Week 2 Inerrancy Flashcards
To what does Inerrancy refer?
Actual words on the page
Definition of inerrancy
“All the words in Scripture are God’s words” –Grudem
More about what inerrancy means
completely truthful no errors no internal contradictions affirms nothing contrary to fact Bible tells truth
Why not “infallibility?”
“Infallibility” is subjective–truth comes to me
Bible claims God speaks through a prophet
Ahijah 1 Kings 14,16
Bible claims God speaks directly to a prophet
Jeremiah 1:4 “Word came to me”
Prophet believed he was speaking God’s words
Jeremiah 2
We have a written account of God’s words
Samuel (1 Sam 10) says he is writing God’s word
Jesus claimed that the Scriptures would be maintained
Not the smallest stroke pass away Mt 5, John 10
Neo orthodoxy says
men fallible recorded God’s word therefore must contain errors
NT affirms that Scripture is God’s word
Acts 24, 1 Tim 3:16, 2 Pet 1:21 men spoke as moved
NT claims same authority
the rest of the scriptures
Paul claimed to be speaking on behalf of God
“things I write to you are the Lord’s commandment” 1 Cor 7, 14
Self attesting people object is circular
Multiple authors attest. Holy Spirit attests.
Not dictation
“write the things you have seen” Rev 1; Luke 1; Heb 1
Scripture says God doesn’t lie
Titus 1:2, Heb 6:18
God’s words are ultimate standard of truth
though interpretation can be wrong
If a new discovery contradicts the Bible
hold in tension until resolves
Are only Autographs inerrant?
The text is inerrant, not the document
God approves transmission
Jer. 36:28 “take another scroll”
2 Kings 22:8 directed to make copies
Errors can be recovered
Both inerrant and in ordinary language
Yes–see Ps 19
Inerrant and casual quotations
Mk 1:2 quotes several but only attributes Isaiah. Was a common practice.
Inerrant and unusual or uncommon grammatical constructions
See 1st Peter vs 2nd Peter
Inerrant but quoted statement may be untrue
Job’s friends
God’s word in translation
True collectively though translation errors may occur
“unanswered questions” vs “demonstrated errors”
Possibly emerges from prior decision to judge the Bible rather than letting the Bible be the norm for all judgments. Harold OJ Brown
Scope of inerrancy
Faith and practice, or everything
Manuscripts not inerrant
Therefore don’t say the Bible is inerrant
Denying inerrancy creates moral problem
Did God intentionally speak falsely in anything, even minor?
Denying inerrancy in some areas
Means human mind has to judge all
Denying inerrancy affects doctrine
Bible must then be wrong in major doctrines as well as minor details
Words vs paper
The Word of God –words –are inerrant and we make no claim about the physical carrier of the words.
Dynamic vs functional
Dynamic allows actual meaning; functional stays more strictly literal
