Biblical inerrancy: Difference between revisions

'''Biblical inerrancy''' is the [[belief]] that the [[Bible]] "is without error or fault in all its teaching";<ref>Geisler, NL. and Roach, B., ''Defending Inerrancy: Affirming the Accuracy of Scripture for a New Generation, Baker Books, 2012.</ref> or, at least, that "Scripture in the original [[manuscript]]s does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact".<ref name="Grudem90">{{Cite book |first=Wayne A. |last=Grudem |author-link=Wayne Grudem |title=Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine |publisher=[[Inter-Varsity Press]] |location=[[Leicester]]|year=1994|page=90 |isbn=978-0-85110-652-6 |oclc=29952151}}</ref> Some equate inerrancy with [[biblical infallibility]]; others do not.<ref>McKim, DK, ''Westminster dictionary of theological terms'', Westminster John Knox Press, 1996.</ref><ref>Geisler, N. L. (ed), ''Inerrancy'', Zondervan, 1980, p. 22. "The trouble is that such a distinction is nowhere to be found in Jesus' own teaching, and seems to be precluded by His testimony both to the unqualified historical accuracy and the inspiration of the Old Testament&nbsp;... The attempt to discriminate&nbsp;... seems to be a product of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries".</ref> The belief is of particular significance within parts of [[evangelicalism]], where it is formulated in the "[[Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy]]".

A formal statement in favor of biblical inerrancy was published in the ''[[Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society]]'' in 1978.<ref>"Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy", ''[[Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society]]'' vol. 21 no. 4 (December 1978), 289–96.[http://library.dts.edu/Pages/TL/Special/ICBI_1.pdf]</ref> The signatories to the "Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy" admit that, "Inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture.". However, even though there may be no extant original manuscripts of the Bible, those that exist can be considered inerrant, because, as the statement reads: "The autographic text of Scripture,&nbsp;... in the providence of God can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy."<ref name="ChicX">''Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy'': "Article X. We affirm that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture, which in the providence of God can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy. We further affirm that copies and translations of Scripture are the Word of God to the extent that they faithfully represent the original. We deny that any essential element of the Christian faith is affected by the absence of the autographs. We further deny that this absence renders the assertion of biblical inerrancy invalid or irrelevant.".

The "doctrine of the inerrancy of scripture"<ref>[http://www.scotthahn.com/download/attachment/2516 Cardinal Augustin Bea, "Vatican II and the Truth of Sacred Scripture"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508175506/http://www.scotthahn.com/download/attachment/2516 |date=2012-05-08 }}</ref> held by the [[Catholic Church]], as expressed by the [[Second Vatican Council]], is that, "The books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted put into sacred writings for the sake of salvation."<ref name=DV11/>

Inerrancy has been much more of an issue in American evangelicalism than in British [[evangelicalism]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Crisp |first1=Oliver D. |title=A British Perspective on Evangelicalism |url=https://fullermag.fuller.edu/british-perspective-evangelicalism/ |website=Fuller Magazine |publisher=[[Fuller Theological Seminary]] |accessdate=18 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328014642/https://fullermag.fuller.edu/british-perspective-evangelicalism/ |archive-date=2016-03-28 |url-status=dead}}</ref> According to Stephen R. Holmes, it "plays almost no role in British evangelical life".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Holmes |first1=Stephen R. |title=The Cambridge Companion to Evangelical Theology |chapter=British (and European) Evangelical Theologies |date=2007 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=254 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vlmXBe0RPxYC&pg=PA254 |accessdate=18 April 2016}}</ref>

A minority of biblical inerrantists go further than the Chicago Statement, arguing that the original text has been perfectly preserved and passed down through time. "''[[Textus Receptus]]'' onlyism" holds that the Greek text of this name (Latin for received text) is a perfect and inspired copy of the original and supersedes earlier manuscript copies. The [[King James Only movement]] ascribes inerrancy only to the [[King James Version|King James English translation]] made from the ''Textus Receptus''.