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 | "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Timothy 3:16-17 |
| "If it is accepted that God Inspired the writing of the Books of the Bible, then to claim otherwise would imply that either He made or permitted mistakes in the Bible or that He is nowhere near as all-knowing as we believe He is." The "Believe" web site. 7 |
| "The Bible has been used for centuries by Christians as a weapon of control. To read it literally is to believe in a three-tiered universe, to condone slavery, to treat women as inferior creatures, to believe that sickness is caused by God's punishment and that mental disease and epilepsy are caused by demonic possession. When someone tells me that they believe the Bible is the 'literal and inerrant word of God,' I always ask, 'Have you ever read it'?" Bishop John Shelby Spong. 8 |
Overview:
The word "inerrancy" is used to refer to a text that is considered accurate, truthful, totally free of error, and without mistakes. It is often used by conservative theologians in Judaism, Christianity, Islam and other religions to refer to their religions' holy books. Since all of these books teach different messages, only one can be inerrant. Perhaps none are. Still, inerrancy of their holy books is a cardinal belief of conservatives of many religions.
| Beliefs of religious conservatives: Many believe in three inter-related principles, that:
Further, many religious conservatives believe that the Bible is to be interpreted literally, unless otherwise indicated. Some passages are evidently intended to be interpreted figuratively, symbolically or metaphorically rather than literally. For example, in Chapter 1 of the Gospel of John, Jesus is described as feeding 5,000 people with bread and fish. Later in that Gospel, Jesus is recorded as saying "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35). He obviously does not imply that he is a loaf of bread. He appears to mean that he is "the source and sustainer of eternal life." 1 Similarly, when Jesus is recorded as saying "I am the vine, ye are the branches" (John 15:5) he does not mean that he is a literal vine. | ||||||
| Many mainline Christians believe that the Bible contains
the will of God, but that portions do not. | ||||||
| Many liberal/progressive Christians believe that the Bible was written by individuals in ancient times who were promoting their own evolving spiritual beliefs, but who were severely limited by their tribal culture and by their lack of scientific knowledge. Many liberals believe that it is important to recognize that many biblical passages contain factual errors and that many do not reflect the will of God. They reject what the Bible's authors have to say on topics such as genocide, origins of species and of the universe, human slavery, the suppression and oppression of women, treatment of persons with a homosexual or bisexual orientation, religious intolerance, torturing prisoners, the death penalty, treatment of religious minorities, spanking children, executing non-virgin brides, and other laws and actions considered immoral by today's secular and religious standards. |
Much of a person's or a faith group's theology follows naturally from their beliefs about inerrancy and whether specific passages in their holy book should be interpreted literally. Many intra-religious and inter-religious conflicts can be traced directly back to beliefs of inerrancy and literal interpretation. These are thus very important topics.
Topics Covered in this section:
| Introduction to inerrancy | ||||||||
| What is the impact of biblical inerrancy,
authority, etc. on North American culture? | ||||||||
| More detailed description of biblical inerrancy:
| ||||||||
| Problems with inerrancy | ||||||||
| Biblical inerrancy: beliefs, references:
| ||||||||
| Is inerrancy important?: Arguments yes and
no |
| What the Bible says about its own Inerrancy | ||||||||
| Inerrancy, as interpreted by:
| ||||||||
| Why we cannot prove biblical inerrancy or
errancy | ||||||||
| Harmonizing apparent biblical conflicts | ||||||||
| Twelve
tests of biblical inerrancy/errancy:
| ||||||||
| Did the Holy Spirit inspire the
authors of the Bible? | ||||||||
| Books on biblical errancy, inerrancy, and reliability |
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Classroom video:
| Bible.org provides a theology program (TTP) which explains various historical beliefs from a conservative Protestant perspective. One free video is Session 8 - Inerrancy. See: http://www.bible.org/ |
References used:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- "Literal and figurative," Worldwide Church of God, at: http://www.wcg.org/
- Dave Miller, "Why I Believe in the Inerrancy of the Scriptures" http://www.infidels.org/
- S.B. Ferguson et al, "New Dictionary of Theology", Inter-Varsity Press, Downers Grove, IL (1988), Pages 337-339.
- "Homosexual ordination vote widens gap between Presbyterian factions," ReligionToday, 2001-JUN-20, at: http://news.crosswalk.com/
- Millard J. Erickson, "Christian Theology," Baker, (1985), Page 241.
- Steven Ibbotson, "Biblical Authority," Prairie Bible Institute, (2000), at: http://instructor.pbi.ab.ca/
- "Inerrancy and Infallibility of the Bible," Believe web site, at: http://mb-soft.com/
- Bishop John Shelby Spong, "Q&A on the Bible as a weapon of control," weekly mailing for 2007-OCT-31. You can subscribe to these mailings at: http://secure.agoramedia.com
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Copyright © 1997 to 2008 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Author: B.A. Robinson
Latest update: 2008-SEP-01
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