Preparing the Body of Christ Part 3: Can the Bible Be Trusted?
In Christian Theology, Millard J. Erickson defines inerrancy in the following manner,” inerrancy of Scripture is the doctrine that the Bible is fully truthful in all its teachings” (Erickson pg 247) The key words I would like to focus on are “truthful in all its teachings”. One of the main arguments of our postmodern culture is the claim that the Bible is full of contradictions or mistakes. When the content of their claims is further studied, we find that the accusations fall pretty short. An example of that would be the use of names in the culture of biblical times and the rounding of numbers as described in chapter eleven on pg. 261. Could the Bible contain written mistakes, such as misspelled words? It’s possible. Could the Scriptures contain simular accounts of the same event as described by the witness? It’s possible. Yet we must ask ourselves the question, who is the focus of the Gospel? As a body of believers, Jesus is the focus, not inerrancy. Even though inerrancy is important, the central and core beliefs of Christian doctrine is not affected if 2 Samuel 8:4 refers to 1,700 horsemen and 1 Chronicles 18:4 states 7000 horsemen, or the supposed contradiction of Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10. Are the teachings of Christ and the content of his message the primary focus? Yes! The Sermon on the Mount and even Paul’s ethical teachings gives us a foundation to what it means to be of this world, yet not of it. Whether you read the Old or New Testament, the core ideas and beliefs of each author points towards Christ fulfillment of Scripture, his salvation, and our responsibility to go into all the world and share the hope of the Messiah.
I must admit, in preparing for this study, it has given me more confidence in stating that the Bible is inerrant in its content. I have confidence in knowing the characteristics of God and his omniscient plan for his creation. Focusing on life after death, I can be confident to believe in eternal separation from God or eternal life with God through Christ. When we look at the regeneration of man’s soul, one can find peace through the power of the Holy Spirit. I can stand with confidence in knowing that there are absolutes based on Scripture.
Refering to "mistakes", Strobel writes in his book, The Case for the Real Jesus, “Far and away the most common are spelling variations…Another example is that every time you see the name John, it’s spelled with one or two n’s. They have to record that as a textual variant, but how it comes out in English is “John” every time. It does not make any difference. The point is, it’s not spelled Mary!”1 That is what I mean by content. Even if a variant is found does it take way from the inspired word of God, no! Thus, holding onto a statement I heard from Norman Geisler, “God cannot error. Then the Bible cannot error”.
In preparation for my high school class I tuned into Dr. William Craig for some insight into the issue. He used an example that helped me give an answer to my students. He used the analogy of a web. At the center of the web you have your core doctrines of the faith. Each of the doctrines forms a circular web going outward and then you have on the outside string of the web, inerrancy. If any of the core doctrines where to be false, the whole web would fall apart. It would lose its support and then become ineffective. Yet if inerrancy is damaged, the web still stands. Yet, I do believe that the Scriptures are more accurate than any other forms of historical documents, especially the New Testament, which gives me confidence in knowing what I am reading is true. When we compare the time span of an original and copy of Plato there is approximately a 1200 year span. Caesar: 1000 year span. Aristotle, our cultures reference to ethics: 1400 year span. Homer: 500 year span. Yet when we look at the New Testament, it is less than 100 years! So is the Bible inerrant? The percentage is high! Can the teachings of Christ and the doctrines of our faith be true? Most definitely!
His call. His gift to you. Your purpose. Irrevocable.
I must admit, in preparing for this study, it has given me more confidence in stating that the Bible is inerrant in its content. I have confidence in knowing the characteristics of God and his omniscient plan for his creation. Focusing on life after death, I can be confident to believe in eternal separation from God or eternal life with God through Christ. When we look at the regeneration of man’s soul, one can find peace through the power of the Holy Spirit. I can stand with confidence in knowing that there are absolutes based on Scripture.
Refering to "mistakes", Strobel writes in his book, The Case for the Real Jesus, “Far and away the most common are spelling variations…Another example is that every time you see the name John, it’s spelled with one or two n’s. They have to record that as a textual variant, but how it comes out in English is “John” every time. It does not make any difference. The point is, it’s not spelled Mary!”1 That is what I mean by content. Even if a variant is found does it take way from the inspired word of God, no! Thus, holding onto a statement I heard from Norman Geisler, “God cannot error. Then the Bible cannot error”.
In preparation for my high school class I tuned into Dr. William Craig for some insight into the issue. He used an example that helped me give an answer to my students. He used the analogy of a web. At the center of the web you have your core doctrines of the faith. Each of the doctrines forms a circular web going outward and then you have on the outside string of the web, inerrancy. If any of the core doctrines where to be false, the whole web would fall apart. It would lose its support and then become ineffective. Yet if inerrancy is damaged, the web still stands. Yet, I do believe that the Scriptures are more accurate than any other forms of historical documents, especially the New Testament, which gives me confidence in knowing what I am reading is true. When we compare the time span of an original and copy of Plato there is approximately a 1200 year span. Caesar: 1000 year span. Aristotle, our cultures reference to ethics: 1400 year span. Homer: 500 year span. Yet when we look at the New Testament, it is less than 100 years! So is the Bible inerrant? The percentage is high! Can the teachings of Christ and the doctrines of our faith be true? Most definitely!
His call. His gift to you. Your purpose. Irrevocable.
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