Western culture has taken the form of a postmodern era centered on denouncing absolute truth. If the Bible is erroneous, then it therefore cannot be the source of absolute truth. If God is true (Rom. 3:4), if God does not lie (Num. 23:19; Heb. 6:18), and if the scriptures were breathed out by God (2Tim. 3:16), then the scriptures are true (Jo. 17:17). Scripture was never willed by man (2Pet. 1:21), but willed by and breathed out from God (2Tim. 3:16) with words taught by the Spirit (1Cor. 2:12). If scripture cannot be broken (Jo. 10:35), and God’s word is truth (Jo. 17:17), then scripture is the true Word of God (1Thess. 2:13).
There are several instances of alleged errors that are argued against inerrancy, that of the dimensions in Second Chronicles 4:2, and that of the differences that exist within the Gospels. While many arguments deal with seeming contradictions within the synoptic Gospels, the differences do not equate to contradictions. For instance, in Acts 20:35, Paul states that Jesus said it is better to give than to receive, but Jesus, in the four Gospels, does not utter that phrase. The Gospels also report that they did not include all that Jesus said and did (Jo. 21:25), therefore Paul is not contradicting Christ, but opening us up to more of Christ’s teachings.
Matthew 27:44 and Mark 15:32 tell of two thieves beside Christ who mocked Him, but in Luke 23:39-40 there was only one. Some argue that this implies a contradiction, but with context, one thief repented of sin and was saved, which implies that He no longer mocked Christ bringing the total number of mocking thieves from two to one. There are differences because there are four separate perspectives, but there are no contradictions. In Second Chronicles 4:2, there is a seeming mathematical error regarding the usage of pi as 3.0 rather than 3.14159. The mathematical error is not erroneous though because in the context of the event, and the context of the writing, the understanding of mathematics was correct as was understood, and since the Holy Spirit used the personalities of the biblical authors to write the Bible, this is no error at all.
There are several instances of alleged errors that are argued against inerrancy, that of the dimensions in Second Chronicles 4:2, and that of the differences that exist within the Gospels. While many arguments deal with seeming contradictions within the synoptic Gospels, the differences do not equate to contradictions. For instance, in Acts 20:35, Paul states that Jesus said it is better to give than to receive, but Jesus, in the four Gospels, does not utter that phrase. The Gospels also report that they did not include all that Jesus said and did (Jo. 21:25), therefore Paul is not contradicting Christ, but opening us up to more of Christ’s teachings.
Matthew 27:44 and Mark 15:32 tell of two thieves beside Christ who mocked Him, but in Luke 23:39-40 there was only one. Some argue that this implies a contradiction, but with context, one thief repented of sin and was saved, which implies that He no longer mocked Christ bringing the total number of mocking thieves from two to one. There are differences because there are four separate perspectives, but there are no contradictions. In Second Chronicles 4:2, there is a seeming mathematical error regarding the usage of pi as 3.0 rather than 3.14159. The mathematical error is not erroneous though because in the context of the event, and the context of the writing, the understanding of mathematics was correct as was understood, and since the Holy Spirit used the personalities of the biblical authors to write the Bible, this is no error at all.
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