Use a podcast app: Apple | Google | Spotify | Breaker | Stitcher | iHeart | RSS
Sharing is caring: Twitter | Instagram | #ForTheHope
Original airdate: Monday, November 25, 2019
(unedited/draft show notes here, not a transcript)
Lead:
What’s the difference between biblical inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy? And is that the same as taking it literally? Part one.
Intro:
So there I was, with a friend and some of her extended family, sitting in the sun and having lunch at an outdoor farmer’s market. And one of the family members says to me, “Do you take the bible literally?”
Unlike sometimes when I tell you of some utter failure of mine, this time I had a decent answer — not my best work, but not a total embarrassment.
Today we read all of Paul’s second letter to Timothy. Like his first letter to Timmy and a separate letter to Titus, Paul’s got that avuncular tone of the older, more experienced guy offering wisdom to the young pastor.
And one thing you’ll hear today is the most famously-quoted line about Scripture being God-breathed. In other words, inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Today we’ll start the first of a two-part All Our Minds segment where we’ll look at what “inspiration” means relative to “biblical infallibility” and “biblical inerrancy.” Potent stuff — be sure to catch both days.
Sponsor:
You! Please consider “liking” our FaceBook page or giving us a review in your favorite podcast app. Thank you.
Bible:
Passage: 2 Timothy
Translation: NASB (New American Standard Bible)
Verses: 83
Words: ~1631
All Our Minds:
Before I define for you these three words, let me briefly say what’s at stake: trust. For some Christians, and sadly not all of them, what’s at stake is not only trusting that the Bible is what it claims to be, but if it is the very word of God and you don’t trust it, that means you’re not trusting Him. That’s kind of a big deal.
Source: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/inspiration-infallibility-inerrancy/
Inspiration means that the work of the Holy Spirit breathed out Scripture, but it’s important to remember that this is NOT to the exclusion of human instrumentality. God makes use of men to reveal Himself by empowering and protecting them. This is why their voice or style comes through, but it’s not the work of only them.
Infallibility is the Bible’s inability to make an error in what it teaches. Remember, this is God talking. If God can’t make a mistake, then His revelation in Scripture doesn’t make a mistake because it couldn’t. See how that trust thing works?
Inerrancy is the natural consequence of infallibility — the idea that Scripture, in the original writings, does not affirm anything contrary to fact. God can’t make a mistake, so the men chosen to write can’t make a mistake,
The bottom line
Here are a couple phrases you can hang your hat on.
So
One, when I answered the question I mentioned at the top of the program, I didn’t use theology words. I just said, “If you read a poem, and it says ‘as far as east is from the west, this is how far I’ll separate you from your sin,’ it literally speaks the truth, but I’m under no illusions that it’s talking about an actual distance.”
Two, this also might bring up the subject of interpretation. Remember that of course some things aren’t as clear as others, and of course sinful humans could get that wrong, but that doesn’t mean the Bible’s untrustworthy. The main message about Jesus, our sin, and our need for a Savior is clear as a bell.
Two, remember that of course there could be mistakes made by sinful humans in translations. But that brings up the issue of manuscript reliability, but that’s separate topic. And as we’ve talked about a lot on this program, we can trust our contemporary English bibles, too.
In the end, the question comes down to trust. The complete irony is that many people trust themselves more than they trust God to provide us what we need, including how He’s revealed Himself through the Scriptures by which we know Him and His Son.
May we all ask Him for help with our wandering hearts.
Love you!
-R
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
Thank you for supporting this ministry should you choose to use the Amazon affiliate links below.