Don Stewart :: What Specific Objections Have Been Made against Inerrancy?

The doctrine of inerrancy has been met with objections from within and without the Christian community. The major objections include the following.

1. There are demonstrable errors in the Bible.
2. Certain doctrines were changed over time.
3. Paul made a distinction between his fallible words and those of Jesus.
4. Inerrancy means exact scientific precision and the Bible does not teach that about itself.
5. There are grammatical errors in Scripture.
6. The Bible cannot be inerrant because humans are not.
7. To communicate with the people, God accommodated Himself to the errors of the times.
8. The original writings are missing.
9. There are mistakes in the various copies of Scripture.
10. Modern science has refuted an inerrant Bible.
11. The New Testament does not quote the Old Testament word for word.
12. Inerrancy causes worship of the Bible.
13. There are too many qualifications to the doctrine of inerrancy.
14. Many statements in Scripture cannot be proven true or false.
15. No translation of the Bible is perfect. Therefore the doctrine of inerrancy is irrelevant.

The following fifteen points have been raised against the doctrine of inerrancy. First, it is argued there are demonstrable errors in the Bible. This should be the end of the story. In addition, it is alleged that certain Bible doctrines have been changed over time. This is not consistent with any doctrine of inerrancy. We also find Paul making a distinction between his fallible words and the words of Jesus. The fact that inerrancy means exact scientific precision shows the Bible cannot be inerrant. Add to this the Bible does not clearly teach inerrancy - it is something read into Scripture.

In addition, we find grammatical errors in Scripture. Moreover the Bible cannot be inerrant because humans are not. Also it is admitted by everyone that human beings wrote the books of the Bible. Since the original writings are missing, how can anyone claim inerrancy for them? Everyone also admits there are mistakes in the various manuscript copies of Scripture. This would prove inerrancy is a myth. Modern science has allegedly refuted an inerrant Bible. When we examine the New Testament citations of the Old Testament we find they do not match word for word. This is inconsistent with inerrancy. It is claimed Inerrancy causes worship of the Bible instead of the worship of God. Consequently the doctrine should be discarded. Furthermore there are too many qualifications to the doctrine to make it meaningful. There is also the fact that certain portions of the Bible are not relevant to the issue of inerrancy. In addition, no Bible translation is perfect. Therefore how can anyone speak of an inerrant Bible?

All of these objections have been raised against the idea that the Bible is the error-free revelation of God. It is important to note that all these objections can be reasonably answered if one take the time to thoroughly examine the subject.