INERRANT

In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the ages began. – Tit 1:2

The first time I heard of the word, “Inerrant” was in 2004. Somehow the speaker assumed I should know what it meant.  But I concluded it was some sort of special jargon that theologians use to describe Scripture; because even up till now I've still not heard it used outside of theology.

Inerrant simply means “correct and containing NO mistakes”. So, it’s no wonder it’s not common. What document, system or construct ever made by Man can be to be so perfect, that we could say it “contains NO mistake”.

If constitutions and tax laws have no slips, there’d be no need for lawyers. If the codes of Operating Systems were inerrant then there’d be no market for the antivirus industry. But then, how dare we claim Scripture is exempt from this rule? How dare we assert that the Bible is flawless?

The people who oppose the Inerrancy of scripture come from two groups: those in the Church and those outside of it. Detractors outside the Church claim the Bible cannot be inerrant because it’s nothing more than the composition of fallible, biased men. And there’re those in the Church who worry that calling the Bible inerrant only places an undue burden on it and exposes it to unwarranted scrutiny and ridicule by critics.

But the Inerrancy of scripture is inexorably tied to its Inspiration. For if it is God’s Word, then it should of necessity contain no error; for God cannot lie. While Inspiration answers the question of why the Bible can be trusted, Inerrancy answers the question of to what degree can the Bible be trusted.

Most importantly, conceding that maybe some parts of the Bible may be wrong eventually makes ALL of it to be so. For the same Bible that says Adam lived an incredible 930 years also says that Jesus was born of a virgin. If it “may be wrong” about the former, what makes it not wrong of the latter?

The doctrines of incarnation and redemption are inseparably wedded to historical accounts of the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ. If the details of Jesus’ life are with error, why should His claims of salvation be believed? 

Without the affirmation of absolute Inerrancy of scriptures, we’ll fall into a slippery snare of Satan who aims to erode, subtly, the foundation on which our faith stands from under us.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN