Three Views On The Bible

We will look at three different views of the Bible.   I have categorized them as conservative, moderate, and progressive.  

Conservative- This view holds to the inerrancy of Scripture.  Inerrantists believe the Bible is without error in all that it speaks to, including the areas of science, history, and geography.  Inerrantists believe God is truth, therefore he only speaks what is true.  Since the entire Bible is the Word of God, it is without error and entirely true.  

Moderate- Those in this category reject the term inerrancy and instead speak of the infallibility of Scripture.  Infallibilists hold that the Bible is true in all that it teaches.  By this they mean that the Bible is without error in matters of faith and practice, but not necessarily in the areas of science, history, and geography.  

Progressive- Those in this category reject the inerrancy of Scripture all together.  They do not believe the Bible is the Word of God.  They view it as a book that contains wisdom and inspirational stories.  Progressives believe the Bible may contain errors in all areas, including matters of faith.  Liberals often reject essential doctrines such as the deity of Christ.  

The conservative view is the traditional, consistent, and correct view of the Bible.  The moderate view is inconsistent, compromised, and a potentially harmful view of the Bible.  The progressive view is rooted in unbelief and is not a Christian view of the Bible at all.  

Early New Testament Manuscripts

Here is a list of some of the earliest and most important New Testament manuscripts with a brief description.  

P52 (Around A.D. 110-150), contains a fragment of the Gospel of John

P45 (3rd Century A.D.), contains sections of the Gospels and Acts

P46 (Around A.D. 200), contains most of Paul's epistles and Hebrews

P47 (3rd Century A.D.), contains portion of Revelation 

P66 (Around A.D. 200), contains most of the Gospel of John

P72 (Around A.D. 250), contains 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and Jude

P75 (Around A.D. 200), contains large portions of Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John

Codex Sinaiticus (4th Century A.D.), contains the entire New Testament

Codex Vaticanus (4th Century A.D.), contains most of the New Testament

Codex Alexandrinus (5th Century A.D.), contains most of the New Testament  

What Does The Inerrancy Of The Bible Mean?

 The word inerrant means without error.  So a Biblical inerrantist holds that the Bible is without error.  It means the Bible is without error in the original autographs (original writings), not that all manuscripts and translations are without error.  

The Bible is inerrant because it is breathed out by God (2 Timothy 3:16).  God only speaks truth because he is the truth.  No lie or falsehood is found with him.  Biblical inerrantists believe the Bible is without error in all that it speaks to, including the areas of history and science. 

What Was The Wicked Bible?

In the early days of the King James Version of the Bible, there was a famous error in one of the printings.  The word "not" was left out of the seventh commandment in Exodus 20.  It actually read, "thou shalt commit adultery."  

This edition of the King James Version was nicknamed the "Wicked Bible."  The printer was fined somewhere around $90,000 in today's money.   

The Bible On The Bible

(Psalm 19:7)"The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;" 

(Psalm 119:105)"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." 

(Proverbs 30:5-6)"Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.  Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar."  

(Isaiah 40:8)"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." 

(John 10:35)"Scripture cannot be broken" 

(2 Timothy 3:16-17)"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."  

(Hebrews 4:12)"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."  

(2 Peter 1:20-21)"knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.  For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."  

(Scripture quotations from the ESV)   

I Don't Have Time To Read The Bible

 How many times have we heard someone say, I do not have time to read the Bible?  Usually when a person says he does not have time for something, he means it is not a priority.  So when someone says he does not have time to read the Bible, he is saying it is not a priority.  

When a person does not consider the Bible a priority, he does not consider God a priority, because the Bible is the Word of God.  When a person does not consider God a priority, he views other things as more important than God.  These other things have become his god or gods.  This person is actually guilty of idolatry. 

What Is A Biblicist?

 Recently Christian leaders such as John MacArthur and James White have described themselves as Biblicists.  A Biblicist believes the Bible is the literal Word of God and lives strictly by it's teaching.  Biblicism holds that the Bible is inerrant, infallible, and sufficient.  

Biblicism is not me and my Bible and whatever interpretation I come up with.  Creeds and confessions must not be rejected.  They are secondary authorities while the Bible is the primary authority.  Creeds and confessions derive their authority from Scripture.  

Biblicists hold to Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone).  The Bible alone is the ultimate and final authority.  The Pope, modern day prophets, human reason, and my feelings are not authorities.  Biblicists have a very high view of the Bible, believing it alone is the Word of God.  

"The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, depends not on the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God its author (Who is Truth itself).  Therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God." (1689 London Baptist Confession)  

(2 Timothy 3:16-17)"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." (ESV)

Another Recommended Study Bible

In the past I have recommended The ESV Study Bible and The MacArthur Study Bible.  To this list I will add one more, The Reformation Study Bible.  

The Reformation Study Bible
-ESV Text
-General Editor, R.C. Sproul(One of the best modern theologians)
-Fine team of contributors
-Excellent study notes
-Solid theological notes
-Helpful topical articles
-Historic Creeds and Confessions


The Reformation Study Bible presents us with the teaching of the Protestant Reformation which was a recovery of Biblical Christianity.  Modern evangelicals would do well to rediscover their Reformation heritage.  

-Scripture alone
-Grace alone
-Faith alone
-Christ alone
-To the glory of God alone 

Liberalism And The Bible

Theological liberalism is accepted by many professing Christians in the United States and around the world.  It it the underlying theological system of many universities and seminaries as well as that of most of the leadership of the so called mainline Protestant denominations.  The mainline denominations include:  the Episcopalian Church, Presbyterian Church USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church, United Church of Christ, American Baptist Churches, and the United Methodist Church.  Liberalism has even infiltrated evangelical churches to a certain degree.  

The foundation of Liberalism is the rejection of Scripture alone as the ultimate authority. Liberals reject the authority, inspiration, and inerrancy of the Bible.  In Liberalism the Bible is no longer God's revelation to us but merely the opinions of men and their experiences of God.  This is where we see the elevation of personal experience over Scripture as the ultimate authority.  The liberals used to proclaim that Christianity is life and not doctrine.  

According to the liberals many of the Old Testament stories were just fiction and the New Testament miracles never happened.  They denied that Adam and Eve were real people and the doctrine of original sin.  The liberals also denied the virgin birth of Christ, the deity of Christ, his miracles, the substitutionary atonement, the historical/physical resurrection of Christ, and his second coming.  

Liberals rejected the wrath of God, his judgement, and the existence of hell.  Liberals tried to focus only on the love of God.  They rejected the sinfulness of mankind and believed that man was basically good.  Since a savior was no longer needed Jesus was not seen as a savior but merely as an example to follow.  Since people no longer needed to be saved from their sins the social gospel replaced the Biblical gospel.  Personal salvation was no longer needed so the focus was just on relieving suffering and the problems of this world.  

As J. Gresham Machen once said, Liberalism is not Christianity at all.  Liberalism is nothing more than unbelief.  It is simply secularism with Christian language.  Liberals adopted secular philosophies such as Darwinism and naturalism.  They accepted Darwinism and rejected the creation account of the Bible.  They accepted naturalism which denies that miracles can happen, and then concluded that the miracles of the Bible did not happen.  

The liberals rejected the authority of God and his Word and were left with human reason, experience, and imagination as their authority.  The liberals attempted to sit in judgement of God and his Word, when in reality God and his Word stand in judgement of them.  Liberals need to repent of their unbelief and submit to the authority of God and his Word.  They must renounce the teaching of mere men and embrace the Bible alone as the ultimate authority.  Liberals must repent of their sin and trust Christ alone for salvation.  

The Ultimate Authority

People recognize many things as their ultimate authority.  Things such as the Pope, tradition, human reason, feelings, personal experience, or supposed revelations.  But the true ultimate authority is the Bible alone because it alone is the word of God.  

(2 Peter 1:19-21) "And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.  For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."  (ESV) 

For a little background we will look at (2 Peter 1:16-18).  The Apostle Peter is dealing with false teachers who are denying the second coming of Christ.  Here Peter refers back to the Transfiguration which was a preview of the second coming of Christ.  Peter along with James and John saw Christ in his glory.  Moses and Elijah appeared and they even heard God the Father affirm that this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.  

But then in (2 Peter 1:19) Peter refers to something more reliable and authoritative than even this great experience.  He is referring to the Scripture.  He tells his readers they will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place.  The Scripture shines the light of truth into our dark, fallen world.  

In (2 Peter 1:20) we are told no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.  That means the Scripture did not have human origins.  In (2 Peter 1:21) it says no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man.  Men did not write their own opinions or desires.  Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Scripture is the very word of God and the Holy Spirit is the originator and author.  

This passage affirms that the Bible is the ultimate authority.  The Bible is the word of God.  God spoke his word through men while still retaining their personality and style. The Holy Spirit led them to write the exact words of God without error.  Scripture is God's revelation to us therefore it is the supreme standard.  

We need to accept this reality instead of relying on our personal experience, human reason, tradition, or some other supposed authority.  We should live our lives based on the Word of God, the Bible.  When there are questions we should go to the Bible as the ultimate authority.  

All Scripture is breathed out by God (2 Timothy 3:16) and Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35).  The Bible is authoritative, clear, sufficient, and inerrant (without error).  The Bible alone is the word of God. With the great Protestant Reformers we say Sola Scriptura (that is Scripture alone).      

What Proves The Authority Of Scripture?

The Bible is constantly under attack these days and its authority is often rejected.  Liberal scholars and sometimes evangelical scholars express doubt about the trustworthiness of Scripture.  So how can the authority of Scripture be proven?  

Biblical Christians believe that the Bible is the ultimate authority.  If something is an ultimate authority it cannot be proven by a lesser authority.  The Bible is the Word of God so it cannot be authenticated by the word of man.  There is no authority outside of Scripture that can prove its authority.  Ultimately the Bible is self authenticating, it proves itself as the Word of God.  Since Scripture is the ultimate authority it must be appealed to in order to prove its own authority.  

But what about evidences, proofs, and arguments?  All of these can be helpful and do provide support for the authority of Scripture but they cannot offer ultimate proof of its authority.  All of these would involve appealing to a lesser authority to validate Scripture which is the ultimate authority.  

We can see some weaknesses in evidentialism and classical apologetics.  They both end up appealing to a lesser authority to prove Scripture as the ultimate authority.  They start with the premise that the Bible cannot be used in apologetics.  So in order to defend the Bible we must set it aside and not use it.  This makes no sense whatsoever.  They believe we should start on a neutral ground with the unbeliever.  Quite frankly this is simply not Biblical apologetics.  

In reality there is no neutral ground to start on with the unbeliever.  Everyone operates with basic presuppositions or assumptions.  All people start with the assumption that Scripture is authoritative or it is not authoritative.  This then shapes how one views evidences and arguments that are presented.  The strength of presuppositional apologetics is that it actually uses the Bible to defend the Bible.

Ultimately the Holy Spirit must open a person's heart and mind to the truth of the Bible.  Scripture is self attesting or self authenticating, it depends on no outside authority.  But is claiming that the Bible proves itself as authoritative a circular argument?  To a certain degree all arguments for an ultimate authority involve circular reasoning.  For example one who holds that reason is the ultimate authority must use reason to prove it.  Only presupposing the authority of Scripture leads to truth and reality.  
 

Those Red Letter Bibles

Many Bibles today have the words of Christ in red.  In fact many people even insist on having a red letter Bible.  Is this good, bad, or neither?  Could there possibly be a problem with red letter Bibles?  

We must point out that the words of Christ were not originally written or printed in red and they were not set apart in a special way. Having the words of Christ in red is a relatively new thing, beginning in the 1900's.  It seems good to have the words of Christ in red.  After all Christians follow Jesus who is the Messiah and Son of God.  

But what about the words of God the Father?  Why are they not in red?  And wasn't the whole Bible inspired by the Holy Spirit?  Here we find the problem with red letter Bibles.  The whole Bible is the Word of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).  The whole Bible, not just the words in red are the Word of Christ.  

Setting apart only certain portions of the Scripture in red is misleading to people.  It leads people to believe that the red letter portions are more important than the rest.  This is not true, God gave us the entire Bible for a reason.  People start to think that the words in red are more the Word of God than the rest.  I have even heard people say that they just believe the words in red. This is a terribly distorted view of the Bible.  

So is having a red letter Bible a bad thing? It is not necessarily a bad thing if kept in proper perspective.  But it is still very misleading to people.  I think it is better not to have red letter Bibles.  But that does not mean there is anything wrong with using one.  We must remember that all Scripture is breathed out by God (2 Timothy 3:16).        

Recommended Study Bibles

ESV Study Bible
*Uses the excellent ESV translation
*Excellent team of conservative, evangelical scholarship
*Great study notes
*Presents different conservative views
*Numerous articles related to the Bible
*A library of Bible study helps


The MacArthur Study Bible
*Available in (ESV, NKJV, NASB)
*Excellent study notes
*Good overview of theology
*Many helpful articles
*I do disagree with Dispensationalism taught by MacArthur
*Overall John MacArthur one of today's finest Bible teachers
*Straightforward Biblical truth

The Inerrancy Of Scripture

(2 Timothy 3:16-17) "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." (ESV)


(2 Peter 1:20-21) "knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.  For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (ESV)


In our current age authority is rejected.  If there is no ultimate authority then there is no right and wrong and no meaning or purpose for life.  But in reality God is the ultimate authority.  His rejection is the problem of our time. 

God is the infinite, personal Creator. 
He is a personal God and personally communicates with humans.  He has revealed himself to us in the Bible, it is breathed out by God.  God is perfect and does not make errors, therefore Scripture is inerrant. 

The Bible is inerrant in all areas including history and science.  There is also much archaeological evidence that supports the accuracy of the Bible.  Jesus himself said that Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35).  Some try to say that only parts of the Bible are true, but this position makes no sense.  You would have God making errors or mixing truth with errors.  It would be entirely untrustworthy if this were the case.  Those who do this are trying to reconcile the Bible with the secular philosophy of the age in order to be accepted.  The majority position of church history is that the Bible is without error and authoritative. 

The Bible is the actual words of God and not just his thoughts.  It is also clear and can be understood by people.  When it is said to be inerrant it is meant that it is without error in the original autographs.  Therefore an accurate, literal translation is needed.  The method used by God in writing the Scripture was not mechanical dictation.  But the writers of the Biblical books were led by the Holy Spirit.  The writers maintained their own personalities and styles while writing the words breathed out by God. 

The Holy Spirit inspires, illuminates, and correctly interprets the Scripture.  The Holy Spirit enables us to see that the Bible is the very Word of God.  Rejection of Scripture is the rejection of truth and reality.  The rejection of God and his Word is the problem of modern humanity.  The Bible is the authoritative, inerrant Word of God. 

The Bible Is The Answer

The Bible is the Word of God, it is his revelation to us.  The Bible is both infallible and inerrant.  Infallible means it cannot be wrong and inerrant means it is without error.  The Bible gives us the truth and reality, though it is not politically correct in our modern society. 

The Bible tells us who God is, in it he reveals himself to us.  In it we discover God as the creator of all things.  We also find him revealed to us in the Trinity (Father,Son,and Holy Spirit). God is three persons of one essence.  He is transcendent as well as immanent.  This means that he transcends us and is far from us while he is also close to us and involved in our world.  We also find that God is holy and wrathful, while also being loving and merciful. 

In the Bible we also find out who man really is.  He was created in the image of God, therefore of great value, but he is also fallen and sinful, therefore he has become tainted and not in the same state he was created in.  The Bible tells us the real problem humans actually have.  The real problem we have is sin, we have all rebelled against our Creator.  This has brought about death to us both physical and spiritual.  Our sinning and rebelling against God has brought about all the problems of the world. 

The Bible also provides the solution to our problem.  It tells us of our need for salvation and where to find it.  God sent his Son, Jesus to die on the cross to save his people from there sins.  He also raised him from the dead vindicating his sacrifice as acceptable.  Through his death and resurrection Jesus was victorious over sin and death.  To receive salvation people must repent and place their faith in Christ alone.  They must believe that he is the Christ or Messiah and the Son of God.  Eventually the earth and all creation will be restored with a new heaven and new earth.  This will be only for those who have become Christians.  In the new heaven and new earth there will be no more sin,suffering,pain, or death and it will be perfect there. 

The problem of modern people and society is that they have rejected God and his Word.  Most people in the United States are Biblically illiterate, they have little knowledge of what it actually says.  There is even great ignorance of the Bible's teaching in the modern church.  There is also a tendency to water down what it teaches so as not to offend people.   We will not find the ultimate answer from government, politicians, positive thinkers, psychologists, or false religions.  The only hope for individuals and our society is to turn to the Bible.  In it we find the truth, what is right and wrong.  It also provides us the basis for truth, right, and wrong, God himself.  Christians must proclaim and defend the truth of the Bible even if it is unpopular in our modern culture.