Infallible

Infallible - incapable of making mistakes or being wrong; flawless, perfect, accurate; never failing; always effective.

A Staggering Diversity of Human Writers

There is simply no other book on earth like the Bible. It wasn’t the work of one human writer, but dozens. In fact, the Bible contains sixty-six books that were written by over forty different writers. It was written on three continents, and in at least six completely different cultures using three separate languages.

The variety of authors is amazing to think about:
Moses was an Egyptian prince, turned shepherd, turned national leader.
David was a shepherd when he wrote some of the Psalms but a king when he wrote others.
Jeremiah and Samuel were priests.
Isaiah, Ezekiel and Hosea were prophets.
Matthew was an IRS agent.
Peter and John were fishermen.
James and Jude were probably carpenters by trade.
Some of the material in Scripture has anonymous authors that we know nothing about!

The writings themselves had different styles and different original purposes.
There are poems of praise, grief, and prayer.
There are historical narratives.
There are royal records of kings and kingdoms.
There are prophetic promises and warnings.
There are personal letters.
There’s even a love song included in scripture!

The diversity and variety of the Bible’s writings is absolutely astonishing!

The Amazing Unity of God’s Message

And yet, it’s still completely unified.

Taken separately, each of the sixty-six books has a unique purpose and style of writing. But assembled together into one volume, they tell a powerful story of God’s plan to redeem a sinful human race. All of the books - the law, the prophets, the poems, the Gospels and the church letters - center on one thing, the promise and plan of the Messiah.

Psalm 40:7-8 Then I said, “Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart.” These were Jesus’ very words as He entered the world, “...it’s written of me in Your Book…”

Everything in the Old Testament looked forward to Jesus. He says just that in John 5:39, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” The promise of the Messiah was what the Hebrew Scriptures were all about. And now, the New Testament Scriptures testify about what this Messiah has accomplished for us all.

How could such different individuals, cultures, and writing styles all flow seamlessly into one completely united book? Simply put, the writers didn’t come up with the writings on their own! Let’s take another look at that powerful phrase in 1 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God...”  As we’ve already found out, the Greek word translated “inspiration of God” is the word theopneustos. This term means “God-breathed”. The whole volume of the Scriptures was given by the very breath of God!

The truth contained in this verse is backed up by 2 Peter 1:20, “...knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” As these writers of scripture wrote, it was the Holy Spirit that directly controlled the writing!

This is why we can correctly call the Bible God’s Word.

What About the Errors?

One of the biggest attacks on the authenticity of God’s word is when it’s critics declare that there are errors in the Bible. This a serious accusation to make. After all, if this is supposed to be the word of an all-knowing God who never lies...then there simply cannot be false statements in it. One proven contradiction or error in the Scriptures would be all that it takes to destroy its credibility.

And we’re not just talking about its history here. If the Bible is wrong in any of its statements (be it historical, scientific, moral, or mathematical), then it cannot be God’s Word. This is a standard that no other book in the world is held to...or would ever be able to meet.

So let’s look at three different types of errors that the Bible is often accused of.

When the Bible says something that seems incorrect

Let me just set the record straight; the Bible has never claimed anything that’s incorrect. Not ever.
However, humans will often accuse it of saying something incorrect - just because the statement seems wrong.

Just because the Bible may seem wrong at first glance, doesn’t mean it is. There are at least two different reasons why what the Bible says seems to be wrong: (Notice my constant emphasis on the word “seems”. The Bible is not wrong...period.)

One - When it seems to say something incorrect, it could be speaking in the language of appearance.

A famous example of this would be when the Bible speaks of the sun moving across the sky. Skeptics are quick to point out that the sun doesn’t actually move, it’s the earth’s rotation that actually gives the sun its course from sunrise to sunset.

But hold on; don’t we still use the same language today? We still speak as if the sun was moving throughout the day, even though we are well-aware of the earth’s rotation.
Couples still sit outside together at night to watch the “sunset”.
Weather forecasts and almanacs still publish the times that the sun will “rise”.
Even in our modern age, we say phrases like “the sun was high in the sky” and “the sun moved behind those buildings”.

We know that the sun isn’t actually moving through the sky. We know that the earth’s rotation causes the appearance of the sun’s motion. So why do we still talk this way? The answer is simple, because it’s easier to understand. The simple concept of a  sunrise is easier to communicate than always explaining the earth’s rotation bringing the sun into view. Are we incorrect, then, when we speak this way? Not at all...we are simply using the language of appearance!

The language of appearance is sometimes necessary to be effective when you’re communicating. It makes it easier for the reader to understand than if the writer was constantly explaining the details of why things appear a certain way. This way of speaking isn’t wrong or misleading...it’s simply relating to a particular vantage point. Since the Bible was written to people on earth, it relates to the way we see things.

Two - When the Bible says something that seems incorrect, it may be because we don’t fully understand.

This happens often: A skeptic will confront a Christian about a supposed error in the Bible. Usually it will be about something that “we know” is wrong - such as an event that supposedly never happened. The Christian will often be caught off guard and unable to respond to the skeptic. The result is that the skeptic walks away laughing and the Christian walks away shaken in their faith.

Just to be clear again, there are no errors in the Bible. And every time a supposed error pops up, it is quickly and easily put down by further study and logical thinking.

For example; for decades secular archaeologist disagreed with the Bible’s record of the Assyrian King Sargon invading the city of Samaria. What was their argument? That there was no evidence found to support an Assyrian king named Sargon, therefore the Bible must be incorrect. However, in the mid 1800’s, the palace of King Sargon was unearthed...with the man’s name engraved in every brick! Not only was the man’s existence solidly confirmed, but inside this palace was the record of his invasion of Israel and conquest of Samaria! The Bible had it right when the secular world had no idea!

This brings us to a good point: an argument from silence is not a valid argument! Just because we may not have discovered a secular record of an event in the Bible yet, doesn’t prove that the Bible got it wrong! On the contrary, the Bible has been proven right so many times, that it should be considered the authority on ancient history. No other book has been as right as the Bible!

Just because the Bible says some things that aren’t understood at first, doesn’t make it wrong. It just means there’s more study to be done!

Here’s another example: Skeptics often claim that the Bible calls bats “birds”. In Leviticus 11:13-19 we see a list of “birds” that the Israelites weren’t allowed to eat. At the end of this list, in verse 19, the God included bats. Does this show that the Bible is merely an ancient book...and that we know better now than the writers of Scripture did?

Every 3rd grader today knows that bats are mammals, not birds. So how could the Bible be wrong here? It may seem like a minor point, until you remember that God cannot lie. If He were to call a bat a bird, then how could we trust Him about anything else?

The answer can be found in the Hebrew language. The word that the English Bibles translate as “bird” is the Hebrew word “owph”. Most of the time, this word is referring to a feathered, flying bird. But not always! The word simply means “wing”. If we were to use that term as it’s literally understood, then it could apply to birds, bats, pterodactyls, and even flying insects!  

So, don’t be phased by the arguments of skeptics, there hasn’t been a single statement in scripture that has been proven incorrect...and there never will be! God’s Word is always true!

When the Bible tells a story that seems impossible

This argument often comes up in debates with skeptics. “The Bible tells stories of a man who survived three days inside a fish, a sea that split down the center, a virgin giving birth, and people who were raised from the dead. We know that’s impossible - therefore the Bible cannot be true.”

What a strange argument! The very definition of a miracle is that it is impossible. If it were naturally possible, then it wouldn’t be a miracle, now would it?

We have four different eyewitness accounts of Jesus taking a small lunch and feeding thousands of people with it. It doesn’t matter whether you think that is possible or not...this is solid evidence that it happened!
Hundreds of people saw Jesus after He was raised from the dead, and they weren’t quiet about it! Whether it’s naturally possible or not, this is evidence that would hold up in court!

Outside sources, from cultures all over the world, confirm many of the amazing and miraculous events that the scriptures record.
An Egyptian poem has been discovered that was written to grieve over the disasters that were caused in Egypt by a group of slaves.
There are legends of a long day in the Eastern Hemisphere of the world, and a long night in the Western Hemisphere...confirming Joshua’s account of a long day.
There are legends in many ancient cultures around the world of a flood that destroyed the earth.
The Jewish historian Josephus mentions the miracles that Jesus of Nazareth did - and specifically claims that no one could deny them.

As we’ve seen briefly already (and as we’ll see in detail later) the Bible has been repeatedly proven right about its history, biology, and anthropology. If it’s so reliable on these issues...why would it be disbelieved when it speaks of miracles? Wouldn’t it be illogical to agree with the history that the Bible records, and then discount the miracles as fairy tales?

When the Bible seems to disagree with itself

Another common attack on the Bible is when it is accused of contradicting, or disagreeing, with itself. The claim goes something like this: “If the Bible says that something did happen in one passage, and then says that same thing didn’t happen in another passage, it can’t be right.” This is a reasonable conclusion, and if it actually happened, then we would have a problem. But these “contradictions” simply don’t exist!

For example, let’s look at the sign that was hung above Jesus’ cross:
Matthew 27:37 “And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, ‘THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS’.”
Mark 15:26 “The inscription of the charge against Him read, ‘THE KING OF THE JEWS’.”
Luke 23:38 “Now there was also an inscription above Him, ‘THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS’.”
John 19:19 “Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, ‘JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS’.”

So what was it? Did the inscription only say that this was the “King of the Jews” or did it also mention Jesus of Nazareth? Is this a contradiction where the Bible is disagreeing with itself? Not at all! This would only be a contradiction if Mark and Luke’s gospels both wrote “The sign only said ‘The King of the Jews’.”

But they didn’t say that. They simply wrote down that the sign read “The King of the Jews”. The sign clearly did say that...the sign inscription above Jesus’ head was written this way, “This is Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.” There’s no contradiction here...but skeptics love to point it out as if it were one.

Every so-called disagreement in scripture can be easily explained. To help our understanding, we must remember that it’s not a disagreement when:

The Bible records something as an actual event and then quotes a person who says it didn’t happen.
The people in scriptures weren’t perfect, but the Scriptures perfectly record what they did!

The Bible is abbreviating an event in one passage and also giving the longer account in another.
The creation accounts in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are an example of this.

The Bible is giving general information in one passage and specific details in another.
We’ve already discussed this issue as it applies to the sign on the cross. Mark and Luke give us the general idea of what the sign said, while the Gospels of John and Matthew give us more details about it.
Another example of this is the story of the Gadarene demoniac. In Matthew chapter 8 we see that there were two demon-possessed men that encountered Jesus. However Mark 5 and Luke 8 give the detailed story of only one of those men.

The Bible is actually recording different but similar events.
The different sermons in Matthew 5-7 and Luke 6 are examples of this. Jesus preached a lot of messages, and more than likely repeated Himself in some of them. However, the details in these two sermons are different enough for us to realize that it was two different messages.
We see this issue again when we look at the blind men of Jericho. Matthew 20 tells the story of two blind men that cried for mercy from Jesus as He entered the city of Jericho. In Luke 10, we see the story of blind Bartimaeus asking Jesus for healing as He was leaving the city. These are similar, but they are still two different events.

So what have we seen in all this? The Bible is completely infallible - without any kind of error or contradiction in it. If we go back to the beginning of this post and look at the definition of “infallible” we can see one more powerful truth...the Bible is incapable of making a mistake! When it seems like something in the Bible is incorrect, just look closer. A little bit of study will reveal that the Bible is truly “God-breathed” and without error.

This means that it completely deserves your trust!