Lesson 4 The Preservation of the Revelation: Inerrancy
“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.
I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Mat 5:17-18)
The Inerrancy of Scripture is a logical deduction that follows from our belief in the verbal Inspiration of Scripture.
Definition of Inerrancy
Inerrancy is the doctrine that the Bible is fully truthful in all its teachings.
Affirmation of Inerrancy from the teachings of Christ
(Mat 4:1-11) Jesus affirms that man shall live on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
In using the phrase “It is written” Jesus affirms the truth of propositional statements in the Bible.
(Mat 5:17-18) The Law and the Prophets included the whole Old Testament. Here Jesus indicates His understanding that the OT promises will be fulfilled down to the smallest letter and smallest punctuation mark.
(Mat 22:32) Jesus quotes from Ex 3:6. His argument for life after death rest in the use of the present tense “I am”. In use of the present tense the verse shows that when Moses spoke with God at the burning bush, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob still existed even though they had died. This demonstrates that there is life after death in answer to the Sadducees’ wrong belief that there is no resurrection. Jesus use of Ex 3:6 to ground his argument implies his belief in the historicity of the Moses’ encounter with God and the authenticity of the propositional statements describing the encounter.
(John 10:35) When Jesus says Scripture cannot be broken, He affirms a full inerrant view of Scripture.
In many other instances Jesus used the historical incidents of the OT with full belief in the record as factual and true. These events include the creation account, the Flood and major miracles performed by God through the prophets.
Context of Inerrancy
Inerrancy in a direct sense refers to the original manuscripts of Scripture which are already lost. In a derived sense it refers to the copies of the original manuscripts which are with us. For practical purposes, the current texts of the Hebrew OT and the Greek NT are the same as the original manuscripts. Therefore inerrancy can be applied to our present texts of the Bible.
Scope of Inerrancy
Inerrancy covers all aspects dealt with in the Bible. This means that the Bible is without error in its record of religious/theological/spiritual matters and historical/scientific data. In its record of historical incidents and scientific assertions it is inerrant with reference to the culture and purpose for which it was written. Especially the record pertaining to scientific data is reported the way they appear to the human eye.
Conclusion
The doctrine of inerrancy states that the Bible is fully truthful in all the statements that it makes provided that they are interpreted in the context of the cultural setting of the time and the purpose for which they were written.
Review questions
- What do you think are the possible implications of denying biblical inerrancy?
- Are there any problem passages you have encountered in your study of the Bible? What steps can you take to better understand those passages?
- If someone comes to you and tells you that the Bible contains errors and contradictions, how would you respond?
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