Biblical inerrancy

Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible, in its original form, is entirely free from error.<ref>Geisler, NL. and Roach, B., Defending Inerrancy: Affirming the Accuracy of Scripture for a New Generation, Baker Books, 2012.</ref><ref name="Grudem90">Template:Cite book</ref>

The belief in biblical inerrancy is of particular significance within parts of evangelicalism, where it is formulated in the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. In contrast to American evangelicalism, it has minimal influence on contemporary British evangelicalism.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Some groups equate inerrancy with biblical infallibility or with the necessary clarity of scripture; others do not.<ref name="McKim, DK 1996">McKim, DK, Westminster dictionary of theological terms, Westminster John Knox Press, 1996.</ref><ref>Geisler, N. L. (ed), Inerrancy, Zondervan, 1980, p. 22. "The trouble is that such a distinction is nowhere to be found in Jesus's own teaching, and seems to be precluded by His testimony both to the unqualified historical accuracy and the inspiration of the Old Testament ... The attempt to discriminate ... seems to be a product of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries".</ref>

The Catholic Church also holds a limited belief in biblical inerrancy,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> affirming that the original writings in the original language, including the Deuterocanonical books, are free from error insofar as they convey the truth God intended for the sake of human salvation.<ref name=DV11/> However, descriptions of natural phenomena are not to be taken as inspired and inerrant scientific assertions, but reflect the language and contemporary understanding of the writers.

Critics argue that total biblical inerrancy conflicts with empirical science by treating ancient texts as authoritative on natural phenomena, despite contradictions with observable evidence, such as the age of the Earth or the historicity of Noah’s Ark. In contrast, many Christian scholars and the Catholic Church emphasize interpretive flexibility, viewing certain biblical accounts as allegorical or contextually framed, allowing for revision and alignment with modern knowledge while maintaining the spiritual authority of scripture.

Terms and positions

Positions

• Judaism: according to H. Chaim Schimmel, Judaism had never promulgated a belief in the literal word of the Hebrew Bible, hence the co-existence of the Oral Torah.<ref>Schimmel, H. Chaim, The Oral Law: The rabbinic contribution to Torah Shebe'al Peh, 2nd, revised ed., Feldheim Publishers, Jerusalem, 1996, pp. 19–21</ref> The significance of most phrases, their parts, grammar, and occasionally individual words, letters and even pronunciation in the Hebrew Bible are the subject of many rabbinic discussions in the Talmud.
• Catholic Church: the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) authoritatively expressed the Catholic Church's view on biblical inerrancy.
  • Citing earlier declarations, it stated:<ref name=DV11>Template:Cite web</ref> "Since everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted put into sacred writings for the sake of salvation." But theologians disagree as to whether the words "for the sake of our salvation" in that sentence represent a shift from complete to limited inerrancy.<ref name="The New Jerome Biblical Commentary">Template:Cite book</ref>
  • The Council did not endorse the necessary clarity of scripture: "Since God speaks in Sacred Scripture through men in human fashion, the interpreter of Sacred Scripture, in order to see clearly what God wanted to communicate to us, should carefully investigate what meaning the sacred writers really intended, and what God wanted to manifest by means of their words."<ref>Dei verbum, 12</ref>
  • The Church interprets the Scripture as part of the Deposit of Faith with Sacred Tradition, and not in an apostolic vacuum: interpretations of Scripture which contradict magisterial teaching to that extent fail to capture the inerrant meaning.
• Evangelical Christianity: Evangelicals generally affirm that the Bible, and the Bible alone, is inspired by God and is the final authority on matters of faith and practice. However, there is an ongoing debate between two primary factions:

1. The inerrant view - the Bible is absolutely inerrant on all matters that it affirms.
2. The infallible but not inerrant view - while the Bible is infallible in that it does not fail believers when trusted to do what God inspired it to do, it is not absolutely inerrant in all matters it affirms, especially in some of its tangential scientific and historical statements.<ref>Gregory A. Boyd and Paul Rhodes Eddy, Across the Spectrum: Understanding Issues in Evangelical Theology, Third edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2022), 3.</ref>

History

According to Coleman (1975), "[t]here have been long periods in the history of the church when biblical inerrancy has not been a critical question. It has in fact been noted that only in the last two centuries can we legitimately speak of a formal doctrine of inerrancy."<ref name="infallible">Template:Cite journal</ref> The first formulations of the doctrine of inerrancy were not established according to the authority of a council, creed, or church, until the post-Reformation period.<ref name="hendel">Hendel, Ronald. "The Dream of a Perfect Text: Textual Criticism and Biblical Inerrancy in Early Modern Europe," in e.d. Collins, J.J., Sibyls, Scriptures, and Scrolls: John Collins at Seventy, Brill, 2017, 517-541, esp. 524-531. On pg. 529, Hendel writes "The doctrine of uniform inerrancy in the literal sense across all details is an innovation of the Catholic-Protestant polemics after Trent."</ref>

Early Church

Origen of Alexandria thought there were minor discrepancies between the accounts of the Gospels but dismissed them due to their lack of theological importance, writing "let these four [Gospels] agree with each other concerning certain things revealed to them by the Spirit and let them disagree a little concerning other things" (Commentary on John 10.4).

Later, John Chrysostom was also unconcerned with the notion that the scriptures were in congruence with all matters of history unimportant to matters of faith:

John D. Woodbridge disputes this claim about Chrysostom writing, "In fact, Chrysostom apparently believed in biblical infallibility extended to every detail. He does not set forth a comprehensive discussion of the subject, but scholars who have surveyed the corpus of his work usually affirm that this is case."<ref name=woodbridge>Woodbridge, John. Biblical Authority, Zondervan, 1982, 35.</ref>

In his Commentary on Galatians, Jerome also argued that Paul's rebuke of Peter in Galatians 2:11–14<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> for acting like a Jew around the Jewish faction of the early Church was an insincere "white lie" as Paul himself had done the same thing.<ref>Cohen, Shaye J. D. The beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, varieties, uncertainties. Vol. 31. University of California Press, 1999, 368.</ref> In response, Augustine rebuked Jerome's interpretation and affirmed that the scriptures contained no mistakes in them, and that admitting a single mistake would shed doubt on the entire scripture:<ref name="wood">Woodbridge, John. "Evangelical Self-Identity and the Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy", in Understanding the Times: New Testament Studies in the 21st Century: Essays in Honor of D. A. Carson on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday, Crossway, 2011, 111.</ref>

However, John D. Hannah argues that Jerome did indeed affirm the historical nature of the Bible. For example, Jerome believed in the historicity of the book of Jonah.<ref name=Hannah>Hannah, John. "The Doctrine of Scripture in the Early Church", in Inerrancy and the Church, Moody Press, 1984, 35.</ref> He further argues that while Origen resorted to allegorical interpretation, he held a high view of inerrancy.<ref name=hannah>Hannah, John. "The Doctrine of Scripture in the Early Church", in Inerrancy and the Church, Moody Press, 1984, 32.</ref>

Biblical inerrancy adherents say that the Early Church Fathers did hold to biblical inerrancy, even if it was not articulated that way. In particular, Shawn Nelson cites Clement of Rome, Papias, Ignatius of Antioch, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Didache, and the Epistle to Diognetus as examples of those whom held to inerrancy.<ref name=Nelson>Nelson, Shawn. "A Voice from a New Generation: What's at Stake?", in Vital Issues in the Inerrancy Debate, Wipf and Stock, 2015, 28.</ref>

Clement of Rome said to his readers:<ref name=Brannan>Brannan, Rick, trans. "1 Clement", in The Apostolic Fathers: Greek-English Interlinear, Logos Bible Software, 2011, 45:2-3.</ref>

Medieval era

The medieval church fathers held to the divine origin of scripture and most believed there could not be any error in scripture as interpreted by the Church.<ref name=geisler>Geisler, Norman. Decide for Yourself: How History Views the Bible, Zondervan, 1982, 38.</ref> The most prominent theologian of the Medieval era was Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas wrote:

Another theologian, Hugh of St. Victor, is known for stressing the importance of the historical and literal senses of the Bible in the face of the strong allegorizing tendency of the age.<ref name=Johnson>Johnson, John F. "Biblical Authority and Scholastic Theology" in Inerrancy and the Church, Moody Press, 1984, 76.</ref> He wrote:

Philosopher John Wycliff proposed an extreme version of inerrancy, that meant that even parables must have been factually true, in the book Template:Langx (On the Truthfulness of Holy Scripture, c.1378). Wycliffe's dictum Template:Langx says that all truths necessary to faith are found clearly and expressly in the Bible, and the more necessary, the more expressly.<ref name=ghosh>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp This later influenced Martin Luther.

Scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam, who published the first Latin-Greek New Testament in print, believed not only that translation between languages was always imperfect, that transmission errors had occurred by scribes, and that Scripture was sometimes deliberately obscure, but also that "the sayings of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) were slightly different in each. He suggested that the Holy Spirit had not bothered to correct the faulty memories of the evangelists."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Reformation era

By the time of the Reformation, there was still no official doctrine of inerrancy. Although the term was not used, some scholars argue the Reformers did believe in the concept of inerrancy.<ref name=geis>Geisler, Norman L., Decide for Yourself: How History Views the Bible, Zondervan, 1982, 39.</ref>

For Martin Luther (1483–1546), for example, "inspiration did not insure inerrancy in all details. Luther recognizes mistakes and inconsistencies in Scripture and treated them with lofty indifference because they did not touch the heart of the Gospel."<ref name="cambible">Bainton, "The Bible in the Reformation," in ed. Greenslade, S. L., The Cambridge History of the Bible Vol. 3: The West from the Reformation to the Present, Cambridge University Press, 1963, 12–13.</ref> When Matthew appears to confuse Jeremiah with Zechariah in Matthew 27:9,<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> Luther wrote that "Such points do not bother me particularly."<ref name="cambible" /> However, other Luther scholars have pointed out that Luther, in other places, said the Scripture cannot contradict itself.<ref name=Preus>Preus, Robert D. "Luther and Biblical Infallibility," in ed. Hannah, John D., Inerrancy and the Church, Moody Press, 1984, 134-135.</ref> Luther said in regards to whether the Bible had errors or not, "the Scriptures cannot err."<ref name=Luther>Luther, Martin Sämtliche Schriften, herausgegeben von Johann Georg Walch, 2. Auflage, Concordia, 1818-1930, 19:1073.</ref> Other statements made by Luther seem to contradict that, e.g. he stated that he found numerous errors in the Bible, and lambasted a couple of books of the Protestant Bible as worthless; he also stated that his idea of Christ trumps the letter of the Scripture, especially when the Scripture is cited in order to give the lie to his idea.<ref name="Dorrien 2000 p. 112">Template:Cite book</ref>

The Christian humanist and one of the leading scholars of the northern Renaissance, Erasmus (1466–1536), was also unconcerned with minor errors not impacting theology, and at one point, thought that Matthew mistook one word for another. In a letter to Johannes Eck, Erasmus wrote that "Nor, in my view, would the authority of the whole of Scripture be instantly imperiled, as you suggest, if an evangelist by a slip of memory did put one name for another, Isaiah for instance instead of Jeremiah, for this is not a point on which anything turns."<ref name="wood" />

The same point of view held true for John Calvin (1509–1564), who wrote that "It is well known that the Evangelists were not very concerned with observing the time sequences."<ref name="hendel" /> However, Calvin also said that Scripture is the "certain and unerring rule."<ref name=Geisler>Geisler, Norman L. Decide for Yourself: How History Views the Bible, Zondervan 1982, 45-48.</ref> Calvin scholars are divided on whether Calvin actually held to inerrancy or not. Some scholars such as Jack B. Rogers and Donald McKim said Calvin "was unconcerned with normal, human inaccuracies in minor matters" in Scripture.<ref name=mckim>Rogers, Jack B., and McKim, Donald K. The Authority and Interpretation of the Bible: An Historical Approach, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1979, 109.</ref> Other scholars such as John D. Woodbridge and J.I. Packer said Calvin did adhere to a position equivalent to biblical inerrancy.<ref name=packer>Packer, J.I. "John Calvin and the Inerrancy of Holy Scripture", in ed. Hannah, John D., Inerrancy and the Church, Moody Press, 1984, 143-188.</ref><ref name=Woodbridge>Woodbridge, John D. Biblical Authority, Zondervan, 1982, 57-63.</ref>

The doctrine of inerrancy, however, began to develop as a response to these Protestant attitudes. Whereas the Council of Trent only held that the Bible's authority was "in matters of faith and morals", Jesuit cardinal Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621) argued in his 1586 Template:Lang, the first volume of his multi-volume Template:Lang that "There can be no error in Scripture, whether it deals with faith or whether it deals with morals/mores, or whether it states something general and common to the whole Church, or something particular and pertaining to only one person." Bellarmine's views were extremely important in his condemnation of Galileo and in Catholic–Protestant debate, as the Protestant response was to also affirm his heightened understanding of inerrancy.<ref name="hendel" />

Post-Reformation

In the 17th century, Quaker apologist Robert Barclay took a step away from Biblical Inerrancy while continuing to affirm Biblical inspiration and the Bible's place in Christian doctrine. Barclay said that "errors [in the Bible] may be supposed by the injury of the times to have slipped in", but that because of inspiration from the Holy Spirit, all necessities remained.<ref>Robert Barclay. "Apology for the True Christian Divinity". 1676. Proposition 3: Concerning the Scriptures. §VI</ref>

During the 18th and 19th centuries and in the aftermath of the Enlightenment critique of religion, various episodes of the Bible (for example the Noahide worldwide flood,<ref>Plimer, Ian (1994), Telling Lies for God: Reason vs. Creationism, Random House</ref> the creation in six days, and the creation of women from a man's rib) began increasingly to be seen as legendary rather than as literally true. This led to further questioning of the veracity of biblical texts.

Modern Protestant discussion

The Fuller Theological Seminary formally adopted inerrancy restricted to theological matters (what some authors now call "infallibility"). It explained:

A more comprehensive position was espoused particularly in the magazine Christianity Today and the book entitled The Battle for the Bible by Harold Lindsell. Lindsell asserted that losing the doctrine of the inerrancy of scripture was the thread that would unravel the church and conservative Christians rallied behind this idea.<ref>Lindsell, Harold. The Battle for the Bible. Zondervan, 1978. Template:ISBN</ref>

Arguments in favour of inerrancy

Norman Geisler and William Nix (1986) write that scriptural inerrancy is typically argued by a number of observations and processes, which include:<ref name="inerrancy">Template:Cite book</ref>

• The alleged historical accuracy of the Bible
• The Bible's alleged claims of its own inerrancy
• General church history and tradition
• One's individual experience with God

Daniel B. Wallace, Professor of New Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary, divides the various evidences into two approaches: deductive and inductive approaches.<ref>My Take on Inerrancy, bible.org website</ref>

Deductive justifications

The first deductive justification is that the Bible says it is inspired by God (for instance "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness", 2 Timothy 3:16)<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> and because God is perfect, the Bible must also be perfect and, hence, free from error. For instance, the statement of faith of the Evangelical Theological Society says, "The Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, is the Word of God written and is therefore inerrant in the autographs".<ref>"About the ETS". Evangelical Theological Society.</ref>

Supportive of this is the idea that God cannot lie. W. J. Mcrea writes:

Stanley Grenz states that:

Also, from Geisler:

A second reason offered is that Jesus and the apostles used the Old Testament in a way that assumes it is inerrant. For instance, in Galatians 3:16,<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> Paul bases his argument on the fact that the word "seed" in the Genesis reference to "Abraham and his seed" is singular rather than plural. This (as stated) sets a precedent for inerrant interpretation down to the individual letters of the words.<ref name="Bible 1984">P. D. Feinberg (1984). "Bible, Inerrancy and Infallibility of". In W. Elwell, ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Baker.</ref> Template:Blockquote

Similarly, Jesus said that every minute detail of the Old Testament Law must be fulfilled,<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> indicating (it is stated) that every detail must be correct:<ref name="Bible 1984" /> Template:Blockquote

Although in these verses, Jesus and the apostles are only referring to the Old Testament, the argument is considered by some to extend to the New Testament writings, because 2 Peter 3:16<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> accords the status of scripture to New Testament writings also: "He (Paul) writes the same way in all his letters ... which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other scriptures".<ref>Nigel M. de S. Cameron (1996). "Bible, Inspiration of". Template:Webarchive. In Walter A. Elwell, Baker, eds. Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology.</ref>

Inductive justifications

Wallace describes the inductive approach by enlisting the Presbyterian theologian Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield:

Inspiration

In the Nicene Creed, Christians confess their belief that the Holy Spirit "has spoken through the prophets". This creed has been normative for Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans and all mainline Protestant denominations except for those descended from the non-credal Stone-Campbell movement. As stated by Alister E. McGrath, "An important element in any discussion of the manner in which scripture is inspired, and the significance which is attached to this, is 2 Timothy 3:16–17, which speaks of scripture as 'God-breathed' (Template:Transliteration)". According to McGrath, "the reformers did not see the issue of inspiration as linked with the absolute historical reliability or factual inerrancy of the biblical texts". He says, "The development of ideas of 'biblical infallibility' or 'inerrancy' within Protestantism can be traced to the United States in the middle of the nineteenth century".<ref>McGrath, Alister E., Christian Theology: An Introduction, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1994; 3rd ed. 2001. p. 176.</ref>

People who believe in total inerrancy think that the Bible does not merely contain the Word of God, but every word of it is, because of verbal inspiration, the direct, immediate word of God.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Lutheran Apology of the Augsburg Confession identifies Holy Scripture with the Word of God<ref>"God's Word, or Holy Scripture" from the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article II, of Original Sin</ref> and calls the Holy Spirit the author of the Bible.<ref>"the Scripture of the Holy Ghost". Apology to the Augsburg Confession, Preface, 9</ref> Because of this, Lutherans confess in the Formula of Concord, "we receive and embrace with our whole heart the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the pure, clear fountain of Israel".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Lutherans (and other Protestants) believe apocryphal books are neither inspired nor written by prophets, and that they contain errors and were never included in the "Palestinian Canon" that Jesus and the Apostles are said to have used,<ref>See BIBLE Bible, Canon in the Christian Cyclopedia Template:Webarchive</ref> and therefore are not a part of Holy Scripture.<ref name="Engelder 1934 27">Template:Cite book</ref> The prophetic and apostolic scriptures are authentic as written by the prophets and apostles. A correct translation of their writings is God's Word because it has the same meaning as the original Hebrew and Greek.<ref name="Engelder 1934 27" /> A mistranslation is not God's word, and no human authority can invest it with divine authority.<ref name="Engelder 1934 27" />

However, the 19th-century Anglican biblical scholar S. R. Driver held a contrary view, saying that, "as inspiration does not suppress the individuality of the biblical writers, so it does not altogether neutralise their human infirmities or confer upon them immunity from error".<ref>Driver, S.R., Church Congress speech, cited in F.W. Farrar, The Bible: Its Meaning and Supremacy, Longmans, Green, and Co., 1897.</ref> Similarly, J. K. Mozley, an early 20th-century Anglican theologian has argued: Template:Blockquote

Divine authority

For a believer in total (or "plenary") biblical inerrancy, Holy Scripture is the Word of God, and carries the full authority of God. Every single statement of the Bible calls for instant and unqualified acceptance.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Every doctrine of the Bible is the teaching of God and therefore requires full agreement.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Every promise of the Bible calls for unshakable trust in its fulfillment.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Every command of the Bible is the directive of God himself and therefore demands willing observance.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Sufficiency

According to some believers, the Bible contains everything that they need to know to obtain salvation and live a Christian life,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and there are no deficiencies in scripture that need to be filled with tradition, pronouncements of the Pope, new revelations, or present-day development of doctrine.<ref>Template:Cite book, Template:Cite book</ref>

Clarifications

Accuracy vs. truth

Harold Lindsell points out that it is a "gross distortion" to state that people who believe in inerrancy suppose every statement made in the Bible is true (as opposed to accurate).<ref name="Lindsell">Lindsell, Harold. The Battle for the Bible, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan (1976), p. 38.</ref> He says there are expressly false statements in the Bible, but they are reported accurately.<ref name="Lindsell" /> He notes that "All the Bible does, for example in the case of Satan, is to report what Satan actually said. Whether what he said was true or false is another matter. Christ stated that the devil is a liar".<ref name="Lindsell" />

Inerrancy vs. infallibility

Many who believe in the inspiration of scripture teach that it is infallible but not inerrant. Those who subscribe to infallibility believe that what the scriptures say regarding matters of faith and Christian practice are wholly useful and true. Some denominations that teach infallibility hold that the historical or scientific details, which may be irrelevant to matters of faith and Christian practice, may contain errors. Those who believe in total or plenary inerrancy hold that the scientific, geographic, and historic details of the scriptural texts in their original manuscripts are completely true and without error, though the scientific claims of scripture must be interpreted in the light of its phenomenological nature, not just with strict, clinical literality, which was foreign to historical narratives.<ref name="inerrancy" />

Metaphor and literalism

Even if the Bible is inerrant, it may need to be interpreted to distinguish between what statements are metaphorical, and which are literally true. Jeffrey Russell writes that "Metaphor is a valid way to interpret reality. The 'literal' meaning of words – which I call the overt reading – is insufficient for understanding reality because it never exhausts reality." He adds:

Figures such as Scot McKnight have also argued that the Bible clearly transcends multiple genres and Hebrew prose poems cannot be evaluated by a reader the same as a science textbook.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Criticism

Theological criticism

Proponents of Biblical inerrancy often cite 2 Timothy 3:16<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> as evidence that scripture is inerrant. For this argument, they prefer translations that render the verse as "All scripture is given by inspiration of God," and they interpret this to mean that the whole Bible must therefore be in some way inerrant. However, critics of this doctrine think that the Bible makes no direct claim to be inerrant or infallible. C. H. Dodd argues the same sentence can also be translated "Every inspired scripture is also useful", nor does the verse define the Biblical canon to which "scripture" refers.<ref>Dodd, C. H. The Authority of the Bible, London, 1960. p. 25.</ref> In addition, Michael T. Griffith, the Mormon apologist, writes:

The Catholic New Jerusalem Bible also has a note that this passage refers only to the Old Testament writings understood to be scripture at the time it was written.<ref>New Jerusalem Bible, study edition, p. 1967, DLT 1994</ref> Furthermore, the Catholic Veritas Bible website says that "Rather than characterizing the Old Testament scriptures as required reading, Paul is simply promoting them as something useful or advantageous to learn.Template:Nbsp[...] it falls far short of a salvational requirement or theological system. Moreover, the four purposes (to teach, correct, etc.) for which scripture is declared to be 'profitable' are solely the functions of the ministry. After all, Paul is addressing one of his new bishops (the 'man of God'). Not a word addresses the use of scripture by the laity."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Another note in the Bible suggests that there are indications that Paul's writings were being considered, at least by the author of the Second Epistle of Peter,<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> as comparable to the Old Testament.<ref>New Jerusalem Bible, p. 2010, footnote (i) DLT 1985</ref>

The view that total Biblical inerrancy can be justified by an appeal to prooftexts that refer to its divine inspiration has been criticized as circular reasoning, because these statements are only considered to be true if the Bible is already thought to be inerrant.<ref> Holman Bible Editorial, "If God Made the Universe, Who Made God?: 130 Arguments for Christian Faith". B&H Publishing Group, 2012, p. 51.</ref>

In the introduction to his book Credible Christianity, Anglican Bishop Hugh Montefiore, comments:

Liberal Christianity

In general, liberal Christianity has no problem with the thought that the Bible has errors and contradictions.<ref name="Chryssides 2010 p. 21">Template:Cite book</ref> Liberal Christians reject the dogma of inerrancy or infallibility of the Bible,<ref name="Chryssides 2010 p. 21"/> which they see as the idolatry (fetishism) of the Bible.<ref name="Dorrien 2000 p. 112"/> Martin Luther emphatically declared: "if our opponents allege Scripture against Christ, we allege Christ against Scripture."<ref name="Dorrien 2000 p. 112"/>

William John Lyons quoted William Wrede and Hermann Gunkel, who affirmed: "Like every other real science, New Testament Theology has its goal simply in itself, and is totally indifferent to all dogma and Systematic TheologyTemplate:Nbsp[...] the spirit of historical investigation has now taken the place of a traditional doctrine of inspiration".<ref name="Lyons2002">Template:Cite book</ref>

John Shelby Spong, author and former bishop of the Episcopal Church who was well-known for his post-theistic theology, declared that the literal interpretation of the Bible is heresy.<ref name="Chellew-Hodge 2016">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Spong2016">Template:Cite book</ref>

Meaning of "Word of God"

Much debate over the kind of authority that should be accorded biblical texts centers on what is meant by the "Word of God". The term can refer to Christ himself as well as to the proclamation of his ministry as kerygma. However, total biblical inerrancy differs from this orthodoxy in viewing the Word of God to mean the entire text of the Bible when interpreted didactically as God's teaching.<ref>James Barr, Fundamentalism pp. 72ff, SCM 1977.</ref> The idea of the Bible itself as the Word of God, as being itself God's revelation, is criticized in neo-orthodoxy. Here the Bible is seen as a unique witness to the people and deeds that do make up the Word of God. However, it is a wholly human witness.<ref>James Barr, Fundamentalism pp. 218–19 SCM 1977</ref> All books of the Bible were written by human beings. Thus, whether the Bible is—in whole or in part<ref>Exodus claims of the Ethical Decalogue and Ritual Decalogue that these are God's word.</ref>—the Word of God is not clear. However, some argue that the Bible can still be construed as the "Word of God" in the sense that these authors' statements may have been representative of, and perhaps even directly influenced by, God's own knowledge.<ref>Brown, RE., The Critical Meaning of the Bible, Paulist Press, 1981.</ref>

There is only one instance in the Bible where the phrase "the Word of God" refers to something written. The reference is to the Decalogue. However, most other references are to reported speech preserved in the Bible. The New Testament also contains a number of statements that refer to passages from the Old Testament as God's words, for instance Romans 3:2,<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> d (which says that the Jews have been "entrusted with the very words of God"), or the book of Hebrews, which often prefaces Old Testament quotations with words such as "God says". The Bible also contains words spoken by human beings about God, such as Eliphaz (Job 42:7)<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> and the prayers and songs of the Psalter. That these are God's words addressed to humanity was at the root of a lively medieval controversy.<ref>Uriel Simon, "Four Approaches to the Book of Psalms" chap. 1</ref> The idea of the word of God is more that God is encountered in scripture, than that every line of scripture is a statement made by God.<ref>Alexander Ryrie, "Deliver Us From Evil", DLT 2004</ref>

While the phrase "the Word of God" is never applied to the modern Bible within the Bible itself, supporters of total inerrancy argue that this is because the Biblical canon was not closed. In 1 Thessalonians 2:23<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, "When you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God."<ref>Nürnberger, K., Biblical Theology in Outline: The Vitality of the Word of God, Cluster Publications, 2004, p. 65.</ref>

Translation

Template:See also Translation has given rise to a number of issues, as the original languages are often quite different in grammar as well as word meaning. Some believers trust their own translation to be the accurate one. One such group of believers is known as the King James Only movement. For readability, clarity, or other reasons, translators may choose different wording or sentence structure, and some translations may choose to paraphrase passages. Because some of the words in the original language have ambiguous or difficult-to-translate meanings, debates over the correct interpretation occur.<ref>See Encyclical Letter of 1893 quoted in Schwarz, W., Principles and Problems of Biblical Translation: Some Reformation Controversies and Their Background, CUP Archive, 1955, p. 11.</ref>

Autographic texts and modern versions

Those who hold the total inerrancy of the Bible have a variety of views as to whether inerrancy refers to modern Bibles or only to the original, autographic texts. There are also disagreements about whether, because the autographic texts no longer survive, modern texts can be said to be inerrant.<ref>Cowan, SB. and Wilder, TL., In Defense of the Bible: A Comprehensive Apologetic for the Authority of Scripture, B&H Publishing Group, 2013, p. 55.[1]</ref> Article X of the Chicago statement agrees that the inspiration for the words of the Bible can only strictly be applied to the autographs. However, the same article asserts that the original text "can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy", so that the lack of the originals does not affect the claim of biblical inerrancy of such recovered, modern texts.<ref name="ChicX">Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy: "Article X. We affirm that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture, which in the providence of God can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy. We further affirm that copies and translations of Scripture are the Word of God to the extent that they faithfully represent the original. We deny that any essential element of the Christian faith is affected by the absence of the autographs. We further deny that this absence renders the assertion of biblical inerrancy invalid or irrelevant". </ref> Robert Saucy, for instance, reports that writers have argued that "99 percent of the original words in the New Testament are recoverable with a high degree of certainty."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

For the Catholic church, the Latin Vulgate translation has been declared "authentic", meaning that where the Latin Vulgate diverges from the original languages, for example by translator or scribal error, it is either not significant for faith or morals or is true in its own right.

Textual tradition of the New Testament

Template:See alsoMost of these manuscripts date to the Middle Ages. The oldest complete copy of the New Testament, the Codex Sinaiticus, which includes two other books (the Epistle of Barnabas and The Shepherd of Hermas) not now included in the accepted NT canon, dates to the 4th century. The earliest fragment of a New Testament book is the Rylands Library Papyrus P52 which dates from 125–175 AD,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> recent research pointing to a date nearer to 200 AD.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The average NT manuscript is about 200 pages, and in all, there are about 1.3 million pages of text. No two manuscripts are identical, except in the smallest fragments, and the many manuscripts that preserve New Testament texts differ among themselves in many respects, with some estimates of 200,000 to 300,000 differences among the various manuscripts.<ref>See Ehrman, Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew, p. 219</ref> According to Bart Ehrman:

In the 2008 Greer-Heard debate series, New Testament scholars Bart Ehrman and Daniel B. Wallace discussed these variances in detail. Wallace mentioned that understanding the meaning of the number of variances is not as simple as looking at the number of variances, but one must consider also the number of manuscripts, the types of errors, and among the more serious discrepancies, what impact they do or do not have.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

For hundreds of years, Biblical and textual scholars have examined the manuscripts extensively. Since the eighteenth century, they have employed the techniques of textual criticism to reconstruct how the extant manuscripts of the New Testament texts might have descended, and to recover earlier recensions of the texts. However, King James Version (KJV)-only inerrantists often prefer the traditional texts (i.e., Template:Lang, which is the basis of KJV) used in their churches to modern attempts of reconstruction (i.e., Nestle-Aland Greek Text, which is the basis of modern translations), arguing that the Holy Spirit is just as active in the preservation of the scriptures as in their creation.<ref>White, JR., The King James Only Controversy: Can You Trust Modern Translations?, Baker Books, 2009, p. 24.</ref>

KJV-only inerrantist Jack Moorman says that at least 356 doctrinal passages are affected by the differences between the Template:Lang and the Nestle-Aland Greek Text.<ref>Moorman, Jack, Missing In Modern Bibles – Is the Full Story Being Told?, Bible for Today, 1989, 83 pages</ref>

Some modern Bibles have footnotes to indicate areas where there is disagreement between source documents. Bible commentaries offer discussions of these.<ref>See e.g. The HCSB Student Bible, B&H Publishing Group, 2007, p. iv.</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Inerrantist response

Evangelical Christians generally accept the findings of textual criticism,<ref>Bacote, VE., Miguélez, LC. and Okholm, DL., Evangelicals & Scripture: Tradition, Authority and Hermeneutics, InterVarsity Press, 2009.</ref> and nearly all modern translations, including the New Testament of the New International Version, are based on "the widely accepted principles ofTemplate:Nbsp[...] textual criticism".<ref>Today's new International Version: New Testament, Introduction.</ref>

Since textual criticism suggests that the manuscript copies are not perfect, strict inerrancy is only applied to the original autographs (the manuscripts written by the original authors) rather than the copies. However total inerrantists usually claim that imperfect manuscripts have a negligible effect on our ability to know what the autographs said. For example, evangelical theologian Wayne Grudem writes:

The "Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy" says, "We affirm that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture". However, it also reads: "We deny that any essential element of the Christian faith is affected by the absence of the autographs. We further deny that this absence renders the assertion of biblical inerrancy invalid or irrelevant."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Less commonly, more conservative views are held by some groups.

Template:Lang

Template:Main A minority of total biblical inerrantists go further than the Chicago Statement, arguing that the original text has been perfectly preserved and passed down through time. This is sometimes called "Template:Lang Onlyism", as it is believed the Greek text by this name (Latin for received text) is a perfect and inspired copy of the original and supersedes earlier manuscript copies. This position is based on the idea that only the original language God spoke in is inspired, and that God was pleased to preserve that text throughout history by the hands of various scribes and copyists. Thus the Template:Lang acts as the inerrant source text for translations to modern languages. For example, in Spanish-speaking cultures the commonly accepted "KJV-equivalent" is the Reina-Valera 1909 revision (with different groups accepting, in addition to the 1909 or in its place, the revisions of 1862 or 1960). The New King James Version was also translated from the Template:Lang.

King James Only inerrantists

A faction of those in the "King James Only movement" rejects the whole discipline of textual criticism and holds that the translators of the King James Version English Bible were guided by God and that the KJV thus is to be taken as the authoritative English Bible. One of its most vocal, prominent and thorough proponents was Peter Ruckman.

Michael Licona

In 2010, Michael Licona published a book defending the resurrection of Jesus called, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. In one part of the book, Licona raised questions about the literal interpretation of the resurrection of the saints in Matthew 27:51-53. He suggests the passage of scripture is an apocalyptic genre.<ref name=licona>Licona, Michael. The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach, Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010. 34.</ref> Scholars such as Norman Geisler accused Licona of denying the full inerrancy of the Bible in general and the Gospel narratives in particular.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As a result, Licona resigned from his position as research professor of New Testament at Southern Evangelical Seminary and apologetics coordinator for the North American Mission Board.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Modern Catholic discussion

In Catholic discussion, the Bible is not inerrant or infallible as a document interpreted independently of teaching of the Church on matters of faith and morals.

Before Vatican II

St. John Henry Newman, writing in 1884, acknowledged the "human side" of biblical inspiration which "manifests itself in language, style, tone of thought, character, intellectual peculiarities, and such infirmities, not sinful, as belong to our nature, and which in unimportant matters may issue in what in doctrinal definitions is called an obiter dictum (said in passing)." In this view, the Bible contains many statements of a historical nature that have no salvific content in themselves and so need not be inerrant.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Often called the "absent father of Vatican II" (absent because he died 72 years before it began), the wording of Dei Verbum recalls Newman’s position. The theologians who wrote it knew and positively appreciated his views.<ref>Juan Velez Giraldo, “Newman’s Influence on Vatican II’s Constitution Dei Verbum,” Scripta Theologica 51 (2019): 711-40</ref>

In 1907, Pope Pius X condemned historical criticism in the 1907 Lamentibili sane exitu.<ref>Law, David R. (2012). The Historical-Critical Method: A Guide for the Perplexed. T&T Clark. p. 74.</ref> However, around the time of the mid-twentieth century, attitudes changed. In 1943, Pope Pius XII issued the encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu, making historical criticism not only permissible but "a duty".<ref>Law, David R. (2012). The Historical-Critical Method: A Guide for the Perplexed. T&T Clark. p. 74.</ref> Catholic biblical scholar Raymond E. Brown described this encyclical as a "Magna Carta for biblical progress".<ref>Template:Cite book Cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref>

Vatican II

After several years discussion and numerous drafts, on 18 November 1965 the Vatican II Council adopted the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, known as Template:Lang from its first Latin words.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The document's teaching on inerrancy is found in a single sentence:

The first draft schema on the Sources of Revelation included "inerrancy" within one chapter heading but this word was dropped in later drafts in favour of the term "without error", used with specific reference to the truth necessary for salvation.<ref>Hamm, Dennis SJ (2014), DEI VERBUM: Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Vatican II, 1965): An orientation and quick review by way of questions and answers, Creighton University, pages 5, 6 and 8, accessed on 7 October 2025</ref>

Since Vatican II, there has been no official pronouncement on the meaning of this phrase. Article 107 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992) simply quotes the sentence from Template:Lang without any further explanation:<ref name="vatican.va">Template:Cite web</ref>

Present-day Catholic teaching

Some theologians and apologists defend the view that total inerrancy is still the Church's teaching. For instance, articles defending this position can be found in the 2011 collection For the Sake of Our Salvation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> On a more popular level, on the apologetic website Catholic Answers there is no lack of articles defending the same position.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

For instance, Raymond E. Brown, "perhaps the foremost English-speaking Catholic Biblical scholar",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> writes:<ref name="The New Jerome Biblical Commentary"/>

And also:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Similarly, Scripture scholar R. A. F. MacKenzie,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in his commentary on Template:Lang, said:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In a speech to German bishops during the Second Vatican Council, the future Pope Benedict XVI described inerrancy as referring to everything which scripture intended to affirm, but not necessarily in how it is expressed, saying:<ref>Joseph Ratzinger, On the Schema On the Sources of Revelation: Address to the German-Speaking Bishops (10/10/62), tr. Jared Wicks in “Six Texts by Prof. Joseph Ratzinger as Peritus Before and During Vatican Council II,” Gregorianum 89, no. 2 (2008): (233-311) 280.</ref> Template:Blockquote And that:<ref>Joseph Ratzinger, On the Schema On the Sources of Revelation: Address to the German-Speaking Bishops (10/10/62), tr. Jared Wicks in "Six Texts by Prof. Joseph Ratzinger as Peritus Before and During Vatican Council II," Gregorianum 89, no. 2 (2008): (233-311) 280.</ref> Template:Blockquote

These views are shared by many Church officials and as a result are taken for granted in some Church documents. For instance:

• An official report (1999) on theological conversations between the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Southern Baptist Convention, to be found on the website of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:PbTemplate:Blockquote
• A 2005 "teaching document" issued by the Bishops' Conferences of England and Wales, and of Scotland, entitled The Gift of Scripture:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:PbTemplate:Blockquote
• The Template:Lang (working paper) for the 2008 Synod of Bishops on the Word of God:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:PbTemplate:Blockquote

Criticism and scope of inerrancy

Empirical evidence and testability

Critics argue that total biblical inerrancy undermines the empirical basis of science by treating ancient religious texts as authoritative on natural phenomena, even when these texts conflict with observable evidence. For example, a literal reading of the creation narrative in Genesis, which suggests a young Earth created in six days (Genesis 1:1–31), is inconsistent with the scientific consensus on the age of the Earth (approximately 4.54 billion years) and the process of evolution through natural selection. These discrepancies have led scholars like Richard Dawkins to criticize biblical inerrancy as being "indifferent to the evidence".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Page needed

Many secular scholars highlight apparent scientific and historical inaccuracies in the Bible as evidence against its inerrancy. For instance, the story of Noah's Ark (Genesis 6:9–9:17), when taken literally, describes a global flood, which lacks geological evidence and contradicts known principles of hydrology and biology. The lack of supporting evidence for other events described as historical in the Bible, such as the Exodus, further calls into question the claim of total inerrancy.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Page needed

However, biblical inerrancy is not synonymous with biblical literalism, and Christians often focus more on what is intended to be written by a biblical author than the veracity of what is actually written. Pope John Paul II wrote to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on the subject of cosmology and how to interpret Genesis, describing it as teaching God as the author of all creation in a way expressed within the context of knowledge contemporary to the ancient author:

Catholic priest and philosopher of science Stanley Jaki blamed the Protestant Reformation for biblical literalism, which resulted in the Bible being construed as a literal source of scientific knowledge: Template:Quote

As for specific events in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament, Christians and scholars alike tend to view certain sections as either allegorical, or as stories based on past events but embellished with hyperbolic and figurative language, such as with Genesis, Exodus, and Joshua.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Walton, John H.; Longman III, Tremper (2018). The Lost World of the Flood: Mythology, Theology, and the Deluge Debate. InterVarsity Press. p. 145-146.</ref>

Resistance to revision

Another point of contention is the resistance of biblical inerrancy to revision, which is at odds with the self-correcting nature of the idealized scientific process. While science progresses through the refinement of theories based on new evidence, total biblical inerrancy maintains that the (original) text is immutable, preventing reinterpretation in light of new discoveries. Philosopher Daniel Dennett has criticized this rigidity, suggesting that it hampers intellectual progress and fosters dogmatism.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Page needed

The Catholic Church has embraced divergent interpretations of different books in the Bible in light of modern discoveries, while maintaining the inerrancy of scripture, insofar as such interpretations don't diverge from Catholic teaching. In 1943, Pope Pius XII issued the encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu, making historical criticism not only permissible but "a duty" for the study of scripture,<ref>Law, David R. (2012). The Historical-Critical Method: A Guide for the Perplexed. T&T Clark. p. 74.</ref> while today there exists learned groups such as the Catholic Biblical Association dedicated to the academic study of the Bible. As far back as late antiquity, Saint Augustine of Hippo taught that Christians should change their minds when interpretating scripture (in his case, Genesis) in light of any new knowledge.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

See also

• An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture
• Biblical hermeneutics
• Bibliolatry
• Christ myth theory
• Divine providence
• Historical criticism
• John Calvin's view of Scripture
• Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible
• Quranic inerrancy
• Quranic literalism
• Religious skepticism
• Urtext (biblical studies)

References

Sources

• Template:Cite book
• Bart D. Ehrman (2003). Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. Oxford University Press, Inc. Template:ISBN
• Charles Caldwell Ryrie (1981). What you should know about inerrancy. Template:ISBN
• Dei verbum Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (1965)
• Ethelbert W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1970.
• Gleason Archer (2001). New Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties. Template:ISBN
• Template:Cite book
• Herzog, Ze'ev. "Deconstructing the walls of Jericho". Ha'aretz October 29, 1999. Web: Deconstructing the walls of Jericho.
• John Walvoord (1990). What We Believe: Understanding and Applying the Basics of Christian Life. Template:ISBN
• Kathleen C. Boone: The Bible Tells Them So: The Discourse of Protestant Fundamentalism, State Univ of New York Press 1989, Template:ISBN
• N. T. Wright, The Last Word: Beyond Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture. Harper-San Francisco, 2005. Template:ISBN
• Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe, (1999) When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties.
• Norman Geisler and William E. Nix., A General Introduction to the Bible, Moody Publishers; Rev&Expndd edition (August 1986), Template:ISBN
• Norman Geisler, ed. (1980). Inerrancy. Template:ISBN.
• Walter C. Kaiser, Peter H. Davids, F. F. Bruce, Manfred T. Brauch. (1996). Hard Sayings of the Bible
• Warfield, B. B. (1977 reprint). Inspiration and Authority of Bible, with a lengthy introductory essay by Cornelius Van Til. Template:ISBN.

Further reading

• J. Benton White (1993). Taking the Bible Seriously: Honest Differences about Biblical Interpretation. First ed. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster/John Knox Press. xii, 177 p. Template:ISBN