INERRANCY

Do you believe the Bible is totally infallible and inerrant containing no errors whatsoever in ALL matters that it speaks of?

Or do you believe there are a few errors here and there that we should not be concerned about because they are trivial and may be due to things like a lack of knowledge in that day etc?

Do you believe that Bible you read is mistake free from cover to cover in all things it states or is the reality otherwise but what you have is good enough to get you by?

2 Peter 1:20-21 KJV
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. [21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 KJV
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: [17] That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Proverbs 30:5-6 KJV
Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. [6] Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

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2 Timothy 2:23 KJV
But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.

There are 2 kinds of errors. Factual error and spiritual errors. Factual error is one in which certain facts can go wrong. There can be factual errors in the Bible, for example the name of the Prophet is mentioned wrong in NT while referring to the Prophesy. Some might argue that the original script just had prophet in it; but I have checked the earliest manuscripts available and the names are wrong in them. Again it does not bother me 1 bit to accept factual errors.

Spiritually with respect to the nature of God, I believe Bible is consistent. There is not a single place where God hates man etc. God is always a loving God. There is not a single place where God tolerates sin, he is always against sin consistently in the Bible.

I believe the original manuscripts were likely error free (but I think Paul may have had a "slip of the pen” in 1 Cor. 14).

There may have been some copying errors, especially in some of the battle numbers in the OT historical books.

I don’t think there are any errors of substantial importance that effect doctrine etc with the possible exception in 1 Cor 14 mentioned above, but even that is not a huge deal.

If you see what you think is an error, keep studying and you will find you, in fact, are the one with the misconception. Remember Jesus quoted from the Old Testament. He wouldn't quote a book with errors.

/There can be factual errors in the Bible, for example the name of the Prophet is mentioned wrong in NT while referring to the Prophesy./

Where might there be an example of that? I'm sincerely asking.

Nigel-

Maybe he quoted the parts without any mistakes.

2 Kings 8:26 vs. 2 Chronicles 22:2 (KJV)

Todd, here is the answer to this supposed contradiction.

https://answersingenesis.org/bible-timeline/genealogy/two-ages-at-once/

"Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?" John 7:14,15

Probably because He was the one who wrote the Bible... I don't think He needed to consult textual critics for an accurate translation.

Nah- it was a copyist error. It’s no big deal. I couldn’t care less how old he was but 22 makes more sense.

This contradiction only appears in the KJV and NKJV so that makes it even more likely it was a copyist error in source documents used for the KJV.

No it was not a copyist error.

Then why don’t other versions have different numbers?

Todd, I'm not a Bible translation expert. Obviously some versions are superior to others; some have errors and some don't.

What do you make of this?

How many chariot horses did Solomon have, 40,000 (I Kings 4:26) or 4,000 (II Chron. 9:25)?I Kings 4:26 "And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen."II Chron. 9:25 "And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen;"

Copyist error- as I said before there are several in the historical books particularly regarding numbers like these.

I know that some would come up with convoluted explanations that create more problems than they solve.(eg- in Kings they were actually counting horse legs not horses). I really don’t see the issue with a copyist error here and there. It doesn’t really matter how many horses and stalls Solomon had, but doesn’t 4000 horses and chariots seem more probable than 40,000? 40,000 horses would consume 600,000 pounds (300 tons) of food per day. If chariots were 6 ft wide, 40,000 lined up side by side would stretch over 45 miles. Whoa!

It's interesting how you jumped to that conclusion without looking for an explanation other than "It was a copyist error".

Here is the actual explanation:

"Read the verses carefully and you will see that there is no contradiction. They had chariot teams with ten horses and ten men per chariot in case you got a flat tire! If he had "four thousand stalls for horses and chariots" he would need forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots." (Borrowed from Kent Hovind)

Yeah but the explanation is ridiculous.

To you maybe.

The explanation seems plausible to me.

I've been hashing and looking around on this subject and man have I uncovered view and thoughts on the subject of inerrancy I really didn't know existed. I perhaps thought they existed outside of the church but not within the church. But because they exist should I automatically dismiss them? I've tried to take a look at some of them and it's pretty amazing but is that because they go against what I have been taught about the infallibility and inerrancy of scripture? Some of these views by very famous theologian s grind against my insides but it is good to have to take a a look again at one's basic beliefs and determine again if they are right or at least trying to be right.

1) What is inerrancy of the scriptures? Why is it or why should it be important to a Christian? What result good or bad can it have in their walk?

2) What is one's doctrine of inspiration? What does all scripture is given by "inspiration" of God mean? (II Timothy 3:16)

3)Where does one go for the answer?

4) If inerrancy and infallibility of the scriptures is true can its neglect have negative effects on the church at large? I'm personally still stumped a bit at the emergence of what appears to be a truly apostate church in the world. Does its emergence have anything to do with its view of scripture and its inspiration?

To shortly summarize what I have determined is that those who are against inerrancy believe to a degree that the Bible was "inspired" and written under this inspiration but still all men all prone to err and this they did in ways as they were used by God to write. So look for a inspired set of writings in scripture but don't look for INERRANCY and INFALLIBILITY. It just ain't so they say. So one's view of inspiration may influence how one really sees the scriptures. God inspired they say the writing but men prone to err did so in places as they wrote.

Also, one famous theologian that is a household name believed the the Bible contained the "word of God" and not the actual "words of God." Scriptures bear witness to revelation but don't really become the words of God until the Holy Spirit moves and enlightens us and brings us to salvation as seen in the word. Then it is in actuality the word of God.

Bottom line: How can a infallible God inspire men to produce somethings containing errors? The original manuscripts etc. are of course no longer with us but did the original "autographs" down to the jot and tittle contain any error of any kind since they were inspired by a God who is TRUTH and perfect cannot make mistakes? Can our view of this one way or the other effect our walk today?

I remain unconvinced that there are errors of any kind in the Bible.