Inerrancy of the Bible

[JacobMartinMertens]

I believe the Bible is inerrant.

What are the different views of the inerrancy of the Bible?

[steve7150]

What are the different views of the inerrancy of the Bible?










I don't think the bible claims inerrancy. It may claim inspiration but that doesn't necessarily equate with inerrancy. Paul made several remarks that indicate not every word is inerrant such as he forgot something or he thought he was going to Spain quickly or he corrected Peter so since God used human agents who are not infallible why claim inerrancy?

[JacobMartinMertens]

What are the different views of the inerrancy of the Bible?


I don't think the bible claims inerrancy. It may claim inspiration but that doesn't necessarily equate with inerrancy. Paul made several remarks that indicate not every word is inerrant such as he forgot something or he thought he was going to Spain quickly or he corrected Peter so since God used human agents who are not infallible why claim inerrancy?

I understand no one but God and His Son are infallible.

But what we have in the Bible is authors who wrote under the inspiration of God. That is, what we have came from God.

I know there are different views of inerrancy.

[Paidion]

Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." (Jude 14, 15 NKJV)

Jude seems to have been quoting by memory from the book of Enoch which in Chapter 2 reads:

Behold, he comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon them, and destroy the wicked, and reprove all the carnal for everything which the sinful and ungodly have done, and committed against him.

But the book of Enoch is known to have been written but a few centuries B.C. It could not have been written by the historic Enoch, the seventh from Adam, even though early Christians other than Jude, also believed that it was.

I have a copy of the book of Enoch. The section on the movements of the heavenly bodies (e.g. the sun, moon, and stars passing through gates) is ludicrous.

Jude made a mistake in thinking the book of Enoch was written by Enoch, the seventh from Adam. The book of Jude is not inerrant.

[JacobMartinMertens]

Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." (Jude 14, 15 NKJV)

Jude seems to have been quoting by memory from the book of Enoch which in Chapter 2 reads:

Behold, he comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon them, and destroy the wicked, and reprove all the carnal for everything which the sinful and ungodly have done, and committed against him.

But the book of Enoch is known to have been written but a few centuries B.C. It could not have been written by the historic Enoch, the seventh from Adam, even though early Christians other than Jude, also believed that it was.

I have a copy of the book of Enoch. The section on the movements of the heavenly bodies (e.g. the sun, moon, and stars passing through gates) is ludicrous.

Jude made a mistake in thinking the book of Enoch was written by Enoch, the seventh from Adam. The book of Jude is not inerrant.

What is your view of inerrancy?

That is, what does the word inerrant mean to you in reference to the Bible?

In what way is it inerrant?

[mattrose]

If you're looking for 'views' on inerrancy, you might enjoy the book "5 Views on Biblical Inerrancy"

To be honest, the views represented in the book are not altogether easy to label

A simpler approach might be to say that
1) some believe every detail (math, science, theology, history, etc.) in the Bible is without error
2) others believe that the Bible is without error only when it comes to theological/doctrinal truth
3) still others think the idea of inerrancy isn't worth defending at all

[Paidion]

Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.” (Matthew 27: 9, 10)

Here is another example of an error. Nowhere will you find this quote in the book of Jeremiah.
Some try to deny this by pointing out that the verse affirms that Jeremiah SPOKE these words, not that he wrote them. They say that somehow God inspired Matthew to know what Jeremiah spoke about this, even though Jeremiah did not write it down.

This will not do. It was usual for Matthew to say that a prophet spoke the words that were, in fact, written. Other examples:

Matthew 1:22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
Matthew 2:15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Matthew 2:17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
Matthew 2:23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Matthew 3:3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’”
Matthew 4:14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
Matthew 8:17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
Matthew 12:17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
Matthew 13:35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:
“I will open my mouth in parables;
I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”
Matthew 21:4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
Matthew 24:15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

[Paidion]

That is, what does the word inerrant mean to you in reference to the Bible?

It means that there are no factual errors in the Bible.

In what way is it inerrant?

We must face the fact that it is not inerrant. There are several factual errors and contradictions throughout the Bible.
Some of those who believe in inerrancy have come up with ingenious ways to explain away the errors. In some cases they are constrained to do so because primarily their faith is in the Bible, and to admit that the Bible has errors would destroy their faith.

I knew one Christian man who affirmed, "If there is a single error in the Bible, we might as well throw the whole thing away!"

That is a most unhappy, and may I say, dangerous position to take.

[steve7150]

Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.” (Matthew 27: 9, 10)


Here is another example of an error. Nowhere will you find this quote in the book of Jeremiah.
Some try to deny this by pointing out that the verse affirms that Jeremiah SPOKE these words, not that he wrote them. They say that somehow God inspired Matthew to know what Jeremiah spoke about this, even though Jeremiah did not write it down.






I have read that this may have referred to the scroll of Jeremiah in which he was the major prophet but it contained also minor prophets yet when quoting it was Jeremiah who was referred to.

[Homer]

When Jesus said "it is written in your law" and quoted from a Psalm was He in error or was there truth in what He said according to their way of speaking?