Biblical inerrancy: Difference between revisions

{{bibleverse|2|Timothy|3:16|50}}, {{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|2:13|50}}, {{bibleverse|1|Thessalonians|2:13|50}}, {{Bibleref2|Romans|3:2|50}}, {{bibleverse|2|Peter|1:21|50}}, {{bibleverse|2|Samuel|23:2|50}}, {{Bibleref2|Hebrews|1:1|50}}, {{Bibleref2|John|10:35|50}}, {{Bibleref2-nb ||John|16:13|50}}, {{Bibleref2-nb||John|17:17|50}}, {{cite book|last=Engelder|first=Theodore E.W.|url=https://archive.org/details/MN41551ucmf_1|title=Popular Symbolics: The Doctrines of the Churches of Christendom and of Other Religious Bodies Examined in the Light of Scripture|page=[https://archive.org/details/MN41551ucmf_1/page/n55 26]|location=Saint Louis, MO|publisher=Concordia Publishing House|year=1934}}</ref> The Lutheran [[Apology of the Augsburg Confession]] identifies Holy Scripture with the Word of God<ref>"God's Word, or Holy Scripture" from the [http://www.bookofconcord.org/defense_2_originalsin.php Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article II, of Original Sin]{{Dead link|date=May 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and calls the Holy Spirit the author of the Bible.<ref>"the Scripture of the Holy Ghost". [http://www.bookofconcord.org/defense_greeting.php Apology to the Augsburg Confession, Preface, 9]{{Dead link|date=March 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Because of this, Lutherans confess in the [[Formula of Concord]], "we receive and embrace with our whole heart the [[Hebrew Scriptures|prophetic]] and [[apostolic Scriptures]] of the Old and New Testaments as the pure, clear fountain of Israel".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bookofconcord.org/sd-ruleandnorm.php|title=The Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord}}</ref> Lutherans (and other Protestants) believe apocryphal books are neither inspired nor written by prophets, and that they contain errors and were never included in the "Palestinian Canon" that Jesus and the Apostles are said to have used,<ref>See [http://www.lcms.org/ca/www/cyclopedia/02/display.asp?t1=C&word=CANON. BIBLE Bible, Canon in the Christian Cyclopedia] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071220131723/http://www.lcms.org/ca/www/cyclopedia/02/display.asp?t1=C&word=CANON |date=December 20, 2007 }}</ref> and therefore are not a part of Holy Scripture.<ref name="Engelder 1934 27">{{cite book|last=Engelder|first=Theodore E.W.|url=https://archive.org/details/MN41551ucmf_1|title=Popular Symbolics: The Doctrines of the Churches of Christendom and Of Other Religious Bodies Examined in the Light of Scripture|page=[https://archive.org/details/MN41551ucmf_1/page/n56 27]|location=Saint Louis, MO|publisher=Concordia Publishing House|year=1934}}</ref> The prophetic and apostolic scriptures are authentic as written by the prophets and apostles. A correct translation of their writings is God's Word because it has the same meaning as the original Hebrew and Greek.<ref name="Engelder 1934 27" /> A mistranslation is not God's word, and no human authority can invest it with divine authority.<ref name="Engelder 1934 27" />

 

{{blockquote|That the Bible is inspired is, indeed, a primary Christian conviction; it is from this that certain consequences have been drawn, such as infallibility and inerrancy, which retain their place in Christian thought because they are held to be bound up with the affirmation of inspiration. But the deductions can be rejected without any ambiguity as to the fact of inspiration. Neither 'fundamentalists' nor sceptics are to be followed at this point... the Bible is inspired because it is the adequate and indispensable vehicle of revelation; but inspiration does not amount to dictation by God.<ref>Mozley, J.K., "The Bible: Its Unity, Inspiration, and Authority", in W.R. Matthews, ed., ''The Christian Faith: Essays in Explanation and Defense'', Harper and Bros., 1936. pp. 58-59.</ref>}}