Biblical errancy/inerrancyIndicators of biblical errors: Part
2
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Indicator 5: The personality of God as described in the Bible: |
Possibility 1: One of the generally accepted
attributes of God is that he is not subject to change. He is the same
yesterday, today and tomorrow. Thus, if the Bible is inerrant, then the
authors' description of God would also be consistent, from Genesis
through to Revelation.
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Possibility 2: The Bible is not inerrant. Various
authors promoted their concept of God. God is described differently
throughout the Bible.
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What the Bible Shows: In fact, the bible is replete with
examples
of God's contradictory behavior."
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In the Pentateuch, Jehovah is frequently described as an angry
deity who committed genocides and mass murder. He killed people for
trivial reasons (e.g. Onan for practicing birth control; Lot's wife
for looking the wrong way). He exterminated all of the men, women,
girls, boys, infants and newborns in Sodom and Gomorra because the men
were
inhospitable towards strangers. He killed all of humanity in a
great flood, saving only eight people: Noah and his family. He
hardened the heart of the Pharaoh of Egypt, thus necessitating great
loss of life before the Egyptian leader would release the Hebrews from
bondage. The Gnostic Christians, one of the three main movements in
the early Christian Church, considered Jehovah to be an evil and
fickle deity,
who they called the Demiurge.
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In the Gospels, Jesus often refers to God as Abba, which
is probably closest to the English word "papa." Jesus
stresses God's love for humanity, his concern for justice and his
readiness to support and encourage each believer. He urged individuals
to develop a close, intimate, loving relationship with God through
private prayer.
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In Revelation, God is once more described as a vengeful deity who
inflicts massive worldwide death, destruction, and torture on men, women, boys,
girls, infants and newborns. Martin Luther felt that Revelation should
be removed from the Bible for this reason. He included it in an
appendix to his German translation of the Bible.
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A visitor to this website emailed us with the following comment:
"The Bible describes God as a being given to contradictions. God is:
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Angry,
but slow to anger; |
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Forgiving, but unforgiving; |
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Mutable, but immutable; |
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Visible, but invisible; |
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Contingent, but omniscient; |
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Merciful, but
merciless; |
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Omnipresent, but local; |
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Partial, but impartial; |
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Vengeful,
but
loving, and, finally, jealous.
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Conclusion: One can argue from the lack of
consistency in the Biblical authors' concept of God that they are
portraying very different and mutually exclusive concepts of God. Again,
this is not a proof of Biblical errancy, but is a significant indicator.
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Indicator 6: Jesus' status as described in the Bible: |
Possibility 1: One of the fundamental dogmas of the
Christian religion is the Incarnation -- that Jesus is the Son of God.
The recognition of Jesus as God's son would have occurred at a specific
time in Jesus' life. If the Bible is inerrant, then various New
Testament writings would agree on when this time happened.
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Possibility 2: The Bible is not inerrant. Various
authors promoted their understanding of when Jesus became the son of
God, as taught by the religious group to which they belonged.
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What the Bible Shows: By arranging the books of the
New Testament in chronological order, we find the following:
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Romans: This was probably written by St. Paul
circa 55-59
CE. In
Romans 1:3-4, Paul writes: "Concerning his Son Jesus
Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the
spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." Paul
believed that Jesus became the Son of God at his resurrection, circa
30 CE.
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Mark: This is generally recognized to be the
first gospel to be written, circa 70 CE. It describes Jesus' baptism
by John the Baptist as the time when he became the Son of God. The
current wording of Mark 1:10-11 says: "...he
saw...the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from
heaven: 'You are my Son whom I love; with you I am well pleased.'
" The original words attributed to God in this passage were partly
suppressed during ancient times. Judging by the writings of early
Christian authors, the original words stated definitively that his
transition to Son of God happened at the time of baptism. The words
were edited out of Mark perhaps decades after the Gospel was written,
probably because they contradicted the theological belief of the time.
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Matthew was written in the early to mid 80's CE.
It contains a birth narrative which implies that Jesus was conceived
during an interaction between the Holy Sprit and Mary. Jesus is
described as becoming the Son of God at his birth, circa 6
BCE.
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Luke was probably written about 90 CE. Luke
1:35 described that "the holy one to be born will be called
the Son of God." Again, the transition occurred at birth.
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Acts was probably written in the 90's CE by an
unknown author -- the same person who wrote the Gospel of Luke. He
writes in Acts 13:33 that Jesus became the son of God when God
raised Jesus from the dead.
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John was probably written after Christians were
expelled from the Synagogues, starting circa 90 CE. It may have been
cited in some writings by Ignatius, bishop of Antioch circa 115 CE. So
about 100 CE may be an accurate date of composition. The author(s) of
John state that Jesus (the Word) existed with God "in the
beginning." i.e. before creation.
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Conclusion: The time when Jesus was considered to
have become the Son of God thus changed from:
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after his death in the earliest Christian writings, to |
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at or before the creation of the universe in the last Gospel to be
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We are obviously seeing a gradual development in Christian theology from
the writings of Paul (55 CE and later) to the writings of the author(s) of
the Gospel of John (circa 100 CE). The lack of consistency indicates, but
does not prove, biblical errancy. |
Indicator 7: The nature of the afterlife as described in the Bible:
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Possibility 1: The Bible is inerrant. God has
inspired authors of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures to describe
accurately the destination of persons who have died. Each of the authors
of the Bible described heaven and hell (and
who would go where) in a consistent manner.
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Possibility 2: The Bible is not inerrant. The oldest
passages in the Hebrew Scriptures would represent beliefs about the afterlife
which are similar to what the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian and similar
surrounding Pagan societies believed at the time. Biblical authors who wrote
after the invasion of Palestine by the Greeks in 332 BCE would incorporate
Greek pagan beliefs about the afterlife. Various authors from the Christian
Scriptures would describe beliefs about the afterlife that their own Christian
groups taught, and which were similar to the other 23 or so Jewish religious
groups in Palestine during the first and second centuries CE, when the
Christian Scriptures were written.
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What the Bible Shows:
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In ancient Hebrew scripture writings: The authors
described the dead as leading a shadowy existence in a great cavern under
the earth, called Sheol. This was similar to the beliefs of
the surrounding Pagan cultures. Everyone went to Sheol, regardless of
whether they had led a good or an evil life while on earth. All were
isolated from God.
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After the Greek invasion: Greek Pagan ideas began to be
incorporated into those Hebrew Scriptures that were written after 332 BCE.
The authors talked about resurrection and eternal rewards for people who had
followed the Law and been kind to their fellow humans. Evil people would be
punished.
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Paul wrote about a heaven for those who had been saved
by trusting and believing in Christ's resurrection. He was apparently
unaware of Hell; he believed that the unbelievers and those who had
committed certain prohibited acts would be simply annihilated at death and
exist no more. "The wages of sin are death", not everlasting
punishment.
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The Synoptic gospels: The authors of the gospels of
Matthew, Mark and Luke described Jesus as telling of a glorious eternal rest
in heaven for those who behave kindly towards the poor and needy. The
writers talked about a Hell of eternal punishment: fire, worms, thirst for
those who did not support needy fellow humans. This forms one of the main
themes of the Gospel of Matthew. Again, salvation is based on works.
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John: The author of the gospel of John described a
glorious heaven as a reward for those who believed that Jesus is the Son of
God. He seems to have rejected the concept of Hell entirely. People who did
not believe in the Incarnation simply died and were annihilated.
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Conclusion: The writers of the Bible have entirely
different concepts of the afterlife. The most ancient passages talk about a
depressing location where all people lead the same, shadowy life. The authors
who wrote after the Greek invasion described various concepts of rewards or
punishment. They differ as to whether evil people will simply be destroyed at
death or will be eternally punished in Hell. They differ as to whether people
are selected for an eternal life in heaven on the basis of their belief in
Jesus' divinity, or their belief in Jesus' resurrection, or their good deeds
while on earth. The Bible is hopelessly inconsistent on all aspects of the
afterlife. Biblical authors are largely reflecting beliefs absorbed from
surrounding tribes or invading armies. This indicates, but does not prove,
biblical errancy.
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More info: See our essays on the afterlife
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Indicator 8: Criteria for salvation:
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Assumption: One's eventual destination or state after death
is arguably the most important topic covered in the Bible. After all,
even a century of living on earth is a drop in the bucket compared to
all of eternity. If the Bible is inspired by God, then one would expect
that the criteria by which ones is routed to either Heaven or Hell would
be clearly and unambiguously described
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Possibility 1: The Bible is inerrant. God has
inspired authors of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures to describe
accurately and unambiguously the precise criteria by which an
individual's final location or state will be after death.
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Possibility 2: The Bible is not inerrant. Authors would
disagree as to whether one's final destination was determined by good and bad
works, by specific beliefs, on the basis of a religious ritual, on the basis
of other criteria, or by some combination of the above.
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What the Bible Shows:
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In ancient Hebrew Scriptures: The authors stated that
everyone would go to the same place after death: Sheol. They would be
isolated from God. It would not matter whether one had led a good or an evil
life while on earth.
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More modern Hebrew Scriptures (e.g. Daniel): People who
had followed the Mosaic Law and been kind to their fellow humans would enjoy
rewards after death. Evil people would be punished. So, one would expect
that individuals guilty of mass murder or genocide would go to Hell. If a
person had led a life of self-sacrifice and service to others, like Mother
Teresa or Albert Schweitzer, they would go to Heaven.
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Paul wrote that those who believed in Christ's
resurrection would go to Heaven.
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The Synoptic gospels: The authors of the gospels of
Matthew, Mark and Luke taught that salvation is based on a person's good and
bad works.
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John: The author(s) of the gospel of John taught that
the criteria was based on belief: those who believed that Jesus is the Son
of God would go to Heaven.
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Numerous other locations in the Christian Scriptures described
how one is saved by repentance followed by the ritual of baptism.
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Conclusion: The writers of the Bible have entirely
different concepts of what one must do in order to be routed to Heaven after
death. The Bible is inconsistent on whether the decision is made on the basis
of good works, specific beliefs, baptism, avoiding certain behaviors, or some
combination of the preceding. This lack of consistency indicates, but does not
prove, biblical errancy.
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More info: See our essays on criteria for
salvation
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Indicator 9: The causes of mental illness:
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Assumptions: Mental illness is caused by emotional
disturbances, chemical imbalances in the brain, and other natural
factors. Mental health specialists (other than those who are also
Evangelical Christians) abandoned the concepts of demonic possession and
exorcism many generations ago. Jesus is recorded as having encountered
and healed many individuals with mental or emotional problems. See:
Matthew 8:16, Matthew 8:28-34, Matthew 9:32-33, Matthew 15:22-28,
Matthew 17:14-18, Luke 4:33-36.
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Possibility 1: The Bible is inerrant. God has
inspired authors of the Gospels to accurately describe the nature of
mental illnesses in the above passages. The Bible would not contain
references to demonic possession.
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Possibility 2: The Bible is not inerrant. The
authors would have interpreted the cause of mental illness in accordance
with what they knew about 1st century medicine. At that time, mental
illnesses were believed to have been caused by demonic possession.
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What the Bible Shows: In the gospels, particularly
Matthew and Luke, Jesus is described as expelling demons in order to
cure the mentally ill people that he encountered.
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Conclusion: The Gospel writers were mistaken about
the causes of mental illness. This indicates, but does not prove, that
their writings contain errors.
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Conclusion:Although it appears to be impossible to absolutely prove the errancy or
inerrancy of the Bible, there appear to be at least nine strong indicators that
it is errant in at least some places.
Related essays on this web site:
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Copyright 1998 to 2009 by Ontario Consultants
on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2009-OCT-22
Author: B.A. Robinson
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