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*[http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyan_theology/theojrnl/16-20/19-15.htm Wesleyanism & the Inerrancy Issue] by [[J. Kenneth Grider]] (Wesleyan perspective)
*[http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyan_theology/theojrnl/16-20/19-15.htm Wesleyanism & the Inerrancy Issue] by [[J. Kenneth Grider]] (Wesleyan perspective)
*[http://www.cresourcei.org/inerrant.html The Modern Inerrancy Debate] by Dennis Bratcher (Wesleyan perspective)
*[http://www.cresourcei.org/inerrant.html The Modern Inerrancy Debate] by Dennis Bratcher (Wesleyan perspective)
*[http://www.inerrancyexposed.com Inerrancy Exposed]


[[Category:Biblical criticism]]
[[Category:Biblical criticism]]

Revision as of 21:13, 20 February 2006

Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible is without error. The belief takes several forms, ranging from Biblical literalism (the belief that the Bible is true in every word) to the belief that Biblical texts require interpretation in order to be understood correctly.

Basis of belief

The theological basis of the belief, in its simplest form, is that as God is infallible, the Bible must also be free from error. A more nuanced interpretation of the same idea is that God guided the authors of the Bible without marginalizing their personal concerns or personalities, and so preserved the texts from error. (See Biblical inspiration). Since it is the Bible itself which asserts the infallibility of God, the principle of biblical inerrancy runs the risk of resting on circular reasoning.

Catholic teaching seeks to avoid this problem by holding that the resurrection of Christ affirms his divinity, and Christ in turn appointed the Pope by himself, or the body of Bishops led by the Pope, guided by the Holy Spirit, to offer infallible guidance on questions of faith and morals whose answers are found within the Word of God, comprised of both Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. But Roman Catholics do not affirm that the Bible is without error, even when interpreted correctly by the Pope or tradition.

The Orthodox Church also believes in unwritten Tradition and the written Scriptures. However, they do not believe in the infallibility or authority of the Magisterium, holding instead that the Church a whole, throughout both time and space, is infallible.

Protestant churches, like the Orthodox church, do not accept Papal authority, but they also reject an authoritative oral tradition parallel to, or productive of, the Bible. Those believing in inerrancy hold that the Bible confirms its own infallibility, pointing out that Jesus frequently quotes Scripture, and citing 2 Timothy 3:16: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God" (literally "God-breathed"). Critics of inerrancy point out that being inspired by God, as understood in other Bible uses of the word inspired, does not mean that one is without error.

Biblical literalism

In its most stringent form, Biblical inerrancy holds that the Bible is literally true in every word, at least in the original autograph (the first texts written in the original Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic). Authenticity, and inerrancy, therefore resides in the earliest and most accurate texts. Of course, because no one has access to these supposedly inerrant autographs, this is a claim that is impossible to prove. Critics argue that this impossibility leave the claim that the original autographs were inerrant an inconsequential claim.

While believing that every word is given by God through the authors of Scripture, many inerrantists say that literal interpretation is not always appropriate. It is necessary sometimes to recognize figurative language in Scripture. Indeed, statements such as "And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands" (Isaiah 55:12) do not make literal sense and are impossible to understand correctly without recognizing figurative language (in the example given, a poetic metaphor expressing joy). Entire books have been devoted to understanding figures of speech in Scripture. An early example that is still used is E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1970; reprinted from the 1898 original).

A variation on this belief holds that the translators of the King James Version were guided by God and that the KJV thus is to be taken as authoritative. However, those who hold this opinion do not extend it to the KJV translations of the Deuterocanonical books, which were produced along with the rest of the Authorized Version. Modern translations differ from the KJV at numerous points, sometimes on the basis of access to better early texts. Upholders of the KJV would nevertheless hold that the Protestant canon of KJV is itself an inspired text and therefore remains authoritative. The King James Only movement goes one step further, asserting that the KJV is the sole English translation free from error.

The Conservative Protestant position

In 1978 a large gathering of conservative Evangelical churches, including representatives of the Conservative, Reformed and Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Baptist denominations, adopted the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. The Chicago Statement does not necessarily imply that any particular traditional interpretation of the Bible is without error. Instead, it gives primacy to seeking the intention of the author of each text, and commits itself to receiving the statement as fact depending on whether it can be determined or assumed that the author meant to communicate a statement of fact. Of course, knowing the intent of the original authors is impossible. Acknowledging that there are many kinds of literature in the Bible besides statements of fact, the Statement nevertheless reasserts the authenticity of the Bible in toto as the Word of God. The Chicago Statement is worried that accepting one error in the Bible leads one down a slippery slope that ends in rejecting that the Bible has any value greater than some other book. "The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if this total divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible's own; and such lapses bring serious loss to both the individual and the Church."

The Catholic position

The position of the Roman Catholic Church on the infallibility of the Bible is contained in Dei Verbum, one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council, promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 18, 1965. It states that "everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit" and that "they, as true authors, consigned to writing everything and only those things which He [God] wanted." (Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum, n. 11).

Dei Verbum reaffirms a well-known and often-quoted statement by Pope Leo XIII, Providentissimus Deus (November 18, 1893), that "...all the books which the Church receives as sacred and canonical, are written wholly and entirely ... at the dictation of the Holy Spirit; and so far is it from being possible that any error can co-exist 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 of Trent, and finally confirmed and more expressly formulated by the Council of the Vatican." (Providentissimus Deus, n. 20).

Nevertheless, the Church does not adopt a literalist approach to inerrancy, but holds that, although every Biblical passage is true and inerrant when correctly interpreted, the authority to decide correct interpretation rests with the Church through its magisterium.

Wesleyan View of Scripture

The Wesley Christian tradition accepts that the Bible is authoritative on matters concerning salvation. But it does not advocate that the Bible is inerrant, nor does it contend that the Bible is authoritative on all matters.

What is of central importance for the Wesleyan Christian tradition is the Bible as a tool that God uses to promote salvation. The Bible does not itself effect salvation; God initiates salvation and proper creaturely responses consumate salvation. One may be in danger of bibliolatry (worship of the Bible) if one claims that the Bible secures salvation.

With this focus on salvation, Wesleyans need not make claims about inerrancy in the original autographs, subsequent translations, or particular interpretations. And yet Wesleyans affirm the Bible to be principally authoritative for faith and practice, and the Bible is often a principle means for God to promote salvation in the world.

See also

References

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