- Published on
Considering the formation of the Biblical Canon
by George Sidney Hurd
How can we be confident that all the 66 books contained in our Bibles are those, and only those, which were inspired of the Holy Spirit, and therefore God’s authoritative Word for us today?
Some who endeavor to undermine the Scripture’s authority have claimed that an elite group of bishops under the authority of the Emperor Constantine, arbitrarily decided which books were to be included in the Canon of Scripture at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.
However, there are no early records indicating that the subject was even brought up at that council. This notion is based upon a late 9th century myth which claimed that the bishops at the Council of Nicaea placed a large number of different books on the divine table in the house of God and prayed that only the inspired books would remain on the table, and that all the spurious books would be under the table when they finished their prayer. And, as the myth goes, lo and behold, when they opened their eyes, only the inspired books remained on the table.
In the 17th century, Voltaire, the Deist and opponent of Christianity, cited this myth to ridicule the Bible. And later in 2003, when Dan Brown wrote his fiction novel, Da Vinci Code, he presented the myth as if the false claim were true and the Canon had indeed been determined in the Council of Nicaea. As a result, many today believe that the myth is true history.
The Biblical Canon was formed Organically and Spontaneously
The English word Canon comes from the Greek κανών, which means “rule” or “measuring stick,” and came to be used of those books which meet the standard of divinely inspired Scripture. A careful examination of the history and transmission of the sacred texts we presently have in our Bible reveals that no human council imposed them upon the Church, but rather, the people of God in general recognized their divine inspiration and authority from the very moment of their writing.
The 39 books we have contained in our Old Testament are the same as in the Hebrew Bible of Judaism, except they are arranged differently into 24 books. Most of them, except for some of the prophets, were received as part of the Canon from the very moment they were written. Even the prophets, who were often hated by the Jews for their message of judgment for their sins, were later included, seeing that their short-range prophecies passed the test of a true prophet, as set forth in Deuteronomy 18:21-22.
During Jesus’ earthly ministry, the Scriptures were divided into three main groups, the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Jesus affirmed all three of these categories as authoritative Scripture (Luke 24:44-45). Also, the Apostles used the same Scriptures (1Cor 15:3; 2Tim 3:15-17). So, for the purpose at hand, there is no need to further dwell on the Canon of the Old Testament.
While Jesus Himself did not write Scripture, He told His disciples when He was alone with them in the upper room that the Holy Spirit would bring to their remembrance all that He had taught them; that the Spirit would guide them into all truth, and show them things which would take place in the future (Jn 14:25-26; 16:13). The Early Church understood this passage as primarily applying to the Apostles and regarded their teaching as authoritative for the Church, continuing steadfastly in their doctrines (Acts 2:42). The writer of Hebrews even said that it was a greater offense to neglect the message which “first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,” than it was for a Jew under the Old Covenant to disregard the Law, given by Moses (Heb 2:2-3). So, the Apostles are seen to have confirmed the teaching of Jesus.
Just as Moses and the Prophets were foundational to Judaism, so the teaching of the Apostles and the Prophets were foundational to the Church (Eph 2:19-20; 1 Cor 3:10-11). Paul referred to the words contained in his writings, as well as the writings of the other Apostles, as binding traditions and sound words which were to be held fast to, since they were the very words of God (1 Cor 14:37; 1Thess 2:13; 2Thess 2:15; 3:6,14; 2Tim 1:13).
Likewise, the Apostle Peter called upon the Church to be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior” (2Peter 3:2). We also see that Peter referred to Paul’s writings as Scripture along with the writings of the Old Testament prophets. He said:
“…our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” (2 Peter 3:15-16)
Here we see that, by the time the second epistle of Peter was written, which had to have been before his martyrdom in 68 AD, all of Paul’s epistles were not only widely circulated among the churches, but they were also regarded as forming part of the Holy Scriptures. Peter is not here establishing Paul’s writings as Scripture, but simply stating an already acknowledged fact among believers.
Towards the close of the first century, Jude exhorted believers to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Here one can see that, by the end of the first century, the Church was already very Canon conscious, only receiving as Scripture the Old Testament and the teaching of the Apostles as written, either by them, or by their direct associates. In this exhortation, Jude says that we must contend for the faith “once and for all delivered” to the saints. This militates against an “open Canon” which would admit into the divine Canon writings subsequent to the Apostles.
Also, we see that Paul already considered at least the Gospel of Luke to be Scripture. Writing to Timothy, Paul said: “For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,' and, 'The laborer is worthy of his wages’” (1 Tim 5:18). The only place in Scripture where it says, “The laborer is worthy of his wages,” is in the Gospel of Luke where Jesus said, “remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages” (Luke 10:7).
So, we see that the New Testament came into being organically, just as did the Old Testament. Once the books were written, they were promptly circulated among the Churches as New Covenant Scripture (1Thess 5:27; Col 4:16-17).
As soon as John, the last of the Apostles, had written the book of Revelation at the close of Domitian’s reign in 95 – 96AD, the Canon of Scripture was closed. Taking into account that the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, are one organic whole, I believe that the divinely inspired final words in Revelation 22 served to seal the Canon once and for all. It closes with these words:
“For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” (Rev 22:18-19)
It is more than significant that none of the Apostolic Fathers (100 – 150AD), nor any of the Ante Nicene Fathers, spoke authoritatively, as do the authors of the New Testament. To the contrary, they continually cited the New Testament books as their authority. The Apostolic Fathers quote the New Testament fifty times more frequently than the Old Testament. Even those which were debated among some of them, such as Hebrews, James, 2 and 3 John and the epistles of Peter, were frequently quoted by them.
Ignatius (35 – 107AD), known as the disciple of John, called the New Testament writings circulated among them in his day “the gospels and the apostles.” While he only specifically mentioned seven of the New Testament books, the broad category “the gospels and the apostles,” potentially encompasses the entire New Testament. Polycarp (69 – 155AD), also a disciple of John, mentions 15 of them. Clement (35-99AD) mentions at least eight. Irenaeus, the great Early Church historian (120-200AD), mentions 21 of the 27 books. Hippolytus (170 – 235AD) spoke of 22 books. If you combine all their writings, none of the 27 books went without being mentioned by them.
It wasn’t until late in the second century that the rise of certain Gnostic heresies made it necessary for the Church to begin forming formal canonical lists of books. Around the middle of the second century, a Gnostic heretic named Marcion of Sinope (85 – 160AD), began teaching that the Old Testament God was not the same god as the God of the New Testament. He taught that the God of the Old Testament was harsh and vindictive, whereas the God of the New Testament was always loving, kind and gracious (not unlike the revisionist beliefs expressed by many Progressives today). Since Marcion only accepted some of Paul’s writings, and those parts of the Gospels which presented God as having a permissive, non-judgmental love towards everyone, he compiled his own Canon consisting only of his own edited version of the Gospel of Luke and 10 of Paul’s epistles, excluding Paul’s pastoral epistles and Hebrews.
The first known Canon was the Muratorian Canon, which was an unknown author’s compilation of all the books which he knew to have been accepted by the Church as canonical in his day. He lists all of the New Testament books except for Hebrews, James, 3 John and 1 and 2 Peter. He specifically mentions a couple of pseudo books which he excluded, saying that they were forged in Paul’s name to further the heresy of Marcion.
Origin (184-253AD) presented a Canon which included all the books currently in the New Testament, with the exception of James, 2nd and 3rd John and 2 Peter. He, as with most in his day, believed that the book of Hebrews was written by Paul, and included it in his Canon.
Around 350 AD, Cyril of Jerusalem presented a Canon which included the entire Old Testament, plus one book of the Apocrypha, and 26 books of the New Testament, leaving out Revelation. The Council of Laodicea in 363 AD presented the same list of 26 books as Cyril. Then in 367 AD, Athanasius of Alexandria presented a complete list of the 27 books which we presently have in our New Testament, and actually referred to them as “being canonized” (kanonizomena). This became the prototype for the subsequent councils of Hippo (393AD) and Carthage (397AD), which also included the same 27 books in the Canon.
These councils were necessitated by the great number of books that began to be circulated among the churches at that time. Some of them were useful but were not included in the final Canons, either because they were written after the time of the Apostles, or else because they did not bear the qualities consistent with divine inspiration. There were also many Gnostic pseudo-gospels being passed off as Scripture, as well as other heretical Gnostic writings. The 2nd century Church historian Eusebius gives a long list of spurious or heretical books which existed in his day. Although they were never received by the Church at large, many were being deceived by them, making it necessary for the Church to clearly define which books should be received as part of the Holy Scriptures.
The decisions of the councils were not arbitrary, but rather they used logical guidelines to determine which books were truly inspired of the Holy Spirit. Books were not recognized as inspired because they were declared canonical, but rather, they were declared canonical because they were inspired. The criteria for recognizing which books were inspired were: 1) The author had to either be an Apostle, or else be a close associate of an Apostle; 2) The book had to have been already recognized as inspired by the Church at large since the time of the Apostles and 3) The book had to be consistent with the rest of Scripture in its message and morals.
While the Roman Catholic Bible contains 73 books, including also the 7 referred to as the Apocrypha, meaning “hidden” or “secret” (also referred to by Catholics as “the Deuterocanon” or “second Canon”), and the Orthodox Churches include some of the pseudepigrapha books, sometimes including as many as 81 books in their Bible, these Apocryphal writings are normally not regarded so much as being authoritative as informative.
Today it is common to hear some argue that some of the Gnostic pseudo-gospels should have been included within the Canon. However, reading through them, I cannot fathom how anyone knowing their content would still consider them to be inspired of God and Canon-worthy.
The Gospel of Thomas is the one most commonly said to have been wrongfully excluded from the Canon. However, apart from the fact that evidence indicates that it was written after the time of the Apostles, between 135 AD – 200 AD, it borders on the absurd. It is a list of sayings purported to be those spoken by Jesus. Some are actual sayings of Jesus as they were previously recorded in the 4 Gospels, but most of them which were not recorded in the Gospels are simply esoteric nonsense. Here are a few examples:
“Jesus said, ‘Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man.’” [1]
“On the day when you were one you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?” [2]
“Jesus said to them, ‘If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourselves; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits.’” [3]
“Jesus said, ‘Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being. If you become my disciples and listen to my words, these stones will minister to you.’” [4]
I will here include just one more example which presents Jesus and the disciples as though they had great contempt for women. I find it hard to imagine that anyone today would want to have it included in our Bible. It reads:
“Simon Peter said to him, ‘Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life.’ Jesus said, ‘I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.’” [5]
Imagine being a Christian apologist, attempting to defend the veracity of the Scriptures, if such sayings were included in our Bibles!
In the Pseudo-Gospel of Mary, Mary Magdalene is presented, not only as a disciple of Jesus, but as His favorite, receiving from Him esoteric teachings which the other disciples were not capable of comprehending. When Peter protests, asking why they should listen to a woman, Levi responds saying:
“If the Savior made her worthy, who are you then, for your part, to cast her aside? Surely the Savior knows her full well. That is why he has loved her more than us.”
In the Pseudo-Gospel of Peter, Jesus is presented as having to be sustained by two giant angels as He comes out of the tomb after His resurrection. Following behind them is a cross that talks. After Jesus and the cross had come out of the tomb, the cross says the following:
“And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, ‘Have you preached to them that sleep.’ And a response was heard from the cross, ‘Yes.’”
I think that we could all agree that such Gnostic esoteric and misogynist nonsense was justifiably excluded from the Canon, not only by the councils, but by the Early Church in general.
Much more could be said, but, in conclusion, I believe we can reasonably conclude that all the 66 books of the Bible which we presently have are those, and only those, which divine providence and oversight have preserved for us from the moment that they proceeded from the mouth of God and were put in writing.
[1] *Gospel of Thomas (marquette.edu) verse 7
[2] *Gospel of Thomas (marquette.edu) verse 11
[3] *Gospel of Thomas (marquette.edu) verse 14
[4] *Gospel of Thomas (marquette.edu) verse 19
[5] *Gospel of Thomas (marquette.edu) verse 114
by George Sidney Hurd
How can we be confident that all the 66 books contained in our Bibles are those, and only those, which were inspired of the Holy Spirit, and therefore God’s authoritative Word for us today?
Some who endeavor to undermine the Scripture’s authority have claimed that an elite group of bishops under the authority of the Emperor Constantine, arbitrarily decided which books were to be included in the Canon of Scripture at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.
However, there are no early records indicating that the subject was even brought up at that council. This notion is based upon a late 9th century myth which claimed that the bishops at the Council of Nicaea placed a large number of different books on the divine table in the house of God and prayed that only the inspired books would remain on the table, and that all the spurious books would be under the table when they finished their prayer. And, as the myth goes, lo and behold, when they opened their eyes, only the inspired books remained on the table.
In the 17th century, Voltaire, the Deist and opponent of Christianity, cited this myth to ridicule the Bible. And later in 2003, when Dan Brown wrote his fiction novel, Da Vinci Code, he presented the myth as if the false claim were true and the Canon had indeed been determined in the Council of Nicaea. As a result, many today believe that the myth is true history.
The Biblical Canon was formed Organically and Spontaneously
The English word Canon comes from the Greek κανών, which means “rule” or “measuring stick,” and came to be used of those books which meet the standard of divinely inspired Scripture. A careful examination of the history and transmission of the sacred texts we presently have in our Bible reveals that no human council imposed them upon the Church, but rather, the people of God in general recognized their divine inspiration and authority from the very moment of their writing.
The 39 books we have contained in our Old Testament are the same as in the Hebrew Bible of Judaism, except they are arranged differently into 24 books. Most of them, except for some of the prophets, were received as part of the Canon from the very moment they were written. Even the prophets, who were often hated by the Jews for their message of judgment for their sins, were later included, seeing that their short-range prophecies passed the test of a true prophet, as set forth in Deuteronomy 18:21-22.
During Jesus’ earthly ministry, the Scriptures were divided into three main groups, the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Jesus affirmed all three of these categories as authoritative Scripture (Luke 24:44-45). Also, the Apostles used the same Scriptures (1Cor 15:3; 2Tim 3:15-17). So, for the purpose at hand, there is no need to further dwell on the Canon of the Old Testament.
While Jesus Himself did not write Scripture, He told His disciples when He was alone with them in the upper room that the Holy Spirit would bring to their remembrance all that He had taught them; that the Spirit would guide them into all truth, and show them things which would take place in the future (Jn 14:25-26; 16:13). The Early Church understood this passage as primarily applying to the Apostles and regarded their teaching as authoritative for the Church, continuing steadfastly in their doctrines (Acts 2:42). The writer of Hebrews even said that it was a greater offense to neglect the message which “first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,” than it was for a Jew under the Old Covenant to disregard the Law, given by Moses (Heb 2:2-3). So, the Apostles are seen to have confirmed the teaching of Jesus.
Just as Moses and the Prophets were foundational to Judaism, so the teaching of the Apostles and the Prophets were foundational to the Church (Eph 2:19-20; 1 Cor 3:10-11). Paul referred to the words contained in his writings, as well as the writings of the other Apostles, as binding traditions and sound words which were to be held fast to, since they were the very words of God (1 Cor 14:37; 1Thess 2:13; 2Thess 2:15; 3:6,14; 2Tim 1:13).
Likewise, the Apostle Peter called upon the Church to be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior” (2Peter 3:2). We also see that Peter referred to Paul’s writings as Scripture along with the writings of the Old Testament prophets. He said:
“…our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” (2 Peter 3:15-16)
Here we see that, by the time the second epistle of Peter was written, which had to have been before his martyrdom in 68 AD, all of Paul’s epistles were not only widely circulated among the churches, but they were also regarded as forming part of the Holy Scriptures. Peter is not here establishing Paul’s writings as Scripture, but simply stating an already acknowledged fact among believers.
Towards the close of the first century, Jude exhorted believers to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Here one can see that, by the end of the first century, the Church was already very Canon conscious, only receiving as Scripture the Old Testament and the teaching of the Apostles as written, either by them, or by their direct associates. In this exhortation, Jude says that we must contend for the faith “once and for all delivered” to the saints. This militates against an “open Canon” which would admit into the divine Canon writings subsequent to the Apostles.
Also, we see that Paul already considered at least the Gospel of Luke to be Scripture. Writing to Timothy, Paul said: “For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,' and, 'The laborer is worthy of his wages’” (1 Tim 5:18). The only place in Scripture where it says, “The laborer is worthy of his wages,” is in the Gospel of Luke where Jesus said, “remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages” (Luke 10:7).
So, we see that the New Testament came into being organically, just as did the Old Testament. Once the books were written, they were promptly circulated among the Churches as New Covenant Scripture (1Thess 5:27; Col 4:16-17).
As soon as John, the last of the Apostles, had written the book of Revelation at the close of Domitian’s reign in 95 – 96AD, the Canon of Scripture was closed. Taking into account that the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, are one organic whole, I believe that the divinely inspired final words in Revelation 22 served to seal the Canon once and for all. It closes with these words:
“For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” (Rev 22:18-19)
It is more than significant that none of the Apostolic Fathers (100 – 150AD), nor any of the Ante Nicene Fathers, spoke authoritatively, as do the authors of the New Testament. To the contrary, they continually cited the New Testament books as their authority. The Apostolic Fathers quote the New Testament fifty times more frequently than the Old Testament. Even those which were debated among some of them, such as Hebrews, James, 2 and 3 John and the epistles of Peter, were frequently quoted by them.
Ignatius (35 – 107AD), known as the disciple of John, called the New Testament writings circulated among them in his day “the gospels and the apostles.” While he only specifically mentioned seven of the New Testament books, the broad category “the gospels and the apostles,” potentially encompasses the entire New Testament. Polycarp (69 – 155AD), also a disciple of John, mentions 15 of them. Clement (35-99AD) mentions at least eight. Irenaeus, the great Early Church historian (120-200AD), mentions 21 of the 27 books. Hippolytus (170 – 235AD) spoke of 22 books. If you combine all their writings, none of the 27 books went without being mentioned by them.
It wasn’t until late in the second century that the rise of certain Gnostic heresies made it necessary for the Church to begin forming formal canonical lists of books. Around the middle of the second century, a Gnostic heretic named Marcion of Sinope (85 – 160AD), began teaching that the Old Testament God was not the same god as the God of the New Testament. He taught that the God of the Old Testament was harsh and vindictive, whereas the God of the New Testament was always loving, kind and gracious (not unlike the revisionist beliefs expressed by many Progressives today). Since Marcion only accepted some of Paul’s writings, and those parts of the Gospels which presented God as having a permissive, non-judgmental love towards everyone, he compiled his own Canon consisting only of his own edited version of the Gospel of Luke and 10 of Paul’s epistles, excluding Paul’s pastoral epistles and Hebrews.
The first known Canon was the Muratorian Canon, which was an unknown author’s compilation of all the books which he knew to have been accepted by the Church as canonical in his day. He lists all of the New Testament books except for Hebrews, James, 3 John and 1 and 2 Peter. He specifically mentions a couple of pseudo books which he excluded, saying that they were forged in Paul’s name to further the heresy of Marcion.
Origin (184-253AD) presented a Canon which included all the books currently in the New Testament, with the exception of James, 2nd and 3rd John and 2 Peter. He, as with most in his day, believed that the book of Hebrews was written by Paul, and included it in his Canon.
Around 350 AD, Cyril of Jerusalem presented a Canon which included the entire Old Testament, plus one book of the Apocrypha, and 26 books of the New Testament, leaving out Revelation. The Council of Laodicea in 363 AD presented the same list of 26 books as Cyril. Then in 367 AD, Athanasius of Alexandria presented a complete list of the 27 books which we presently have in our New Testament, and actually referred to them as “being canonized” (kanonizomena). This became the prototype for the subsequent councils of Hippo (393AD) and Carthage (397AD), which also included the same 27 books in the Canon.
These councils were necessitated by the great number of books that began to be circulated among the churches at that time. Some of them were useful but were not included in the final Canons, either because they were written after the time of the Apostles, or else because they did not bear the qualities consistent with divine inspiration. There were also many Gnostic pseudo-gospels being passed off as Scripture, as well as other heretical Gnostic writings. The 2nd century Church historian Eusebius gives a long list of spurious or heretical books which existed in his day. Although they were never received by the Church at large, many were being deceived by them, making it necessary for the Church to clearly define which books should be received as part of the Holy Scriptures.
The decisions of the councils were not arbitrary, but rather they used logical guidelines to determine which books were truly inspired of the Holy Spirit. Books were not recognized as inspired because they were declared canonical, but rather, they were declared canonical because they were inspired. The criteria for recognizing which books were inspired were: 1) The author had to either be an Apostle, or else be a close associate of an Apostle; 2) The book had to have been already recognized as inspired by the Church at large since the time of the Apostles and 3) The book had to be consistent with the rest of Scripture in its message and morals.
While the Roman Catholic Bible contains 73 books, including also the 7 referred to as the Apocrypha, meaning “hidden” or “secret” (also referred to by Catholics as “the Deuterocanon” or “second Canon”), and the Orthodox Churches include some of the pseudepigrapha books, sometimes including as many as 81 books in their Bible, these Apocryphal writings are normally not regarded so much as being authoritative as informative.
Today it is common to hear some argue that some of the Gnostic pseudo-gospels should have been included within the Canon. However, reading through them, I cannot fathom how anyone knowing their content would still consider them to be inspired of God and Canon-worthy.
The Gospel of Thomas is the one most commonly said to have been wrongfully excluded from the Canon. However, apart from the fact that evidence indicates that it was written after the time of the Apostles, between 135 AD – 200 AD, it borders on the absurd. It is a list of sayings purported to be those spoken by Jesus. Some are actual sayings of Jesus as they were previously recorded in the 4 Gospels, but most of them which were not recorded in the Gospels are simply esoteric nonsense. Here are a few examples:
“Jesus said, ‘Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man.’” [1]
“On the day when you were one you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?” [2]
“Jesus said to them, ‘If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourselves; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits.’” [3]
“Jesus said, ‘Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being. If you become my disciples and listen to my words, these stones will minister to you.’” [4]
I will here include just one more example which presents Jesus and the disciples as though they had great contempt for women. I find it hard to imagine that anyone today would want to have it included in our Bible. It reads:
“Simon Peter said to him, ‘Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life.’ Jesus said, ‘I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.’” [5]
Imagine being a Christian apologist, attempting to defend the veracity of the Scriptures, if such sayings were included in our Bibles!
In the Pseudo-Gospel of Mary, Mary Magdalene is presented, not only as a disciple of Jesus, but as His favorite, receiving from Him esoteric teachings which the other disciples were not capable of comprehending. When Peter protests, asking why they should listen to a woman, Levi responds saying:
“If the Savior made her worthy, who are you then, for your part, to cast her aside? Surely the Savior knows her full well. That is why he has loved her more than us.”
In the Pseudo-Gospel of Peter, Jesus is presented as having to be sustained by two giant angels as He comes out of the tomb after His resurrection. Following behind them is a cross that talks. After Jesus and the cross had come out of the tomb, the cross says the following:
“And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, ‘Have you preached to them that sleep.’ And a response was heard from the cross, ‘Yes.’”
I think that we could all agree that such Gnostic esoteric and misogynist nonsense was justifiably excluded from the Canon, not only by the councils, but by the Early Church in general.
Much more could be said, but, in conclusion, I believe we can reasonably conclude that all the 66 books of the Bible which we presently have are those, and only those, which divine providence and oversight have preserved for us from the moment that they proceeded from the mouth of God and were put in writing.
[1] *Gospel of Thomas (marquette.edu) verse 7
[2] *Gospel of Thomas (marquette.edu) verse 11
[3] *Gospel of Thomas (marquette.edu) verse 14
[4] *Gospel of Thomas (marquette.edu) verse 19
[5] *Gospel of Thomas (marquette.edu) verse 114
- Published on
by George Sidney Hurd
The objective of this article is threefold. First, I hope to demonstrate that the manner in which the Scriptures describe their own inspiration grammatically and logically requires that they be without error.
Secondly, we will be considering how God could have produced an infallible text using human authors without violating their own freewill. And finally, I will briefly consider what inerrancy entails and what we should expect to find in an inerrant text which has been inspired of God and yet written by human authors.
The Nature of Divine Inspiration requires Inerrancy
“from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings (τα ιερα γραμματα), which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God (πασα γραφη θεοπνευστος) and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:15-17 ESV)
Properly understood, divine inspiration, as described here in 2Timothy 3:16, precludes the possibility of error in any part of the Holy Scriptures (sacred writings). It here says that it is the “Scripture,” which is inspired, not merely the human authors who wrote them. The end-product itself is what is said to be inspired.
The Greek word rendered in the KJV as “inspiration of God” is θεοπνευστος, composed of θεος - “God,” and πνέω – “to breathe,” and is best rendered literally as “God-breathed,” or “breathed out by God.” Jesus expressed the same concept when He said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt 4:4).
To illustrate, when I want to communicate something, I carefully choose the right words in order to best express myself. Then, the moment I give expression to my thoughts by sounding out words with my mouth as I exhale, they become “my-breathed” words to my hearers. The Scriptures even refer to speaking as “breathing out” (Acts 9:1). Once those breathed-out words are put in writing, they become my-breathed words in written form, and others can discover my thoughts by reading what I have written.
In a similar manner, the Holy Scriptures are God-breathed words, having proceeded from His mouth as they were being communicated to and through the human authors as they wrote the Scriptures. The main difference is that we are fallible and commit errors, whereas God is truth and cannot err. It logically follows, then, that all Scripture is the inerrant expression of the mind and will of God, preserved for us in written form. That is why Paul says that Scripture in its entirety, is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.
Some Errantists attempt to arrange the wording in 2Timothy 3:16 in a manner which, according to them, would leave room for error in some portions of Scripture. In Greek, the first phrase of the passage simply reads, πασα γραφη θεοπνευστος και ωφελιμος… “every writing God-breathed and profitable…” In English the linking verb “is” must be supplied by the translators.
Those who deny inerrancy argue that “is” should be placed at the end of the phrase. That would make it read, “Every God-breathed Scripture is and profitable…,” instead of the correct reading, “Every Scripture is God-breathed and (και) profitable...” In order for them to place “is” at the end of the phrase they must either drop the conjunction και from the Greek text altogether, or else render the conjunction και as “also” rather than the more natural contextual rendering, “and.” However, this reading is also ruled out by the context itself, since it is evident from the previous verse that Paul means to say every Scripture within the Holy Scriptures is God-breathed. Logically, if God is the source of every portion of the Holy Scriptures, they must be inerrant, just as Jesus repeatedly affirmed (Jn 17:6,14,17; Jn 10:35; Matt 5:18, etc.).
How could God use fallible humans to produce Inerrant Scripture without violating their own Freewill?
The opponents of inerrancy argue that it would be impossible for God to use fallible men to produce an infallible Bible without violating their individual freewill. However, contrary to what some believe, God’s sovereign freewill is not bound by the freewill of man. For example, when king Saul came to take David captive, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he prophesied all night, even though that wasn’t his desire nor his intention (1Sam 19:23-24). Also, God initiated the trances or open visions through which He spoke to Peter and Paul, giving them special revelation (Acts 10:10-16; 22:17-21).
Some portions of Scripture were even dictated by God and the human authors simply wrote down what God said, much as a secretary would do (Deut 27:3,8; Jer 30:2; Isa 8:1; 30:8). John the revelator was told what to write eleven times, and once he was even told not to write what he saw (Rev 1:11;19, cf. Rev 10:4). Certainly, the Scriptures came into being primarily by the will of God and not by the “freewill” of man.
However, while God’s sovereignty is not limited by our freewill, and indeed, He has at times intervened in human affairs against man’s will when necessary, few Inerrantists would argue that God bypassed the will of the human authors as they wrote the Scriptures in a manner similar to how a spirit might produce automatic writing through a medium in a trance state. The human author’s individual perspectives, emotions and writing styles are evident throughout the sacred text. So, how could God produce inerrant Scriptures, using fallible human authors, without overriding their freewill? I believe that Peter explains how. He said:
“knowing this first, that no prophecy (προφητεία) of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved (φερομενοι) by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
Peter begins by pointing out that no prophecy (προφητεία) of Scripture is the private interpretation or opinions of the human author. The word προφητεία (propheteia) is not exclusive to predictive prophecy, as one might think. It refers to anything spoken under the influence of divine inspiration, with or without reference to future events. [1] What Peter is saying is that no part of Scripture is merely the human author’s own opinions or beliefs.
This goes against the claim of many Progressive scholars who argue that when God breathed into the human authors, He condescendingly allowed for the inclusion of the human author’s own erroneous ancient Near-Eastern beliefs, as well as other human errors.
In verse 21, Peter further explains that no Scripture was simply what the human authors decided to write, but rather, holy men of God spoke as they were moved, or born-along (φερομενοι) by the Holy Spirit. The word rendered “moved” is φερω, (phero), and is used in Acts to refer to the wind which moves a ship at sea (Acts 27:15). The idea is that the Holy Spirit moved upon the human authors in such a manner that they only wrote what God wanted them to write.
Returning to the question as to how God could use fallible humans to produce Inerrant Scripture without violating their freewill, Peter explains that God’s chosen human instruments were not common self-willed men whom He had to bit and bridle in order to make them say what He wanted to say, but rather, they were “holy men of God,” upon whom the Holy Spirit was able to move without resistance, breathing through them the very words written in the sacred text. They were men after God’s own heart who would have been sensitive to the moving of the Spirit as He breathed God’s words through them. There was no need for God to violate their freewill, since their will was already fully surrendered to Him, only needing the Spirit’s illumination and prompting.
Also, when one takes into account God’s middle knowledge, in which He knows, not only what one will say, but what they would have said under different circumstances, making it possible for God to work all things according to the council of His will, it becomes evident that God could so prepare His human vessels that they would infallibly express His own heart and mind. God is well able to work in His vessels both to will and to do His good pleasure (Php 2:13).
What is meant by Inerrancy?
As already pointed out, the human author’s own distinct writing style can be observed throughout the Scriptures, so even the parts which were dictated by God were nevertheless freely written through the human authors, rather than it being like automatic writing in which the spirit possesses the medium and moves the author’s hand while being in a trance state.
Also, we see that God saw fit to include the human author’s personal statements which have little or no spiritual or authoritative application to us, such as Paul saying things like, “Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come — and the books, especially the parchments” (2 Tim 4:13), or telling Timothy to drink a little wine for the stomach’s sake (1Tim 5:23). While all Scripture is equally inspired and therefore reliable and inerrant, not every part of Scripture is directly applicable to the believer today. What we see throughout Scripture is God’s divine supervision of what the human authors wrote, resulting in its verbal plenary inerrancy without the need for His dictation of every word. I think that the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, formulated by a large representative group of Evangelical leaders in 1978, expresses very well the Scripture’s own teaching on the subject of inspiration:
“Holy Scripture, being God's own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God's instruction, in all that it affirms, obeyed, as God's command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God's pledge, in all that it promises…” [2]
“Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God's acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God's saving grace in individual lives.” [3]
The Holy Spirit superintended the human authors, bearing them along as they wrote in such a manner that all of Scripture’s affirmations are God’s affirmations; all its teachings are God’s teachings; all of its requirements are God’s requirements; and all of its promises are God’s promises.
How are we to approach perceived discrepancies in Scripture?
Space here doesn’t allow for a worthy treatment of this subject. For those interested, I would recommend reading “The Big Book of Bible Difficulties” by Norman Geisler and Thomas A. Howe, as well as “New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties” by Gleason Archer.
Here I would just like to point out that many perceived errors in Scripture are removed when we take into account the rich variety of literary genres and devices in Scripture. Poetry must be understood as poetry, allegory as allegory, hyperbole as hyperbole, historical narrative as historical narrative, etc. There are at least ten literary genres present in the Bible, as well as some twenty different literary devices. Once they are identified and interpreted as such, most apparent Bible discrepancies disappear. Actually, this same variety in literary style is not peculiar to biblical times, since the same diversity is present in our everyday speech. We’re just so accustomed to it that it goes unnoticed.
Some have been greatly troubled by the differences of details in the Gospel narratives because they think they should read like a police report rather than the biographical literature that they are. Each Gospel writer was writing to a distinct audience, emphasizing different details of Christ’s life, ministry and teaching, while leaving out other details.
In writing a biography, many authors do not give a strict chronological account, covering all the details of one’s life in succession. They will often begin by describing a high-point in one’s life, rather than beginning with one’s birth, or they might emphasize certain details, whereas another author might describe the events from a different angle or leave out the same details altogether. There is almost as much liberty of style in biographical literature as there is poetic liberty when writing poems.
The amazing thing is that, all things considered, none of the Scripture’s higher critics have been able to positively identify any untruth or patently false statement in the Gospel accounts. While there are perceived discrepancies, they are not without plausible solutions. And, just as the accused are innocent until proven guilty, so the Bible is true until proven false. It has been on trial now for nearly 2,000 years without any incontrovertible evidence presented against its veracity that would stand up in a court of law.
Some have argued that the Bible contains errors when it comes to matters of science, geography and cosmology. While it is obviously not the purpose of Scripture to teach on matters of science, nevertheless, taking into account the Scriptures’ use of literary devices, it becomes evident that there are no demonstrable errors in science contained in the Bible.
Some, failing to consider the Bible’s use of figurative language, have supposed that the Bible teaches a cosmology in which the earth is flat. However, taking into account its literary style, it is evident that the earth is described figuratively in masonry terms as a building.
God says to Job: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Or who stretched out the measuring line upon it? Who laid its cornerstone? Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth and issued from the womb; when I made the clouds it’s garment?” (Job 38:4-9). Throughout the Scriptures the same figurative speech is used to describe the earth as a building with pillars and four corners, etc.
Did God mean for us to understand that He literally used an immensely long measuring line to measure the earth, or was He simply making use of the mason’s terminology? Did God literally shut the sea with bars and doors, or is that also figurative, comparing the earth to a building? Would anyone in their right mind take God literally when He said that he clothed the earth with the clouds as a garment? As far as I know, not even the flat-earth society thinks that the earth has four corners. Clearly, this is figurative language, rather than a lecture on cosmology.
Even scientists today continually say things that are not cosmologically precise such as “the sun is rising” or “the sun is in my eyes,” but no one in their right mind would correct them as being in error. Even if those living in ancient times believed that the earth was literally a building with doors keeping the water out, and even if the Bible’s human authors thought the earth was flat, which is very doubtful, nowhere does the Bible teach that the earth is flat. The doctrine of inerrancy simply affirms that the Bible is without error in all that it teaches.
So, the Scriptures testimony concerning itself is that it is the eternal, infallible Word of God, written by holy men of God as they were born-along by the Holy Spirit. And in spite of the fact that it is the most attested of all ancient literature, it has been the most criticized and assaulted of all literature throughout its history.
Nevertheless, after nearly two millennia of attacks from the greatest secular minds, it continues being by far the best-selling book of all time, with an estimated 5 billion copies having been sold. The second best-seller of all time is “The Little Red Book, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung,” which has sold 1.1 billion copies. However, while the Bible still continues as the best-seller after 1,900 years, today, only a little more than a half century after it was first published in 1967, very few people are still purchasing copies of Tse-Tung’s Little Red Book. The testimony of Scripture concerning itself has proven itself to be true over the centuries when it says:
"All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
But the word of the Lord endures forever." (1 Peter 1:24-25)
[1] Louw and Nida Greek and English Lexicon.
[2] The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, A Short Statement, article 2
[3] The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, A Short Statement, article 4
The objective of this article is threefold. First, I hope to demonstrate that the manner in which the Scriptures describe their own inspiration grammatically and logically requires that they be without error.
Secondly, we will be considering how God could have produced an infallible text using human authors without violating their own freewill. And finally, I will briefly consider what inerrancy entails and what we should expect to find in an inerrant text which has been inspired of God and yet written by human authors.
The Nature of Divine Inspiration requires Inerrancy
“from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings (τα ιερα γραμματα), which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God (πασα γραφη θεοπνευστος) and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:15-17 ESV)
Properly understood, divine inspiration, as described here in 2Timothy 3:16, precludes the possibility of error in any part of the Holy Scriptures (sacred writings). It here says that it is the “Scripture,” which is inspired, not merely the human authors who wrote them. The end-product itself is what is said to be inspired.
The Greek word rendered in the KJV as “inspiration of God” is θεοπνευστος, composed of θεος - “God,” and πνέω – “to breathe,” and is best rendered literally as “God-breathed,” or “breathed out by God.” Jesus expressed the same concept when He said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt 4:4).
To illustrate, when I want to communicate something, I carefully choose the right words in order to best express myself. Then, the moment I give expression to my thoughts by sounding out words with my mouth as I exhale, they become “my-breathed” words to my hearers. The Scriptures even refer to speaking as “breathing out” (Acts 9:1). Once those breathed-out words are put in writing, they become my-breathed words in written form, and others can discover my thoughts by reading what I have written.
In a similar manner, the Holy Scriptures are God-breathed words, having proceeded from His mouth as they were being communicated to and through the human authors as they wrote the Scriptures. The main difference is that we are fallible and commit errors, whereas God is truth and cannot err. It logically follows, then, that all Scripture is the inerrant expression of the mind and will of God, preserved for us in written form. That is why Paul says that Scripture in its entirety, is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.
Some Errantists attempt to arrange the wording in 2Timothy 3:16 in a manner which, according to them, would leave room for error in some portions of Scripture. In Greek, the first phrase of the passage simply reads, πασα γραφη θεοπνευστος και ωφελιμος… “every writing God-breathed and profitable…” In English the linking verb “is” must be supplied by the translators.
Those who deny inerrancy argue that “is” should be placed at the end of the phrase. That would make it read, “Every God-breathed Scripture is and profitable…,” instead of the correct reading, “Every Scripture is God-breathed and (και) profitable...” In order for them to place “is” at the end of the phrase they must either drop the conjunction και from the Greek text altogether, or else render the conjunction και as “also” rather than the more natural contextual rendering, “and.” However, this reading is also ruled out by the context itself, since it is evident from the previous verse that Paul means to say every Scripture within the Holy Scriptures is God-breathed. Logically, if God is the source of every portion of the Holy Scriptures, they must be inerrant, just as Jesus repeatedly affirmed (Jn 17:6,14,17; Jn 10:35; Matt 5:18, etc.).
How could God use fallible humans to produce Inerrant Scripture without violating their own Freewill?
The opponents of inerrancy argue that it would be impossible for God to use fallible men to produce an infallible Bible without violating their individual freewill. However, contrary to what some believe, God’s sovereign freewill is not bound by the freewill of man. For example, when king Saul came to take David captive, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he prophesied all night, even though that wasn’t his desire nor his intention (1Sam 19:23-24). Also, God initiated the trances or open visions through which He spoke to Peter and Paul, giving them special revelation (Acts 10:10-16; 22:17-21).
Some portions of Scripture were even dictated by God and the human authors simply wrote down what God said, much as a secretary would do (Deut 27:3,8; Jer 30:2; Isa 8:1; 30:8). John the revelator was told what to write eleven times, and once he was even told not to write what he saw (Rev 1:11;19, cf. Rev 10:4). Certainly, the Scriptures came into being primarily by the will of God and not by the “freewill” of man.
However, while God’s sovereignty is not limited by our freewill, and indeed, He has at times intervened in human affairs against man’s will when necessary, few Inerrantists would argue that God bypassed the will of the human authors as they wrote the Scriptures in a manner similar to how a spirit might produce automatic writing through a medium in a trance state. The human author’s individual perspectives, emotions and writing styles are evident throughout the sacred text. So, how could God produce inerrant Scriptures, using fallible human authors, without overriding their freewill? I believe that Peter explains how. He said:
“knowing this first, that no prophecy (προφητεία) of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved (φερομενοι) by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
Peter begins by pointing out that no prophecy (προφητεία) of Scripture is the private interpretation or opinions of the human author. The word προφητεία (propheteia) is not exclusive to predictive prophecy, as one might think. It refers to anything spoken under the influence of divine inspiration, with or without reference to future events. [1] What Peter is saying is that no part of Scripture is merely the human author’s own opinions or beliefs.
This goes against the claim of many Progressive scholars who argue that when God breathed into the human authors, He condescendingly allowed for the inclusion of the human author’s own erroneous ancient Near-Eastern beliefs, as well as other human errors.
In verse 21, Peter further explains that no Scripture was simply what the human authors decided to write, but rather, holy men of God spoke as they were moved, or born-along (φερομενοι) by the Holy Spirit. The word rendered “moved” is φερω, (phero), and is used in Acts to refer to the wind which moves a ship at sea (Acts 27:15). The idea is that the Holy Spirit moved upon the human authors in such a manner that they only wrote what God wanted them to write.
Returning to the question as to how God could use fallible humans to produce Inerrant Scripture without violating their freewill, Peter explains that God’s chosen human instruments were not common self-willed men whom He had to bit and bridle in order to make them say what He wanted to say, but rather, they were “holy men of God,” upon whom the Holy Spirit was able to move without resistance, breathing through them the very words written in the sacred text. They were men after God’s own heart who would have been sensitive to the moving of the Spirit as He breathed God’s words through them. There was no need for God to violate their freewill, since their will was already fully surrendered to Him, only needing the Spirit’s illumination and prompting.
Also, when one takes into account God’s middle knowledge, in which He knows, not only what one will say, but what they would have said under different circumstances, making it possible for God to work all things according to the council of His will, it becomes evident that God could so prepare His human vessels that they would infallibly express His own heart and mind. God is well able to work in His vessels both to will and to do His good pleasure (Php 2:13).
What is meant by Inerrancy?
As already pointed out, the human author’s own distinct writing style can be observed throughout the Scriptures, so even the parts which were dictated by God were nevertheless freely written through the human authors, rather than it being like automatic writing in which the spirit possesses the medium and moves the author’s hand while being in a trance state.
Also, we see that God saw fit to include the human author’s personal statements which have little or no spiritual or authoritative application to us, such as Paul saying things like, “Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come — and the books, especially the parchments” (2 Tim 4:13), or telling Timothy to drink a little wine for the stomach’s sake (1Tim 5:23). While all Scripture is equally inspired and therefore reliable and inerrant, not every part of Scripture is directly applicable to the believer today. What we see throughout Scripture is God’s divine supervision of what the human authors wrote, resulting in its verbal plenary inerrancy without the need for His dictation of every word. I think that the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, formulated by a large representative group of Evangelical leaders in 1978, expresses very well the Scripture’s own teaching on the subject of inspiration:
“Holy Scripture, being God's own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God's instruction, in all that it affirms, obeyed, as God's command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God's pledge, in all that it promises…” [2]
“Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God's acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God's saving grace in individual lives.” [3]
The Holy Spirit superintended the human authors, bearing them along as they wrote in such a manner that all of Scripture’s affirmations are God’s affirmations; all its teachings are God’s teachings; all of its requirements are God’s requirements; and all of its promises are God’s promises.
How are we to approach perceived discrepancies in Scripture?
Space here doesn’t allow for a worthy treatment of this subject. For those interested, I would recommend reading “The Big Book of Bible Difficulties” by Norman Geisler and Thomas A. Howe, as well as “New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties” by Gleason Archer.
Here I would just like to point out that many perceived errors in Scripture are removed when we take into account the rich variety of literary genres and devices in Scripture. Poetry must be understood as poetry, allegory as allegory, hyperbole as hyperbole, historical narrative as historical narrative, etc. There are at least ten literary genres present in the Bible, as well as some twenty different literary devices. Once they are identified and interpreted as such, most apparent Bible discrepancies disappear. Actually, this same variety in literary style is not peculiar to biblical times, since the same diversity is present in our everyday speech. We’re just so accustomed to it that it goes unnoticed.
Some have been greatly troubled by the differences of details in the Gospel narratives because they think they should read like a police report rather than the biographical literature that they are. Each Gospel writer was writing to a distinct audience, emphasizing different details of Christ’s life, ministry and teaching, while leaving out other details.
In writing a biography, many authors do not give a strict chronological account, covering all the details of one’s life in succession. They will often begin by describing a high-point in one’s life, rather than beginning with one’s birth, or they might emphasize certain details, whereas another author might describe the events from a different angle or leave out the same details altogether. There is almost as much liberty of style in biographical literature as there is poetic liberty when writing poems.
The amazing thing is that, all things considered, none of the Scripture’s higher critics have been able to positively identify any untruth or patently false statement in the Gospel accounts. While there are perceived discrepancies, they are not without plausible solutions. And, just as the accused are innocent until proven guilty, so the Bible is true until proven false. It has been on trial now for nearly 2,000 years without any incontrovertible evidence presented against its veracity that would stand up in a court of law.
Some have argued that the Bible contains errors when it comes to matters of science, geography and cosmology. While it is obviously not the purpose of Scripture to teach on matters of science, nevertheless, taking into account the Scriptures’ use of literary devices, it becomes evident that there are no demonstrable errors in science contained in the Bible.
Some, failing to consider the Bible’s use of figurative language, have supposed that the Bible teaches a cosmology in which the earth is flat. However, taking into account its literary style, it is evident that the earth is described figuratively in masonry terms as a building.
God says to Job: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Or who stretched out the measuring line upon it? Who laid its cornerstone? Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth and issued from the womb; when I made the clouds it’s garment?” (Job 38:4-9). Throughout the Scriptures the same figurative speech is used to describe the earth as a building with pillars and four corners, etc.
Did God mean for us to understand that He literally used an immensely long measuring line to measure the earth, or was He simply making use of the mason’s terminology? Did God literally shut the sea with bars and doors, or is that also figurative, comparing the earth to a building? Would anyone in their right mind take God literally when He said that he clothed the earth with the clouds as a garment? As far as I know, not even the flat-earth society thinks that the earth has four corners. Clearly, this is figurative language, rather than a lecture on cosmology.
Even scientists today continually say things that are not cosmologically precise such as “the sun is rising” or “the sun is in my eyes,” but no one in their right mind would correct them as being in error. Even if those living in ancient times believed that the earth was literally a building with doors keeping the water out, and even if the Bible’s human authors thought the earth was flat, which is very doubtful, nowhere does the Bible teach that the earth is flat. The doctrine of inerrancy simply affirms that the Bible is without error in all that it teaches.
So, the Scriptures testimony concerning itself is that it is the eternal, infallible Word of God, written by holy men of God as they were born-along by the Holy Spirit. And in spite of the fact that it is the most attested of all ancient literature, it has been the most criticized and assaulted of all literature throughout its history.
Nevertheless, after nearly two millennia of attacks from the greatest secular minds, it continues being by far the best-selling book of all time, with an estimated 5 billion copies having been sold. The second best-seller of all time is “The Little Red Book, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung,” which has sold 1.1 billion copies. However, while the Bible still continues as the best-seller after 1,900 years, today, only a little more than a half century after it was first published in 1967, very few people are still purchasing copies of Tse-Tung’s Little Red Book. The testimony of Scripture concerning itself has proven itself to be true over the centuries when it says:
"All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
But the word of the Lord endures forever." (1 Peter 1:24-25)
[1] Louw and Nida Greek and English Lexicon.
[2] The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, A Short Statement, article 2
[3] The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, A Short Statement, article 4
- Published on
by George Sidney Hurd
We saw in the previous blog that the Church Fathers, as well as every prominent leader within the Church throughout its history, have firmly and unequivocally defended the inerrancy of Scripture against its critics who, for one reason or the other, have sought to undermine its credibility. It has been a conviction so strong that many have been willing to die for it, even in our day, risking their lives in order to possess or distribute the Holy Bible into Communist or Islamic countries, considering it to actually be what it claims to be, the Word of God.
However, many Progressive Christians today consider the inerrancy of Scripture to be irrelevant and divisive in our Postmodern, relativistic and all-inclusive culture. Some, often use the catchphrase: “I follow Jesus, not the Bible,” without considering what Jesus Himself taught concerning the Holy Scriptures. In reality, that saying shows more contempt for the Bible than it does reverence of Christ. Brian Zahnd, in his typically sardonic, sanctimonious style, expresses the not-so-subtle contempt for the doctrine so prevalent among Progressives when he says: “I do believe in the inspired, infallible Word of God, and His name is Jesus.” [1]
However, they fail to take into account that, when Jesus used the word “Word,” He was always referring to the Scriptures, not Himself. Indeed, Jesus is only referred to as the Word by John, and even then John only uses the term in that manner four times (Jn 1:1,14; 1Jn 1:1; 5:7; Rev 19:13). It is often unmistakable that John is referring to the Scriptures as the Word of God, rather than Christ, as we see clearly demonstrated in John 10:35 where Jesus Himself said: “If He called them gods, to whom the word of God (ο λογος του θεου) came, and the Scripture cannot be broken…” Here Jesus Himself is referring to the Scriptures as the Word of God, not Himself (cf. Jn 17:6,14,17). I consider the fallacies of this indirect argument against the authority of Scripture in my blog, “What does the word ‘Word’ mean to Jesus.”
In this article, we will be considering four primary reasons why we should insist upon the inerrancy of Scripture in its entirety.
1. Jesus Himself affirmed the Authority and Inerrancy of Scripture as the very Word of God.
For me personally, this, combined with the inner testimony of the Spirit, has been my primary motive for believing in and defending the inerrancy of Scripture from the moment of my first encounter with Christ more than 55 years ago. It may be possible for one to know Christ as Savior without affirming the inerrancy of Scripture. However, taking into consideration His teaching on the subject, I don’t believe it is possible to be a true disciple of Jesus while at the same time disagreeing with Him on this vital subject. Jesus made numerous affirmations concerning the Scriptures.
(1) The Scriptures are from the mouth of God.
Jesus said: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matt 4:4). That He is to be understood as referring to the Scriptures is clear, considering that Paul later said that all Scripture is “breathed out from God (θεόπνευστος)” (2Tim 3:16). They also understood that the Scriptures were the result of the Holy Spirit speaking through holy men of God like David and Isaiah (Acts 1:16; 28:25; 2Peter 1:21).
(2) The Scriptures are infallible.
Jesus said of the Scriptures that they were the infallible “Word of God” and therefore they cannot be broken (Jn 10:35). He said that all that is written in the Scriptures must be fulfilled (Mark 14:49: Luke 24:44), and that it would be easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for even one jot or tittle of Scripture to pass away unfulfilled (Matt 5:18).
(3) The Scriptures are inerrant.
Jesus said that Scripture is the Word of God and that it is truth (Jn 17:17, cf. Ps 119:160; Pro 30:5). If it is truth, then logically, it cannot contain error. Based upon the fact that the entirety of God’s Word is truth, Jesus said that any doctrinal error is due to our ignorance of the Scriptures rather than the other way around (Matt 22:29).
(4) The “Word of God” can be invalidated by tradition.
We already saw in John 10:35 that Jesus considered the Scriptures to be the “Word of God,” saying that they cannot be broken. He further accused the Scribes and Pharisees of invalidating the “Word of God” with their traditions (Mark 7:13). What Jesus was insisting upon was that man is to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, rather than submitting to manmade traditions which often make the Word of God of no effect.
(5) The Scriptures have a unified Christocentric message.
One of the strongest testimonies to the divine authorship of the Old Testament Scriptures is the consistency of its underlying theme of redemption in Christ, the Messiah. It was written by many different human authors of distinct backgrounds, and yet the overall message is one harmonious whole, revealing what would take place in their future. Only the true God who inhabits eternity is able to declare the end from the beginning, as we see Him doing throughout the Scriptures (Isa 46:9-10).
After Christ’s resurrection, He appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and explained to them how that all the Scriptures, from Genesis to Malachi, bore testimony to Him:
“And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:27)
Afterwards, He also appeared to the rest of His disciples and reminded them of how He had previously taught them from the Scriptures that everything concerning His life, death and resurrection had to be fulfilled:
“Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’ And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:44-45)
If the Scriptures were nothing more than the fallible words and prognostications of men, or even if it were a mixture of God’s words with man’s words, Jesus wouldn’t have insisted as He did that all the Scriptures had to be fulfilled (cf. Matt 26:54,56). Why would He have needed to open their understanding to understand the Scriptures if in fact they were nothing more than the fallible words of men?
There is one passage which some Progressives have misrepresented as if Christ were depreciating the Scriptures, but, in reality, He was elevating them, saying that the Scribes and Pharisees needed to take a closer look at the Scriptures because they all bore testimony of Him. Jesus said to them:
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” (John 5:39-40 KJV)
To me, it is unfortunate that many translations have rendered “Search (ερευνατε) the Scriptures,” which is the present active imperative form of the verb, as “You search the Scriptures.” Rendering it in this manner, as if it were an indicative rather than an imperative, has given place for some to misconstrue Jesus’s words as if He were depreciating the Scriptures, saying that they needed to turn from the Scriptures in order to find life in Him.
Quite the contrary! Either way one renders the phrase, Jesus was certainly not minimizing the Scriptures. He was either telling them to go back and search the Scriptures again, or else reproaching them for having searched the Scriptures all their lives and yet failed to capture its central message. He was telling them that all the Scriptures point to Him, and yet they refused to come to Him.
Jesus said that it is the goal of a disciple to become like one’s master in all things (Matt 10:24-25). If we want to be true disciples of Jesus Christ, we must desist from sitting as judges of what is true or false in the Word of God and become like Jesus, speaking of the Holy Scriptures just as He spoke of them. Otherwise, we will become like those whom Paul described as “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 3:7).
2. The Scriptures testimony concerning itself.
When we examine the Old Testament Scriptures, it becomes obvious that the claim that they were the Word of God, rather than merely the words of men, didn’t originate with Jesus but preceded His teachings. The final words of David are recorded for us in 2 Samuel, where it says:
“Now these are the last words of David…the sweet psalmist of Israel: ‘The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue.’” (2 Sam 23:1-2)
Moses likewise said concerning the Law which he received from God: “man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. (Deut 8:3). So, we see that the words spoken and written by the human authors of Scripture were understood as being the very words which God wanted to be recorded.
That should not be construed as being divine dictation, as we will see with more detail in the next article. God moved upon holy men of God in such a manner that they freely spoke and wrote, yet they only wrote that which God willed, without Him dictating every word.
For example, in the Scriptures we see that we are not to hate anyone in our heart (Lev 19:17). Nowhere does Scripture teach us to hate our enemies, as does the Koran. In fact, Jesus spoke out against a Rabbinical teaching which made allowance for one to hate their enemies (Matt 5:43-48). Nevertheless, God, for example, allowed for David’s full expression of his own emotions in the Psalms, sometimes showing a passionate hatred towards God’s enemies (Ps 139:21-22).
Indeed, many of the sins and imperfections of man are intentionally recorded in the Scriptures, such as David’s adulterous relationship and murder to cover up his sin, or the false council of Job’s companions. The Scriptures record attitudes and practices which they forbid, such as hatred of one’s enemies, adultery and false testimony, but nowhere do the Scriptures affirm or teach such practices. For that reason, it is important to understand that Scripture is inerrant in all that it affirms or teaches – not in all that it records.
Coming to the New Testament epistles, we see the same view of divine inspiration as that described by David, and also by Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus, quoting Moses, said:
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matt 4:4). Paul states the same truth in different words, saying that “all Scripture is breathed out from God.” He said:
“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God (θεοπνευστος, lit. “breathed out from God”) and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:14-17)
Paul said of the Holy Scriptures (Sacred Writings) that they are breathed out from the very mouth of God. Moses and Jesus expressed the same concept, saying that every word proceeds from the mouth of God. Therefore, God breathed out His words through human instruments in such a manner that they are said to be infallible. Peter could say, quoting Isaiah 40:6-8 concerning the Scriptures: “the word of God lives and abides forever,” and again: “the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you” (1Peter 1:23-25). We will consider how God could use human vessels in such a manner so as to produce His infallible and inerrant Word without overriding their own will, in the next article.
3. The Scriptures, being the Word of God, cannot err.
Since God is perfect and the Scriptures are breathed out from Him, it logically follows that they are perfect and true in all that they affirm. That is why the psalmist could say: “The entirety of Your word is truth” (Ps 119:160), and Jesus reaffirmed the words of the psalmist, saying to the Father:
“I have given them Your word… 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:14,17)
Jesus told the Father that He had given them His Word. This is in agreement with what Jesus told His disciples after His resurrection, reminding them that during His earthly ministry He had taught them all things concerning Him from the Scriptures (Luke 24:44-45). Note also that Jesus didn’t simply say that His Word contains truth, as many who deny inerrancy would argue, but rather that His Word is truth.
4. The denial of inerrancy undermines Scripture’s authority.
The final argument I want to present here for contending for the inerrancy of Scripture is that denying inerrancy undermines the Scripture’s authority as the Word of God. Some “Partial Inerrantists” (as if such an oxymoron were logically possible), argue that it is not necessary that the Scriptures be free of error on non-essentials, as long as the central truths of Christ’s life, death and resurrection are recognized as undeniable historical facts.
However, since the very beginning when the serpent tempted Eve to doubt God’s Word with the question, “Did God really say?”, history has demonstrated time after time that doubting God’s Word on one point is like cutting the one thread that holds all truth together, and inevitably one’s faith begins to unravel little by little until one reaches the point where he begins to doubt the most fundamental truths, such as the resurrection of Christ or even the very existence of God. Instead of letting God be true and every man a liar, as Paul said, many have arrived to the point where they believe man and doubt God.
That is why Jude said that we must earnestly contend for the faith once and for all delivered to us in the Holy Scriptures. He said:
“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Jude 3-4).
Also, Paul was shown that in the latter days many would depart from the faith once and for all delivered to the saints, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, exchanging the truth of God for myths or mysticism (1Tim 4:1; cf. 2Tim 4:4). Today, even more than in those days, we are living in a time when it is not socially acceptable to contend earnestly for anything, much less for the faith or that body of truth once and for all delivered to the saints which we have preserved for us in the Bible. Now, doubtlessly more than at any time in history, ungodly scholars are subverting the Scriptures and turning the grace of God into a license for immorality, even denying the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ and His substitutionary death as our Redeemer.
Paul, just as Judas, said to Timothy: “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us” (2 Tim 1:13-14). The only way in which we are going to be able to hold fast that pattern of sound words which has been once and for all delivered to us in the form of the Holy Scriptures is to continue insisting with the psalmist that the entirety of His Word is truth and that we are to live by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God, having been breathed out by the Holy Spirit Himself, and preserved for us in the original languages of the “Sacred Writings (2Tim 3:15, τα ιερα γραμματα ), or what we today call the Holy Bible, which is also derived from the Greek τα ιερα βιβλία, which means, “the Sacred Book”).
I would remind those who feel that our generation is too enlightened to believe such things of the testimony of the Church Fathers which I cited in the previous article. It wasn’t until the age of Enlightenment, beginning in the seventeenth century, that men began to consider themselves too enlightened to believe that the Bible is what it claims to be. In this present age, many have set themselves as judges of God and His Word, rather than acknowledging Him as their Judge and only Sovereign. But those who truly know Him as Lord, today as always, submit themselves unconditionally to His absolute authority in all matters of faith and practice.
It is my prayer that a new generation will arise who, rather than questioning and despising His Word, would say with the psalmist:
“I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold! Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right.” (Ps 119:127-128)
“The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” “Every word of God is pure.” (Ps 12:6; Prov 30:5)
[1] 2015 Word of Grace Annual Conference - Brian Zahnd - Session 1 video 11:47 min.
We saw in the previous blog that the Church Fathers, as well as every prominent leader within the Church throughout its history, have firmly and unequivocally defended the inerrancy of Scripture against its critics who, for one reason or the other, have sought to undermine its credibility. It has been a conviction so strong that many have been willing to die for it, even in our day, risking their lives in order to possess or distribute the Holy Bible into Communist or Islamic countries, considering it to actually be what it claims to be, the Word of God.
However, many Progressive Christians today consider the inerrancy of Scripture to be irrelevant and divisive in our Postmodern, relativistic and all-inclusive culture. Some, often use the catchphrase: “I follow Jesus, not the Bible,” without considering what Jesus Himself taught concerning the Holy Scriptures. In reality, that saying shows more contempt for the Bible than it does reverence of Christ. Brian Zahnd, in his typically sardonic, sanctimonious style, expresses the not-so-subtle contempt for the doctrine so prevalent among Progressives when he says: “I do believe in the inspired, infallible Word of God, and His name is Jesus.” [1]
However, they fail to take into account that, when Jesus used the word “Word,” He was always referring to the Scriptures, not Himself. Indeed, Jesus is only referred to as the Word by John, and even then John only uses the term in that manner four times (Jn 1:1,14; 1Jn 1:1; 5:7; Rev 19:13). It is often unmistakable that John is referring to the Scriptures as the Word of God, rather than Christ, as we see clearly demonstrated in John 10:35 where Jesus Himself said: “If He called them gods, to whom the word of God (ο λογος του θεου) came, and the Scripture cannot be broken…” Here Jesus Himself is referring to the Scriptures as the Word of God, not Himself (cf. Jn 17:6,14,17). I consider the fallacies of this indirect argument against the authority of Scripture in my blog, “What does the word ‘Word’ mean to Jesus.”
In this article, we will be considering four primary reasons why we should insist upon the inerrancy of Scripture in its entirety.
1. Jesus Himself affirmed the Authority and Inerrancy of Scripture as the very Word of God.
For me personally, this, combined with the inner testimony of the Spirit, has been my primary motive for believing in and defending the inerrancy of Scripture from the moment of my first encounter with Christ more than 55 years ago. It may be possible for one to know Christ as Savior without affirming the inerrancy of Scripture. However, taking into consideration His teaching on the subject, I don’t believe it is possible to be a true disciple of Jesus while at the same time disagreeing with Him on this vital subject. Jesus made numerous affirmations concerning the Scriptures.
(1) The Scriptures are from the mouth of God.
Jesus said: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matt 4:4). That He is to be understood as referring to the Scriptures is clear, considering that Paul later said that all Scripture is “breathed out from God (θεόπνευστος)” (2Tim 3:16). They also understood that the Scriptures were the result of the Holy Spirit speaking through holy men of God like David and Isaiah (Acts 1:16; 28:25; 2Peter 1:21).
(2) The Scriptures are infallible.
Jesus said of the Scriptures that they were the infallible “Word of God” and therefore they cannot be broken (Jn 10:35). He said that all that is written in the Scriptures must be fulfilled (Mark 14:49: Luke 24:44), and that it would be easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for even one jot or tittle of Scripture to pass away unfulfilled (Matt 5:18).
(3) The Scriptures are inerrant.
Jesus said that Scripture is the Word of God and that it is truth (Jn 17:17, cf. Ps 119:160; Pro 30:5). If it is truth, then logically, it cannot contain error. Based upon the fact that the entirety of God’s Word is truth, Jesus said that any doctrinal error is due to our ignorance of the Scriptures rather than the other way around (Matt 22:29).
(4) The “Word of God” can be invalidated by tradition.
We already saw in John 10:35 that Jesus considered the Scriptures to be the “Word of God,” saying that they cannot be broken. He further accused the Scribes and Pharisees of invalidating the “Word of God” with their traditions (Mark 7:13). What Jesus was insisting upon was that man is to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, rather than submitting to manmade traditions which often make the Word of God of no effect.
(5) The Scriptures have a unified Christocentric message.
One of the strongest testimonies to the divine authorship of the Old Testament Scriptures is the consistency of its underlying theme of redemption in Christ, the Messiah. It was written by many different human authors of distinct backgrounds, and yet the overall message is one harmonious whole, revealing what would take place in their future. Only the true God who inhabits eternity is able to declare the end from the beginning, as we see Him doing throughout the Scriptures (Isa 46:9-10).
After Christ’s resurrection, He appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and explained to them how that all the Scriptures, from Genesis to Malachi, bore testimony to Him:
“And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:27)
Afterwards, He also appeared to the rest of His disciples and reminded them of how He had previously taught them from the Scriptures that everything concerning His life, death and resurrection had to be fulfilled:
“Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’ And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:44-45)
If the Scriptures were nothing more than the fallible words and prognostications of men, or even if it were a mixture of God’s words with man’s words, Jesus wouldn’t have insisted as He did that all the Scriptures had to be fulfilled (cf. Matt 26:54,56). Why would He have needed to open their understanding to understand the Scriptures if in fact they were nothing more than the fallible words of men?
There is one passage which some Progressives have misrepresented as if Christ were depreciating the Scriptures, but, in reality, He was elevating them, saying that the Scribes and Pharisees needed to take a closer look at the Scriptures because they all bore testimony of Him. Jesus said to them:
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” (John 5:39-40 KJV)
To me, it is unfortunate that many translations have rendered “Search (ερευνατε) the Scriptures,” which is the present active imperative form of the verb, as “You search the Scriptures.” Rendering it in this manner, as if it were an indicative rather than an imperative, has given place for some to misconstrue Jesus’s words as if He were depreciating the Scriptures, saying that they needed to turn from the Scriptures in order to find life in Him.
Quite the contrary! Either way one renders the phrase, Jesus was certainly not minimizing the Scriptures. He was either telling them to go back and search the Scriptures again, or else reproaching them for having searched the Scriptures all their lives and yet failed to capture its central message. He was telling them that all the Scriptures point to Him, and yet they refused to come to Him.
Jesus said that it is the goal of a disciple to become like one’s master in all things (Matt 10:24-25). If we want to be true disciples of Jesus Christ, we must desist from sitting as judges of what is true or false in the Word of God and become like Jesus, speaking of the Holy Scriptures just as He spoke of them. Otherwise, we will become like those whom Paul described as “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 3:7).
2. The Scriptures testimony concerning itself.
When we examine the Old Testament Scriptures, it becomes obvious that the claim that they were the Word of God, rather than merely the words of men, didn’t originate with Jesus but preceded His teachings. The final words of David are recorded for us in 2 Samuel, where it says:
“Now these are the last words of David…the sweet psalmist of Israel: ‘The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue.’” (2 Sam 23:1-2)
Moses likewise said concerning the Law which he received from God: “man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. (Deut 8:3). So, we see that the words spoken and written by the human authors of Scripture were understood as being the very words which God wanted to be recorded.
That should not be construed as being divine dictation, as we will see with more detail in the next article. God moved upon holy men of God in such a manner that they freely spoke and wrote, yet they only wrote that which God willed, without Him dictating every word.
For example, in the Scriptures we see that we are not to hate anyone in our heart (Lev 19:17). Nowhere does Scripture teach us to hate our enemies, as does the Koran. In fact, Jesus spoke out against a Rabbinical teaching which made allowance for one to hate their enemies (Matt 5:43-48). Nevertheless, God, for example, allowed for David’s full expression of his own emotions in the Psalms, sometimes showing a passionate hatred towards God’s enemies (Ps 139:21-22).
Indeed, many of the sins and imperfections of man are intentionally recorded in the Scriptures, such as David’s adulterous relationship and murder to cover up his sin, or the false council of Job’s companions. The Scriptures record attitudes and practices which they forbid, such as hatred of one’s enemies, adultery and false testimony, but nowhere do the Scriptures affirm or teach such practices. For that reason, it is important to understand that Scripture is inerrant in all that it affirms or teaches – not in all that it records.
Coming to the New Testament epistles, we see the same view of divine inspiration as that described by David, and also by Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus, quoting Moses, said:
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matt 4:4). Paul states the same truth in different words, saying that “all Scripture is breathed out from God.” He said:
“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God (θεοπνευστος, lit. “breathed out from God”) and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:14-17)
Paul said of the Holy Scriptures (Sacred Writings) that they are breathed out from the very mouth of God. Moses and Jesus expressed the same concept, saying that every word proceeds from the mouth of God. Therefore, God breathed out His words through human instruments in such a manner that they are said to be infallible. Peter could say, quoting Isaiah 40:6-8 concerning the Scriptures: “the word of God lives and abides forever,” and again: “the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you” (1Peter 1:23-25). We will consider how God could use human vessels in such a manner so as to produce His infallible and inerrant Word without overriding their own will, in the next article.
3. The Scriptures, being the Word of God, cannot err.
Since God is perfect and the Scriptures are breathed out from Him, it logically follows that they are perfect and true in all that they affirm. That is why the psalmist could say: “The entirety of Your word is truth” (Ps 119:160), and Jesus reaffirmed the words of the psalmist, saying to the Father:
“I have given them Your word… 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:14,17)
Jesus told the Father that He had given them His Word. This is in agreement with what Jesus told His disciples after His resurrection, reminding them that during His earthly ministry He had taught them all things concerning Him from the Scriptures (Luke 24:44-45). Note also that Jesus didn’t simply say that His Word contains truth, as many who deny inerrancy would argue, but rather that His Word is truth.
4. The denial of inerrancy undermines Scripture’s authority.
The final argument I want to present here for contending for the inerrancy of Scripture is that denying inerrancy undermines the Scripture’s authority as the Word of God. Some “Partial Inerrantists” (as if such an oxymoron were logically possible), argue that it is not necessary that the Scriptures be free of error on non-essentials, as long as the central truths of Christ’s life, death and resurrection are recognized as undeniable historical facts.
However, since the very beginning when the serpent tempted Eve to doubt God’s Word with the question, “Did God really say?”, history has demonstrated time after time that doubting God’s Word on one point is like cutting the one thread that holds all truth together, and inevitably one’s faith begins to unravel little by little until one reaches the point where he begins to doubt the most fundamental truths, such as the resurrection of Christ or even the very existence of God. Instead of letting God be true and every man a liar, as Paul said, many have arrived to the point where they believe man and doubt God.
That is why Jude said that we must earnestly contend for the faith once and for all delivered to us in the Holy Scriptures. He said:
“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Jude 3-4).
Also, Paul was shown that in the latter days many would depart from the faith once and for all delivered to the saints, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, exchanging the truth of God for myths or mysticism (1Tim 4:1; cf. 2Tim 4:4). Today, even more than in those days, we are living in a time when it is not socially acceptable to contend earnestly for anything, much less for the faith or that body of truth once and for all delivered to the saints which we have preserved for us in the Bible. Now, doubtlessly more than at any time in history, ungodly scholars are subverting the Scriptures and turning the grace of God into a license for immorality, even denying the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ and His substitutionary death as our Redeemer.
Paul, just as Judas, said to Timothy: “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us” (2 Tim 1:13-14). The only way in which we are going to be able to hold fast that pattern of sound words which has been once and for all delivered to us in the form of the Holy Scriptures is to continue insisting with the psalmist that the entirety of His Word is truth and that we are to live by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God, having been breathed out by the Holy Spirit Himself, and preserved for us in the original languages of the “Sacred Writings (2Tim 3:15, τα ιερα γραμματα ), or what we today call the Holy Bible, which is also derived from the Greek τα ιερα βιβλία, which means, “the Sacred Book”).
I would remind those who feel that our generation is too enlightened to believe such things of the testimony of the Church Fathers which I cited in the previous article. It wasn’t until the age of Enlightenment, beginning in the seventeenth century, that men began to consider themselves too enlightened to believe that the Bible is what it claims to be. In this present age, many have set themselves as judges of God and His Word, rather than acknowledging Him as their Judge and only Sovereign. But those who truly know Him as Lord, today as always, submit themselves unconditionally to His absolute authority in all matters of faith and practice.
It is my prayer that a new generation will arise who, rather than questioning and despising His Word, would say with the psalmist:
“I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold! Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right.” (Ps 119:127-128)
“The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” “Every word of God is pure.” (Ps 12:6; Prov 30:5)
[1] 2015 Word of Grace Annual Conference - Brian Zahnd - Session 1 video 11:47 min.