There Are Some Clear Errors in the Bible. This final objection, that there are
clear errors in the Bible, is either stated or implied by most of those who deny
inerrancy, and for many of them the conviction that there are some actual errors in
Scripture is a major factor in persuading them to challenge the doctrine of inerrancy.
In every case, the first answer that should be made to this objection is to ask
where such errors are. In which specific verse or verses do these errors occur? It is
surprising how frequently one finds that this objection is made by people who have
little or no idea where the specific errors are, but who believe there are errors because
others have told them so.
In other cases, however, people will mention one or more specific passages where,
they claim, there is a false statement in Scripture. In these cases, it is important that
we look at the biblical text itself, and look at it very closely. If we believe that the
Bible is indeed inerrant, we should be eager and certainly not afraid to inspect these
texts in minute detail. In fact, our expectation will be that close inspection will show
there to be no error at all. Once again it is surprising how often it turns out that a
careful reading just of the English text of the passage in question will bring to light
one or more possible solutions to the difficulty.
In a few passages, no solution to the difficulty may be immediately apparent from
reading the English text. At that point it is helpful to consult some commentaries on
the text. Both Augustine (A.D. 354–430) and John Calvin (1509–64), along with many
more recent commentators, have taken time to deal with most of the alleged “problem
texts” and to suggest plausible solutions to them. Furthermore some writers have
made collections of all the most difficult texts and have provided suggested answers
for them.
There are a few texts where a knowledge of Hebrew or Greek may be necessary to
find a solution, and those who do not have firsthand access to these languages may
have to find answers either from a more technical commentary or by asking someone
who does have this training. Of course, our understanding of Scripture is never
perfect, and this means that there may be cases where we will be unable to find a
solution to a difficult passage at the present time. This may be because the linguistic,
historical, or contextual evidence we need to understand the passage correctly is
presently unknown to us. This should not trouble us in a small number of passages so
long as the overall pattern of our investigation of these passages has shown that there
is, in fact, no error where one has been alleged.
But while we must allow the possibility of being unable to solve a particular
problem, it should also be stated that there are many evangelical Bible scholars today
who will say that they do not presently know of any problem texts for which there is
no satisfactory solution. It is possible, of course, that some such texts could be called
to their attention in the future, but during the past fifteen years or so of controversy
over biblical inerrancy, no such “unsolved” text has been brought to their attention.
Finally, a historical perspective on this question is helpful. There are no really
“new” problems in Scripture. The Bible in its entirety is over 1,900 years old, and the
alleged “problem texts” have been there all along. Yet throughout the history of the
church there has been a firm belief in the inerrancy of Scripture in the sense in which
it is defined in this chapter. Moreover, for these hundreds of years highly competent
biblical scholars have read and studied those problem texts and still have found no
difficulty in holding to inerrancy. This should give us confidence that the solutions to
these problems are available and that belief in inerrancy is entirely consistent with a
lifetime of detailed attention to the text of Scripture.
C. Problems With Denying Inerrancy
- If We Deny Inerrancy, a Serious Moral Problem Confronts Us: May We
Imitate God and Intentionally Lie in Small Matters Also? This is similar to the
point made in response to objection #4, above, but here it applies not only to those
who espouse objection #4 but also more broadly to all who deny inerrancy. Ephesians
5:1 tells us to be imitators of God. But a denial of inerrancy that still claims that the
words of Scripture are God-breathed words necessarily implies that God intentionally
spoke falsely to us in some of the less central affirmations of Scripture. But if this is
right for God to do, how can it be wrong for us? Such a line of reasoning would, if we
believed it, exert strong pressure on us to begin to speak untruthfully in situations
where that might seem to help us communicate better, and so forth. This position
would be a slippery slope with ever-increasing negative results in our own lives.
- **If Inerrancy Is Denied, We Begin to Wonder If We Can Really Trust God in
Anything He Says. **Once we become convinced that God has spoken falsely to us in
some minor matters in Scripture, then we realize that God is capable of speaking
falsely to us. This will have a detrimental effect on our ability to take God at his word
and trust him completely or obey him fully in the rest of Scripture. We will begin to
disobey initially those sections of Scripture that we least wish to obey, and to distrust
initially those sections that we are least inclined to trust. But such a procedure will
eventually increase, to the great detriment of our spiritual lives. Of course, such a
decline in trust and obedience to Scripture may not necessarily follow in the life of
every individual who denies inerrancy, but this will certainly be the general pattern,
and it will be the pattern exhibited over the course of a generation that is taught to
deny inerrancy.
- If We Deny Inerrancy, We Essentially Make Our Own Human Minds a
Higher Standard of Truth Than God’s Word Itself. We use our minds to pass
judgment on some sections of God’s Word and pronounce them to be in error. But
this is in effect to say that we know truth more certainly and more accurately than
God’s Word does (or than God does), at least in these areas. Such a procedure,
making our own minds to be a higher standard of truth than God’s Word, is the root of
all intellectual sin.
4.** If We Deny Inerrancy, Then We Must Also Say That the Bible Is Wrong Not
Only in Minor Details but in Some of Its Doctrines as Well.** A denial of inerrancy
means that we say that the Bible’s teaching about the nature of Scripture and about
the truthfulness and reliability of God’s words is also false. These are not minor
details but are major doctrinal concerns in Scripture.
