Inerrancy In The Bible: A Roman Catholic's View

Position Paper:

Inerrancy in the Bible – A Roman Catholic’s View

Emily Jan

Bethel University

P.O. 1240

Introduction

Throughout Christian history, there have been many topics that have created heated debates between the different denominations. When one person proclaims their opinion, others have three choices: agree, disagree, or ignore. This is how theological debates start and people become separated depending on their views on certain topics. One relevant debate that has been circulating for a number of years that gets Christians heated is the inerrancy debate. This topic has two views: inerrant or infallible. One must decide which view they hold because this debate shapes a person’s worldview. Although the two views are

The inerrantist view believes that the Bible is without any errors whatsoever (Boyd & Eddy, 2009). They do not claim, however, that the Bible does not have any apparent errors in it (Boyd & Eddy, 2009). There are many arguments that can be made for the inerrantist view that support why it is the right way to view the Bible. First, the Bible concisely and clearly explains that it is without error (Boyd & Eddy, 2009). One cannot go wrong with the teaching of the Bible! Second, it is a fact that if God is who He says He is, then He cannot lie or deceive (Boyd & Eddy, 2009). Since He cannot deceive, then why would one not believe that the Bible, which teaches that it is inerrant, has errors within it? The Church tradition throughout the multitudes of years have always held that the Scriptures are inerrant as well (Boyd & Eddy, 2009). God inspired the Bible in order to give humanity an entirely trustworthy source that would tell people what to believe and how to act as true Christians (“A Catholic Understanding of Biblical Inerrancy”, 2004). Because of this, the Bible is a guide for life (“A Catholic Understanding of Biblical Inerrancy”, 2004). The Bible states that humans’ hearts are wicked, therefore it is hazardous to deny that Scripture is without any error because one cannot trust one’s own heart (Boyd & Eddy, 2009). One of the insights that Boyd & Eddy (2009) refer to is from the speech

For example, one of the objections is that the infallible view makes an implicit contradiction (Boyd & Eddy, 2009). “First, we do not know enough about divine inspiration to stipulate in an a priori fashion what it does and does not logically entail” (Boyd & Eddy, 2009, p. 30). They continue that the Bible is a phenomenon and it must be further studied because, logically, divine inspiration does or does not imply errors in the Bible just because it contains errors (Boyd & Eddy, 2009). In sum, the infallibilist view believes that the Bible is inerrant in matters of faith and how to live like Christ, but fallible when it comes to history and