The Scriptures Affirm Their Own Inerrancy

The doctrine of inerrancy originates with the Scripture itself because it claims to be inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

The writers of the Old Testament also testify to the doctrine of inerrancy and they do so explicitly by claiming they were speaking the Word of God.

They claim 3,808 times to be communicating the very words of God (see Deuteronomy 4:2; Psalm 19:7; 2 Samuel 23:2; Isaiah 1:2; Jeremiah 1:7-9; Ezra 2:7; 3:4).

Dan Story writes “When we turn to examine the Old Testament, we find inerrancy supported throughout. Texts such as Exodus 4:10–15, Deuteronomy 18:18, 2 Samuel 23:2, and Jeremiah 1:9 tell us that God selected certain individuals, called “prophets,” to speak His Word. Some were selected even before they were born (see Jer. 1:5; Luke 1:11–15, John the Baptist is considered the last of the Old Testament prophets). These men were God’s mouthpieces. What they spoke was what God wanted communicated. The prophets themselves recognized that they conveyed God’s words, not their own (e.g., Jer. 30:2). As God’s mouthpieces, they must have spoken inerrantly because God would not have allowed them to speak error in His name. Not only did God select His spokespersons, but, to ensure that His words were passed on to future generations accurately, He commanded His prophets to record them (Exod. 34:27–28; Isa. 8:1; Jer. 30:2). Now why would God select His own mouthpieces and command them to write His words, then allow them to record error? God instructed these same prophets to preserve the recorded Word and pass it on as an everlasting testimony (Exod. 17:14; 40:20; Deut. 10:5; 31:24–26; Isa. 30:8; Hab. 2:2). In Romans 15:4, the apostle Paul states that ‘whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope’ (nasv). If God insisted that the Old Testament be recorded and preserved for future instruction, we can be certain that God would have prevented the contamination of error. Or consider Psalms 105 and 106. In these and other passages, the human authors recall historical events from Israel’s past. These texts are examples of the Old Testament validating its own historicity. The Old Testament was written over a thousand-year time span. When newer books in the Old Testament acknowledge historical events in older books, it shows that the later authors believed in the historical inerrancy of the older books. The Psalms noted above were written hundreds of years after the events they acknowledge occurred. The psalmists praise God for the plagues on Egypt that resulted in their people’s release from bondage and for parting the Red Sea during their exodus. Obviously, the Israelites alive at the time Psalms 105 and 106 were written did not consider these events as myths or legends. If the Old Testament writers did not believe in the inerrancy of the Old Testament (their Bible), it would be meaningless for them to recount historical data as factual. It’s beyond doubt, then, that the Old Testament claims to be inerrant, and the Israelites accepted it as so. It was written by individuals personally selected by God and instructed in what to write, how to record it, and how to preserve it. It contains not only spiritual truths (matters of faith) and moral truths (matters of practice) but also trustworthy historical facts.”[1]

The New Testament writers also bear witness to the fact that in the Old Testament was God speaking (see Matthew 1:22; Luke 1:70; Mark 12:36; Romans 7:12; Hebrews 4:12; James 1:22-25; 4:5; Revelation 22:18-19).

Passages such as 2 Timothy 3:15, 2 Peter 1:21, and 1 Thessalonians 2:13 echo what the Old Testament teaches: all of Scripture is inspired by God, the Holy Spirit superintended the writing of Scripture, and the Bible contains the words of God, not of men.

These texts also lay a foundation for other New Testament passages that teach biblical inerrancy.

The apostles acknowledged that the Old Testament authors wrote under the authority of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:16; 4:24–25).

The New Testament writers also acknowledged that what they wrote originated with God, not with them (1 Cor. 14:37; 2 Pet. 1:21).

Again Story writes “The New Testament authors frequently demonstrated their belief in the truthfulness of the Old Testament by referring to fulfilled prophecy (John 12:37–41; Acts 1:16; Rom. 3:1–2). This is nowhere more evident than in their many references to the prophetic passages concerning Christ’s coming ministry (see Matt. 1:22; 2:5, 15, 23; 13:35; 21:4; 27:9). It’s unlikely that the apostles would place such a heavy emphasis on Old Testament prophecy if they thought it was less than truthful. A compelling evidence demonstrating that the New Testament writers considered the Bible to be inerrant is that they referred to Old Testament characters and events as fully historical, with no hint that they were legendary (Luke 3:38; Rom. 5:12–21; 1 Tim. 2:13–14; Heb. 11:4–11; 2 Pet. 3:6). If the New Testament writers considered the Old Testament as anything other than inerrant historically, it would make no sense for them to refer to it in such a fashion. There are many passages throughout the New Testament that refer to events in the Old Testament as literal history. People and events in Genesis are mentioned or quoted at least 160 times by the New Testament writers—and more than 100 of these pertain to the most controversial passages. For example, in the above passages, Peter refers to the Noahic flood, and Paul refers to Adam and Eve. In Romans 5:12–21, Paul uses the historical event of the Fall as the reference point for his teaching on Christ’s work of redemption. He states that just as sin entered the world due to the single act of one man (Adam), so too is the effect of this sin undone by the one act of righteousness when Jesus died on the cross. It is impossible to sustain the parallel between the work of Adam and the work of Christ if Adam was not a historical person and if the fall was not a historical event. Altogether, such passages demonstrate that the New Testament writers believed their Bible (the Old Testament) was inerrant. They staked their lives on it. Believing Jesus Christ was the prophesied Messiah, many of them died under religious persecution. Like the Old Testament prophets, the New Testament authors recognized they wrote under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit. To them, all of the Bible was God’s inerrant Word.”[2]

Jesus Christ Himself bore witness to the Scripture and specifically confirmed the whole of the Old Testament.

He did not find one error or inconsistency in it.

He continually based His teaching and arguments and exhortations on it (Matthew 5:18; John 10:35; Luke 24:44).

He referred to many Old Testament persons and events, and thus bore testimony to the historicity, authenticity and authority of the Old Testament.

Interestingly, Jesus testified to the historicity on some of the events and miracles of the Old Testament which have always been under greatest question by the critics.

He approved the account of the following: (1) Creation and marriage (Matthew 19:5 (2) The Deluge and Noah’s ark (Luke 17:26-27) (3) The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Luke 17:28-29) (4) The destruction of Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 11:21-22) (5) Circumcision (John 7:22) (6) The Passover (Matthew 26:2) (7) The Law (John 7:19) (8) The Commandments (Matthew 19:7–9) (9) The Jewish law of divorce (Matthew 19:7–9) (10) The fact of the burning bush (Mark 12:26) (11) The type of Jonah and the great fish (Matthew 12:40) (12) The repentance of Ninevah (Matthew 12:41) (13) The glory of Solomon (Matthew 6:29) (14) The wisdom of Solomon (Matthew 12:42) (15) The Feast of Tabernacles (John 7) (16) David eating the shewbread (Matthew 12:3) (17) The priests profaning the Sabbath (Matthew 12:5) (18) The heavens shut up in Elijah’s day (Luke 4:25) (19) The story of Naaman the leper (Luke 4:27) (20) The record of the brazen serpent (John 3:14-15) (21) The murder of Abel and Zacharias (Matthew 23:35) (22) The mission of Messiah (Luke 4:16-21) (23) The mission of John the Baptist (Matthew 17:10-13) (24) The mission of Elias-Matthew 17:10-13) (25) Daniel and his great prophecy (Matthew 24:15-16).

Story again writes “The most compelling evidence supporting the inerrancy of the Bible is the testimony of Jesus Christ. To all Christians, Jesus is God and the final and supreme authority in all things. If this is true, then His opinion on the inerrancy of Scripture must be accepted as truth. Jesus believed and taught that the Hebrew Bible was inerrant, not only in matters of faith and practice, but in its prophetic, historical, geographical, and scientific data. Jesus also predicted the writing of the New Testament under the power of the Holy Spirit, therefore putting a stamp of approval on its inerrancy. The following is a summary of Jesus’ teaching on the Bible’s inerrancy. Now some people may argue that because Jesus’ teaching on inerrancy is recorded in the Bible, it’s circular reasoning to use the Bible to prove Jesus’ view of inerrancy and then use Jesus to prove the inerrancy of the Bible. However, this is not what we’re doing here. In Chapter 3, we established the historical reliability of the Bible independently of Jesus’ testimony by relying on nonbiblical evidences. So we are not guilty of the fallacy of circular reasoning.”[3]

[1] Story, D. (1997). Defending your faith (pp. 54–55). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.

[2] Story, D. (1997). Defending your faith (pp. 56–57). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.

[3] Story, D. (1997). Defending your faith (p. 57). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.