SOUTHWESTERN ASSEMBLIES OF GOD UNIVERSITY

School of Distance Education

RELIABILITY OF THE BIBLE

Can We Trust the Bible?

Systematic Theology ITHE 5413L90

Instructor: Dr. Robert Harden

Student Data:

Name: John Martin Medeiros

E-mail: johnmedeiros@lionmail.sagu.edu

Phone: (956) 434-9346

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Semester: Spring 2014

Date: April 24, 2014

CONTENT

Introduction …………….………………………………………………………………………. 1

Biblical Inerrancy and the Church Fathers ………………………………….…………..…..

3

Genuineness, and Credibility of the Bible …………….........

………………………………. 7

Genuineness of Old Testament .………………………………………………...…... 8

Genuineness of New Testament …………………………………………………... 10

Credibility of the Bible ……………………………………………………………..... 12

Dependability of God’s Word: Inerrancy …………………………………………...……...

14

Importance of Inerrancy ……………………………………………………….……. 14

Defining Inerrancy ……………………………………………………………….….. 16

Full Inerrancy………………………………………………………….….….. 17

Concluding Thoughts ………………………………………………………………………. 18

ii

Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………..….. 19

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INTRODUCTION

Some Bible stories such as: the Passion of the Christ, The Bible, Noah

and the Son of God, are making their way into in big box office

movies and TV series in the past years. Many people have been

watching the Bible, but are they reading it? And do they still

believe in the Bible? Well according to the Barna Group, Bible

engagements and Bible skeptics are tied in popularity. Bible

skeptics have risen to balance Bible engagements at 19% each.1

There seems to be a rise in skepticism in the belief of the

Bible. In a Gallup poll in May of 2007, there is a growing trend

among individuals with a higher education to believe that the

Bible is a book of ancient fables, history, legends recorded by

men.2 No surprise that those Americans who have no religious

affiliation are more likely than other groups to say that the

1 Barna Group, “The State of the Bible: 6 Trends for 2014,” April 8, 2014, https://www.barna.org/barna-update/culture/664-the-state-of-the-bible-6-trends-for-2014#.U1gvQPldV1Y, accessed April 23, 2014.

2 Frank Newport, “One-Third of Americans Believe the Bible Is Literally True: High inverse correlation between education and belief in a literal Bible” in a Gallup Poll, May 25, 2007, http://www.gallup.com/poll/27682/onethird-americans-believe-bible-literally-true.aspx, accessed on April 23, 2014.

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2

Bible is a creation of humans, with 60% believing it is ancient

fables, history, legends by men.3

Overall however, there has be a decrease in American people

who are Bible friendly; those who believe the Bible to be

inspired and infallible and read it regularly has stayed the same

(at 20% in 2011 and 21% in 2013). While the big increase was

among the antagonistic to the Bible, believe it is just a book of

stories and teachings written by men, rarely or never read the

Bible. This group was at one in ten adults (10%) in 2011, and

their ranks increased to 17% of all American adults in 2013.4

Though the Belief in the Bible as God’s Word and inspired and

inerrant among American has not decreased among older adults the

younger more educated adults seems to question it.

Where do we go from here? If we do not teach our children

of the inerrancy of scripture, they will fall through the cracks

and begin to doubt the Word of God. Inerrancy is an important

doctrine that should be taught regularly within our churches. For

3 Ibid.4 ______, https://www.barna.org/barna-update/culture/605-what-do-

americans-really-think-about-the-bible#.U1gnTPldV1Y, accessed April 23, 2014.

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without the teaching of inerrancy, the authority of the Bible

would be weakening. Our whole faith and practice as believers is

most profoundly based on this doctrine. We need to continually

instruct believers and those who would listen

“that Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative (inerrant) rule of faith and conduct (1 Thess.2:13; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; 2 Pet. 1:21). This statement…clearly affirms the primacy of the Bible and upholds an extremely high view of Scripture in thefaith and life of the believer.”5

This teaching of inerrancy will help to establish a strong belief

in Scripture and will protect believers from false teachings and

false doctrines.

So then let us look at the teaching of “Biblical Inerrancy”

and the important roles it plays within the believer’s life. But

first, here is a short definition of biblical inerrancy; “The

inerrancy of Scripture means that Scripture in the original

5 James H. Railey, Jr. “The Bible Without Error,” in The Enrichment Journal, http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/Tools_of_the_Trade/article_display.cfm?targetBay=d8fa2daa-0f05-4f8b-b3e8-f65bba19df5b&ModID=2&Process=DisplayArticle&RSS_RSSContentID=25484&RSS_OriginatingChannelID=1170&RSS_OriginatingRSSFeedID=3344&RSS_Source, accessed April 22, 2014.

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manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact.”6

We will now follow its concept briefly throughout church history

as we define inerrancy, show the genuineness, credibility and

canonicity of the Bible. We will then turn to the dependability

of God’s Word, the inerrancy of Scripture, and finish with

several issues to consider.

BIBLICAL INERRANCY AND THE CHURCH FATHERS

Inerrancy has been accepted through church history, it

wasn’t until recent centuries that the discussion has been

greatly debated. Biblical and historical references support

inerrancy as valid, the historical context is clear that

inerrancy was accepted among the early church fathers. The

writers of Scripture devoted little space to the formulation of a

doctrine of revelation, inspiration, and inerrancy. If we search

the Gospels, little is said that deals directly with the question

of inerrancy of Scripture. Jesus Christ constantly refers to the

Old Testament Scriptures, but not as defending its inerrancy.

6 Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction To Biblical Doctrine, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), 91.

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Rather He takes it for granted that Scriptures are inspired,

authoritative, and inerrant.7

When the church fathers finally got their hands on a

complete bible, inerrancy was not a big issue then. The church

father like Tertullian and Origen both believed in Scripture to

be inspired and without error. What did the church father say

about the Bible and inerrancy?

Early church leaders like Irenaeus (130A.D. – 202 A.D.)

believed that Scripture was perfect in words as spoken by God and

the Holy Spirit. He believed the authors were divinely inspired,

not just mere scribes. Every word, letter, detail was considered

to be significant.8

Clement of Alexandria said that "it was not alien to the

inspiration of God, who gave the prophecy, also to produce the

translation, and make it as it were Greek prophecy"9

7 Harold Lindsell, “A Historian Looks at Inerrancy,” in Bulletin of The Evangelical Theological Society 8, no.1 (December 1, 1965): 3-12. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost, (accessed April 23, 2014).

8 M. Rodriguez, “The History of Inerrancy,” http://bittersweetend.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/the-history-of-inerrancy/, accessed April 23, 2014.

9 Debra E. Anderson, “The Septuagint: God’s Blessing on Translation,” http://www.tbsbibles.org/articles/the-septuagint-the-blessing-of-God-on-translation, accessed April 22, 2014.

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Clement of Rome (150 A.D.- 250 A.D.) referring to

the Septuagint and not to the various New Testament writings, an

early church leader encouraged his followers to observe that

nothing is wrong or false in the scriptures, because God is the

one who has spoken those divine words.  “The Holy Scriptures which are

given through the Holy Spirit…nothing iniquitous or falsified is written.”10

Tertullian (160 A.D. – 240 A.D) did recognize that there

were textual variations in the translation but he did not excuse

it as errors, he said, “Never mind if there is some variation in

the order of the gospel narratives. What matters is that there is

agreement in the essential doctrine of the Faith.” He was not an

inerrantist, but he did recognize the divine authorship and

inspiration of Scripture.  “We have not out of our own mind

fashioned our own materials since these have been produced by

holy excellent men.”11  

10

Rodriguez11 http://www.dacb.org/stories/tunisia/tertullian_.html, accessed April

23, 2014.

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Origen (184 A.D. – 254 A.D.) believed openly affirmed that

the scriptures were perfect and free from internal conflict, or

without error. This is demonstrated in his comment on Matthew:

There is in the holy discourse [theiois logiois] nothing crooked or perverse, for all are clear to those who understand. And since there is nothing crooked or perverse to such a person, on this account he see an abundance of peace in all Scriptures, even those that seem to contain a contradiction and to be opposed to one another…For he knows that the whole Scripture is the one perfect and harmonious instrument of God.12

St. Jerome (347 A.D. – 420 A.D.) said: “Each and every speech,

all syllables, marks and periods in the divine scriptures are

full of meanings and breathe heavenly sacraments.” Holy Scripture

was without any defect or error, even in chronological,

historical matters.13

Augustine of Hippo (354 A.D. – 430 A.D.) in numerous places attributes the origin of Scripture to all-mighty God.He states variously:

“Both Testaments have been written by the one God.” (Augustine of Hippo)

12

Michael W. Holmes. 1981. “Origen and The Inerrancy of Scripture,” Journal of Evangelical Theological Society 24, no. 3 (September 1, 1981): 221-231. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed April 23, 2014).

13 ____, Jerome, Reformed Dogmatics brought by memoirandremins blog http://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/origen-and-jerome-on-inerrancy/#comment-581, accessed April 23, 2014.

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“Let them know that everything, both in the Old as well as the New Testament was written by the Holy Spirit.” (Augustine of Hippo)

Now Augustine of Hippo was the first to take the idealization of inspiration and apply the militant ideology of inerrancy to it.14

Luther stated: "Scripture cannot err," and "The Scriptures

have never erred."14 Similarly, Calvin referred to the Scriptures

as "the inerring standard," "the infallible rule of His Holy

Truth," "free from every stain or defect."15

John Calvin states: “The sure and infallible record.” “The

certain and unerring rule.” “Infallible Word of God.” “Free from

every stain or defect.”16

Two of the most important development in recent history on

inerrancy has been the statement on Scripture in The Lausanne

covenant (1974) and the Chicago statement (1978) of the International

Council of Biblical Inerrancy. The Lausanne statement was a

14 John D. Woodbridge, Evangelical Self-Identity and the Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy, http://thegospelcoalition.org/resources/entry/evangelical_self-identity_and_the_doctrine_of_biblical_inerrancy, accessed April 23, 2014.15

John H. Gerstner, "The View of the Bible Held by the Church: Calvin andthe Westminster Divines," in Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible (Chicago, 1986), p. 391.16

Stanley M. Horton, ed., Systematic Theology, (Springfield Missouri: Gospel Publishing House, 2003,) 102.

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little too flexible in its definition “inerrant in all that it

affirms.” This leaves room for doubt on that which is not

affirmed. But in response to that statement,

…the Chicago Statement affirmed: “Scripture in its

entirety is inerrant, being free from all falsehood, fraud,

or deceit. We deny that biblical infallibility and inerrancy

are limited to spiritual, religious or redemptive themes,

exclusive of assertions in the fields of history and

science.”17

Another statement needs to be added with the above mentioned

and was accepted before the others is the one of “The Inerrancy

of Scripture” position paper of the Assemblies of God

denomination adopted in May 1970. “We believe the Bible is the

Word of God written; it is the revelation of the truths of God

conveyed by inspiration through His servants to us. As such, it

is infallible and without error.”18

17

Ibd.18 ______,

http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/Position_Papers/pp_downloads/pp_4175_inerrancy.pdf, accessed April 15, 2014.

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The Christian Church has reflected the historical position

of Inerrancy. We have seen how our Church Fathers and Reformers

have given the impression that they believed in absolute

inerrancy. Now that we have seen what the church Fathers have

said, let’s look at the genuineness, credibility and canonicity

of the Bile. Understanding these points will help in

understanding why we believe in the inerrant Word of God.

Genuineness, and Credibility of the Bible

We have seen what claims the church father have made about

Scripture and can and should agree with such great leaders. But

can we rely only on the church fathers for this doctrine of

inerrancy. What claims does Scripture make of itself, if any? We

believe the books of the Old and New Testaments are genuine or

authentic. The following is evidence for this belief. Thiessen

gives a definition of genuineness: A book is genuine if it is;

(1) written by a person(s) whose name it bears, (2) anonymous, by

the person(s) ancient tradition has assigned it; (3) not assigned

to a particular person(s), written at the time tradition has

assigned it. Conversely, a book is false, forged, or spurious if:

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(1) It is not written at the time to which it has been assigned,

and/or (2) by the author to who it is credited by name or

tradition.19 A book is authentic if: it relates the facts as

they really occurred. A book is inauthentic or corrupted if: the

text has been changed in any manner.20 Now let us start with the

Old Testament.

Genuineness of Old Testament

The Old Testament in the Hebrew Bible is grouped into three

divisions: The Law, the Prophets, and the Kethubhim. We will try

to keep our comment within these divisions.

The authenticity of the Old Testament, finds little support

from the testimony of those who lived near the time of its

origin. The proof is of a more indirect and general nature, the

strongest part of it being the testimony of Christ and his

apostles as given in the New Testament. We shall therefore

consider it under the heads of credibility and canonicity. The

19 Henry C. Thiessen, Introductory Lectures in Systematic Theology. (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1949) 91.

20

Robert Harden, “Genuineness, Credibility, and Canonicity of the Books of the Bible,” in Lectures in Systematic Theology 1, Blackboard, Waxahachie, SAGU.

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genuineness and credibility of the Old Testament is superior to

the New should be credited to it having the distinct testimony of

Christ. He nowhere directly says of the New Testament, “Search

the Scriptures, for in them you have eternal life.” It is only

indirectly and by implication that he said this, in commissioning

and inspiring the twelve apostles to compose it. This is an

equivalent for the comparative lack of historical testimony in

the case of the Old Testament.21

Scholars questioned the Pentateuch for many years because

they did not believe that writing skills were available at that

time. People could read and write as far back as the time of

Hammurabi; Babylonian genealogical tablets/list predated Abraham.

Abraham could have maintained records on cuneiform tablets. It is

conceivable that Moses came to possess Abraham’s records, had

access, received by oral tradition, direct revelation, or a

combination. Conservative scholars believe Moses wrote Genesis

(Ex. 24:4, 34:28; Num. 33:2; Deut. 31:9, 24).22 It is believed

21

Shedd, W. G. T. (2003). Dogmatic Theology. (A. W. Gomes, Ed.) (3rd ed., p. 126). Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Pub., Logos Bible Software.

22 Thiessen, 92

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Moses wrote the remainder of the Pentateuch; as it is referred to

as the “law of Moses” (Acts 13:39; 1 Cor. 9:9; Heb. 10:28; John

1:45). An internal evidence of the eyewitness account s of the

exodus, familiarity with Egypt, etc.23

The Books of the Prophets has two divisions, the former and

the latter. The genuineness of the Former Prophets is supported by

traditional views that Joshua wrote the book that bears his name.

Samuel wrote Judges, which was written before the monarchy began

(Judges 19:1, 21:25). Samuel was credited with 1Samuel 1-24.

Nathan the prophet, and Gad the seer are credited for writing 1

Samuel 25-2 Samuel 24. While Jeremiah or at least a contemporary

is credited with Kings. Kings makes references to the “acts of

Solomon” (1 Kings 11:41), “chronicles of the kings of Jerusalem”

(1 Kings 14:29); and eyewitness accounts regarding Elijah,

Elisha, and Micaiah.24

The genuineness of the Latter Prophets which include Isaiah,

Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Minor Prophets as well; are supported by

23

Harden.24

Thiessen, 93-94

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traditional view as well. Isaiah is credited with his prophecy

(Is. 1:1), acts and deeds of Hezekiah (2 Chron. 32:32), and acts

of Uzziah (2 Chron. 26:22). Jesus and the Apostles credited

Isaiah’s authorship, even disputed part (Matt. 8:17 cf. Is 53:4;

Luke 4:17 f., cf. Is 61:1; John 12:38, 41, cf. Is 53:1, 6:10).

Jeremiah is credited with his book (Jer. 30:2, 51:60) and was

assist by Baruch (Jer. 36 cf. 45:1). Ezekiel is credited with his

book (Ez. 24:2, 43:11), while Habakkuk is credited with writing

his book (Hab. 2:2), also. Scholars make an assumption that with

names which appear in opening verses of a prophetic book

accurately identify the book’s author. This assumption has been

extended Malachi, all of Malachi and not just Mal 3:1.25

The Kethubim consists of 3 groups of writings: Poetic Books:

Psalms, Proverbs, Job; Megilloth: Song of Solomon, Ruth,

Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther; and Non-prophetical historical books:

Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Chronicles.

Poetic Books: Evidence supports traditional view that: of 150

psalms, authors for 73 are attributed to David, 11 to the Sons of

25 Thiessen, 93-94.

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Korah, Asaph is credited for 12, Solomon 2, Ethan 1, and Moses

1.26 Solomon is credited with Proverbs 1-24, 25-29 were copied

from his writing by the men of Hezekiah; chapter 30 by Agur; and

31 by King Lemuel; Song of Solomon (1:1); and Ecclesiastes (1:1,

16, 2:4-11), but some linguistic evidence arguing otherwise.27

The authorship of Job uncertain, but traditionally credited to

Job

Megilloth: The authorship of Ruth is uncertain, traditionally

it credited to the author of Judges dated no; later than David’s

reign. Lamentations is credited to Jeremiah (Jer. 1:1), while

Esther is credited to a Persian Jew, perhaps Mordecai.28

Non-prophetical historical books: Daniel is credited with his book

(Dan 7:2, 8:1, 15, 9:2, 10:2). Daniel is commanded to preserve

book (Dan 12:4), evident unity within book, Daniel is mentioned

throughout. Jesus attributed The Book of Daniel to him (Matt

24:15). Conservatives scholars date it back to 6th Century B.C.,

but modern critics denying accuracy of prophecy within date it at26

Harden.27

Ibid.28

Thiessen, 94-96

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168-165 B.C. Ezra is credited with his book (Ezra 7:28, cf. 7:1);

unity evident of Nehemiah and is credited with his book (Neh.

1:1); 1st person references; 429-395 B.C. Chronicles, dealing

with priestly aspects, is traditionally credited to Ezra; 450-425

B.C.29

Genuineness of New Testament

We are limited to a few outstanding facts, and traditional

view of the writings. Synoptic Gospels: The increased interest in

Origen’s and Clement of Alexandria’s view of date and authorship

opining in favor of Matthew, Mark, Luke publication is the order

they were written. Supporting evidence includes: that Matthew

preached first in Palestine and is presumed to have left an

Aramaic version of the Gospel in 45 A.D. During course of his

foreign missions, Matthew is credited with writing a Greek

version of the Gospel in 50 A.D.30 Luke, the Physician is

credited with writing Luke in 58 A.D. and before Mark., John

Mark is credited with writing Mark in 67 or 68 A.D. Although

29

Ibid.30 Thiessen, 97.

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still capable of stirring debate, there is now a widely-held

consensus among biblical scholars that the available evidence

supports a Mark, Matthew, Luke order of publication, a.k.a.

Markan Priority, see I. Howard Marshall, Luke: Historian & Theologian.

John’s Gospel, with the discovery of Papyrus 52 containing 5

verses of John 18, is dated to first half of the 2nd Century

A.D.31

Luke, the Physician, is credited with writing Acts. And Paul

is credited with 10 of the Epistles, with doubt on the basis of

styles re: Pastoral Epistles. The authorship of Hebrews is still

uncertain. James and Jude are credited to Jesus’ brothers, who

names bare the Title of the Books. The Apostle Peter is credited

with 1&2 Peter with possible assist by Silvanus (1 Pet 5:12). And

John is credited with the authorship of 1-3 John and Revelation

(Thiessen dismisses stylistic differences between the letters and

Revelation as reasonably attributable to age and subject

matter).32

31

Harden.32

Ibid.

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Credibility of the Bible

Let us briefly consider what testimony we have of the

credibility of the Bible. With several references and quotations

in the New Testament by Jesus and the apostles of the Old

Testament, it is evident that certain they considered it to be

divine authority.33

Jesus believed Scripture to be inspired by God as He claimed

that the words of Exodus 3:6 were given by God. In Matthew 22:43-

44, Jesus quotes Psalm 110:1 and pointed out that David wrote

these words “in the Spirit,” meaning he was actually writing the

words of God.34 Jesus endorsed many of its main teachings

concerning: Creation of the universe (Mark 3:19); creation of man

(Matt. 194f.); the days of Noah, and the destruction of the earth

by flood (Luke 17:26f.); Moses and God’s revelation at the

burning bush (Mark 12:26); etc.35

33

_____, http://www.bibletoday.com/htstb/credibility_text.htm, accessed April 23, 2014.

34 Brian Edwards, “Why should We Believe in the Inerrancy of Scripture?”http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2011/07/05/believe-in-the-inerrancy-of-scripture, accessed April 23, 2014.

35 Thiessen, 98.

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The writers of the New Testament also bore witness of the

truthfulness of Scriptures. Paul based an argument upon the facts

that a particular word in the Old Testament. In Galatians, Paul

claimed that in God’s promises to Abraham, “Scripture does not

say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your

seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ” (3:16). He also quotes

Genesis 12:7; 13:15; and 24:7. Paul’s argument was that Christ,

not Israel was the offspring Abraham.36

There is also much proof from archeology to take into

consideration of the credibility of Scripture. Proof of life in

Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, etc., along with ancient

rulers identified by name, characters portrayed consistent with

historical record are demonstrated. Confirmation of Biblical

accounts through archeological furnishes, such as, the Babylonian

“Epic of Creation”; Babylonian legends of the fall, the flood

account paralleling with Scripture. Other accounts that have been

confirmed by archeology are the tablets of Nuzi have shed light

to the giving of handmaidens of Sara and Rachel to their

husbands. Egyptian hieroglyphics establish writing as a form of 36

Edwards.

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communications over 1000 years before Abraham. Tel el-Amarna

tablets affirm trustworthiness of the book of Judges, and much,

much more evidence through archeological finds has well

established the credibility of Scripture.37

We have seen just how genuine and credible Scripture is,

which has demonstrated its reliability. Now let’s look at how

dependable Scripture is. The dependability of God’s Word is

defined as inerrancy.

Dependability of God’s Word: Inerrancy

Importance of Inerrancy

Why do we believe the Bible? There are many reason, several

mentioned above. By saying that we believe, I mean, we believe

the Bible to be true, and true throughout. The Bile is without

error. In believing it to be God’s Word, then we must accept it

as inerrant, without error. The words that were written down were

God breathed and God cannot lie. The Bible does not err because

God does not lie. Therefore, inerrancy is part of the belief of

inspired Scripture.38 We believe in inerrancy of the Bible

37 Thiessen, 99-100.38

Horton, 103.

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because no adequate theology can be established without it. And

the Church cannot be wrong about inerrancy for all these

centuries.

Many people, including Bible believing people, want to know:

“If they can believe the Bible?” The answer to this important,

for it will shape their response to God’s Word. Our entire

Christian belief hinge on whether inerrancy or the authority of

the Bible is liable. Without it we would not have doctrine. There

are three areas of importance to inerrancy: (1) theological; (2)

Historical; and (3) Epistemological.

Theologically importance, one doctrine will affect the

establishment of another doctrine. The teaching of the nature of

God as truthful and omniscient affects the understanding of what

the inspired Bible would be. Likewise, the relationship of God to

the creation of man, earth and all living things, has an effect

on the understanding of what revelation and inspiration of the

Bible involves.39 If God is omniscient, he knows all things, he

is without error on any matter. Because He is omnipotent, He can

39 Millard J. Erickson, “Biblical Inerrancy: The Last Twenty-five Years.” Journal of The Evangelical Theological Society 25, no. 4 (Dec. 1, 1982): 387-394. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost, accessed April 22, 2014.

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guide the biblical writers so that they make no error in the

final product, thus, the logic in the inerrancy of the Bible.

“Inerrancy is a corollary of the doctrine of full inspiration,

and thus demonstrates that the Bible is fully truthful.40

Historical importance, not until recent times has this

doctrine been articulated, but the church has always held to this

teaching of biblical inerrancy, a belief of its complete

dependability throughout the years. One will notice the effects

of inerrancy throughout history mainly though the abandonment of

this belief. Those who have strayed from this belief have also

strayed in other doctrinal beliefs.

The epistemological question is, How do we know? The Bible

is the bases for truth and doctrine, and if the doctrine of the

Bible does not last throughout history and gain support in the

church, then it is not truthful or dependable. There have been

many false doctrines that the church has refuted throughout

history. If we cannot trust the Bible for our Beliefs, then we

40

Millard J. Erickson. Christian Theology, (Grand Rapids, Michigan. Baker Book House, tenth print 1993) 225.

23

would have to look elsewhere, philosophical theories.41 The Bible

has been the main tool for doctrinal beliefs that have maintain

for centuries.

Defining Inerrancy

Now let us get a clear understanding on how the church

defines inerrancy. Biblical Inerrancy: Though this term has a wide

range of meanings among theologians, inerrancy is the belief that

the Bible has no error (not even in history or science), ascribed

to the original documents. (1 Tim. 3:16)42 "Infallibility" and

"inerrancy" are terms used to speak of the truthfulness of

Scripture. The Bible does not fail; it does not err; it is true

in all that it affirms (Matt. 5:17-18; John 10:35).43

We define inerrancy as meaning “exempt from error” and

infallibility as a near synonym meaning “incapable of error,

certain.” If there is any difference in the shade of meaning

between the two terms, inerrancy emphasizes the truthfulness of 41 Ibid.

42 Swanson, J., & Nave, O. (1994). New Nave’s Topical Bible. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Logos Bible Software.43 John R. Higgins, "God's Inspired Word" in Systematic Theology, ed. Stanley M. Horton, (Springfield, Missouri; Logion Press, 203) 101.

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Scripture, while infallibility emphasizes the trustworthiness of

Scripture. Such inerrancy and infallibility apply to all of

Scripture and include both revelational inerrancy and factual

inerrancy. It is truth (2 Samuel 7:28; Psalm 119:43,160; John

17:17,19; Colossians 1:5).44

Full Inerrancy

As we can see these definitions are reflective of the

position of “full inerrancy” which is a position between that of

“absolute” and “limited” inerrancy. The following are some

principles to incorporate on inerrancy by Erickson in his book

Christian Theology.45

Full inerrancy principles: (1) Inerrancy pertains to

what is affirmed or asserted rather than what is merely

reported. Bible has false statements given by ungodly

people, but it does not mean it is a truth, it only

guaranties they are reported correctly.

44

________, "The Inerrancy of Scripture", Position Papers of the Assemblies of God, http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/Position_Papers/pp_downloads/pp_4175_inerrancy.pdf, accessed 2/16/2012.

45 Erickson. Christian Theology, 234-238.

25

(2) We must judge the truthfulness of Scripture in

terms of what the statement means in the cultural setting in

which they were expressed. Context then means that what the

Bible affirms is fully true of the culture of its time.

(3) The Bible’s declarations are fully true when judged

in light of the purpose for which they were written.

Sometime there is a generalization and sometimes there is

specifics, depending on the purpose. If a certain detail is

needed to express a though then it is given in that form,

but if the thought is a generalization of some sort, then a

generalization is give. It does not constitute an error.

The key point: What is the writer seeking to communicate to

his intended audience?

(4) Reports of historical events and scientific matter

are in the phenomenal rather than technical. In other words,

the writer reports how things appear to the eye. It is his

point of view in certain matters.

Concluding Thoughts

26

One of those key issues that matter is with Scripture or its

major purpose is that Scripture teaches us about our “faith and

practice”. To have full trust in the Bible for this purpose, it

needs to be an authoritative work, and Scripture is authoritative

as we have just demonstrated. We can have the full confidence

that the Bible is a reliable source for faith and practice of

every believer in Christ. When properly interpreted and the

message is give, we as believers can be assured that we are

practicing the principles set for by God almighty, who want to

establish a relationship with mankind. Should we fear to be

practicing or believing in some wrong doctrine? Absolutely not!

With proper exegesis, the message of the Bible will be made

clear. But with improper exegesis, come improper faith. But

exegesis is for another paper.

We can be assured that those who follow the practices of

Scripture are following an authoritative work. So to answer the

question at the beginning, Can we trust the Bible? Absolutely

yes!

27

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