The Inerrancy of Scripture

Systematic Theology Notes — Chapter 5: The Inerrancy of Scripture
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (2nd edition)
Expanded study notes on what the Bible teaches about its own truthfulness.

Definition
The inerrancy of Scripture means that Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact. In other words, the Bible is completely true in all that it affirms.

A. The meaning of inerrancy

  1. Inerrancy concerns the original manuscripts (the autographs), not every later copy or translation.
    Copying errors and translation difficulties exist, but they do not overturn the claim that the original writings were free from error.
  2. Inerrancy means that Scripture does not affirm anything contrary to fact.
    It is fully truthful in whatever it teaches—whether history, doctrine, ethics, or any other subject it addresses.
  3. Inerrancy does not require modern standards of precision in every detail.
    Approximate numbers, rounded figures, phenomenological language (“the sun rises”), and ordinary speech are compatible with inerrancy. The standard is truthfulness according to the conventions of the original audience, not laboratory exactness.
  4. Inerrancy does not claim that the human authors were omniscient or that they never used sources.
    It claims that when they wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, what they affirmed was true.

B. Scripture’s own claims about its truthfulness

  • Numbers 23:19 — God is not a man, that he should lie.
  • Titus 1:2 — God, who never lies.
  • Hebrews 6:18 — It is impossible for God to lie.
  • Psalm 12:6 — The words of the Lord are pure words.
  • Psalm 119:160 — The sum of your word is truth.
  • John 17:17 — Your word is truth.
  • 2 Timothy 3:16 — All Scripture is breathed out by God.
  • 2 Peter 1:21 — Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Because the words of Scripture are God’s words (see Chapter 4), and because God cannot lie, the Scriptures are true in all that they affirm.

C. Jesus and the apostles treat Scripture as true

  • Matthew 5:17–18 — Not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
  • Matthew 19:4–5 — Jesus treats the words of Genesis as what God “said.”
  • John 10:35 — “Scripture cannot be broken.”
  • Luke 24:25–27, 44–47 — Jesus rebukes the disciples for being slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken and shows that the whole Old Testament points to him.
  • Acts 24:14 — Paul believes everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets.
  • Romans 15:4 — Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction.

The consistent practice of Jesus and the apostles is to treat the Scriptures as reliable and true, not as a mixture of truth and error.

D. Common objections and careful answers

  1. Apparent discrepancies
    Many so-called contradictions dissolve when we recognize differences in purpose, selection of detail, or ordinary language. Where difficulties remain, the proper posture is to continue examining the text rather than to abandon the claim of inerrancy.
  2. Scientific language
    Scripture often uses ordinary observational language. It is not a modern scientific textbook, yet when it speaks to matters that touch the natural world, what it affirms is true.
  3. Historical details
    Archaeological and historical research has repeatedly confirmed the general reliability of the biblical narrative. Remaining puzzles do not overturn the larger pattern of truthfulness or the Bible’s own claims about itself.
  4. The charge of circularity
    The ultimate ground of inerrancy is the same as the ground of authority: Scripture is God’s Word, and God does not speak falsehood. Supporting evidence from history and archaeology is useful, but it is not the final court of appeal.

E. Why inerrancy matters

If Scripture contains error in what it affirms, then we must decide which parts to trust and which to set aside. That decision places human judgment above the Word of God. Inerrancy protects the authority of Scripture so that the whole counsel of God remains reliable for doctrine, correction, and training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16–17).

The claim is not that every difficulty has already been solved. The claim is that the Scriptures, because they are God’s words, do not affirm what is false.

Leave a Reply