Can the Bible Contain Error?

If God has in fact chosen to reveal himself through inspired Scripture, then I contend that the Spirit’s utterance cannot include error.

Repeatedly, the Scriptures teach us that God cannot lie. Therefore, writings backed by the character of God must be inerrant and infallible. This comprehension is absolutely vital to the follower of Christ. It is the foundation upon which a proper understanding of the Christian faith is built.

If the Bible should prove to be in error in those realms where its claims can be checked, on what possible basis would we logically continue to hold its dependability in areas where we cannot verify what it says? (Erickson) All credibility would be compromised and uncertainty would abound. This cannot be.

Therefore, I propose that God did give humanity his word, and that word (i.e. Scripture) is inerrant in all that it asserts when interpreted properly.

To state that the Bible is inerrant or always tells the truth does not imply that it tells us every fact there is to know about any one subject, but it affirms that what it does say about any subject is true (Grudem). It is also important to note that the term inerrancy allows for the Bible to represent the ordinary language of the day, to include loose and free quotations, and to have unusual or uncommon grammatical constructions. The issue is not whether Scripture fits into our postmodern journalistic standard; the issue is truthfulness in speech.

What about Bible difficulties?

As far as they are concerned, I appreciate what is called the “moderate harmonization approach.” It seeks to synthesize the “supposed” inconsistencies while acknowledging that we do not yet have all the answers.

When all the facts become known, they will demonstrate that the Bible in its original autographs and correctly interpreted is entirely true and never false in what it affirms (Erickson). I find this method to be much more appealing than trying to force cohesiveness and give fanciful explanations without all of the data.

As an example, in the past, many of the alleged conflicts between Scripture and science turned out to be founded on flawed biblical exegesis (Horton). So, humility should be carry the day regarding data that we simply do not currently have available to us.

On a personal note, I do not hold to this position lightly. I have arrived here by traversing a long and painful road. A few years ago I began reading books written by men who claimed to be Christian, yet attacked the inerrancy of Scripture. Their words had an affect on my young and undiscerning mind and I took their assertions to heart. Quickly I fell into the trap of moral relativistic thinking and nearly ruined my life. Thankfully, God saved me. He pieced together my brokenness.

Since then, I have realized that there must be absolute truth. It is not optional. That truth is God’s word. It is inerrant, infallible, and beautiful.