Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem Chapter 5 The Inerrancy of Scripture Truth Bible Church Sunday School Lesson

The Meaning of Inerrancy The mere fact that inerrancy is an issue at all and requires a separate chapter demonstrates the grave state of evangelicalism today Scripture foretold in 2 Tim. 4:3-5 It is not directly taught in Scripture but it is logically implied Inerrancy - define it...

The Meaning of Inerrancy Inerrancy - without error “... Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact.” Num 23:19; Pss 12:6, 119:89, 96; Prov 30:5 Matt 24:35 God’s words are, in fact, the ultimate standard of truth (John 17:17) Though error and partial falsehood characterize human speech, God’s speech even when communicated through sinful human beings is never false and never affirms error (Num 23:19)

The Meaning of Inerrancy This concepts focuses on the question of truthfulness and falsehood in the language or Scripture. The Bible always tells the truth... concerning everything it talks about This does not mean the Bible gives us every fact or detail on any one subject, rather it affirms that what it does say on any subject is TRUE

Other Important Definitions Inspiration - “breathed out by God” Infallibility - “what has divine authority” Inerrancy - “what is without error,” “wholly true” These are all related, what is inspired is infallible and what is infallible is inerrant A divinely inspired error is a contradiction

Biblical Basis For Inerrancy (1) The Bible is the Word of God (2) God cannot err.(Heb. 6:18; Titus 1:2; Rom 3:4) (3) If the Bible is the Word of God and God cannot err then the Bible cannot err - it is without error

What is Truth? Pilate asked what is truth (John 18:38, see v 37) Jesus is the Word, the Way and the Truth (John 1:1, 14; 14:6) “True” means that which corresponds with the facts The Bible is actually and factually correct in whatever it affirms. There are no mistakes or incorrect statements in the Bible The Bible is without error in regard to everything it speaks on: science, history, philosophy, morality, religion, and even the future

You Can Trust The Bible “The Bible, in its entirety, has no mistakes. It is flawless because God wrote it-and He is flawless. It is not only infallible in total, but also inerrant in its parts. Proverbs 30:5-6 says, ëEvery word of God is tested... Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.í Every word of God is pure and true. The Bible is the only book that never makes a mistake-everything it says is the truth.” - John MacArthur

Truthfulness In Speech The Bible Can Be Inerrant and Still Speak in the Ordinary Language of Everyday Speech Does the sun really rise or the rain fall? How many men? (Matt 8:28 vs. Mark 5:2; Luke 8:27) Context and implication of what is reasonable observation

Truthfulness In Speech The Bible Can Be Inerrant and Still Include Loose or Free Quotations Direct vs indirect quotation Written Koine Greek had no quotation marks Only the content, not the exact words was considered sufficient so long as the content is not false to what was originally stated

Truthfulness In Speech It Is Consistent With Inerrancy to Have Unusual or Uncommon Grammatical Construction in the Bible Stylistically or grammatically irregular statements should not trouble us, as they do not affect the truthfulness of the statements The issue is truthfulness in speech not grammatical correctness

Challenges to Inerrancy 1. The Bible is Only Authoritative for “Faith and Practice” This is an attempt to give Scripture a pass in areas where it contradicts human (limited) reason, logic or knowledge Infallible but not Inerrant... Pure (Ps 12:6), Perfect (Ps 119:96), True (Prov 30:5) The New Testament affirms the truthfulness of the Old Testament in many areas beyond just Faith and Practice Major purpose vs Total purpose of Scripture

Challenges to Inerrancy 2. The Term Inerrancy Is a Poor Term It is not a term specifically used in Scripture The word trinity does not appear either

Challenges to Inerrancy 3. We Have No Inerrant Manuscripts; Therefore, Talk About an Inerrant Bible Is Misleading Claim: Only the original copies of the biblical documents (autographs) are inerrant None of these autographs survive So is the doctrine of inerrancy of no use since it only applies to manuscripts that no one has?

Challenges to Inerrancy 3. We Have No Inerrant Manuscripts; Therefore, Talk About an Inerrant Bible Is Misleading We have so many ancient copies that we can say that we can know what the original said despite minor grammatical and textual variations With this point the importance of context is once again highlighted Current published scholarly texts are the same as the original manuscripts We know where slight uncertainties are and none affects any major doctrine We are therefore implying that 99 percent of the words in present manuscripts are also inerrant

Challenges to Inerrancy 4. The Biblical Writers “Accommodated” Their Messages in Minor Details to the False Ideas Current in Their Day, and Affirmed or Taught Those Ideas in an Incidental Way Claim: when biblical writers made a larger point, they sometimes incidentally affirmed some falsehood believed by the people of their time This essentially denies Godís effective lordship over human language

Challenges to Inerrancy 4. Claims of Accommodation While God does “condescend” to speak on our level, He never acts contrary to His nature while doing so If God “accommodated” in a way to affirm something that is false then He would cease to be an “unlying God” Eph 4:24-25 tells us to be imitators of God

Challenges to Inerrancy 5. Inerrancy Overemphasizes the Divine Aspect of Scripture and Neglects the Human Aspect Scripture does indeed contain both divine and human aspects as God did use human authors This does not require that human failures become an intrinsic part of the Scriptures God did oversee and protect Scripture from error Numbers 23:19 affirms this point

Challenges to Inerrancy 6. There Are Some Clear Errors in the Bible Where? Show me! Be certain to look very carefully at the text, in context applying hermeneutic principles, often just looking at the English translation carefully will solve the difficulty Consult a commentary (would not recommend Augustine) or your Study Bibles! Learn Hebrew or Greek Talk to TBC elders or deacons

Problems With Denying Inerrancy 1. If We Deny Inerrancy, a Serious Moral Problem Confronts Us: May We Imitate God and Intentionally Lie in Small Matters Also? 2. If Inerrancy Is Denied, We Begin to Wonder If We Can Really Trust God in Anything He Says 3. If We Deny Inerrancy, We Essentially Make Our Own Human Minds a Higher Standard of Truth Than God’s Word Itself

Problems With Denying Inerrancy 1. If We Deny Inerrancy, a Serious Moral Problem Confronts Us: May We Imitate God and Intentionally Lie in Small Matters Also? Similar point to objection #4 and applies to all who deny inerrancy Eph 5:1 and 2 Tim 3:16 In effect we would justify speaking untruthfully where it might seem to help us communicate

Problems With Denying Inerrancy 2. If Inerrancy Is Denied, We Begin to Wonder If We Can Really Trust God in Anything He Says If God potentially misleads us in minor matters then what faith can we have the He hasn’t done so in major matters? Do we then begin cutting out verses or pages? The “church” has essentially already done so This highlights the significance of Genesis

Problems With Denying Inerrancy 3. If We Deny Inerrancy, We Essentially Make Our Own Human Minds a Higher Standard of Truth Than God’s Word Itself From problem 2 it follows that man then becomes the final judge of what is true, right and wrong Making our own minds a higher standard of truth than God’s Word, is the root of all intellectual sin

Problems With Denying Inerrancy 4. If We Deny Inerrancy, Then We Must Also Say That the Bible Is Wrong Not Only in Minor Details but in Some of Its Doctrines as Well This says the Bible’s teaching about the nature of Scripture and the truthfulness and reliability of God’s words is false These are not minor details but major concerns

Questions Why do you think inerrancy has become a large issue this century? Why is it important to both sides? How would it affect the way you read Scripture if you thought it affirmed small errors? Do you know of any Scripture texts that seem to contain errors? Have you attempted to resolve those apparent errors? How?

Questions As Christians grow in the faith to they tend to trust the Bible more or less? How do you feel about inerrancy? Does belief in inerrancy guarantee sound doctrine? How can Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in inerrancy yet hold to so many false teachings?

Questions Should the belief in inerrancy be a requirement for membership? Teaching? Holding church offices? etc. Why or why not? When there is a doctrinal controversy in the church, what are the personal dangers facing those whose position is more consistent with Scripture? In particular, how could pride in correct doctrine become a problem?