In Defending Inerrancy
- inerrancy is the belief that the Bible is without error in its original
writing - Norman Geisler and William Roach (GR) have written:
- ...Total inerrancy has been the standard orthodox view throughout the history of the Christian church. This is true from the earliest times. The view of limited inerrancy (that only spiritual or redemptive matters are without error) is a late view in church history, arising as a result of accommodating the doctrine of inerrancy to modern science and biblical criticism.
Against those who claim that some in the Early Church didn’t
believe that Scripture was entirely breathed out by God (2 Timothy 3:16-17), GR
provide evidence from the Church Fathers:
- Justin Martyr (d. 165) spoke of the Gospels as the “Voice of God” (Apology 65). He stated, “We must not suppose that the language proceeds from men who were inspired, but from the Divine Word which moves them” (1.36). Irenaeus (d. 202) added that the Bible is “above all falsehood” (Against Heresies 3.5.1) and we are “most properly assured that the Scriptures are indeed perfect, since they are spoken by the Word of God and His Spirit” (2.28.2; 2:35). Medieval Church Fathers Summing up the early church, Augustine of Hippo declares: “I have learned to yield respect and honour only to the canonical books of Scripture: of these alone do I most firmly believe that the authors were completely free from error” (Letters 82.3). So “if we are perplexed by any apparent contradiction in Scripture, it is not allowable to say, the author of this book is mistaken: but either the manuscript is faulty, or the translation is wrong, or you have misunderstood” (Reply to Faustus 11.5). Likewise, in the later Middle Ages Thomas Aquinas insisted that “it is heretical to say that any falsehood whatsoever is contained either in the gospels or in any canonical Scripture” (Exposition on Job 13, Lect. 1). For “A true prophet is always inspired by the spirit of truth in whom there is no trace of falsehood, and he never utters untruths” (Summa 2a2ae, 172, 6 ad 2). The Reformation Period The great reformer Martin Luther affirms that “the Scriptures, although written by men, are neither of men nor from men but from God” (Luther’s Works 35:153).
- Likewise, John Calvin agrees, insisting that “the Bible has come down to us from the mouth of God” (Institutes 1.18.4). Thus “we owe to Scripture the same reverence which we owe to God; because it has proceeded from Him alone. . . . The Law and the Prophets are . . . dictated by the Holy Spirit.”
These Fathers of the Faith had excellent reasons to believe
this way. There is not a single verse in the Scriptures that expresses any
skepticism about its inerrancy. For example, Jesus only expressed the highest
possible regards for the Scriptures including His own teachings, which He
claimed would last forever (Matthew 24:35). For Jesus every word of the
Scriptures came from God:
· Jesus answered [the Devil], "It is written: 'Man does not live on
bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
(Matthew 4:4)
Jesus did not set Himself above Scripture
as its judge to decide which verses were truly inspired. He received “every word” as God’s Word:
· "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.” (Matthew 5:17-18)
If Jesus had regarded the Word as errant in
some respect, He would never have said “until everything is
accomplished.” Instead, He might have said, “Until every part that is WITHOUT
ERROR is accomplished.” Rather, He continually insisted that everything had to be fulfilled:
· He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to
believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer
these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all
the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures
concerning himself… He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was
still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the
Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Then he opened their minds so
they could understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24: 25-27, 44-45)
Notice how Jesus opened their minds to
understand the Scriptures, rather than His own
Word. Whenever He quoted from the Scriptures, it was always to affirm what
Scripture had said. Never once did He disparage Scripture. Instead, He
castigated those who didn’t know the Scriptures:
· Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the
Scriptures or the power of God. (Matthew 22:29)
They didn’t know Scripture because they
didn’t esteem it, despite their protestations to the contrary:
· "But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser
is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe
me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are
you going to believe what I say?" (John 5:45-47)
In contrast to the religious leadership,
Jesus believed in what Moses had written and that Scripture could not be
broken” (John 10:35). He even regarded the Psalms as ultimately authored by
God. Quoting from Psalm 110, Jesus claimed that David was “speaking by the
Spirit”:
· He said to them, "How is it then that David, speaking by the
Spirit, calls him 'Lord'? (Matthew 22:43)
Never once did Jesus raise the question
about the divine origin of a single verse. Consequently, if we are serious
about Jesus, we have to take the same view of the Scriptures as He did.
However, it seems that most denominations
do not take Jesus’ view of Scripture. Instead, they tend to claim that
Scripture is only inerrant in its important matters. Pastor and writer Greg
Boyd reflects the thinking of many modern statements of faith:
· …the Bible can and should be trusted as unfailing (infallible) in all
matters that pertain to Christian faith and living. It cannot be considered
inerrant, however, especially in regard to minor matters of history or science.
However, Scripture never makes such a
distinction. Instead, this statement gives everyone license to decide for themselves
what is essential to “Christian faith and living.” Unsurprisingly, we find that
there is little agreement about the essentials. Consequently, some narrow down
the “essentials” to only one thing – a socially derived understanding of “love.”
If a Christian is a follower of Christ and
His understanding of the Scriptures, then few can legitimately call themselves “Christian.”
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