Why Believe In The Inerrancy of Scripture?
Hi Friends, this is part-2 in a 2-part series dealing with why I believe the Bible. If this is your first time to the blog, you can find part-1 here.
Because I believe Scripture is from God, that is, I believe it is inspired by Him. I then believe in inerrancy since it is the logical deduction of inspiration. 2 Timothy 3:16-17:
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. -2 Timothy 3:16-17
The Greek word for **breathed out by God** is theopneustos which literally means God-breathed. In other words, God breathed the entire Bible. The Greek word for Scripture is Graphe which always, always, always is used in reference to divine revelation in the Bible. There is no exception to this rule in the Scripture period. Paul has just talked about the “sacred writings” in 2 Timothy 3:15, and he will charge Timothy to “preach the Word” in 4:2. It is clear he is talking about the written revelation of God. Because every word of Scripture is inspired by God, it is clear that it is inerrant for God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18).
What about 1 Timothy? Paul teaches the young pastor to be reliant on the Scripture there also:
Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.
-1 Timothy 4:13
Would Paul have told Timothy to read the Scripture if it had errors in it? Wouldn’t he have had to tell young Timothy to only read the parts he discerned to be correct? He doesn’t do that. He just tells him to read the Scripture. Which, of course, makes sense if you have an inerrant Bible. How about another witness, let’s call Paul’s epistle to the church in Rome to the stand:
“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
-Romans 15:4
Does Paul tell the congregation only the parts of the Scripture that are good according to their discernment are acceptable for encouragement? No, he does not. He tells them the entirety of Scripture was good for encouragement. So, I believe the Bible because you are reduced to absurdity without it. I believe it is inerrant because it is inspired by God. Of course, it is also infallible for God is not capable of lying; therefore, revelation given from Him is not capable of being untrustworthy. I also affirm sufficiency because the revelation of God would be sufficient for all we need to live pleasing before Him. Of course, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 clearly makes that claim.
Proclaiming The Evidence
Now, I had also mentioned the entire component of evidence in terms of historical, scientific, archaeological, and such previously in this post. As I said, I think we should use this type of evidence, but it is not the main thrust of our apologetical defense of the faith. I want to present some of that now.
Voddie Baucham goes through a lot of evidence in his book The Ever Loving Truth, which I will be drawing from for the following numbers. First of all, the Bible was written on three different continents by over 40 different authors over a period of approximately 1,600 years. The fact that we have it never contradicting itself is incredible. The fact that it never contradicts itself once you toss all of these factors in is truly divine. Not to mention the fact it was written in three different languages as an added layer of complexity to everything else.
There are over 5,000 Greek manuscripts containing all or part of the New Testament, The earliest of which is dated before 150 A.D. When compared to other writings of antiquity, such as Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars which is obviously accepted as being legitimate the Bible is unquestionably supreme. There are only 10 manuscripts of the Gallic Wars that are approximately 900 years after Caesar’s death. They go unchallenged, but the Bible is questioned. We got 5,000 manuscripts, Gallic Wars has 10, we got like less than a hundred years after the author’s death, and Gallic Wars is at 900. Why is the Bible being challenged again?
Also, don’t forget that the writings of the early church fathers also corroborate the Bible as they quote it frequently in their letters and such. You also have all of the Old Testament prophecy fulfilled in the New. You have archaeological evidence such as the dead sea scrolls also pointing to the validity of the Bible.
The End Point of The Subject
My point is that if you reject the Bible, you are not only reduced to logical absurdity in your worldview, but also, you are rejecting all of the overwhelming evidence that stands against you. It is not only then logically incoherent to reject the Bible. It is actually unscientific and anti-evidence.
So, why do I believe the Bible? Because biblical Christianity is the only worldview that provides a coherent, reliable, logical, and trustworthy explanation for reality. It alone can give a foundation for truth, morality, and meaning. Not only that, but the evidence points to the Bible as the Word of God. The evidence demonstrates this is not just another book, it is the Word of God having been preserved through the means of His providence over history. I believe the Bible because it never contradicts itself, and its contents are clearly divine. I believe the Bible, because it is the revelation given to man from God that they might be saved in the name of Jesus and live solely for His glory alone!
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