BIBLICAL INERRANCY is the doctrinal position that, in its original form, the Bible is without error, referring to the complete accuracy of Scripture, including the historical and scientific parts. Stated differently, it is infallible, incapable of error, not liable to mislead or deceive.
Our position: We believe the Bible is a true history of God’s revelation, but that Biblical inerrancy is provably false. It does not follow that the Bible is untrustworthy because it is not inerrant. We know where the errors are and can point them out. Some errors are insignificant, some are serious. However, none disrupts the message God intends we hear.
Personally, I’ve been uncomfortable with the term “inerrancy” for many years. “What do you mean?” you ask, “ Don’t you believe the Bible is the Word of God?” Yes, we do. It is an inspired book. However, the term “inerrancy” is misleading, especially as it is understood by most evangelical and conservative Christians. The word “inerrancy” is commonly used by Christians to make claims for the Bible that simply are not true.
Metzger: On February 13, 2007, at the age of 93, Bruce M. Metzger passed from this life. He championed the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament, was a brilliant linguist and authority on ancient Greek manuscripts. Metzger was a world class scholar who believed the message found in the Bible. “What’s so unusual about that?” you ask. It’s unusual because Metzger devoted his life to finding and fixing errors in the New Testament! He even authored a book entitled, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration.
A student of Metzger’s once wrote: “Bruce Metzger visited us in seminary. He may be the foremost New Testament scholar in the world ~ he has led the teams that have given us the UBS Greek New Testament and has written all kinds of stuff on the text of the New Testament. I made the mistake of asking him in class if he thought the Bible was inerrant. He said ‘of course not.’”
We do not know how Metzger handled the “inerrancy” issue with his peers. Nevertheless, here are some of the reasons we address this topic.
The Bible: Your Bible, in its current form, is not identical to the Bible of the early church. This should get your attention! There is no one manuscript that perfectly matches the Bible you bought at the store. Said differently, your Bible is a composite of many ancient Bibles, and it is not identical to any of the Bibles it came from. In fact, no two ancient manuscripts are identical with each other. The question begs to be asked: Which one, then, is inerrant? If inerrancy is true there should be a Greek-Hebrew manuscript that lines up perfectly with your English translation. This is not the case. There are 5,600 Greek manuscripts containing all or part of the New Testament, and they differ from each another on major and minor points.
As an additional note, these manuscripts continued to develop as they were copied, accumulating known errors, additions and revisions along the way. The process is well documented, which means these errors are not mysteries. We know where they are, what they look like and have reasonable theories about how they developed. Three examples of New Testament passages commonly thought to have been added by later interpolators include: The adulterous woman (John 7:53-8:11), the “Trinitarian” Johannine Comma (1 John 5:7-8), and the longer ending in Mark 16 (Mark 16:9-20).
Grammatical errors are counted in the thousands. True, these are usually insignificant, but not always. Metzger regards at least 2,000 variants as worthy of a committee investigation (Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament). The decisions of the committee determine how your Bible reads. How do scholars decide which variant is “the inspired, infallible Word of God?” What is the process for keeping one variant and tossing the other? We’re told in the Preface to Metzger’s book, “On the basis of a record of the voting of the Committee.” Please don’t misunderstand what we’re saying. This process is necessary, and it is on-going. There is no better way to approach the problem of textual errors. Our point is simply that variants or additions force a decision: one variant is voted in, the other(s) is voted out. One variant is granted status of inspired, and the other is regarded as an error.
Note: One acceptable way around this is to place all disputed variants & additions in the margin of printed Bibles. Don’t be fooled into thinking this solves the problem. It only passes the problem from the committee to the reader (who usually has no experience with textual criticism).
Original documents: We want to emphasize a central tenant of inerrancy: the claim of inerrancy for the Bible is only made regarding the original manuscripts. This answer sounds intelligent, but it’s not. Unfortunately, the original documents for the Bible no longer exist. There are none ~ zero. Therefore, it is intellectually dishonest and circular to make the claim that the Bible “in its original form is without error.” This may or may not be the case (we will not know unless we find them), but it is not an argument for inerrancy.
Additionally, it is obvious that variants do not exist in original documents of any genre, so making this claim for Biblical documents is meaningless.
Historical events cannot be proven. History is established on the basis of believable testimony, precisely those principles used in our law courts (e.g. Probable Cause, Preponderance of the Evidence). Thus, faith in reliable witnesses is always required when studying history. Apply this to Scripture: “Did Moses speak to God face-to-face, and did God write the Ten Commandments on stone?” We think there are good reasons to believe this story is true. Can we prove it? No, but we think nay-sayers will live to regret it.
Summary: The Bible does not need an “inerrancy” doctrine to defend itself. As an ancient document it simply towers above its competition. Here are some closing thoughts:
Many Christians claim inerrancy is necessary because a perfect God requires a perfect Bible. This hardly helps because it denies the facts. The Bible is not perfect. We would make the opposite claim: A perfect God does not require a perfect Bible. “How so?” you ask. “Why would God allow errors ~ any errors ~ to creep into the Scripture?”
Our theory: God is like this. He allowed just enough errors to give unbelievers an excuse for rejecting Him. In contrast, people desperate for God are not hindered by these same errors.
The Bible is amazingly accurate, but to claim it is without error easily leads to Bibliolatry (making an idol of the Bible). Think I’m wrong? Jesus was crucified by men who believed in inerrancy.
Our theory: The inerrancy doctrine can make a person spiritually blind. Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me.” (Jn 5:39) He also said, “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” (Mt 23:24)
Many Christians in the inerrancy camp are willing to admit some of what we’ve written (e.g. acknowledging variants), yet they continue to teach Biblical inerrancy. We think this sends the wrong message and is fundamentally dishonest, if not deliberately misleading. There is nothing about the Bible that the Christian needs to protect.
Didn’t Jesus teach inerrancy? There is a passage in Mt 5:17-19 that applies to the discussion on inerrancy.
Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
This passage clearly establishes that Jesus had a high view of Scripture. In fact, in the past I would often use this text to defend inerrancy. However, once we discovered the many missing “letters and strokes” we decided to rethink our position. Our theory: Jesus specifically applies “not the smallest letter or stroke” to the Law. The Law was given by God directly to Moses, face-to-face. In this context, inerrancy is much easier to understand, and appears to be what Jesus is teaching.
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