Notice there is no mention of “inerrancy” or “without
error”. The key word is “useful”, a far softer and more humble word than
“inerrant” or even “infallible”.
The other key word used by Paul is “God-breathed”, sometimes
translated “inspired”. This word is important because it gives scripture an
authority and uniqueness beyond ordinary writings and books. Still, there is
nothing in the word “God-breathed” or “inspired” that implies complete freedom
from error.
In fact, the same idea of “God-breathed” occurs in Genesis 3
when God created the first man and woman. Clearly, their “inspired” creation did not
include complete freedom from error. No
humans are free from error, but we are all “God-breathed”.
To go further, Jesus himself challenged the idea of
inerrancy in several places. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus repeats several
times, “You have heard it said…but I say to you…” When he said, “You have heard it said,” he is
quoting the Old Testament scriptures. When he then says, “but I say to you”, he
corrects the older teaching of scripture, replacing it with new truth.
Obviously, Jesus did not view the “Bible” he used - our Old Testament - as
complete and without error.
An inerrant Bible does not guarantee truth. It did not prevent the Bible from being used
to justify slavery and witch burning. An
inerrant Bible would also require an inerrant interpretation, which would also
require an inerrant interpreter, and so on and so on.
The Bible is composed of 66 books (73 if you’re Catholic or
Anglican), written by 40 different authors, over a period of 1500 years,
representing various cultures and at least 3 different languages. To
interpret every verse (over 30,000 in all) in a way that never contradicts any
other verse would require extremely sophisticated and highly implausible
linguistic and theological gymnastics. Those who claim to do this end up
disagreeing among themselves.
Admitting the Bible may contain error or imperfection does
not, in any way, take away from its value or inspiration. Millions of lives,
from Saint Augustine to Saint Francis to Martin Luther, just to name a few,
have been miraculously changed by reading portions of scripture. The absence or
presence of error was irrelevant and had no bearing whatsoever on God’s ability
to use the Bible in that way. In fact, it demonstrates the power of God to use
imperfection, which should give us all hope.
While I believe the Bible contains errors and
contradictions, I also believe it to be “God’s inspired word”. It is a living document, and it continues to
speak to me in very personal and powerful ways.
It also contains extremely valuable truths and stories about life and
God that help us find peace and fulfillment as human beings.
Alan Shope
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