Biblical inerrancy

Why we cannot prove either
biblical errancy or inerrancy

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Attempting to prove biblical inerrancy:

The term "inerrancy" means to be without error. When applied to the Bible, it normally means that the text as originally written in the author's autograph copy was free of error. A closely related belief is "inspiration" -- the concept that God guided the authors of the Bible to write their books free of mistakes. Inspiration implies inerrancy. Since God is traditionally viewed as omniscient, omnipotent and free of error, God could hardly inspire the authors to write falsehoods.

The Bible itself claims inerrancy; but those passages could themselves conceivably be in error. There are many books in the world which claim to be inerrant. But they teach different and conflicting beliefs. Thus only one at most can be truly inerrant.

It seems to be impossible to prove inerrancy or inspiration; these beliefs must be accepted on faith.  If any reader knows a proof of inerrancy, please E-mail us.

Attempting to proving biblical errancy:

Skeptics often point to internal conflicts within the Bible. These occur where two passages in the Bible describes an event very differently. Such instances rarely seem to be conclusive. Believers in inerrancy can generally harmonize the two passages after a bit of thought. More information on harmonization.

Skeptics also have pointed to apparent conflicts between biblical passages and the archaeological record. However, such disagreements are rarely conclusive either. Quite often, the only indicator of biblical error is a lack of evidence. For example, there is archaeological evidence that Jericho and other cities in Canaan were destroyed by earthquake, fire and/or military conquest -- just as described in the Book of Joshua. But there is no broken pottery or other artifacts at the sites that can be dated to the time that the Bible says that the conquest occurred. Indeed, material from the remains of the cities has been dated well before the time that Bible implies that the cities fell. The cities appear to have been abandoned at the time of Joshua.

Such conflicts can be harmonized in a number of ways:

Skeptics have tried for centuries to find the "magic bullet" that will convince everyone that the Bible contains at least one error  -- either an irresolvable conflict between two biblical passages, or archaeological evidence that solidly disproves the Bible. ₁ In the author's opinion, none have succeeded. If any reader knows of such a proof of errancy, please E-mail us.

Even if one apparent error exists, it can be explained away in various ways:

Attempting to prove Christian beliefs are false:

Many religious concepts, from the virgin birth, to creation, resurrection, inerrancy of the Bible, etc. cannot be absolutely proven or disproved:

Conclusions:

We have rejected the traditional method of examining whether the Bible is free of errors or not. We propose a different technique: to take a broad look at Biblical themes, rather than deal with individual passages. 

Proof is impossible. However, from the study of themes in the Bible, we should be able to derive many indicators that suggest that either biblical inerrancy or errancy is more likely.

Reference used:

1. Dennis McKinsey, "Biblical Errancy," at: http://members.aol.com/

Copyright © 1998 to 2010. by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2010-JAN-12
Author: B.A. Robinson

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