A Critique Of The Inerrancy Of Scripture
LIBERTY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
INERRANCY OF SCRIPTURE:
A CRITIQUE ON CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES TO BIBLICAL INERANCY
Submitted to
Liberty Theological Seminary
In partial fulfillment of the requirements
For completion of the course,
THEO 525
SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY I
DR. GREG ENOS
October 11, 2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Thesis Statement 3
Introduction 3
Inerrancy Defined 3
Concepts of Inerrancy 6
Critique of Concepts of Inerrancy …show more content…
More importantly, the entire Christian faith has its foundation on the authority of the Scriptures. But what if fault were to be found in the Bible? To find error in the Scriptures would invalidate the church, Christianity and God himself. This necessitates a study of the inerrancy of the Scriptures. By gaining a thorough understanding of inerrancy Christians will be better equipped to understand and communicate what we believe and why we believe …show more content…
In his book The Battle for the Bible, Lindsell asserts that the Bible “does not contain error of any kind.”17 This is the concept of absolute inerrancy, which is defined by Erickson as is the position “that the Bible, which includes rather detailed treatment of matters both scientific and historical, is fully true.” 18Absolute inerrancy holds that everything in is intentional—that the Bible set out to give an accurate accounting of specific historical and scientific events, and that any contradiction found in the Bible can and must be explained. In fact, Lindsell goes to great measures to reconcile several biblical discrepancies commonly pointed out; noting that while they can certainly be explained, accuracy must be judged based on the context of the time in which it was written.19
Full Inerrancy
Similar to but less rigid than absolute inerrancy, is the concept of full inerrancy. Full inerrancy differs from absolute inerrancy in that it maintains that while the Bible did not set out to give historical and scientific data, the historical and scientific accounts of the Bible are indeed accurate. This view takes into account the fact that biblical authors were in fact human; the historical and scientific aspects of the Bible are correct although not necessarily exact. Erickson describes them as “popular descriptions,” and “general references;” noting that “what they teach is correct in the way
INERRANCY OF SCRIPTURE:
A CRITIQUE ON CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES TO BIBLICAL INERANCY
Submitted to
Liberty Theological Seminary
In partial fulfillment of the requirements
For completion of the course,
THEO 525
SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY I
DR. GREG ENOS
October 11, 2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Thesis Statement 3
Introduction 3
Inerrancy Defined 3
Concepts of Inerrancy 6
Critique of Concepts of Inerrancy …show more content…
More importantly, the entire Christian faith has its foundation on the authority of the Scriptures. But what if fault were to be found in the Bible? To find error in the Scriptures would invalidate the church, Christianity and God himself. This necessitates a study of the inerrancy of the Scriptures. By gaining a thorough understanding of inerrancy Christians will be better equipped to understand and communicate what we believe and why we believe …show more content…
In his book The Battle for the Bible, Lindsell asserts that the Bible “does not contain error of any kind.”17 This is the concept of absolute inerrancy, which is defined by Erickson as is the position “that the Bible, which includes rather detailed treatment of matters both scientific and historical, is fully true.” 18Absolute inerrancy holds that everything in is intentional—that the Bible set out to give an accurate accounting of specific historical and scientific events, and that any contradiction found in the Bible can and must be explained. In fact, Lindsell goes to great measures to reconcile several biblical discrepancies commonly pointed out; noting that while they can certainly be explained, accuracy must be judged based on the context of the time in which it was written.19
Full Inerrancy
Similar to but less rigid than absolute inerrancy, is the concept of full inerrancy. Full inerrancy differs from absolute inerrancy in that it maintains that while the Bible did not set out to give historical and scientific data, the historical and scientific accounts of the Bible are indeed accurate. This view takes into account the fact that biblical authors were in fact human; the historical and scientific aspects of the Bible are correct although not necessarily exact. Erickson describes them as “popular descriptions,” and “general references;” noting that “what they teach is correct in the way