Serving Bread

I’m not much of a theologian. (Though I would say that all humans are theologians in that we have certain ideas of God that work themselves out in how we live and interact with others) When I say I’m not much of a theologian, I mean I don’t engage in too many discussions on theological issues that are on the philosophical level.

Part of an exercise of a class I am taking is on the role of the authority of Scripture. I may have little or no opinion on various other doctrines, but over the last few years I have developed a position in regards to the doctrine of inerrancy.

What is inerrancy?
It’s actually difficult to define inerrancy. Basically, it means that scripture is “without error or fault in all its teaching.” Most inerrantists may adhere to the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy that affirms that the Bible is without error or fault in what it states about “God’s acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God.”

The problem with any definition of inerrancy is that there are a wide spectrum of people who have various beliefs on scripture that would claim their position is inerrant. For example, there are many inerrantists who do not adhere in a 6-day creation. But there are creationists who would argue (based on an inerrant read of scripture) that a 6-day creation is the only plausible implication if one adheres to the doctrine of inerrancy.

There are others within the inerrancy camp who would argue that only a particular version of scripture is valid and true. And some in the inerrancy camp would deny that as relevant.

Why do I have a problem with inerrancy?
The Chicago Statement concludes that “The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if this total divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible’s own; and such lapses bring serious loss to both the individual and the Church.”

Inerrancy has developed a litmus test on how we read scripture. And it goes to say that failing that litmus test will render the authority of scripture as irrelevant. This particular litmus test is couched in “Modern” understandings of literature and truth. Neither the Hebrews, the early church or the Ancients in general questioned the authority of scripture based on a particularly narrow litmus test.

Donald Bloesch writes,

The paramount question is whether the Bible itself teaches its own inerrancy. A second critical question is whether those who employ this terminology always mean the same thing. The truthfulness of Scripture is indeed espoused by the prophets and apostles, but it must be kept in mind that they were using “truth” and “truthfulness” in the Hebraic sense of faithfulness and veracity rather than precision and absolute factual accuracy, as in our modern empirical milieu.

Holy Scripture: Revelation, Inspiration & Interpretation, page 34

So how does the Bible have authority if it’s not because it’s error-free?
The Bible has authority because it contains the Word of God. The Bible speaks truth to us, about our relationships with one another and our relationships with God. The Bible’s authority does not come in that it is totally error free. The authors of the various books of the Bible may have gotten some facts wrong when they are telling the story, but that does not delineate from what they are trying to communicate to us.

The Bible is meant to lead us to truth and it does so with total accuracy. It does not need to rely on a certain test to retain its authority. Some theologians would use the term ‘infallible’ to communicate that the Bible is accurate in that it leads us to God. In other words, the Bible is not capable to mislead, deceive or disappoint us.

What’s the point?
In my opinion, the doctrine of inerrancy is a non-issue. Regardless of how you view inerrancy, the point is that we obey God’s Word in Scripture. Scripture is God’s method of revealing who He is and the privileges of being in relationship with him. Obedience is the key issue. Whether you believe the Bible’s authority comes from the fact that there are no mistakes in (grammatical, factual, etc…) or it comes from the fact that God said this is my word, we are exhorted to believe it and obey it.