2. I. The Canon of Scripture II. The Authority of Scripture III. The Inerrancy of Scripture IV. The Clarity of Scripture V. The Necessity of Scripture VI. The Sufficiency of Scripture

3. The Doctrine of the Inerrancy of Scripture

4. A. The Meaning of Inerrancy B. Some Current Challenges to Inerrancy C. Problems with Denying Inerrancy

5. A.The Meaning of Inerrancy “The inerrancy of Scripture means that Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact” (Grudem). “Inerrancy means that when all facts are known, the Scriptures in their original autographs and properly interpreted will be shown to be wholly true in everything that they affirm, whether that has to do with doctrine or morality or with social, physical, or life sciences” (Paul Feinberg, Inerrancy, p. 294)

6. 2 Timothy 3:16 -- All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness... John 14:26 -- But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. John 16:13 -- But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

7. Truthfulness of speech is consistent with other types of statements, such as: 1. The Bible Can Be Inerrant and Still Speak in the Ordinary Language of Everyday Speech (e. g., “sun rising;” “8000 soldiers died”).

8. 2. The Bible Can Be Inerrant and Still Include Loose or Free Quotations (e. g., the Bible’s use of indirect quotations). How are the following two sentences different? Joe said he would be home soon. Joe said, “I’ll be home in a few minutes.”

9. 3. It Is Consistent With Inerrancy to Have Unusual or Uncommon Grammatical Constructions in the Bible (e. g., Revelation). A backwoodsman with the reputation for never telling a lie would be trusted even if his speech were “ungrammatical.”

10. A.The Meaning of Inerrancy B.Some Current Challenges to Inerrancy 1. The Bible Is Only Authoritative for “Faith and Practice” People from this point of view would say that the Bible is “infallible,” but not “inerrant”. Before the 1960’s the two terms were synonymous. Today, however, infallibility generally means that the Bible “will not lead us astray in matters of faith and practice.”

11. The Bible makes no restrictions on the kinds of subjects to which it speaks truthfully (2 Tim. 3:16, “all Scripture”). The New Testament repeatedly refers to the Old Testament as truthful in a multitude of areas (e. g., Matt. 12:40-42; Acts 24:14; Luke 24:25). God did not say anything unintentionally. All His words have purpose. This is proved by the prohibitions against adding to or taking away even one word (Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Rev. 21:18-19).

12. 2. The Term Inerrancy Is a Poor Term. The term has always allowed for “limitations” that attach to speech in ordinary language. Other extra-biblical terms are used to summarize biblical teaching (e. g., Trinity, incarnation). Like it or not, this is the term the church has chosen to use when discussing the topic (“Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy,” drafted in 1977 at the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy) (Grudem, pp. 1203-1207).

13. 3. We Have No Inerrant Manuscripts; Therefore, Talk about an Inerrant Bible Is Misleading. For over 99 percent of the words of the Bible, we know what the original manuscript said. Thus, when we say that the original manuscripts were inerrant, we are also implying that over 99 percent of the words in our present manuscripts are also inerrant.

14. We believe that the originals are the words of God. If there are mistakes in the copies, then these are the mistakes of men. However, if we say there were mistakes in the originals then we are forced to say that God himself has spoken falsely.

15. Autographa “Jesus Christ, our Lord” North “Jesus Christ, our Lord” South “Jesus Christ, our Lord” East “Jesus Christ, the Lord” West “Jesus Christ, our Lord”

16. Question: Why did God not preserve the original manuscripts?

17. 4. The Biblical Writers “Accommodated” Their Messages in Minor Details to the False Ideas Current in Their Day, and Affirmed or Taught Those Ideas in an Incidental Way. This objection denies God’s lordship over human language. This would imply that God had acted contrary to His character (Num. 23:19; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18). This creates a moral problem for us since we are commanded to imitate God (Eph. 5:1).

18. 5. Inerrancy Overemphasizes the Divine Aspect of Scripture and Neglects the Human Aspect. Although the Bible is fully human in that it was written by human beings using their own language, it is different from other human writings in that it was superintended by God, even to the degree that God protected His word from human error (cf. Num. 23:19, where God uses wicked Balaam to say, “God is not a man that He should lie”). It is simply not true that all human speech and writing contains error (“My name is Mike”).

19. 6. There Are Some Clear Errors in the Bible. “Show me one.” In many cases a study of the English Bible will provide the answer. In a few passages you may need to consult a commentary or a work on Bible difficulties (Augustine; Calvin; Gleason Archer, Encyclo- pedia of Bible Difficulties; NIV Study Bible). There are a few texts where a knowledge of Hebrew or Greek may be necessary to determine a solution.

20. Because our knowledge of Scripture is imperfect there may be a few cases where we will be unable to find a solution to a difficult passage at the present time. However, the Bible’s track-record should cause us to expect a solution when all the evidence is in. Moreover, many scholars would say that there are no unsolved problems (e.g., Hittites, Nineveh). Remember that there are really no “new” problems in Scripture.

21. Norman Geisler in 'When Critics Ask' says: The Bible is without mistake, but the critics are not. All their allegations of error in the Bible are based on some error of their own. Their mistakes fall into the following main categories.When Critics Ask  Assuming that the unexplained is not explainable  Presuming the Bible guilty until proven innocent  Confusing our fallible interpretations with God's infallible revelation  Failing to understand the context of the passage  Neglecting to interpret difficult passages in the light of clear ones

22.  Basing a teaching on an obscure passage  Forgetting that the Bible is a human book with human characteristics  Assuming that a partial report is a false report  Demanding that NT citations of the OT always be exact quotations  Assuming that divergent accounts are false ones  Presuming that the Bible approves of all its records  Forgetting that the Bible uses non-technical, everyday language  Assuming that round numbers are false

24.  Neglecting to note that the bible uses different literary devices  Forgetting that only the original text, not every copy of scripture, is without error  Confusing general statements with universal ones  Forgetting that latter revelation supersedes previous revelation

25. Recommended Procedures in Dealing with Bible Difficulties (Gleason Archer) 1.Be fully persuaded that an adequate explanation exists, even though you have not yet found it. 2.Carefully study the context and framework of the verse in which the problem arises until you gain some idea of what the verse is intended to mean within its own setting. 3.Remember, no interpretation of Scripture is valid that is not based on careful exegesis with a commitment to determine what the ancient author meant by the words he used. 4.In the case of parallel passages, the only method that can be justified is harmonization.

26. 5.Consult the best commentaries written by scholars who believe in the integrity of Scripture. 6.Realize that some Bible difficulties result from a minor error on the part of a copyists in the transmission of the text. 7.Whenever historical accounts of the Bible are called into question on the basis of alleged disagreement with the findings of archaeology or the testimony of ancient non- Hebrew documents, always remember that the Bible is itself an archaeological document of the highest caliber.

27. 7. The Doctrine of Inerrancy Is A Relatively New Doctrine Unknown to the Church before the Later Half of the Nineteenth Century The term may be relatively new, but the concept is old. The doctrine of inerrancy was never really challenged until the Nineteenth Century.

28. I.The Meaning of Inerrancy II.Some Current Challenges to Inerrancy III.Problems with Denying Inerrancy 1. If we deny inerrancy, may we imitate God and intentionally lie in small matters also? 2. If we deny inerrancy, can we really trust God in anything He says? 3. If we deny inerrancy, we essentially make our own human minds a higher standard of truth than God’s Word itself.

29. 4. If we deny inerrancy, then we must also say that the Bible is wrong not only in minor details, but in some of its doctrines as well (e. g., nature of Scripture; truthfulness and reliability of God’s words).