Unit One:Knowing God

Session Five: The Inerrant Word of God

Tonight’s Song

“I Believe”

Wes King

Last Week: The Canon of Scripture Examined

We studied the process of canonization for the

Old and New Testaments, and how we can

know that the books of the Bible are the very

inspired words of God.

Opening Considerations:

The Authority & Inspiration of Scripture.

1. The words of scripture are God’s words and carry divine authority.

Psalms 12: 6 (ESV)The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined

in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

Opening Considerations:

The Authority & Inspiration of Scripture.

2. The Bible teaches us that God cannot lie and always speaks truthfully.

2 Samuel 7: 28 (ESV)And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your

words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.

Opening Considerations:

3. God’s words are, in fact, the ultimate standard of truth.

John 17: 17 (ESV)17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

Opening Considerations:

4. God’s words remain free from error even when spoken through sinful human beings

e.g., Balaam’s Prophecy in Numbers 23: 1919 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of

man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken,

and will he not fulfill it?

Opening Considerations:

5. Because it is inspired and carries the authority of God, we have

confidence in the divine nature of God’s word and trust what is

recorded within.

Inerrancy Defined:

“Inerrancy is the doctrine that the Bible is fully truthful in all of

its teachings (Erickson, 246).”

“The inerrancy of Scripture means that Scripture in the original

manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact

(Grudem, 91).”

A simple definition: “The Bible always tells the truth and that it

always tells the truth concerning everything it talks about

(Grudem).”

Inerrancy Examined: 1. The Bible can be inerrant and allow for a variety of styles.

2. The Bible can be inerrant and have variety in details

explaining the same event.

3. The Bible can be inerrant and use normal, everyday forms of

speech.

4. The Bible can be inerrant, and depart from standard forms of

English grammar.

5. The Bible can be inerrant, and still include loose or free

quotations.

Current Challenges to Inerrancy

1. The Bible Is Only Authoritative for “Faith & Practice.” 2. We have no inerrant manuscripts; therefore, talk about an

inerrant bible is misleading.

Textual Reconstruction ExampleFour Different Manuscripts with variations of the verse

Philippians 4:13

• Example A: I can do all t#ings through Christ who gives me strength.

• Example B: I can do all th#ngs through Christ who gives me strength.

• Example C: I can do all thi#gs through Christ who gives me strength.

• Example D: I can do all thin#s through Christ who gives me strength.

Well if the New Testament really is the Word of God, then why didn’t God preserve the original? We can only speculate here, but one possibility is because his word might be better protected through copies

than through original documents. How so? Because if the original were in someone’s possession, that

person could change it. But if there are copies spread all over the ancient world, there’s no way one scribe or priest could alter the Word of God. As we

have seen, the process of reconstruction allows variants and changes from copies to be indentified

and corrected rather easily. So, ironically, not having the originals may preserve God’s word better than

having them (Geisler, 229).

Why So Many Translations?

Q. Are these translations reliable?

A. Yes they are. If you have a modern translation

of the Bible, then you have almost exactly

what the ancient authors wrote.

3 Types of English Translations

1. Word for Word Translations

– King James Version (KJV)

– New King James Version (NKJV)

– English Standard Version (ESV)

– New American Standard Bible (NASB)

3 Types of English Translations

2. Thought for Though Translations

– New International Version (NIV)

– New Living Translation (NLT)

– Contemporary English Bible (CEV)

3 Types of English Translations

3. Paraphrase Translations

– The Message (MSG)

– The Living Bible (TLB)

From the 1978 Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy…

No translation is or can be perfect, and all translations are an additional step away from the autograph. Yet the verdict of linguistic science is that English-speaking Christians, at least,

are exceedingly well served in these days with a host of excellent translations and have no cause for hesitating to conclude that the true Word of God is within their reach.

Indeed, in view of the frequent repetition in Scripture of the main matters with which it deals and also of the Holy Spirit's

constant witness to and through the Word, no serious translation of Holy Scripture will so destroy its meaning as to

render it unable to make its reader "wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:15).

Current Challenges to Inerrancy

1. The Bible Is Only Authoritative for “Faith & Practice.”

2. We have no inerrant manuscripts; therefore, talk about an

inerrant bible is misleading.

3. There are clear errors in the Bible.

Why Inerrancy Matters

• If we deny inerrancy, we are saying that God is not truthful, or He can lie about the minor things when needed.

• If we deny inerrancy, we place human reason above divine revelation and make our judgments a higher standard of truth than God’s word.

Why Inerrancy Matters

• Since its birth, the historic Christian church has held the Bible to be inerrant and the inspired word of God. Denying inerrancy moves a person onto dangerous ground where all beliefs are questioned. If inerrancy is denied, can we trust anything that God says?

Final Thoughts on how we know God through Revelation and Scripture:

1. God can be known & wants you to know Him. You can trust Him to faithfully reveal Himself to you.

2. If you are Christian, the importance of the Bible cannot be overstated.

3. We must remember that those who have not accepted Christ still have a darkened view of God. With grace and patience we must look for opportunities to obediently tell them the good news of Christ.