Theological Term of the Week: Infallibility of Scripture

infallibility of scripture

The attribute of the Bible whereby it is incapable of teaching any error, since it is breathed out by God who cannot lie. 

• In scripture: 

[I]t is impossible for God to lie … (Hebrews 6:18 ESV)

Every word of God proves true  … (Proverbs 30:5 ESV)

• From The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy:

Article XI. WE AFFIRM that Scripture, having been given by divine inspiration, is infallible, so that, far from misleading us, it is true and reliable in all the matters it addresses. WE DENY that it is possible for the Bible to be at the same time infallible and errant in its assertions. Infallibility and inerrancy may be distinguished, but not separated.

Article XII. WE AFFIRM that Scripture in its entirety is inerrant, being free from all falsehood, fraud, or deceit. WE DENY that Biblical infallibility and inerrancy are limited to spiritual, religious, or redemptive themes, exclusive of assertions in the fields of history and science. We further deny that scientific hypotheses about earth history may properly be used to overturn the teaching of Scripture on creation and the flood.

Learn more:

1. Aaron Armstrong: Inerrancy and Infallibility: What’s the Difference?
2. Kevin Gardner: Defining Our Terms
3. Robert Plummer: Is the Bible inerrant or infallible?
4. Ligonier Ministries: Infallibility and Inerrancy
5. Ligonier Ministries: The Power and Infallibility of Scripture

Related terms:

• authority of scripture
• autographs
• inerrancy of scripture
• inspiration of scripture

Filed under Scripture

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Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.

Sunday's Hymn: King of the Ages

King of the ages, Almighty God,
Perfect love, ever just and true.
Who will not fear You and bring You praise?
All the nations will come to You.

Your ways of love have won my heart,
And brought me joy unending.
Your saving power at work in me,
Bringing peace and the hope of glory.

Your arms of love are reaching out
To every soul that seeks You;
Your light will shine in all the earth,
Bringing grace and a great salvation.

The day will come when You appear,
And every eye shall see You.
Then we shall rise with hearts ablaze,
With a song we will sing forever.

—Stuart Townend & Keith Getty Copyright © 2002 Thankyou Music 

Theological Term on the Week: Inerrancy of Scripture

inerrancy of scripture

The attribute of the Bible in which it is completely true and without error in the original autographs, since it is breathed out by God, who always speaks the truth.

• In scripture: 

God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind. (Numbers 23:19 ESV)

The words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times. (Psalm 12:6 ESV)

• From The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy:

1. God, who is Himself Truth and speaks truth only, has inspired Holy Scripture in order thereby to reveal Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge. Holy Scripture is God’s witness to Himself.

2. Holy Scripture, being God’s own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it affirms, obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises.

3. The Holy Spirit, Scripture’s divine Author, both authenticates it to us by His inward witness and opens our minds to understand its meaning.

4. Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God’s acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God’s saving grace in individual lives.

5. The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if this total divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible’s own; and such lapses bring serious loss to both the individual and the Church.

• From Taking God at His Word by Kevin DeYoung, page 39: 

There are many text we could use to show that the Bible is without error, but here’s the simplest argument: Scripture did not come from the will of man; it came from God. And if it is God’s word then it must all be true, for in him there can be no error or deceit. 

Inerrancy means the word of God always stands over us and we never stand over the word of God. When we reject inerrancy we put ourselves in judgment over God’s word. We claim the right to determine which parts of God’s revelation can be trusted and which cannot. When we deny the complete trustworthiness of the Scriptures—in its claims with regard to history; its teaching on the material world; its miracles; in the tiniest “jots and tittles” of all the it affirms—then we are forced to accept one of two conclusions: either Scripture is not all from God, or God is not always dependable. To make either statement is to affirm a sub-Christian point of view. These conclusions do not express a proper submission to the Father, do not work for our joy in Christ, and do not bring honor to the Spirit, who carried along the men to speak the prophetic word and to author God’s holy book.

Learn more:

1. Simply Put: Inerrancy
2. John H. Gerstner: A Biblical Inerrancy Primer
3. Ligonier Ministries: Biblical Innerancy
4. Matthew Barrett: The Authority and Inerrancy of Scripture
5. John M. Frame: Is the Bible Inerrant?
6. Don Carson: Contemporary Challenges to Inerrancy
7. Michael Kruger: Inerrancy: Why It’s Essential

Related terms:

• authority of scripture
• autographs
• infallibility of scripture
• inspiration of scripture

Filed under Scripture

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.