I pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal all that we are going to do in this studies.
" 1 Cor 2: 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God."
The last study dealt with:
THE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE
- REVELATION - the message of scripture - it includes both the communication process and the content.
- INSPIRATION - the method by which God had His revelation recorded in written form as scripture.
- INERRANCY - the absolute truth and accuracy of the resulting scripture.
We looked in more detail at INSPIRATION
https://steemit.com/christian-trail/@hope777/bible-doctrine-survey-the-bible-study-2
Today I continue the study whereby we look more closely to the INERRANCY.
- INERRANCY - Means that the Bible is without error as originally given by God. Inerrancy is limited to the words of the original manuscripts, not to copies or translations except as they accurately render the original.
The Bible is inerrant because it is inspired - since the Bible is God's Word, it must be without error. If you believe the Bible has errors, then one of two things is true -
- either the Bible is not God's Word
- or God does not tell the truth
NOTE: Infallable used to mean inerrant but has come to be used today by those who deny inerrancy to mean that the Bible speaks correctly on matters related to salvation and faith, but contains minor errors with respect to man, history, geography, science and the like. For example, liberal scholars say that Genesis Chapters 1-11 is not literally true but only myth and legend. Such a view is a discredit to God's Word and an accommodation to our natural, humanistic society.
- If we believe that the Bible is God's Word then it logically follows that it cannot contain errors because of the of the character of God.
John 17:17 "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."
Romans 3:3-4 "For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? 4 Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written:
“That You may be justified in Your words,
And may overcome when You are judged.” "
Titus 1:1-3 "Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, 3 but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;"
- Scripture also claims inerrancy for itself.
Matthew 5:17-18 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."
John 10:34-36 "Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’?[c] 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?"
- Jesus Himself had a very high view of the accuracy of scripture.
Matthew 22:29-33 "Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. 31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching."
The trustworthiness and accuracy of scripture sometimes comes down to whether a word is singular or plural - "seed"
Galatians 3: 15-16 "Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. 16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. "Jesus and the writers of Scripture also affirmed the historical reality and accuracy of events and people in the Bible.
Matthew 12:38-41 - Jonah
Matthew 2:3-6 - prediction of Bethlehem as Jesus birthplace
2 Corinthians 11:3 - Eve and the temptation
1 Timothy 2:13 - creation details
2 Peter 3: 1-16 - flood
Matthew 24:36-38 - Noah
John 12:37-41 - Isaiah's visionCONCLUSIONS
- Inerrancy is asserted by Scripture itself
- Inerrancy relates to the original words of scripture all of which are contained in existing copies
- Inerrancy has been taught from the earliest church history (e.g. Augustine and Aquinas) although that is not determinative.
- Minor errors or discrepancies in copies or translations do not nulify the accuracy of the originals.
- How do we deal with the alleged discrepancies? If we assume the Bible to be inspired and inerrant then our position is as follows:
Properly understood and with access to all relevant information every alleged discrepancy in the Bible can be adequately explained and harmonized with the rest of Scripture.
Following the proper rules of interpretation will also greatly assist us in reaching the correct conclusion.
Source: Bible training for church leadership, Bible Doctrine Survey, Course no. 4, Dr. Dennis J. Mock
I will thank God daily for everyone who read and study and may you be blessed abundantly!
@hope 777 For more christian content you can also follow my hubby @scotty777
I think it's slightly unkind, to say the least, to revert to name calling when someone disagrees with your interpretation of inerrant. I realize you didn't write the article, though, so I'm not calling you unkind. However, a few things to consider, in answer to the concluding bullets:
-All of the scriptures quoted in this article can be interpreted to mean something other than what this article is claiming they mean.
-There are no existing copies, so this view of inerrant means that there isn't a single bible on earth that can be trusted
-There were church fathers all the way back who held different interpretations of inerrant.
-There are no surviving originals, again.
The Bible was written by men, and inspired by God. As a joint venture, there is no reason to assume that man couldn't have made small mistakes. For instance: ancient man thought the world was flat, and we now know it isn't. The bible clearly states the world is flat, so what do you do with that?
As to Genesis, believing in a strictly literal interpretation ignores a whole lot of internal and external evidence that they weren't intended to be taken that way, but that's another matter entirely.
Thank you for your comment. Which verse in the Bible says the earth is flat!
The whole bible assumes a flat earth. Honestly, google it and you'll come up with a treasure trove of flat earth arguments made from the bible. I'm not going to make you a list, but here's a short video made by biblical scholar explaining how the ancient israelites viewed cosmology.
And one much more in depth:
And here's someone on Youtube who builds a case for a flat earth from 75 bible verses.
@garthfreeman, I was born into Protestantism and later in my life became a Baptist. I did this Bibleschool training and I believe what they taught. I am not big into science, I concern myself to be ready when Jesus comes again. You are free to interpret the Bible and I am free to interpret the Bible. I believe like a child. I looked at your blog and will follow you, if I am not mistaken we are both children of our Heavenly Father. May you be blessed!
Thanks for your kind words. It's exactly this kind of grace towards each other that I am arguing for. I really dislike all the name-calling and labeling between brothers and sisters when relatively minor disagreements occur. God bless you as well, and have a great day!
Thank you @garthfreeman. :-)
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“That You may be justified in Your words,
And may overcome when You are judged.” Its true thanks a lot for massage. Amen !!!!
Thank you for commenting Felix2010. Don't miss out on further studies!
Yes, the scriptures tell the truth. Let God be true, but every man a liar. That is why NASA never made it to the moon. How could they get past the firmament?
Thank you for your comment @david777111. I agree on what you say about the Bible and God but on NASA I can't comment, I have no knowledge about that. Blessings!
I understand. I have been studying God's firmament and NASA. If you have a chance you might look into it. Blessings to you also!
wow, thanks @David777111, I started to read up on the firmament and it is very interesting.
Thank you so much @hope777! Thanks for looking into the firmament. It is God's handywork. As written, The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Psalm 19.1