In my last post, I began a new series discussing key aspects of a Protestant and Evangelical doctrine of the Bible, specifically the concepts of Revelation and Inspiration. In this post, I will briefly discuss two other important and related aspects of the Bible - Infallibility and Inerrancy.
Without getting into too much of a technical discussion (of which there is plenty), Scripture's infallibility refers to its inability to fail to accomplish what God intended it to do, while inerrancy refers to the fact that Scripture contains no errors of any kind (theological, scientific, historical, etc...). This last issue was the flashpoint for one of the late twentieth centuries most intense theological battles. For this reason, more time will be spent on inerrancy than infallibility. It should be noted that the two terms are almost synonymous, but there is enough of a distinction that they will be here treated separately, even as they go hand-in-hand one with each other.
As noted already, scripture's infallibility refers to its inability to fail to do what God has designed it to do. Scripture itself witnesses to this for example when God speaks through the Prophet Isaiah, For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:10-11 NKJV). This is a great encouragement for the believer, because it means that whenever the Word of God is read, spoken, heard, preached, believed, and even disbelieved, it will never fail to accomplish what God has sent it to do. Yes, even when the Word of God is disbelieved, scorned, mocked, ridiculed, ignored, etc..., it is still doing what God gave it to do. It will be a source of blessing to those who believe and an occasion of judgment to those who do not.
Inerrancy is slightly different, although related to infallibility. Whereas infallibility refers to the Bible's inability to fail, inerrancy refers to the fact that the Bible has no errors in it. Everything the Bible asserts, denies, reports, and quantifies is true. Inerrancy tells us that the Bible has no errors because it cannot err.
Does the Bible teach its own inerrancy? Yes, it does:
The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Psalm 12:6 NKJV
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
Psalm 19:7-9 NKJV
Consider the adjectives that the psalmist uses to describe God's Word: perfect, sure, right, pure, true and righteous altogether. And they are such that the human response ought to be conversion to the soul, wisdom to the simple, rejoicing to the heart, enlightening to the eyes, and endurance into eternity. Could a Bible containing errors have such power!?
Another line of evidence is the fact that, as we saw in our last article, Scripture is "God-breathed." Scripture comes from God's own breath. He gave it himself. True, he did so via the agency of human authors. But God himself gave the Bible nevertheless. I find it difficult to believe that God, who never lies (Titus 1:2), could inspire his Word to contain errors.
I conclude then, that the Bible is without error in all that it reports. This is true even when Scripture reports the deceptions of others. For example, the Bible records the suicide of Saul (1 Samuel 31:1-6). Later, an Amalekite claimed to David that he had killed Saul, an account which David believed and acted upon by executing the Amalekite (2 Samuel 1:1-14). The most likely explanation is that the Amalekite was lying and hoped to curry favor with David by claiming to have gotten rid of David's enemy. But the Amalekite did not count on the integrity of David and paid the price. So then, the Bible records that a falsehood was spoken, but it does not endorse the falsehood. This is entirely in keeping with the doctrine of inerrancy. This inerrancy of the Bible is not restricted only to theological issues, morality, and spirituality either. Every assertion that Scripture makes is true. This goes for its historical accounts and issues that may have some bearing on modern scientific inquiry.
In summary, the Bible is a perfect Word from God for the human race. It is perfect, pure, sure, right, and true. It cannot fail in fulfilling the purpose for which God gave it. And it does not contain any errors, whether theological, moral, historical, scientific, or otherwise. Yes, there are issues of text, transmission, and translation. Those are all issues which deserve close attention, and which many faithful men and women have labored to clarify. But believers today can be sure and confident that when they open up the Bible, what they are receiving is God's very voice to humanity generally, and to them personally. Amen.
%20(1).png)
