Inerrancy and How it Impacts Our Beliefs
Eric Kuhns
For years now there has been a debate as to whether God’s Word contains errors or not. The inerrantists believe that it does not. In reference to the original autographs, there are no historical, geographical, doctrinal, dates, names etc. that are inaccurate. II Timothy 3:16 says that, “all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” The word inspiration in this verse means God-breathed. These words come from God, He is the source and it is impossible for God to lie. These God-breathed words cannot contain any deception, inaccuracies, or misinformation of any kind. They must be truth and nothing but truth. Peter tells us in II Peter 1:21 how this process worked. He says, “…but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” The Holy Spirit was guiding the entire writing process, preserving the exact message of God while using the unique personalities and styles of the writers.
There have arisen several alternative views to the inerrantists. One such view is the neo-orthodox. Karl Barth has championed this perspective and he says about the prophets and apostles that they were “sinful in their action, and capable and actually guilty of error in their spoken and written word.” He went on to say, “The vulnerability of the Bible, its capacity for error, also extends to its religious or theological content.”[1] For the neo-orthodox the Bible is fallible, a human document that God uses to connect with man. Do we understand the ramifications of this kind of view? The foundation for truth is stripped away. This opens the door to make the Bible subjective, to interpret it by a person’s whims and fancies.
There are also differing views on whether the Bible has a plenary verbal inspiration or plenary dynamic inspiration. The plenary verbal view is that every word that was written was dictated by God to the author. The plenary dynamic view would say that the ideas and concepts that God wanted to express, were fully captured and transmitted. The traditional Arminian-Wesleyan view would be the plenary dynamic, that is held most widely by Wesleyan scholars.[2]
But on this varying scale of fallibility why does it matter where we fall? Whether a person believes that the Bible is fallible, inspired verbally or plenary isn’t the only thing that matters is that we believe it is a channel that God uses to communicate to us? Does it really matter if we believe there are some human errors in the Bible as long as God is communicating salvation to people? Yes, it does matter. I want to give you several reasons why.
I. If the Bible is Fallible, We Have No Defense Against Scientific Theories
Everything becomes suspect if the Bible is believed to be fallible. If the Bible is incorrect on dates and places, could it also be incorrect on doctrine? There is no stopping when we open the door to fallibility. The apostles may not have shared everything we need to know to be saved. Maybe Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead as the authors say that He did. We can no longer say, “thus saith the Lord”. Because we cannot be sure if it is truly God’s Word.
When we strip the Bible of its inerrancy, we allow other “authorities” to dictate truth. Science will soon become the authority when we have no truth to stand on. Brian H. Edwards explains it this way, “If we believe the Bible contains errors, then we will be quick to accept scientific theories that appear to prove the Bible wrong. In other words, we will allow the conclusions of science to dictate the accuracy of the Word of God.”[3] Instead of believing that the earth is roughly 6,000 years old as shown by the genealogies in the Bible, we can now believe what scientists are telling us that the earth is billions of years old because the Bible may be inaccurate. Evolution now becomes a viable theory because the author of Genesis may have made a mistake in recounting to us how God created the world. Christianity’s teachings on man, purpose of life, and origins are put at risk of being replaced by humanistic philosophies and theories. Without the anchor of inerrancy, we are left to drift the open sea of man’s ideas.
II. If the Bible is Fallible, How Can We Trust Jesus?
Everything we know about Christ comes to us from the pages of Scripture. His virgin birth, his life and ministry, miracles and teachings, death and resurrection are told to us through the authors of the gospels. But if the Bible is believed to be fallible, we cannot know for certain if Jesus is even truly God. We cannot be sure that He fulfilled Messianic prophecies, that he was truly of the line of David or that He was born of the tribe of Judah. Maybe the writers forgot some details, maybe they imagined things that did not happen. How can we be sure that Jesus is truly God and the Savior of the world, the truth the life and the way? How can we believe the gospel that He preached? Allowing for infallibility impacts our Christology.
III. If the Bible is Fallible, We Have No Weapon to Fight Sin and Moral Decay
John the Baptist was bold to point out sin. When Herod had married his brother’s wife Herodias, John was there to proclaim the truth and say, “It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife”.[4] On what law was John basing his accusation? On Roman law? No—on the law of God. Leviticus 18:16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness. John could speak boldly because of the inerrant Word of God. Had he believed the law of God to have been fallible I don’t think he and many others like him, would have risked their lives to defend it. Maybe Moses misheard what God said on this issue? Maybe Moses didn’t copy correctly the words of God? If that was true, we wouldn’t have much savor to our salt or much strength to our lights in this dark world. Who are we to say to anyone that they are sinning? On what basis would we say that homosexuality is a sin? --- If the Bible is fallible those statements against sodomy could have been mistakenly put in the Bible due to the author’s bias. Who is to say that abortion, fornication, robbery, lying, drunkenness, or any sin named in the Bible is truly a sin? They could have been a mistake, an opinion, a suggestion or simply cultural etiquette, but we can’t say for sure that it was ordered of the Lord. Without the inerrant Word of God we have no basis to condemn any wrongdoing.
IV. If the Bible is Fallible, God’s Character Is on the Line
Titus 1:2 says, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began:” The Bible is said to be God’s Word. The 40 men who wrote the 66 books are technically considered “ghost writers”. We may know their names but it is God who is the genuine author. He inspired the teaching, the messages, the warnings, the instruction, the history and the details. He preserved the truth of His Word despite being passed through the hands of imperfect men. So, if there are errors in God’s Word, God is responsible. It means He failed to protect truth. It means that He allowed lies to be told. It means that we cannot trust God. This impacts all of our theology (the study of the nature of God). How can we trust His promises? How can we be sure that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins? How can we be sure that He is a rewarder of them that seek him? How can we believe anything that the Bible tells us about God, especially if He has spoken lies? The fallibility of the Bible impacts our theology proper, and our soteriology. We are left with a pagan god who lies, deceives and is treacherous, not a God of truth, love and forgiveness.
Conclusion
Christianity as a whole, and every core doctrine and belief that it teaches, rises and falls on the issue of inerrancy. To confidently preach the gospel and live with assurance of life eternal, we must believe in the inerrant Word of God. To allow for errors, mistakes and false information allows the Devil to take our sword of truth. Without an inerrant Bible we have nothing to fight with, nothing to stand on and nothing to hope for. It is imperative to protect and defend the inerrancy of the Bible.
Bibliography
Answers in Genesis. “Why Should We Believe in the Inerrancy of Scripture?”. Accessed May 26, 2022. https://answersingenesis.org/is-the-bible-true/why-should-we-believe-in-the-inerrancy-of-scripture/.
Carter, Charles W., R. Duane Thompson, Charles R. Wilson. A Contemporary Wesleyan Theology: Biblical, Systematic and Practical. Salem, Ohio: Schmul Publishing Co., Inc., 1992.
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2020.
Reasoner, Vic. The Importance of Inerrancy. Evansville, IN: Fundamental Wesleyan Publishers, 2013.
Wesleyan Theological Society Meeting Mt. Vernon Nazarene University. “Inerrancy: Inspiration and the Test of Truth”. Accessed May 26, 2022. https://www.wesleyantheology.com/inerrancy-and-wts.html.
[1] Charles W.Carter, R. Duane Thompson and Charles R. Wilson, A Contemporary Wesleyan Theology: Biblical, Systematic, and Practical, Volume One, (Salem: Schmul Publishing Co. Inc., 1992), 303.
[2] Ibid., 308.
[3] Edwards, Brian H. “Why Should We Believe in the Inerrancy of Scripture?” Answers in Genesis, published July 5, 2011. Accessed May 26, 2022. https://answersingenesis.org/is-the-bible-true/why-should-we-believe-in-the-inerrancy-of-scripture/
[4] Mark 6:18
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