Read Psalm 119:137-144, Inerrancy

David, in 2 San. 22:31/Psalm 18:30 said, As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless.  The word perfect means complete, whole or sound.  The term was used in passages like Ex. 12:5 and Lev. 1:3 to refer to sacrificial lambs that were to be without blemish.  The word flawless means it has been tried and tested and no blemished have been found.  The same phrase with the same wording appears in Psalm 12:6 and Prov. 30:5. 

The idea that the Scriptures, the Bible, as given by God through the prophets and apostles, was inerrant or flawless.  The people of the Bible in ancient times held this to be the case.  God had spoken; therefore, since God was holy His revealed word to mankind was also holy.  After the death of the apostles and those who had learned directly from the apostles, this continued to be the general belief.  Here is a somewhat brief and simple listing of the controversies that dominated Church history.

·        1^st century: Law vs. Grace.

·        Cent. 2-4: person and work of Christ (deity, humanity).

·        Cent. 5-6: the nature of man (freedom vs. sovereignty).

·        Cent. 7-10; The authority of the Church (East vs. West).

·        Cent. 11-15: The Church ruled so:  no major controversies except with those who resisted the Church (e.g. anabaptists, pietists).

·        Cent. 16-17: Salvation (grace vs. works).

·        Cent. 18: The missions mandate dominated the Church.

·        Cent. 19-20: Inerrancy of Scripture (Fundamentalists/Modernists, Higher Criticism)

It is interesting that it was not until the end of the second millennium that we see the challenge to the purity of Scripture.  In earlier times the Scriptures were under attack.  For example, in early centuries there was the literal vs. allegorical issue as well as issues related to the Canon.  In the Reformation time there was Sola Scriptura vs. Scripture plus tradition as well as the controversy over who was capable of interpreting Scripture (all believers or only the Church).  People died for the right of every person to have the Bible in their own language.  But no one challenged the purity of Scripture.  All said, God’s word is flawless.

How has this attack on Scripture come?  Some of it has revolved around the plethora of translations of the Bible.  The Revised Standard Version was a significant translation (NT in 1946; OT in 1952) because for the first time the translation work included many who did not believe in the inerrancy of Scripture.  The fact is that translating the Bible is not always an exact science simply because there are decisions that have to be made by the translators.  Thus, their approach to Scripture is important.

But before the translation issue there was what we might call social liberalism.  Led by German theologians there was a denial of the supernatural as true.  Many stories in the Bible began to be seen as myth by people who accepted naturalism as a basic dogma.  Science became “god” over the Bible, and in many cases, we were robbed of our salvation.  The “golden rule” became the key verse in the Bible rather than John 3:16.  Seeing the deadness of the liberals many adopted neo-orthodoxy while still denying inerrancy.  Now the argument was that it didn’t matter if the Bible was inerrant; you could still experience Christ in the Bible. 

Over the years, in the United States, many schools (colleges, universities) that were originally conservative Christian schools adopted these approaches.  Furthermore, it inevitably made it from the colleges and seminaries to the local churches and many denominations likewise denied the flawless word of God.  In 1976 Harold Lindsell made his most significant mark on Christianity with the publishing of his book, The Battle for the Bible.  Lindsell has been a founding father of one of those seminaries, Fuller Theological Seminary.  He not only detailed what happened at Fuller; he also spoke of the battle that went on among other groups such as the Lutheran Missouri Synod and the Southern Baptists (he actually called attention to the need in the SBC; most of the battle came later). 

Our purpose in this blog is simply to call attention to this issue.  It continues to be an issue in our day.  Our recent posts on “The Authority of the Bible” should tell us this is a battle that needs to be fought.  What is at stake is the only Holy Book that is able to save a person.  The ONLY Book.  It is the most fundamental issue as everything Christian’s believe springs from the Bible.  So let us be willing to stand up for this matter and expect the leadership in our churches to hold to the flawless word of God.  But let us also show our gratitude to God for His Book by reading it and sharing it with the world around us.