Is the Bible True?

Series: Why We Can Trust the Bible, Part 3

Berean Bible Church, October 28, 2001pm

Defining Inerrancy

"While detailed scientific descriptions or mathematically exact statements are not possible, inerrancy means that the Bible, when judged by the usage of its time, teaches truth without any affirmation of error" (Erickson, Christian Theology, 246). John 17:17 says, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”

Inspiration and Inerrancy

A. God revealed his word by inspiration.

B. God is true and speaks the truth.

C. Therefore, what God revealed can be regarded as truth.

D. Notice in 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 the challenge for Timothy to teach the truth and avoid error, and to help the church do the same. The source and standard of truth is the word of God.

Truth - The Character of God

A. Truth is characteristic of God.

Jer 10:10, “The Lord is the true God.”

John 1:14, “Full of grace and truth.”

John 14:6, “I am the Truth.”

B. God speaks the truth and does not lie.

Num 23:19, “God is not a man, that he should lie.”

Titus 1:2, “God, who does not lie.”

Some Qualifactions of Inerrancy

A. Inerrancy applies to the original writings. Translations are accurate and true insofar as they represent the words of the original.

B. Inerrancy applies to what the Scriptures affirm. False affirmations are sometimes quoted.

C. Inerrancy allows for various levels of precision, figurative language, paraphrases, and phenomenological language (Psalm 19:4-6 -- Sun rises and goes down; 1 Chron 16:30 -- The world is established, it shall not be moved.) The practice of using estimates probably accounts for the difference between Numbers 25:9 (24,000 died by plague) and 1 Cor 10:8 (23,000 died).

D. There are “problem passages.” Inerrancy does not depend on finding every answer. Finding plausible, potential answers is all that is required. For example, Matthew 5-7 contains the “Sermon on the Mount” while a similar sermon is found in Luke 6, but it is called the “Sermon on the Plain.” Is this a contradiction? No. If it is the same sermon, it probably was delivered on a level place on the mountainside. Or they may have been different sermons, using much of the same material (we may assume that Jesus preached some of the same concepts more than once).