, with the exception of a few minor copy errors. All of the errors were related to either recorded numbers, or variations in spellings of people’s names. For example, the King James Version (KJV) of 2 Kings 8:26 tells us that King Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became King, whereas 2 Chronicles 22:2 says he was 42. Further investigation revealed that 42 could not have been his correct age, or he would have been older than his father. This is obviously a copy error, and has since been corrected. The point is that these types of minor mistakes do not alter the inerrancy of the original document or the intent of the message in that particular section of Scripture. What about the New Testament? The New Testament has been so extensively quoted from early church leaders (as far back as AD 95), that almost the entire New Testament (with the exception of 3 John) can be reconstructed. This allows Biblical scholars to state with confidence that the New Testament that we read today is an accurate reflection of what was written 2000 years ago.
3. Over the centuries, many critics of the Bible have wrongly assumed that Scripture was flawed simply based on a lack of physical evidence. One example is the fact that at one time, it was concluded that Moses could not have written the first five books of the Bible because Moses’ culture was preliterate. Now there is evidence, however, that writing actually existed in Mesopotamia approximately 2,000 years before Moses was born. Another example was the lack of archaeological evidence of the Hittite people, who are mentioned numerous times throughout the Old Testament. This led many people to regard the stories of the Bible as mythical instead of historical, thereby discrediting the Bible’s authenticity. But in the late 19th century, archaeologists discovered the remains of a vast city that was identified as being the capital of the Hittite Empire. Based on these and other examples, it is logical and reasonable to conclude that lack of physical proof does not undermine the validity of Scripture. In fact, it is much more rational to view The Bible as a historically accurate book that is true, unless it is proven to be false. Although critics keep searching, there is nothing from the Bible that has yet to be disproven.
4. Even though God’s Word is infallible, sometimes our interpretations can be imperfect. A very common mistake is simply interpreting Scripture out of its original context. When studying a Bible verse, it is very important to read and understand what is written before and after it in order to grasp the author’s point. In reality, as long as imperfect human beings exist, there will be misinterpretations of God’s Word and disagreements over its true meaning.
It is our duty to study the Scriptures diligently so that we can fully know them and apply them to our lives, and then can assist others in understanding the truth as well. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the Word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).