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Pope [[Leo XIII]], in his 1893 encyclical {{lang|la|[[Providentissimus Deus]]}}, addressed attacks on the inerrancy of the Bible regarding descriptions of physical phenomena.<ref name=":0" /> He explained that descriptions of physical events in the Bible are meant to manifest religious truths, and not to describe the physical events themselves.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Belmonte |first=Charles |url=https://fsubelmonte.weebly.com/uploads/1/9/7/1/19715887/fsu1.pdf |title=Faith Seeking Understanding |publisher=Studium Theologiae Foundation, Inc. |year=2006 |isbn=971-91060-4-2 |editor-last=Belmonte |editor-first=Charles |edition=2nd |volume=I |location=Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines |pages=122-123 |access-date=May 17, 2023}}</ref> He also explained that the inspiration that the Holy Spirit gave to the hagiographers did not extend to the explanations of natural phenomena; hence, the hagiographers wrote about natural phenomena as they were commonly observed and in terms of everyday language.<ref name=":0" /> He also explained that the hagiographers sometimes described natural phenomena using metaphors. <ref name=":0" /> He also explained that there could not be real conflict between biblical descriptions of natural phenomena and science, because the hagiographers did not intend to describe natural phenomena scientifically, and because God is the author of the Bible.<ref name=":0" />
Pope [[Leo XIII]], in his 1893 encyclical {{lang|la|[[Providentissimus Deus]]}},<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Providentissimus Deus (November 18, 1893) | LEO XIII |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_18111893_providentissimus-deus.html}}</ref> also wrote:
{{quote|20.{{nbsp}}[...] It is absolutely wrong and forbidden, either to narrow inspiration to certain parts only of Holy Scripture, or to admit that the sacred writer has erred. For the system of those who, in order to rid themselves of these difficulties, do not hesitate to concede that divine inspiration regards the things of faith and morals, and nothing beyond,{{nbsp}}[...] cannot be tolerated. For all the books which the Church receives as sacred and canonical, are written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, at the dictation of the Holy Ghost; and{{nbsp}}[...] that inspiration{{nbsp}}[...] is essentially incompatible with error.{{nbsp}}[...] This is the ancient and unchanging faith of the Church.}}
Fifty years later (1943), pope [[Pius XII]] in {{lang|la|[[Divino afflante Spiritu]]}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_30091943_divino-afflante-spiritu.html|title = Divino Afflante Spiritu (September 30, 1943) | PIUS XII}}</ref> agreed:
{{quote|1.{{nbsp}}[...] When{{nbsp}}[...] some Catholic writers{{nbsp}}[...] ventured to restrict the truth of Sacred Scripture solely to matters of faith and morals, and to regard other matters, whether in the domain of physical science or history, as "obiter dicta" and – as they contended – in no wise connected with faith, Our Predecessor of immortal memory, Leo XIII in the Encyclical Letter 'Providentissimus Deus'{{nbsp}}[...] justly and rightly condemned these errors.}}
However, Pius XII did allow that not everything in the Bible need be understood literally, since the Bible contained different literary ''genres'': in addition to the narration of events, there was poetry and metaphor and imagery, none of which needed be interpreted literally.
Another controversy with regard to the inerrancy of the Bible that was prevalent after 1893 was regarding historicity of the events narrated in it.<ref name=":0" />
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