#Inerrancy

[mockvangelical]

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Can God reveal Himself to humanity? And, to be more specific, can He reveal himself in language, the specifics of which become normative for Christian faith and action? With an inerrant Bible these things are possible. Without it, theology inevitably enters a wasteland of human speculation. The church, which needs a sure Word of God, flounders. Without an inerrant revelation, theology is not only adrift, it is meaningless. Having repudiated its right to speak on the basis of Scripture, it forfeits its right to speak on any other issue as well.

James Montgomery Boice

[kjvfactcheck]

Will Kinney's False Dichotomy

He always presents you with an either or with the question, "Can you show me a copy of any Bible today that you believe is the 100% inerrant, infallible word of God?" As you will soon see, the history of the Bible's development gives more than a yes or no

He always presents you with an either or with the question, “Can you show me a copy of any Bible today that you believe is the 100% inerrant, infallible word of God?” The only answer you can pick to get his question right is the King James Version, and the reason for this is because he says it is. He believes that either God preserved his word 100% completely perfect in the King James Version, or…

[mindfulldsliving]

Latter-day Saint Views on the Bible: A Comparative Analysis

Latter-day Saints (LDS) hold the Bible in high regard, recognizing it as the word of God. However, they believe its teachings must be interpreted correctly. This unique perspective is foundational to their faith

Photo by Rachel Strong on Unsplash Words carry immense significance in any discourse, especially when discussing religious beliefs and doctrines. In their latest post, the writer at Life After Ministries blog attempts to utilize 1 Timothy 4:16 to critique what they term the “lies of Mormonism.” The writer emphasizes that Christians should heed not just God’s words, but also be aware of the…

[eli-kittim]

Is the Authority of Scripture Biblical?

Eli Kittim

I have a high view of Scripture. But my authority is a Person, not a Book. My authority is God himself, as he reveals to me his will and purpose through spiritual communications. It’s one thing to say that the Bible is “authoritative,” in the sense that it’s reliable and truthful. But it’s quite another thing to say that it’s our highest authority. I think people mistakenly conflate the authority of Scripture with Cessationism, the Calvinist doctrine that spiritual gifts and prophecy ceased with the Apostolic Age. They often cite Jude 1:3 for support. But all that verse says is that “the faith” was revealed to us at some point in human history. It doesn’t say that the Godhead went out of business, took a Sabbatical, or died and left a will. The phrase—“the faith delivered once for all to God's people”—can be disambiguated by examining the context. The other passage cessationists love to quote is 1 Cor. 13:9-10. But all it says is that “we know in part and prophesy in part” because “when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with.” But not before the complete comes. That’s the key! It doesn’t say that prophecy has ceased. That would be a misinterpretation. Besides, Acts 2:17 says that people in the end times will prophesy and see visions.

Many people are confusing Scripture’s inspiration, revelation, truthfulness, and inerrancy with the concept of “authority,” which the Oxford languages dictionary defines as “the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience.” In short, our highest authority is not the Church, tradition, councils, committees, or even the Bible itself. Our highest authority is Jesus Christ! In Matt. 28:18 (NASB), Christ says:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has

been given to Me”

Where does 2 Tim. 3:14–16 mention the authority of Scripture? It says that “the sacred writings … are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” In other words, Scripture gives us wisdom and leads us to salvation which can only be found in Christ Jesus. The fact that Scripture is “inspired” doesn’t mean it represents the final authority. 2 Tim. 3:14–16 reads:

“continue in the things you have learned

and become convinced of, knowing from

whom you have learned them, and that

from childhood you have known the sacred

writings which are able to give you the

wisdom that leads to salvation through faith

which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is

inspired by God and beneficial for teaching,

for rebuke, for correction, for training in

righteousness.”

The fact that Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16) doesn’t mean that the Bible has the final say in all matters. The Spirit that inspired the Bible is the ultimate authority on all matters, not the Bible. Scripture itself does not claim to have all authority. Jesus does.

Moreover, the concept of the Sufficiency of Scripture implies that Scripture itself is all we need to interpret Scripture. But Scripture can be interpreted in 30,000 different ways. Just look at all the Protestant denominations that split due to interpretative differences. Thus, Scripture is neither sufficient to interpret itself, nor is it the final authority. Without the Holy Spirit to illuminate us, we will inevitably misinterpret it (Jn 16:13)!

Where does 2 Pet. 1:20–21 mention the authority of Scripture?

“But know this first of all, that no prophecy

of Scripture becomes a matter of

someone’s own interpretation, for no

prophecy was ever made by an act of

human will, but men moved by the Holy

Spirit spoke from God.”

All it says is that prophecy and its interpretation should be revealed by the Holy Spirit, not interpreted by human beings. If anything, it demonstrates the insufficiency of Scripture!

The fact that the Bible contains the Word of God doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the final authority, or that it’s sufficient in and of itself, so that we don’t need anything else. If the Bible is entirely “sufficient” and adequate for all purposes, we wouldn’t need to be reborn. All we would need to do is read our Bibles. But Scripture cannot save anyone. Jesus does. The Spirit is what we need. We can be saved by the Spirit without the Bible. But we can’t be saved by the Bible without the Spirit.

The Bible does not attest to its own authority. Revelation of the Word does not mean ultimate Authority. The fact that God’s Word is true (Jn 17:17) doesn’t mean that the Bible is the highest authority in our lives. As Christ said, it is the Spirit that perfects us, not the Scriptures (Jn 16:13). Luke 24:49 reads:

“But remain … until you have been clothed

with power from on high”

John 3:5 says categorically and unequivocally:

“unless someone is born of … the

Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

Likewise, Romans 8:9 puts it thusly:

“But if anyone does not have the Spirit of

Christ, he does not belong to Him.”

In John 5:39-40, Jesus demonstrates the insufficiency of Scripture by saying the following:

“You examine the Scriptures because you

think that in them you have eternal life; and

it is those very Scriptures that testify about

Me; and yet you are unwilling to come to Me

so that you may have life.”

When Jesus says that all will be accomplished according to his Word (Matt. 5:18), he’s talking about prophecy, not the authority of Scripture. I’m not suggesting that Scripture errs or is contradictory. Absolutely not! But let’s not confuse the issues. The fact that the Bible contains the Word of God doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s our final authority, or that it’s entirely sufficient. That would be equivalent to Bibliolatry. The Bible is not a paper Pope. Truth and trustworthiness is one thing. Authority is another.

[the-big-picture-bible-blog]

This translation knocked the wind out my sails

Browsing YouTube recently, I saw this video in my feed. (See image above). I immediately noticed the caption showing 2Corinthians 5:14-17, one of my original ‘go to’ verse references for teaching and encouraging the study of the Bible rightly divided. I thought, WOW!!! I have never seen or heard of many preachers who teach this passage, because it is very controversial. I wanted to know what this…

[kgdrendel]

A Facelift Proposed on the Doctrine of Inerrancy

God guided the circumstances in which the biblical literature was divinely inspired, and God approved the final product

The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy is just a little older than my Christian faith. It was relatively new when I first read the Bible in college and when I first asked Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of my life. I have wrestled with the idea of inerrancy from the beginning of my Christian life until now. It isn’t that I don’t think the Bible is the “word of God”. It isn’t that I don’t…

[ultrachoppedpenguinbouquet]

The Bible

[annagracewood]

Do we really believe in Sola Scriptura?

I believe in Sola Scriptura. I stand on it theologically in everything. Sola Scriptura literally means Scripture alone, meaning that Scripture alone is our authority.

Why does Sola Scriptura matter to biblical womanhood? Because without the authority of Scripture, there is no case for biblical womanhood. No Titus 2: 3-5. No Proverbs 31 woman.  Without Sola Scriptura, we have nothing. I stand on Sola Scriptura. I stand on it theologically in everything. Sola Scriptura literally means Scripture alone, meaning that Scripture alone is our authority. I’m a Titus 2…

[brianchilton]

A Pastoral Reflection on Inerrancy

By: T. J. Gentry, D.Min., Ph.D. | November 5, 2023 (This article was prompted by questions submitted to the Bellator Christi site after my recent interview with Dr. Brian Chilton discussing the importance of inerrancy. Here, I offer a pastoral reflection on inerrancy.) I am a pastor and an academic, but my academic training in Scripture and other areas is for the sake of my pastoral ministry,…

[mockvangelical]

Literal depiction of real verse from the actual Bible.

Image: tumblr

[ferrell-foster]

Religious fundamentalism hangs by a thin thread

It occurs to me this morning that religious fundamentalism hangs by a very thin thread. That’s why it’s guarded so assiduously. The thread is that every word of an ancient and powerful book is, in fact, the very word of God for all time. Since most people don’t actually read those books they don’t realize that they already have decided certain of those words no longer apply, but they accept the…

[melvingaines]

A Spiritual Journey: The Word of God - Video Message - October 16, 2022

A Spiritual Journey: The Word of God – Video Message – October 16, 2022

https://www.facebook.com/akronalliancefellowship/videos/510400957283188 A message by Melvin Gaines. In your effort to grow and expand upon your faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ, this study of the Word of God is part of the training provided by the Christian and Missionary Alliance for persons who are pursuing Accreditation. Even if you are not pursuing Accreditation with the Alliance, this…

[violant-apologia]

only a couple of days until the season of irreverences! remember to stock up on exploits, you'll need 1000 to claim both of the new rewards (if you've got the rest of the distinctions)

[prettyjesusfreaks]

really sick of people trying to remake God into their own image of Him.