Inerrancy of the Bible and Faith?

Question

I gave a list of scriptures to some friends that prove to me the bible we have today is not inerrant. I was not surprised with their answer. They tell me the original manuscripts are inerrant (how convenient that these manuscripts don't exist now), they told me you can find error in everything if you are picky. However; they claim the message is still inerrant and that most of my issues with the Bible just have to be taken on faith. Why is it that I can't get an intelligent, rational response for why I should believe the Bible?

for those asking, here's one to go research, I have plenty more but don't want to overwhelm you just yet
2 Kings 8:25-26 says Ahaziah became king at age 22, 2 Chron 2:22 says he was 42 (the Hebrew text and the NKJV says 42, NASU translates it as 22). His father became king at age 32 and died 8 years later (2 kings 8:17) so it seems that Ahaziah was 22 not 42

ok, you can figure out what verse I meant, I'm errant, I made a typo, it's 2 Chron 22:2

Answer 1

There was once a book 'how to make lots of money', when you open the book it simply states: sell this book. The only clause is as a salesman you have to believe in what your selling. Replace the word money with *social stature [within your religious community] and you have the bible.

Religious communities evolved [even before states] to control populations. To become a controller of this religious community, you must first be proficient at converting others to the cause. The better ambassador you are for your religion the quicker you can work your way up the ranks. As with any sales the actual quality of the product is fairly irrelevant but your belief in it is paramount. Humans have evolved to be better salesmen by sometimes believing in things irrationally as it has been essentially better for their prosperity. Before the creation of the state, a person may have had to choose a religious belief to be part of a settled community or face a solitary life outside. Modern religion is simply the tale end of this process.

Generally, the more educated a person, the more they question these theological beliefs. Our whole education is based on the physical and rational world. This whole spiritual thing cannot be defined by nature as it is beyond the physical. They use the of power suggestion to colour these inherent mysteries.

*When broken down money is the modern form of hierarchal social stature. Of course many religions tell you its unimportant because they want to take it from you.

Answer 2

The Bible was written on perishable papyrus, but there was a system of copying it, (through scribes who counted letters per line) so that today there are literally thousands of copies. The Dead Sea Scrolls (discovered between 1947 and 1956) are one thousand years older than the copies previously discovered and yet only the most minimal punctuation differences were found.

The existence of these multiple copies have preserved the Bible. These and other copies have been gathered into a master text and this master text is used today in translation work. The Bibles we have today are far better than older versions. There is the New World Translation which is a word-for-word translation of the original text and there are many Bibles that are paraphrased versions where the text is translated into common vernacular. These are less accurate but can be very descriptive.

You should believe the Bible because it is historically accurate, scientifically accurate and it has accurately foretold the times we are living in. Because Jehovah knew how the world would be in our time, he also gave us guidance so we could avoid pitfalls and cope with life.

Regarding "faith". What some people lable faith is really credulity. Faith is based on knowledge, just as you suspect. Hebrew 11:1 defines faith "as the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld."

You should be able to get an answer to the list of scripture you believe to be wrong. Send them to me at [e-mail]

Answer 3

There is no 2 Chronicles 2:22. Chapter 2 only has 18 verses in it, so your initial premise, at least with the facts you've given, is incorrect.



Bula'ia Aratyme - I can open my newspaper today and find out what time the sun rises and the sun sets. Are you saying my newspaper believes the earth is the center of the universe? No - it is a commonly understood saying, and that is what was meant in the passage you quoted. We still use the same terminology today, and people don't get upset over it.

Answer 4

The Bible in uncomplicated terms says the earth is amazingly previous and would not supply an age. The universe and earth are created "interior the initiating" in the past the 6 days. The youthful earth is tied in to the six days being 24 hour days, however the 24 hour day isn't created till the fourth day while the solar and Moon are created for days. The info is overwhelming that the earth is definitely one of those thousand years previous. My guess is that satisfaction is protecting the extra youthful earth stream going.

Answer 5

They are partially right and partially wrong. It is true that the Bible itself makes no claim to innerency, and doesn't even define its own canon. None of the early Church Fathers regarded the Bible as innerent, and defined 'inspiration' by subject matter, not divine authorship.

But your friends are saying that the Bible, in the original manuscripts, is what they consider innerent. The original form that they are talking about is the Nestle-Aland text, which is the most accurate reconstruction of the original reading as put together by years of textual criticism. There is very little dispute about the original readings in academic circles. It is relatively straight-foward, and you can order critical editions of that text from Amazon.com. But many readings in older English translations include obvious scribal errors that are not present in the critical edition.

Your example is exactly what your friends are talking about. Ages in king lists are particularly vulnerable to scribal errors. Their belief is that the original manuscripts listed the correct numbers, but that scribes at some point obscured the reading.

Answer 6

"We don't need to have the original documents in order to demonstrate their inerrancy any more than a prosecutor needs a body to prove a crime has been committed. Inferences can be drawn from the evidence at hand, and a reasonable conclusion can be argued from biblical principles.

First of all, the copies definitely have errors in them, but whether or not they have errors does not necessitate that the originals did. We don't need to have the original documents in order to demonstrate their inerrancy anymore than a prosecutor needs a body to prove a crime has been committed.
Second, the Scriptures are said to be God-breathed, i.e., inspired. Second Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness." The word "inspired" is 'theopneustos', God-breathed. This means that Scripture comes from God."

Answer 7

Regarding Your specific example, the Hebrew numbers are represented by letters, in a rather logical way -- the second letter is "2" and the fourth letter is "4" -- but those two letters are too easily confused in old, worn manuscripts.

I agree that there ARE inconsistencies and downright contradictions in the Bible, but that does not stop me from reading and trusting. You will never get to the Truth by straining at gnats. If we could measure the distance to the farthest star, it would not take us on inch closer to God.

Answer 8

Well, people that follow the bible and use it in everyday life hate to admit the obvious inconsistencies within it because they are used to and comfortable with it. Many dont like the idea that what they believe isnt the absolute truth, and they'll close there ears to anything else different from their version of the truth. The bible is the original word of GOD but for reasons beyond my knowing, GOD allowed certain men and devils to change up some things in the bible to fit their agenda/desires. Its up to you to find what the absolute truth is.

Answer 9

THE BIBLES accuracy can be taken on as the same type of faith that scientists, doctors, historians practice and that is this:

(Hebrews 11:1) “11 Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld. . .”

>Thus when scientists trust in invisible forces and their timing such as gravity & electromagnetic forces working together --such is the faith described above!

>THUS WHEN doctors operate and trust that the bodies healing properties will indeed carry on the greatest part of the healing mechanisms--that is the faith described above!

>AND WHEN historians rely on relliable testimonies to verify true historical happenings--that is the faith as described above!

>>WHAT THEN does the Bible present as true testimony of its history to engender full trust in validated history, in accord with historians, scientists, etc. of our time?

Please note:

*** w60 9/1 p. 543 The Bible Lights Up History ***

“Although profane history treats only of nations who had imbibed all the chimeras of a superstitious worship, and abandoned themselves to all the irregularities of which human nature, after the fall of the first man, became capable; it nevertheless proclaims universally the greatness of the Almighty, his power, his justice. . . . We must therefore consider as an indisputable principle, and as the basis and foundation to the study of profane history, that the province of the Almighty has, from all eternity, appointed the establishment, duration, and destruction of kingdoms and empires. . . .
....“God has vouchsafed to discover to us in holy Scripture, a part of the relation of the several nations of the earth to his own people; and [it] diffuses great light over the history of those nations, of whom we shall have but a very imperfect idea, unless we have recourse to the inspired writers....."

*** w70 2/1 p. 91 What Do You Want Out of Life? ***

’ **American educator William Lyon Phelps wrote:

“Everyone who has a thorough knowledge of the Bible may truly be called educated; and no other learning or culture, no matter how extensive or elegant, can . . . form a proper substitute. . . . I believe a knowledge of the Bible without a college course is more valuable than a college course without the Bible.”

*** w75 3/1 p. 150 par. 34 The Bible—Written by Men but Still God’s Message

>>The well-known scholar Sir Frederic Kenyon, in the introduction to his seven volumes on the “Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri,” stated:
>>“The first and most important conclusion derived from the examination of them [the Papyri] is the satisfactory one that they CONFIRM THE ESSENTIAL SOUNDNESS (my caps) of the existing texts. No striking or fundamental variation is shown either in the Old or the New Testament. There are NO IMPORTANT OMISSIONS (my caps) or additions of passages, and no variations which affect vital facts or doctrines. The variations of text affect minor matters, such as the order of words or the precise words used . . . But their essential importance is their confirmation, by evidence of an earlier date than was hitherto available, of the integrity of our existing texts..."

*** g84 3/22 p. 10 Why Should I Read the Bible? ***

“I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatever.”—Sir Isaac Newton, British scientist

“ . . . probably the most influential collection of books in human history. Whatever one may think of the Bible’s contents, its role in the development of western culture and in the evolution of many eastern cultures makes at least some acquaintance with its literature and history an indispensable mark of the educated man.”—The Encyclopædia Britannica

--SO INDEED nothing important in all of history has been omitted or tranferred inacurrately by the Bible!

Answer 10

You are correct, the bible we have today is not inerrant. Jesus, however was. Most people do not understand how to tell the difference, do you?