Biblical inerrancy (freedom of error) as viewed by Roman Catholics
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The term "inerrancy" is not used by
the
Roman Catholics church as often as it is used
among conservative Protestants. However, the concept of inerrancy
pays a major role in
many of their beliefs about the Bible. The teachings of the Church have evolved over the years. In recent decades, Catholic sources have given
conflicting views about biblical inerrancy:
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Absolute inerrancy: Some Catholic theologians have claimed that, in its original autograph version, the Bible is
inerrant -- without error. This appears to be the consensus of popes, of
most of the Catholic scholars and of other church leaders until the mid 20th
century. This belief developed naturally from their
conviction that God inspired the authors of the
Bible. If God controlled the writers' words directly or indirectly, then he would not have
led them into error. Deceit and error are not normally attributes expected of
God.
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Limited inerrancy: Other Catholics teach a more recent concept:
that the Bible is without
error in certain matters such as faith, morals and the criteria for salvation.
However, the Bible contains errors when describing other matters, such as scientific
observations and historical
events. This belief had its origins in the church with the writings of
Richard Simon (1638 - 1712) who rejected Moses as author of the
Pentateuch. He partly inspired the literary-criticism method of
analyzing biblical passages which became influential among some 19th
century Christians.
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No inerrancy: Still other Catholic theologians and scholars have
deviated entirely from the church's official teaching. They agree with
liberal Protestants in rejecting the inerrancy of the Bible. They
interpret it as containing much legend, myth, historical and scientific
inaccuracies, religious propaganda, etc. Of these intellectuals, Dominic Crossan is one of the most popular Catholic writers among the general public.
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Statements on inerrancy:
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Early church fathers: David Bennett, a member of the Fellowship of
Catholic Scholars and co-owner of the Ancient and Future Catholics web
site comments on the the early church fathers' beliefs about inerrancy.
Bennett writes:
"The early Fathers held that the Bible was inerrant. The
Catholic and Orthodox Churches affirm this as well. However, this is the case
only when the Bible is properly understood, interpreted by the Church. This is
inerrancy by ancient standards and not modern, fundamentalist
standards. The early Fathers did not think that minor contradictions rendered
the Bible errant, nor did they insist all stories were meant to be interpreted
literally. For instance, the creation stories were often allegorized,
interpreted in ways so as to prefigure Christ, or interpreted through the lens
of the science of the day (or all three!). Thus St. Augustine could say each
day in the Genesis creation story was equal to a thousand years, or that the
science of the day should shape our understanding of the creation stories,
without ever denying the divine inspiration of the Scriptures. So when a
Catholic affirms the inerrancy of Scripture, the idea has far less baggage
than the fundamentalist understanding."
"For example, many early Christian writers were well aware of minor
contradictions within the Scriptures, even in the gospels, and did not seem
too bothered by it. Tertullian (AD 200) said, "Never mind if there does occur
some variation in the order of the [gospel] narratives. What matters is that
there is agreement in the essential doctrine of the Faith" (Against
Marcion, IV:2). St. John Chrysostom (AD 390) was even bolder (at least
to modern ears) to suggest that contradictions in the gospels actually
strengthen the conviction that Christianity is true. If the gospel authors
agreed in every small detail, then it was obvious that the stories were
forgeries by a group of dishonest early Christians in collusion with one
another. He even says, "the discord which seems to be present in little
matters shields [the authors] from every suspicion and vindicates the
character of the writers" (Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, I:6).
Even today, we Christians are far more credible if we admit to minor Biblical
contradictions rather than trying come up with absurd, non-realistic stories
designed to make the gospel accounts completely harmonize. So without denying
the Bible's inspiration or essential accuracy, many Church Fathers recognized
minor contradictions and variants in the text." 1
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Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE): He supported
absolute inerrancy in a letter to St.
Jerome. He wrote:
"On my own part I confess to your charity that it is only to those
books of Scripture which are now called canonical that I have learned to pay
such honor and reverence as to believe most firmly that none of their writers
has fallen into any error. And if in these books I meet anything which seems
contrary to truth, I shall not hesitate to conclude either that the text is
faulty, or that the translator has not expressed the meaning of the passage,
or that I myself do not understand. ..."
He emphasizes that inerrancy only applies to the original autograph copy as
written in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek:
"For I confess to your Charity that I have learned to yield this respect and
honour only to the canonical books of Scripture: of these alone do
I most firmly believe that the authors were
completely free from error. And if in these writings I am perplexed by
anything which appears to me opposed to truth, I do not hesitate to suppose that
either the manuscript is faulty, or the translator has not caught the meaning of
what was said, or I myself have failed to understand it."
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The Council of the Vatican (1869-1870): They determined:
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"The books of the Old and New Testament, whole and entire,
with all their parts, as enumerated in the decree of the same Council
[Trent] and in the ancient Latin Vulgate, are to be received as sacred
and canonical. And the Church holds them as sacred and canonical not
because, having been composed by human industry, they were afterwards
approved by her authority; nor only because they contain revelation
without errors, but because, having been written under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, they have God for their Author."
[Note that it is not the Vulgate version, in Latin, which is
considered to be "without errors." It is the original
Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek documents, now lost.]
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Pope Leo XIII (1893): His encyclical letter "Providentissimus
Deus" (124-125) said in part:
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"For all the books which the Church receives as sacred and
canonical are written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, at the
dictation of the Holy Spirit; and so far is it from being possible that any
error can coexist with inspiration, that inspiration not only is essentially
incompatible with error, but excludes and rejects it as absolutely and
necessarily as it is impossible that God Himself, the supreme Truth, can
utter that which is not true. This is the ancient and unchanging faith
of the Church, solemnly defined in the Councils of Florence and Trent, and
finally and more expressly formulated by the [First] Council of the Vatican."
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He wrote that the Holy Spirit assisted the authors of the books of the Bible so that
they "expressed in apt words and with infallible truth. Otherwise,
it could not be said that He was the Author of the entire Scripture.
Such has always been the persuasion of the Fathers." He wrote this
letter at a time when liberal elements in Christianity had embraced
biblical criticism. They had largely abandoned
the idea of the inerrancy of the Bible, had rejected God's inspiration of
its authors, and were interpreting the Bible like any other historical
religious document.
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Pope Benedict XV (Reigned 1914-1922): According
to Catholics United for the Faith, Pope Benedict XV wrote in "Spiritus Paraclitus" (On the
Fifteenth Centenary of the Death of St. Jerome) that he:
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"...also
emphasized the Bibles absolute immunity from error. He went so far as to say
that 'belief in the biblical narrative is
as necessary to salvation as is belief in the doctrines of the faith' (no.
24). After explicitly condemning any position
that restricts inerrancy only to so-called 'religious' elements of the Bible,
he quotes Saint Jerome, the Father of
biblical science, who wrote more than 1,500 years ago that '[i]t would be
wholly impious to limit inspiration to only
certain portions of Scripture or to concede that
the sacred authors themselves could have erred'." 3,4
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Pope Pius XII (1943): in his 1943-SEP-30 encyclical "Divino Afflante Spiritu" (On the
Most Opportune Way to Promote Biblical Studies ), he compared the inerrancy
of the Bible to the sinlessness of Jesus:
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"For
as the substantial Word of God became like to men in all things, except sin,
so the words of God, expressed in human language, are made like to human
speech in every respect, except error."
He also condemned the concept of limited inerrancy. He wrote:
"The sacred
Council of Trent ordained by solemn decree that 'the entire books
with all their parts, as they have been
wont to be read in the Catholic Church and are contained in the old
vulgate Latin edition, are to be held sacred and canonical.' ... When,
subsequently, some Catholic writers, in spite of this solemn definition
of Catholic doctrine, by which such divine authority is claimed for the
'entire books with all their parts' as to secure freedom from any error
whatsoever, ventured to restrict the truth of Sacred Scripture solely to
matters of faith and morals, and to regard other matters, whether in the
domain of physical science or history, as "obiter
dicta" and - as they contended - in no wise connected with faith,
Our Predecessor of immortal memory, Leo XIII in the Encyclical Letter
'Providentissimus Deus' ... justly and rightly condemned these errors." 5
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The Second Vatican Council (Ended 1965): Over the previous three
centuries, some liberal Roman Catholic writers had promoted limited inerrancy by suggesting that that God
preserved the authors of the Bible from error only in matters of "moral
and dogmatic teaching, excluding everything in the bible relating to
history and the natural sciences." 6 So, for example, when the Bible talks about
a dome over the
earth supporting heaven or of a flat earth, or of the sun stopping in
the sky, we can accept that it is in error. The authors were limited by
the pre-scientific culture in which they lived. During Vatican II, some
theologians suggested that the Church modify its traditional stance on
Biblical inerrancy. The document issued by the Council, titled "Dei Verbum,"
(Constitution on Divine Revelation). Article
11 discusses the inspiration and inerrancy of scripture. A key clause
states
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"...we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture
firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for
the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred
Scriptures."
This phrase appears to be ambiguous: 7
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Some Catholic theologians interpret it as supporting absolute inerrancy: that the entire Bible is
totally without error, whether it is writing about spiritual matters, the
afterlife, cosmology, geology, historical event, etc.
This has been the traditional teaching of the church throughout its
history.
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Others believe that it supports limited inerrancy by restricts inerrancy only to matters of
faith, morals, and salvation. They believe that Bible may be in error on
matters of science, history, etc. Fr. R.E. Brown, for example, writes of
Vatican II: |
"In this long journey of thought the concept of inerrancy was not
rejected but was seriously modified to fit the evidence of biblical criticism
which showed that the Bible was not inerrant in questions of science, of
history, and even of time-conditioned religious beliefs." 8
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Wikipedia explains:
"This document states the Catholic belief that all scripture is sacred and
reliable because the biblical authors were inspired by God. However, the
human dimension of the Bible is also acknowledged as well as the importance
of proper interpretation. Careful attention must be paid to the actual
meaning intended by the authors, in order to render a correct
interpretation. Genre, modes of expression, historical circumstances, poetic
liberty, and church tradition are all factors that must be considered by
Catholics when examining scripture. The Roman Catholic Church holds that the
authority to declare correct interpretation rests ultimately with the church
through its
magisterium."
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The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Imprimi Potest) 1994,
states in section 107:
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"The inspired books teach the truth. Since
therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should
be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the
books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that
truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confined
to the Sacred Scriptures."
Again, this statement is ambiguous.
It could imply that the Bible is errant if God was not particularly
concerned about error creeping in on matters that are only of scientific or
historical significance.
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The Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs
of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published the
results of a conversation between scholars and church leaders of the
Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention in 1999. They emphasized
limited inerrancy, and rejected the literal inerrancy that is seen among most
fundamentalist
Protestants. The Secretariat wrote:
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"For Roman Catholics, inerrancy is understood as a consequence
of biblical inspiration; it has to do more with the truth of the Bible
as a whole than with any theory of verbal inerrancy. Vatican II says
that 'the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching firmly,
faithfully, and without error that truth which God wanted put into the
sacred writings for the sake of our salvation" (Dei Verbum, 11). What is
important is the qualification of 'that truth' with 'for the sake of our
salvation'." 9
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The Catholic Encyclopedia: Under the topic of "Authenticity
of the Bible," the Encyclopedia states that the contents of the
Bible "...possess a higher authenticity, because invested with a
Divine, supernatural authority through the Divine authorship which makes
them the inspired word of God." 10 Under the
topic of "Inspiration of the Bible," the Encyclopedia states
that: "...on several occasions the Church has defined the inspiration
of the canonical books as an article of faith...Every Christian sect
still deserving that name believes in the inspiration of the Scriptures,
although several have more or less altered the idea of inspiration."
6
Later in the essay, it implies the inerrancy of the Bible: "As for
the inerrancy of the inspired text it is to the Inspirer [God] that it
must be finally attributed..." Yet the Encyclopedia elsewhere implies that the Bible is
errant, at least in its statements about the authorship of the
Pentateuch.
These are the first 5 books of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old
Testament). They state in numerous locations that Moses
is the author of all 5 books. This is confirmed by passages in the
Christian Scriptures/New Testament. The exact date of Moses' death is
unknown. However, we might use the Schofield Reference Bible's
estimate of 1451 BCE. The Encyclopedia states:
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Genesis: was written between 950 and 550 BCE. This would be
over 500 years after Moses' death.
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Exodus: Its "authorship is attributed to Moses but most
probably it was compiled by later writers"
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Leviticus: It was "written by Moses with revisions made
by members of the priestly class..."
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Numbers: It was "written by scribes of the priestly
school."
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Deuteronomy: It was "authored by several members of the
levitical school and was written probably within the years 740 to 530
BCE." This would be over 750 years after Moses' death.
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New Advent, a massive Roman Catholic website, supports a
concept of limited inerrancy. They commented on a point raised by a
visitor to their site:
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Question: "I read a book by a scripture scholar who said the
Bible is inerrant only in religious matters that pertain to our
salvation. He quoted Vatican II as the source of this "limited
inerrancy" doctrine."
Answer: "If the whole of
Scripture is inspired, and if what the biblical writer asserts the Holy
Spirit asserts, then, unless error is to be attributed to the Holy
Spirit or unless the biblical authors assert only religious truths
(which isn't the case -- some make historical assertions, such as the
historical existence of Jesus), inerrancy can't be limited to religious
truths....Although inerrancy isn't limited to religious truths which
pertain to salvation but may include non-religious assertions by the
biblical authors, this doesn't mean Scripture is an inspired textbook of
science or history. Inerrancy extends to what the biblical writers
intend to teach, not necessarily to what they assume or presuppose or
what isn't integral to what they assert. In order to distinguish these
things, scholars must examine the kind of writing or literary genre the
biblical writers employ." 11
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Catholics United for the Faith appear to insist on absolute inerrancy:
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"Inerrancy
simply means the state of being free from error. The Catholic Church has
always taught that Sacred Scripture is inerrant. Since all the books of the
Bible were composed by human authors who were inspired by the Holy Spirit
(cf. Jn. 20:31; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:19-21; 3:15-16), they truly have God as
their author and communicate without error Our Heavenly Father's saving
truth....The Church has always taught that we can approach the Scriptures with a
rock-solid confidence because they are inspired by God Himself and therefore
contain no error. This inerrancy is a great gift because it gives the Bible a
credibility on which we can base our lives" 3
Related essays on this site:Biblical inerrancy as understood by
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
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David Bennett, "The Bible: Inerrant, Inspired, or Just a Good Read?,"
Ancient and Future Catholics, 2008-JAN-04, at:
http://www.ancient-future.net/
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Cited in Rev. Brian Harrison, "The Truth and Salvific Purpose of Sacred
Scripture according to Dei Verbum, Article 11,? Living Tradition,
No. 59 (1995-JUL). Online at:
http://www.rtforum.org/.
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"Taking God at His Word: A Catholic Understanding of Biblical Inerrancy," Catholics United for the Faith, 2005-AUG-29, at:
http://www.cuf.org/
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Pope Benedict XV, "Spiritus Paraclitus," The Vatican, 1920-SEP-15, at:
http://www.vatican.va/
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Pope Pius XII, "Divino Afflante Spiritu," The Vatican, 1943-SEP-30, at:
http://www.vatican.va/
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"Inspiration the Bible," Catholic Encyclopedia at:
http://www.newadvent.org/
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R.E. Brown, "The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus," Paulist
Press, (1973)
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M. J. Sawyer, "Theories of Inspiration" http://www/bible.org/
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"Southern Baptist - Roman Catholic Conversation. Report on Sacred Scripture," 1999-SEP-10, at:
http://www.usccb.org/
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"Authenticity of the Bible," Catholic Encyclopedia at: http://www.newadvent.org/
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"Quick Questions (1991)," Catholic Library, at: http://www.newadvent.org/
Copyright © 1997 to 2009 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Author: B.A. Robinson
Latest update: 2009-APR-17
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