Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Biblical inerrancy essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Biblical inerrancy essay
Can one question, or consider evaluating the authority of God 's ' word and his infallible wisdom to supernaturally inspire those who wrote it? In the words of the psalmist” God’s word is the truth” and “every one of his righteous ordinances endures forever” (The Holy Bible, Ps: 119: 160). As students of the ministry, it is critically important to understand the biblical authority, inspiration, and inerrancy of the bible and the potential effects to society. This paper will reflect my personal insight, biblical research, and analysis to formulate a clear and concise understanding of this topic. In my opinion, the apostle Paul makes a very profound statement and affirmation regarding the correlation between inspiration and inerrancy …show more content…
In today’s society, many people question the authority and inerrancy of the Bible in search of unquestionable proof to ascertain the acute accuracy and trustworthiness of it’s writers. When the Bible is referred to as authoritative, we as believers, must demonstrate where the authority was originated. By definition, authority is the right and power to command, enforce laws, exact obedience, determine or judge (Elwell, 2011,pg 153). Authority may be bestowed or inherent as demonstrated in our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, were both aspects are combined. I believe the Bible has confined authority, as the authentic embodiment of God’s self-disclosure. The meaning of inerrancy is being without error, in which God has revealed and inspired the Bible . Inerrancy is a view that when all the facts become known, they will substantiate the Bible, and the original autographs in hopes of silencing false claims, whether they relate to biblical doctrine, ethics, social, physical, or life sciences. The author of Hebrews states“impossible that God would prove false” (The Holy Bible, Heb 6:18). Next we will discuss the four arguments of
The Bible is read and interpreted by many people all over the world. Regardless, no one knows the absolute truth behind scripture. Walter Brueggemann, professor of Old Testament, wrote “Biblical Authority” to help people understand what he describes as six different parts that make up the foundation to ones understanding of scripture. He defines these six features as being: inherency, interpretation, imagination, ideology, inspiration, and importance. As Brueggemann explains each individual part, it is easy to see that they are all interconnected because no one can practice one facet without involuntarily practicing at least one other part.
When looking at the common theme that Barth develops in God Here and Now, it becomes apparent for the need of congregation to justify, ratify, and promote the Bible as the living word of God. When and where the Bible constitutes its own authority and significance, it mediates the very presence of God through the congregation. Encountering this presence in the Church, among those whose lives presume living through the Bible’s power and meaning. Barth states that the Bible must become God's Word and this occurs only when God wills to address us in and through it. The Christ-event is God's definitive self-disclosure, while Scripture and preaching are made to correspond to him as a faithful witness becomes the perfect statement according to Barth (Barth, 2003, p. 61).
Following is the Evangelical theology which evolved from the Pietism and Revivalist movement (Olson 33). Charles Finney, a leader in Evangelism, emphasized the need and ability to evangelize the world while also maintaining the power of free will” thereby influencing all but not trying to control the mind of the masses (Lane 253, 254). As well as being a supreme authority Evangelist’s believe that because the Bible was written by man through God’s instruction the Bible is both fully man’s and God’s (256). Furthermore, because the words written by man come directly from God the Bible is God’s holy word and everything it contains is true (257). The Evangelicals believed that “the Bible is the supreme authority for faith and practice” and it is Christ who redeemed us through the cross (Bingham 162).
Even though humans wrote the text, translating it and passing it down from generations to generations, God’s truth is unchanging. Debates of the inerrancy of the bible cannot usurp God as the King of grace. Instead of focusing on the inerrancy of the Bible, individuals who wish to seek a life of faith should focus on the inspiration God is showing them in his word. These revelations should move them into applicable, daily life changing implications from what they have learned. God shows revelations of himself through the Bible, and his character is revealed time and time again throughout scripture. Any faulty facts or discrepancies in grammar or data, should not take away from the value that scripture holds. When we read scripture we bring new meaning of interpretations of the truths God shows us, since new eras and environmental factors will be influential on how we process information. The bible is not just a fact book, telling humans stories of the past, but instead the bible is inspired instructions for how we can deal with spiritual and ethical encounters we
The unembellished definition of inerrancy is that every word of the Bible is true. The Bible isn’t inerrant, because it records every fact about any one subject, rather, it’s inerrant, because every fact that it records is true and accurate.
People for years have been debating against each other to prove the Bible to be inherent or to be errant. Errancy is a deviation from the truth or what is right. There are many different types of errors expressed throughout the Bible such as transational errors, doctrinal errors and contradictions. How could any book be without error? That would be practically impossible, so in this paper I will prove the Bible to be very errant because of many facts shown.
For centuries now Christians have claimed to possess the special revelation of an omnipotent, loving Deity who is sovereign over all of His creation. This special revelation is in written form and is what has come to be known as The Bible which consists of two books. The first book is the Hebrew Scriptures, written by prophets in a time that was before Christ, and the second book is the New Testament, which was written by Apostles and disciples of the risen Lord after His ascension. It is well documented that Christians in the context of the early first century were used to viewing a set of writings as being not only authoritative, but divinely inspired. The fact that there were certain books out in the public that were written by followers of Jesus and recognized as being just as authoritative as the Hebrew Scriptures was never under debate. The disagreement between some groups of Christians and Gnostics centered on which exact group of books were divinely inspired and which were not. The debate also took place over the way we can know for sure what God would have us include in a book of divinely inspired writings. This ultimately led to the formation of the Biblical canon in the next centuries. Some may ask, “Isn’t Jesus really the only thing that we can and should call God’s Word?” and “Isn’t the Bible just a man made collection of writings all centered on the same thing, Jesus Christ?” This paper summarizes some of the evidences for the Old and New Testament canon’s accuracy in choosing God breathed, authoritative writings and then reflects on the wide ranging
Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version. New York: American Bible Society, 1995. Print. (BS195 .C66 1995)
2.3 Effects Now that we have examined the origins of the Hebrew Bible, the KJV and the NIV and have analyzed in depth two chapters of the prophet Ezekiel it is now time to direct our attention to what effects the Bible has had on human society. I find it useless to speculate on the waning interest the Holy Bible is generating given that it is probably fundamentally linked to Westwern society there is no doubt it will ever lose its powers to inspire. In chapter 9 of The Challenge of Bible Translation, Translation Was Not Enough: The Ecumenical and Educational Efforts of James "Diego" Thomas and The British and Foreign Bible Society", Kent A. Eaton discusses the relationship between colportage, i.e. travelling and selling Bibles, and missionarism.
Thus, an effort is made to highlight how Bible interpretation – through its publication – has developed in the history of Christianity.
The fact that the Bible has stood the test of time and has not been destroyed, even though there have been several attempts made over the years, is a testament of the enduring power of God’s Holy Word. A common theme consistent throughout the Bible from Genesis through Revelation is what God has planned for His people and His cosmic kingdom. The story told in the Bible is God’s instruction book or user manual for his greatest creation (human life). This instruction manual is to portray of how humans can operate and live happily in this life with both their creator and their fellow human beings.
In this paper I am trying to find out what true Biblical exegesis means. By finding that truth then I and the person reading this paper can leave with an understand-ing on how to comprehend the content of exegesis. Through out my paper you will see noted some of my sources. I have carefully read these books and have selected the best ones to fit the purpose of this document. I will be exploring many areas of exegesis and will be giving you a brief overview of these and then explaining different uses for exegesis.
Answering these questions is the purpose of this essay. I begin by arguing that the Bible cannot be adequately understood independent of its historical context. I concede later that historical context alone however is insufficient, for the Bible is a living-breathing document as relevant to us today as it was the day it was scribed. I conclude we need both testimonies of God at work to fully appreciate how the Bible speaks to us.
According to Vic Reasoner “inerrancy means that the bible, as originally given, was free from error and that the human authors accurately recorded what God said. If the bible contains errors, its authority is limited.” Which simply means the bible is accurate and the writers of the bible are telling god's word without contradicting themselves or deviating from the real truth as God intended. With that being said, do you believe that inerrancy is claimed in the bible?
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of theories of inspiration and the Bible as God’s-breathed word. Owing to one of the most specific, the illumination theory in the inspiration of doctrine is what created the content of Scripture. It indicates the divine activity bringing scripture to the real life (Erickson, 2001). Generally, illumination of inspiration shows us the role of God in the overall life process. Moreover, the idea of inspiration stresses on the place where everyone stands in adherence to the Holy Spirit. Nowadays, Biblical illumination has become one of the most disputable topics of the modern theological field (McDowell, 1999). The objective of this work is to explore the illumination theory’s development. Current field of study claims for research that is more investigational in the future (Denbski & Licona, 2012).