Biblical inerrancy or errancy

from jpmagero - Thursday, September 19, 2002
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I got this content from an interesting site with a lot of information on religions.

[excerpts from www.religioustolerance.org/ine_none1.htm]

Proving biblical inerrancy or errancy appears to be impossible. Ultimately, these beliefs must be accepted on faith. However, if proofs are not available, at least we might be able to derive some indicators of inerrancy or errancy. The most promising route may be to study trends and topics seen throughout the Bible.
We examine ten themes. Eight seem to indicate (but not prove) that the Bible is errant. Two are inconclusive. None seem to support inerrancy at this time. The themes listed below are described very briefly, and in general terms.


Indicator 1: Cosmological evidence

Possibility 1
The Bible is inerrant. Its description of the world, the solar system and the rest of universe is accurate. The Bible would refer to the earth and planets as spheres, revolving around the sun, with a moon revolving around the earth, and stars at extreme distances from the earth and sun.

Possibility 2
The Bible is errant. Biblical authors would have picked up the cosmologies from surrounding Pagan cultures. The Babylonians and other Pagans believed that the earth was more or less flat with mountains around the edges that held up the rigid dome of the sky. The sky was relatively close to the earth - close enough so that the Tower of Babel was a threat to God's isolation. There were vents in the sky that could be opened. Through them water could be poured to produce rain. At the time of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, fire and brimstone (molten sulfur) were said to have been poured. There were also drains in the earth that allowed water to flow under the earth into a large cavern, called Sheol, where the dead lived in a sort of shadow existence. The sun, moon, planets and stars all were pushed by angels along the underside of the dome once a day.

What the Bible Actually Says
The books of the Bible reflect the second scenario. None of the factors in the first possibility are seen in the Bible.

Conclusion
One can argue from archeological evidence that the Bible authors picked up primitive, pre-scientific Pagan ideas about the nature of the universe from surrounding cultures. This indicates (but does not prove) that the Bible is errant. It is always possible to explain the cosmology of the Bible writers as being purely symbolic in nature.


Indicator 2: Archeological evidence

Possibility 1
The Bible is inerrant. The Hebrew scriptures accurately describe the cultures surrounding the ancient Israelite tribes.

Possibility 2
The Bible is errant. The Hebrew Scriptures contain many errors about the surrounding cultures, as events, personalities and cultures were forgotten before being written down.

What the Bible Actually Says
At the time that the Bible was written, the authors of the Hebrew Scriptures seem to have known little or nothing about Palestine as it existed during the second millennium . (Religious liberals estimate that the first text in the Hebrew Scriptures was written circa 900 BCE). The Bible refers to the presence of the Philistines in Palestine; but that society did not arrive in the area until long after the second millennium.
The Scriptures speak of events at Beersheva and other towns which did not exist until much later than those events.
There was no mention of the strong Egyptian presence in Palestine at that time. The books of the Bible reflect the second scenario.

Conclusion
One can argue from archeological evidence that the Bible authors had very little knowledge of the cultures present in Palestine during the second millennium BCE. This is a very strong indicator (but not an absolute proof) that the Bible is errant.


Indicator 3: Christian beliefs over time

Possibility 1
The Bible is inerrant and was created under the inspiration of God, so that He could communicate his will to humanity. Since God has infinite intelligence, He would have made certain that:
-The Bible promotes a positive set of morals.
-No internal conflicts existed in its writings.
-The Bible's teachings are clear and unambiguous.
-The Bible's teachings are sufficient for today.
Christians who lived in any century would be able to discover God's will on any moral issue by consulting the Bible. Thus Christians' concept of right and wrong would be constant with time; Christians in the 3rd century CE and the 20th century CE would hold the same beliefs about a variety of moral questions, ranging from abortion access to equal rights for gays and lesbians, to the death penalty, physician assisted suicide, etc. Beliefs about the nature of God, the nature of Jesus, criteria for salvation, Heaven and Hell, etc. would also be constant over time.

Possibility 2
The Bible is a collection of books written by fallible human authors, each intended to promote the personal beliefs of its writers. Thus, it would contain ambiguous passages. Since it was written over a period of many centuries of religious change, various of its passages would strongly conflict with others. Thus, Christians of all eras would reach different ethical and moral conclusions from the Bible. They would also derive different religious beliefs about the nature of God, Jesus, salvation, Heaven, Hell, etc.

What History Shows
Christians' belief about slavery have reversed during the past two millennia. Slavery was condoned, regulated and approved by the writers of the Bible. The Pentateuch contains rules from God concerning the regulation of slavery, including under what conditions a slave owner could be prosecuted if he beat his slave to death. In his book Philemon, Paul wrote to a slave owner about one of his slaves. Paul had every opportunity to condemn slavery as immoral, and to ask the slave owner to free his slave. But he apparently believed that slavery was an acceptable institution. With the exception of Christian Reconstructionists, slavery has been rejected by essentially all Christians today.
Beating children with a rod is condoned and recommended in the Bible. But an increasing percentage of Christian parents have abandoned this method of discipline. Various denominations promote spanking, and cite passages in Proverbs about child discipline. Other Christian groups recommend child discipline without violence, and consider beating a child with a rod to be child abuse. They base their decision on the Golden Rule, on non-violent teachings of Jesus. and on the findings of sociologists that disciplining children through physical violence results in lower IQs, and higher rates of adult depression, violence, and criminal behavior.
Beliefs about government structure have also changed greatly. The Bible promotes dictatorial monarchies and the divine right of kings. When a delegation of Jewish leaders approached Moses with the request for some elements of democracy, God killed them and their families. Most Christians now promote democracy, in which power is shared by the people. They also value human rights, and oppose (for example) burning some prostitutes alive as is specified in the Bible.
The Hebrew Scriptures frequently promote the genocide of others who hold different religious beliefs. Some Christian fanatics in Bosnia, Indonesia, Lebanon, Nigeria, Northern Ireland and elsewhere have followed these teachings and engaged in mass murder and genocide. Most contemporary Christians promote religious freedom so that others can follow other religions without oppression.
Christian beliefs about God, Jesus, salvation, heaven, hell, and many dozens of other theological topics have changed over the past two millennia. For example the nature of Hell as taught by most conservative Christians has changed over the past century from a place of unbearable and eternal torture without any hope of mercy, to a place where one is simply isolated from God.

Conclusion
Many of the positive changes in Christian moral positions over the past two millennia have required that we abandon some specific Biblical teachings as being contrary to the will of God. It seems unreasonable that if God intended the Bible to be a guide in all matters, that it would promote a standard of ethics that is profoundly immoral when compared to today's religious and secular moral systems. This indicates, but does not prove, that the Bible is not inerrant.


Indicator 4: Christian beliefs at the present time

Possibility 1
As in the previous example, the Bible is clear, unambiguous, and consistent. Devout, thoughtful, serious Christians would be able to discover God's will on any moral question by consulting the Bible. Thus beliefs about theological and moral questions would be similar among all denominations. Devout, intelligent, serious, careful Southern Baptist students of the Bible would reach the same conclusions as would similar students from the United Church of Christ or the United Church of Canada. A consensus would be simple to reach among all Christians on the nature of God, heaven, hell, and perhaps thousands of other theological matters. Christians would agree on all of the important ethical questions of today: access to abortion, access to physician assisted suicide, the death penalty, equal rights for homosexuals, roles of women in the family, church and society, etc.
-Possibility 2 The Bible is a collection of books written by human authors over a long time period. Each writer promoted his own religious beliefs. Thus, the Bible contains many conflicting passages and concepts. Conservative, mainline and liberal Christians are able to support their very different beliefs on theological and moral questions with Bible quotations.

What History Shows
There is currently very little agreement among the worlds 35,000 or so Christian groups about the Bible's message:
-Christian faith groups differ on all key moral questions: from abortion to the role of women.
-Many different Christian denominations hold varying ideas about religious rituals, the nature of God, heaven, hell, salvation, etc.
An interesting example are two active Evangelical Christian agencies which deal with gender roles:
-The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womenhood promotes promotes Biblical manhood, which they interpret as requiring inequality in the authority of men and women. They are seen as having different roles to play. 3
-Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE) believes "that the Bible, properly interpreted, teaches the fundamental equality of men and women of all racial and ethnic groups and all economic classes..."
Both agencies quote at great length from the Bible to justify their conflicting positions. They sincerely believe that their view is correct and biblically based.

Conclusion
One can argue from the lack of a consensus within Christendom that the Bible's message cannot be unambiguously determined on many topics. The Bible's clearly teaches conflicting views on many vital matters. It seems unreasonable that if an all-knowing God intended the Bible to be a guide in all matters, that sincere Christians today would come to such opposite decisions over what is right and wrong. This indicates, but does not prove, that the Bible is not inerrant.


Indicator 5: The personality of God as described in the Bible

Possibility 1
One of the generally accepted attributes of God is that he is not subject to change. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Thus, if the Bible is inerrant, then the authors' description of God would also be consistent, from Genesis through to Revelation.

Possibility 2
The Bible is not inerrant. Various authors promoted their concept of God. God is described differently throughout the Bible.

What the Bible Shows
In the Pentateuch, Jehovah is frequently described as an angry deity who committed genocides and mass murder. He killed people for trivial reasons (e.g. Onan for practicing birth control; Lot's wife for looking the wrong way). He exterminated all of the men, women, girls, boys, infants and newborns in Sodom and Gomorra because the men were inhospitable towards strangers. He killed all of humanity in a great flood, saving only six people: Noah and his family. He hardened the heart of the Pharaoh of Egypt, thus necessitating great loss of life before the Hebrews were released from bondage. The Gnostic Christians, one of the three main movements in the early Christian Church, considered Jehovah to be an evil deity, called the Demiurge.
In the Gospels, Jesus often refers to God as Abba, which is probably closest to the English word "papa." Jesus stresses God's love for humanity, his concern for justice and his readiness to support and encourage each believer. He urged individuals to develop a close, intimate, loving relationship with God through private prayer.
In Revelation, God is once more described as a vengeful deity who inflicts massive worldwide death and destruction on men, women, boys, girls, infants and newborns. Martin Luther felt that Revelation should be tossed out of the Bible for this reason. He included it in an appendix to his German translation of the Bible.

Conclusion
One can argue from the lack of consistency in the Biblical authors' concept of God that they are portraying very different and mutually exclusive concepts of God. Again, this is not a proof of Biblical errancy, but is a significant indicator.


Indicator 6: Jesus' status as described in the Bible

Possibility 1
One of the fundamental dogmas of the Christian religion is the Incarnation -- that Jesus is the Son of God. The recognition of Jesus as God's son would have occurred at a specific time in Jesus' life. If the Bible is inerrant, then various New Testament writings would agree on when this time happened.
Possibility 2
The Bible is not inerrant. Various authors promoted their understanding of when Jesus became the son of God, as taught by the religious group to which they belonged.
What the Bible Shows
By arranging the books of the New Testament in chronological order, we find the following:
Romans: This was probably written by St. Paul circa 55-59 CE. In Romans 1:3-4, Paul writes: "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." Paul believed that Jesus became the Son of God at his resurrection, circa 30 CE
Mark: This was the first gospel to be written, circa 70 CE. It describes Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist as the time when he became the Son of God. The current wording of Mark 1:10-11 says: "...he saw...the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: 'You are my Son whom I love; with you I am well pleased.' " The original words attributed to God in this passage were partly suppressed during ancient times. Judging by the writings of early Christian authors, the original words stated definitively that his transition to Son of God happened at the time of baptism. The words were edited out of Mark perhaps decades after the Gospel was written, probably because they contradicted the theological belief of the time.
Matthew was written in the early to mid 80's CE. It contains a birth narrative which implies that Jesus was conceived during an interaction between the Holy Sprit and Mary. Jesus is described as becoming the Son of God at his birth, circa 6 BCE.
Luke was probably written about 90 CE. Luke 1:35 described that "the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." Again, the transition occurred at birth.
Acts was probably written in the 90's CE by an unknown author -- the same person who wrote the Gospel of Luke. He writes in Acts 13:33 that Jesus became the son of God when God raised Jesus from the dead.
John was probably written after the Christians were expelled from the Synagogues circa 90 CE. It may have been cited in some writings by Ignatius, bishop of Antioch circa 115 CE. So about 100 CE may be an accurate date. The author(s) of John state that Jesus (the Word) existed with God "in the beginning." i.e. before creation.

Conclusion
The time when Jesus was considered to have become the Son of God thus changed from:
after his death in the earliest Christian writings, to
at or before the creation of the universe in the last Gospel to be written.
We are obviously seeing a gradual development in Christian theology from the writings of Paul (55 CE and later) to the writings of the author(s) of the Gospel of John (circa 100 CE). The lack of consistency indicates, but does not prove, biblical errancy.


Indicator 7: The nature of the afterlife as described in the Bible

Possibility 1
The Bible is inerrant. God has inspired authors of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures to describe accurately the destination of persons who have died. Each of the authors of the Bible described heaven and hell (and who would go where) in a consistent manner.

Possibility 2
The Bible is not inerrant. The oldest passages in the Hebrew Scriptures would represent beliefs about the afterlife which are similar to what the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian and similar surrounding Pagan societies believed at the time. Biblical authors who wrote after the invasion of Palestine by the Greeks in 332 BCE would incorporate Greek pagan beliefs about the afterlife. Various authors from the Christian Scriptures would describe beliefs about the afterlife that their own Christian groups taught, and which were similar to the other 23 or so Jewish religious groups in Palestine during the first and second centuries CE, when the Christian Scriptures were written.

What the Bible Shows
In ancient Hebrew scripture writings: The authors described the dead as leading a shadowy existence in a great cavern under the earth, called Sheol. This was similar to the beliefs of the surrounding Pagan cultures. Everyone went to Sheol, regardless of whether they had led a good or an evil life while on earth. All were isolated from God.
After the Greek invasion: Greek Pagan ideas began to be incorporated into those Hebrew Scriptures that were written after 332 BCE. The authors talked about resurrection and eternal rewards for people who had followed the Law and been kind to their fellow humans. Evil people would be punished.
Paul wrote about a heaven for those who had been saved by trusting and believing in Christ's resurrection. He was apparently unaware of Hell; he believed that the unbelievers and those who had committed certain prohibited acts would be simply annihilated at death and exist no more. "The wages of sin are death", not everlasting punishment.
The Synoptic gospels: The authors of the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke described Jesus as telling of a glorious eternal rest in heaven for those who behave kindly towards the poor and needy. The writers talked about a Hell of eternal punishment: fire, worms, thirst for those who did not support needy fellow humans. This forms one of the main themes of the Gospel of Matthew. Again, salvation is based on works.
John: The author of the gospel of John described a glorious heaven as a reward for those who believed that Jesus is the Son of God. He seems to have rejected the concept of Hell entirely. People who did not believe in the Incarnation simply died and were annihilated.

Conclusion
The writers of the Bible have entirely different concepts of the afterlife. The most ancient passages talk about a depressing location where all people lead the same, shadowy life. The authors who wrote after the Greek invasion described various concepts of rewards or punishment. They differ as to whether evil people will simply be destroyed at death or will be eternally punished in Hell. They differ as to whether people are selected for an eternal life in heaven on the basis of their belief in Jesus' divinity, or their belief in Jesus' resurrection, or their good deeds while on earth. The Bible is hopelessly inconsistent on all aspects of the afterlife. Biblical authors are largely reflecting beliefs absorbed from surrounding tribes or invading armies. This indicates, but does not prove, biblical errancy.


Indicator 8: Criteria for salvation

Assumption
One's eventual destination or state after death is arguably the most important topic covered in the Bible. After all, even a century of living on earth is a drop in the bucket compared to all of eternity. If the Bible is inspired by God, then one would expect that the criteria by which ones is routed to either Heaven or Hell would be clearly and unambiguously described.

Possibility 1
The Bible is inerrant. God has inspired authors of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures to describe accurately and unambiguously the precise criteria by which an individual's final location or state will be after death.

Possibility 2
The Bible is not inerrant. Authors would disagree as to whether one's final destination was determined by good and bad works, by specific beliefs, on the basis of a religious ritual, on the basis of other criteria, or by some combination of the above.
What the Bible Shows
In ancient Hebrew Scriptures: The authors stated that everyone would go to the same place after death: Sheol. They would be isolated from God. It would not matter whether one had led a good or an evil life while on earth.
More modern Hebrew Scriptures (e.g. Daniel): People who had followed the Mosaic Law and been kind to their fellow humans would enjoy rewards after death. Evil people would be punished. So, one would expect that individuals guilty of mass murder or genocide would go to Hell. If a person had led a life of self-sacrifice and service to others, like Mother Teresa or Albert Schweitzer, they would go to Heaven.
Paul wrote that those who believed in Christ's resurrection would go to Heaven.
The Synoptic gospels: The authors of the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke taught that salvation is based on a person's good and bad works.
John: The author(s) of the gospel of John taught that the criteria was based on belief: those who believed that Jesus is the Son of God would go to Heaven.
Numerous other locations in the Christian Scriptures described how one is saved by baptism.

Conclusion
The writers of the Bible have entirely different concepts of what one must do in order to be routed to Heaven after death. The Bible is inconsistent on whether the decision is made on the basis of good works, specific beliefs, baptism, avoiding certain behaviors, or some combination of the preceding. This lack of consistency indicates, but does not prove, biblical errancy.


Indicator 9: The causes of mental illness

Assumptions
Mental illness is caused by emotional disturbances, chemical imbalances in the brain, and other natural factors. Mental health specialists (other than those who are also Evangelical Christians) abandoned the concepts of demonic possession and exorcism many generations ago. Jesus is recorded as having encountered and healed many individuals with mental or emotional problems. See: Matthew 8:16, Matthew 8:28-34, Matthew 9:32-33, Matthew 15:22-28, Matthew 17:14-18, Luke 4:33-36.

Possibility 1
The Bible is inerrant. God has inspired authors of the Gospels to accurately describe the nature of mental illnesses in the above passages. The Bible would not contain references to demonic possession.

Possibility 2
The Bible is not inerrant. The authors would have interpreted the cause of mental illness in accordance with what they knew about 1st century medicine. At that time, mental illnesses were believed to have been caused by demonic possession.

What the Bible Shows
In the gospels, particularly Matthew and Luke, Jesus is described as expelling demons in order to cure the mentally ill people that he encountered.

Conclusion
The Gospel writers were mistaken about the causes of mental illness. This indicates, but does not prove, that their writings contain errors.


Final Conclusion
Although it appears to be impossible to absolutely prove the errancy or inerrancy of the Bible, there appear to be at least nine strong indicators that it is errant in at least some places.


The following indicators are inconclusive and support neither inerrancy nor errancy.


Indicator 1: Presence of accurate prophecies

Possibility 1
The Bible is God's word. It was either directly written by God using human authors, or written by humans under the inspiration of God. Either way, God prevented the authors from making errors; this would include incorrectly predicting events that will happen in the future, and their outcomes. Any prophecy that appears in the Bible would thus be certain to come true, either in our past or sometime in our future.

Possibility 2
The Bible was written by fallible humans without direct inspiration from God. Thus, the Bible would contain errors, including errors in foretelling the future. The authors might make some lucky guesses so that some of the prophecies in the Bible would come true. But, not knowing the future precisely, most of their predictions would be in error.

What the Bible Actually Says
Various modern-day writers have counted many hundreds of prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) alone. But there is no consensus about what percentage have come true. Conservative Christians generally state that all of the 200 or so prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures that foretold the life of Jesus Christ came true; they had a 100% accuracy. Hundreds of other prophecies not related to Jesus have already come true. But at lest one skeptic believes that not one "real" prediction has conclusively come true. He has very stringent rules for what defines a "real" prophecy.

Conclusion
Until we are able to sort out this contradiction, we will have to refrain from accepting the accuracy of Bible prophecy as an indicator of either errancy or inerrancy.


Indicator 2: Presence of Bible codes

Possibility 1
The Bible was written by God (or written by human authors who were directly inspired by God). God might have inserted Bible codes into the text as a sign of his presence.

Possibility 2
The Bible was not written or inspired by God and no such codes were inserted. Alternately, God may have influenced the writing but had decided to not leave signs of his existence.

What research shows
Michael Drosnin, in his book "The Bible Code," described remarkable findings of equidistant letter sequence (ELS) codes buried in the book of Genesis. These codes formed words that made a number of predictions, from political assassinations in the recent past to devastating earthquakes in the near future. The book reached the #3 spot on the New York Times best-seller list. By 1999-OCT, 9 similar books had been written to promote the idea of hidden codes. Statisticians were at a loss to explain the findings. But further research indicated that codes are found with equal frequency in Genesis, Tolstoy's "War and Peace," or in any sufficiently long text. Drosnin stated to a reporter "When my critics find a message about the assassination of a prime minister encrypted in 'Moby Dick', I will believe them." Shlomo Sternberg took him up on his offer; he found 13. Possibility 2 is the correct option.

Conclusion
If codes had been found uniquely in Genesis, then one might conclude that they were placed there by God. The task of inserting ELS coding would be beyond the ability of humans because only God could predict the future with the necessary degree of accuracy. If God were so intimately involved in the creation of Genesis, then one might assume that he would preserve the human authors from error. But the codes seen in Genesis occur in any sufficiently large text. So, either God does not exist, or he decided to not leave coded messages in the text. This test is inconclusive.