Infallibility

Definition: Infallibility means that Scripture, because it is wholly and verbally God-given, is without error or fault in all its teaching, including what it states about God’s acts in creation, about the events of world history, about its own literary origins under God, and in its witness to God’s saving grace in individual lives.

Scriptures: Numbers 23:19; 2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 1:24

Study: Believers can be fully confident in the authority of the Bible as a Divine document able to train us up in all things that pertain to life and godliness. However, we should note that truthfulness does not always imply precision. The Bible was written to an ancient, pre-scientific culture and so we should not be surprised when it uses ordinary rather than technical language. Furthermore, when accounts of events differ throughout scripture, we remember that these are not errors or contradictions, but rather complimentary, deliberate uses of setting and plot devices used by astute authors to communicate rich truths about God’s character and work in the world.

Questions to Ask: (these will help process the truth learned)

- What do we make of apparent disagreements between congruent narratives?

- Why does the Bible not use incredibly precise descriptions of events and individuals?

- Can we trust the Bible to give the whole story of any event?