What does Inerrancy Mean?

Introduction

This is our second message on the inerrancy of scripture. My purpose tonight is to clarify what is meant when we talk about the inerrancy of scripture.

Back in 1967, a professor by the name of Daniel Fuller who was the son of Charles fuller and co-founder of Fuller Theological Seminary in his address entitled “Benjamin B. Warfield's View of Faith and History” argued that if the bible contains statements like “ the mustard seed is the smallest of seed” and the “sun rises” then the bible cannot be viewed an without error because both of those statements on surface level are incorrect. The mustard seed is not the smallest seed and the sun doesn’t move around the earth; rather the earth moves around the sun. Fuller Seminary was one of the first New Evangelical seminaries in America which took Fundamentalism and tried to have dialogue with the liberals. In the end, they paved the way for compromise of historic Christian doctrine and practice among conservative Christians.

But Fuller is not the only one who has used such arguments to argue against the inerrancy of scripture. Arguments like these have become popular among skeptics and athiests or just those who do not believe the bible is completely truthful. But these arguments reveal a misunderstanding of what is meant by those who hold to inerrancy. It also shows a misunderstanding of how the bible was written. In 2 Peter 1:21 “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” we looked at how God inspired his words through human authors. We also looked at the fingerprints of the human authors on the text of scripture. God chose to communicate through human beings using ordinary human ways of communicating. This does not mean there are errors in the bible, but it does need we need to understand what is written in light of the way in which the bible communicates. It is not a scientific manual or historical biography though it contains elements of both. The bible communicates in the common ordinary langauge of people. Because of that we should expect it to communicate in the ways that we often communicate with one another.

So tonight, we are going to look at what we mean when we say the bible is inerrant and some examples that show us this.

Not Scientific Precision

John 11:9 “Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.” Daylight changes with the seasons

Matthew 13:32 “Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.” Smaller seeds include:

wild grasses

orchids

figs

Most see this as a reference to the seeds sown in a garden as context refers to in 18

Uses Improper Grammar

Ephesians 3:1 “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,” In both English and Greek this sentence doesn’t have a finite verb to go with the subject Paul. Later in vs 14, Paul reiterates the subject and concludes his thought.

The Greek NT actually contains a few of these improper uses of grammar called solecisms.

broken up sentences like eph 3:1

mismatches subject and verbs- gender and number must agree

Comparisons that do not finish Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” Paul picks up the comparison in later verses by reiterating it, but in this sentence he never finishes it.

Not an error because truth can be expressed using bad grammar.- I ain’t going to the store with you.

Calvin describes situations like this as God lisping to condescend to mankind. He speaks in human langauge as He uses human instruments to give us his word.

Uses Non-chronological Narrative

Both secular and religious historical narratives at the time that the bible was written did not focus on chronological percision in giving their events. History books were often written with a lesson or idea they were supposed to show. To understand this consider the fact that we have four gospels. Why four? Why not just one? Each author tells the events of Jesus’ life for a different audience to convey a specific message:

Matthew- the Promised Messiah- written to a Jewish audience

Mark- the Suffering Servant- written to the Gentiles

Luke- Jesus as the Son of Man- there is debate about who Luke is writing to. I have previously introduced Theophilus as possibly a Jewish priest, Luke may be writing to Jews outside of Israel- the son of man prophesies would be significant to a Jewish audience. Dr. David Allen makes a strong case that Luke was actually a Jew from outside Jerusalem with a strong knowledge of the inner workings of the temple. These earmarks show up throughout his writtings. But the point is that Luke had a distinct perspective on the life of Jesus.

John- the Son of God- whosoever

These authors organized their information in a way that got their main message accross. While they followed a general understanding of the broad flow of Christ’s life; they were not bound to a “And then this happened” way of relating the story.

Often when the events are intended to be chronological there will be chronological words used like when and immediately. However, words like and, and then, next, after that are not inherently chronological in the NT. Some of these words focus on logical development or the result of something.

One example of this is the arrest of John the Baptist. Luke places the arrest at the beginning of his gospel in order to lump all the stories of John together while Mark places it further on in his book. Luke 3:20 “Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.” vs Mark 6:17 “For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife: for he had married her.” It may seem like just three chapters but consider that Mark is significantly shorter than the rest of the gospel books.

Uses Round Numbers

Numbers 1:21–23 “Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred. Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.”

This accounts for many of the number differences between Kings and Chronicles.

Matthew 14:21 “And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.”

Luke often uses the word about- Luke 3:23 “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,”

Uses Imprecise Quotations

Matthew 2:6 “And thou Beth-lehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.”

Micah 5:2 “But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

Sometimes the quotations were from the LXX- Hebrews 10:5/ Psalm 40:6; Heb 1:6/ Deut 32:43- the author of Hebrews was writing to Jews outside of Israel

Uses Phenomenological Langauge

Ecclesiastes 1:5 “The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.”

Isaiah 45:22 “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: For I am God, and there is none else.”

Uses Figures of Speech

Simile- Revelation 1:12–15 “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.” Similies

2. Hyperbole- Mark 1:5 “And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.” Hyperbole

“All” falls under the use of hyperbole in language. Children use this all the time (did you catch the hyperbole there) when they say, “you never let me go with my friends.” Hyperbole is used to emphasize something and in this case it emphasizes how large the group actually is. 

3. Metonymy- Luke 16:29 “Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” Moses and the prophets were not literally alive. The words represent the writtings of Moses and the prophets. It is like using the phrase “the crown” to represent the king

4. Irony- ELijah mocking the prophets of baal- Cry aloud for he is a god… sarcasm

5. Merism- Revelation 1:8 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” Beginning and end and everything in between

6. Synecdoche- Part represents the whole Psalm 71:8 “Let my mouth be filled with thy praise And with thy honour all the day.”

Conclusion

When discussing the errors in the bible, we must be honest and fair about how people normally communicate with one another. The bible was not written as a textbook from a scientist or a modern historian; rather it was written by men who were shepherds, farmers, fishermen, tax collectors, carpenters, doctors and yes by some kings. But it communicates in the ways that the average man communicates with one another. It is important for us to understand how the bible commmunicates if we are going to accurately understand whether it has errors or not.