PERSPECTIVES
By: Devon We need to address two separate issues to properly respond to this question; trust and biblical inerrancy. First we’ll look at the issue of trust by considering these two points;
Likewise, even IF there are some errors in the bible (which I don’t believe there are), the bible has an excellent track record regarding what we know it is right about! What we know from eyewitness testimony, historical sources outside of the biblical text, and archaeology, tells us that there are many good reasons to trust the bible. Next, we’ll look at the issue of Biblical inerrancy by considering three questions regarding the supposed errors;
Are the supposed errors referring to contradictory accounts and if so, what exactly are the contradictions? Are the alleged errors in text that is history? Poetry? Prophecy? In the epistles? The bible is composed of 66 different books and includes different genres, or types of literature. In order to have a proper response, a question regarding alleged errors needs to be specific in order to be answered properly. We know that the bible has what detectives call “divergent details,” and that these are sometimes mistaken for contradictions. For example, the book of Matthew speaks about one angel present at the empty tomb on resurrection Sunday and the book of Luke mentions two. A closer look at the texts reveals that there is no contradiction, only a difference in the way the details were reported by the eyewitnesses; a divergent detail. Two people can see the same parade and yet describe it differently based on where they saw it from, which details piqued their particular interest, etc. Furthermore, there is not one instance in the bible where the presence of divergent details alters any foundational doctrines. The difference in the way that the two different authors describe the presence of the angels does not alter the fact that the tomb was empty because Jesus rose from the dead. Note: Someone who has a predisposed position of unbelief will have a never ending list of supposed errors or contradictions. Someone who is genuinely seeking the truth will be open to belief in the bible’s authority and ability to be trusted without having to have every question answered in full. A person doesn’t have to have a full and complete understanding of how a phone works in order to believe that their phone will work when they want to make a call, or to have the ability to actually make a call. By JT This is a very settled argument between believers and non-believers in that there are very few errors that do not change the doctrine of Christianity. The Bible in fact has a very large amount of copies that differ very little and only doing so in mostly spelling and names. The scribes who were tasked with copying the Old Testament had a very strict procedure so that very little error would occur. 1. They could only use clean animal skins, both to write on, and even to bind manuscripts. 2. Each column of writing could have no less than forty-eight, and no more than sixty lines. 3. The ink must be black, and of a special recipe. 4. They must verbalize each word aloud while they were writing. 5. They must wipe the pen and wash their entire bodies before writing the word "Jehovah," every time they wrote it. 6. There must be a review within thirty days, and if as many as three pages required corrections, the entire manuscript had to be redone. 7. The letters, words, and paragraphs had to be counted, and the document became invalid if two letters touched each other. The middle paragraph, word and letter must correspond to those of the original document. 8. The documents could be stored only in sacred places (synagogues, etc). 9. As no document containing God's Word could be destroyed, they were stored, or buried, in a genizah - a Hebrew term meaning "hiding place." These were usually kept in a synagogue or sometimes in a Jewish cemetery. By: Sy This question is simple. The fact is that the Bible does not have any errors, or contradictions more specifically. Just about all claims about there being contradictions in the Bible are usually parts where there are different details about certain events. There may be different details, but not contradictory. The difference could be left to someone standing somewhere else in the room. Different doesn’t mean contradictory, it just means different. By: R. T.
We can assure you that the Bible is accurate and not containing errors of any significance. The reasons are many but we will cover a few here. 1. We do not have the original documents that comprise the Bible but there are more historical copies of its entirety than any other book on earth. There are around 6,000 manuscripts that agree about 99.5% of the time. The only differences are in the spelling of words, punctuation and slight word alterations. This makes the Bible the most accurate collection of early documents found anywhere, more than Plato, Socrates and Aristotle. 2. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John do not tell the same events and this means the Bible has discrepancies. Let’s take a look at this statement. If you were to take any event that was viewed by multiple people and recorded their version of the event you would find that each recollection of the event was different. It doesn’t mean that any are wrong but each person’s point of view is differing from the other. It’s the same with the first 4 books of the New Testament. Each author recorded the events of Jesus’ life from their own perspective and none of them truly disagree with the other. This confirms that the gospels do not have errors or discrepancies of any kind, just a differing viewpoint. 3. If God is all powerful, all knowing and the creator of all things how could it be that He is unable to preserve His word without errors? I think this rightly answers its own question. He is able and has preserved the Bible in its entirety which is proven by the vast amount of early documents we have today. Jesus Himself said in Mark 13:31: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” We can also look at Psalms 12:6-7, which says: “The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times. You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever.” This is a promise God has made to keep his scriptures correct and pure in all ways. 4. Here is the method used by the authors of the Old Testament in copying the manuscripts to assure its accuracy: A. Only clean animals were used to make the parchments. B. Every scroll was designed to have certain specifications such as 48 to 60 lines with 30 letters across. C. The pages were given lines before putting in the lettering. D. Nothing was to be written from memory at any time. E. There were spacing rules so intricate they were measured by a hair. F. The scribe had to bathe and dress in Hebrew attire before beginning his work each time. G. A new unused brush was dipped into ink every time the name of God was written because His name is sacred. H. All the lines, letters and punctuation were counted to be sure there was the correct number of each. I. Any error in writing the text meant that document was destroyed. Only perfectly copied pages were acceptable. Matthew 5:18 says: "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Jesus confirmed that every minute marking in the Bible was preserved by the hand of God and is accurate until the end of time. The Bible as we know it today is accurate, correct and perfectly preserved. You can trust it in every way and we hope you will take the time to read it fully! |
AuthorA variety of authors will be answering these questions. All answers are verified as truth. Archives
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