Does The Bible Contain Errors Or Not?

The question "Does the Bible contain errors or not?" will evoke contradictory responses even from the most eminent Christian evangelical scholars. The two major contradicting groups are unlimited inerrantists and limited inerrantists.

Unlimited Inerrancy teaches that the Bible is without error in all that it affirms.1

Limited Inerrancy considers the Bible as inerrant (without error) in only what it teaches. In other words, the Bible's inerrancy is limited to only redemptive matters. Christian evangelical scholars have studied, discussed and debated this subject at the highest academic forums for years and yet hold contradictory positions. But they remain as true and sincere Christians.

Given this situation, how should a simple Christian – who is not trained in a Bible college or seminary – contemplate the complex theme of biblical inerrancy?

Faith Alone

Famed Christian evangelist Billy Graham went through a crisis of faith when his evangelist friend Charles "Chuck" Templeton questioned the veracity (truthfulness or accuracy) of the Bible and abandoned his faith in Christ. Billy Graham, however, overcame his crisis situation.

Billy Graham reminisced those moments, "The exact wording of my prayer is beyond recall, but it must have echoed my thoughts: "O God! There are many things in this book I do not understand. ... I can't answer some of the philosophical and psychological questions Chuck [Templeton] and others are raising." I was trying to be on the level with God, but something remained unspoken. At last the Holy Spirit freed me to say it: "Father, I am going to accept this as Thy Word—by faith!" ... I sensed the presence and power of God as I had not sensed it in months."2

Templeton's departure from Christianity did not deter Billy Graham. He survived the crisis and became a more committed believer in Christ.

How?

Through faith. Simple faith!

You and I will not be remiss if we simply believe that the Bible is the word of God.

Truth Alone

The truthfulness of Christianity is independent of the Bible. Christian apologist Frank Turek explains this position:3

Is Christianity true just because the inerrant Bible says it is? No. Christianity would still be true even if the Bible was never written.

... some of us erroneously think that Christian beliefs cannot be sustained unless the Bible is without error. That would mean that the Christian faith is a house of cards ready to collapse if one verse or reference in the New Testament is discovered to be false.

Although I think are good reasons to believe in an inerrant Bible, inerrancy is an unnecessarily high standard by which to establish the central event in Christianity—the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth (which we celebrate this Sunday). Christianity hinges on that historical event. If Christ rose from the dead, then, game over, Christianity is true. On the other hand, if he didn't rise from the dead, then, as a first-century eyewitness by the name of Paul admitted, Christianity is false.

But you don't need inerrant sources to establish that the Resurrection actually happened, or any other historical event for that matter. For example, if you found an error in the stat line of a football game, should you assume that every game, story and stat line in the newspaper was a complete fabrication? Then why do some people do that with the New Testament? Why do they assume that unless every word of it is true, then most of it is false?