#0149 Is Your Bible Full Of Errors? Does It Matter? - Further. Every. Day.

Is the Bible Inerrant? What About Bible Translations?

Introduction: Is the Word of God Inerrant? What exactly is the Word of God? Is it the Bible that you hold in your hands at Church? What if someone spills coffee on it, is the Word of God lost? What if it's mishprinted ? Have you ever heard of the Evil King James Bible? Let's talk about that as we watch our culture stray further every day.

The Problem:

Many Theologians have ceded, or even gleefully proclaimed the notion, that the Bible is “not infallible, inerrant”, and is capable of harboring errors in its depiction of God's Word.

From Wikipedia:

There are 3 types of inerrancy or infallibility:

Some theologians speak of the "infallibility" of the Bible. This can be understood in one of three ways.

• Some authors use "inerrancy" and "infallibility" interchangeably.

• For others, "inerrancy" refers to complete inerrancy and "infallibility" to the more limited view that the Bible is without error in conveying God's self-revelation to humanity.[3][12] On this understanding, "infallibility" claims less than "inerrancy".

• Citing dictionary definitions, Frame (2002) claims "infallibility" is a stronger term than "inerrant": "'Inerrant' means there are no errors; "infallible" means there can be no errors".[13] Yet he acknowledges that "modern theologians insist on redefining that word also, so that it actually says less than 'inerrancy.'" Harold Lindsell states: "The very nature of inspiration renders the Bible infallible, which means that it cannot deceive us. It is inerrant in that it is not false, mistaken, or defective".[14]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_inerrancy

Here in an edition of Life and Letters, we see a representative argument from the liberal scholar:

“The doctrine of inerrancy is more post-biblical, even modern. And it has been particularly influential among U.S. evangelicals, who often appeal to the doctrine of inerrancy in arguments against gender equality, social justice, critical race theory and other causes thought to violate the God's infallible word.

The doctrine of inerrancy took shape during the 19th and 20th centuries in the United States. A statement crafted in 1978 by hundreds of evangelical leaders remains its fullest articulation. Known as the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, the statement was a response to emerging “liberal” or nonliteral interpretations of the Bible. According to the statement, the Bible speaks with “infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches.””

https://lifeandletters.la.utexas.edu/2021/07/what-is-biblical-inerrancy-a-new-testament-scholar-explains/

https://defendinginerrancy.com/chicago-statements/

Theology:

If God's word contains errors, what does this say about God?

Philosophy:

If God is incapable of keeping errors out of His Bible, then what does this mean for morality, eternity, and salvation?

Culture:

What Cultural allowances should be made if God's Word is inerrant? What happens if you may pick and choose as you please?

Politics:

Why have nations continuously attempted to rewrite God's Word? What does this allow the government to accomplish?

Economics:

What economic incentives are there for scholars to make their living upon “debunking” the Bible?

The Story

So when DID the Inerrancy issue become a topic of debate? Well, the issue became a heavy point of contention in the 1800s, you know, when the Counter-Reformation and the Humanist Enlightenment movements were in full force.

An article at conversation jeeringly puts it this way:

Roots of Fundamentalism

“Christian fundamentalism has roots in the 19th century, when Protestants were confronted by two challenges to traditional understandings of the Bible.

Throughout the century, scholars increasingly evaluated the Bible as a historical text. In the process they raised questions about its divine origins, given its seeming inconsistencies and errors.

In addition, Charles Darwin's 1859 book “On the Origin of Species” – which laid out the theory of evolution by natural selection – raised profound questions about the Genesis account of creation.

Many American Protestants easily squared their Christian faith with these ideas. Others were horrified.

Conservative theologians responded by developing the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. Inerrancy asserts that the Bible is errorless and factually accurate in everything it says – including about science.

This doctrine became the theological touchstone of fundamentalism. Alongside inerrancy emerged a system of ideas, called apocalyptic or “dispensational premillennialism.”

Adherents of these ideas hold that reading the Bible literally – particularly the Book of Revelation – reveals that history will end soon with a ghastly apocalypse.

All those who are not true Christians will be slaughtered. In the wake of this violence, Christ will establish God's millennial kingdom on Earth.”

https://theconversation.com/fundamentalism-turns-100-a-landmark-for-the-christian-right-123651

Theology:

What does the Bible say about the philosophies of man and diverse doctrines?

Philosophy:

If the purpose and intent of a movement is not honestly seeking the good of an institution such as the Church, what challenges befall the Church if she accepts the precepts of such antagonists uncritically?

Culture:

Now that we abolished the inerrancy of God? What did Nietzsche's Dead God provide in the Culture? What are the results?

Politics:

After God was dead in the 19th Century, what did man do in the 20th Century across Europe through Asia?

Economics:

What does the Chinese Communist Party do with the Bible today? What is the purpose of this?

Final Thoughts:

One more thing: Favorite book of the Bible