The Doctrine of Inerrancy-Part 2

In my last post, I provided a defense of the doctrine of inerrancy from the testimony of Scripture itself. What the Bible says on the matter really should settle any debate over this issue. However, due to the blindness of man towards the truth, many still deny the fact that God has communicated to us a message without any errors or misstatements. (Keep in mind that when we speak of inerrancy we are referring to the original autographs, the words directly written by the authors themselves, not necessarily the copies or translations of them.)In fact, some go so far to actually claim that the idea of the inerrancy of Scripture is a relatively new doctrine that arose out of the Fundamentalist-Liberal controversy of the early 19th century. A man recently made such a claim to me in response to something I had written in my denomination's magazine calling for the denomination to return to its roots of holding to the inerrancy and authority of Scripture. But such a view actually must ignore the witness of history to stand. The following is a selective compilation of the church's position throughout the centuries in regard to the inerrancy of Scripture. (I refer to the list as "selective" because many more quotes could be added. These are just some of the strongest ones that I have found.) You will notice that this view cannot be said to be a "new" one in any way, shape, or form but has been taught throughout the ages. The church has been in agreement with the very book that serves at its authority. (Who would have guessed that?) Instead of giving a detailed argumentation of this, I will just let the voices of history speak for themselves. Without any further ado, here they are:

The Church Fathers
"You have searched the Scriptures, which are true, which were given by the Holy Spirit; you know that nothing unrighteous or counterfeit is written in them." ~Clement of Rome

"the Scriptures are indeed perfect" ~Irenaeus

"The statements of Holy Scripture will never be discordant with truth" ~Tertullian

"all the prophets spoke harmoniously and in agreement with one another" ~Theophilus

"The Scriptures are indeed perfect, since they were spoken by the Word of God and his Spirit" ~Irenaeus

"The sacred volumes are fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, and there is no passage either in the Law or the Gospel, or the writings of an Apostle, which does not proceed from the inspired source of Divine Truth." ~Origen

"It is the opinion of some that the Scriptures do not agree or that God who gave them is false. But there is no disagreement at all. Far from it! Neither can the Father, who is truth, lie; 'for it is impossible that God should lie' [Heb. 6:18]" ~Athanasius

"I have learned to yield this respect and honor only to the canonical books of Scripture. Of these alone do I most firmly believe that their authors were completely free from error. And if in these writings I am perplexed by anything which appears to me opposed to the truth, I do not hesitate to suppose that either the manuscript is faulty, or the translator has not caught the meaning of what was said, or I myself have failed to understand it . . . Concerning which it would be wrong to doubt that they are free from error." ~Augustine

"The Faith will totter if the authority of the Holy Scriptures loses its hold on men. We must surrender ourselves to the authority of Holy Scripture, for it can neither mislead nor be misled." ~Augustine

"Lord, surely your scripture is true, for you, being truthful and Truth itself, have produced it." ~Augustine

"When you are really instructed in the Divine Scriptures, and have realized that its laws and testimonies are the bonds of truth, then you can contend with adversaries; then you will fetter them and lead them bound into captivity; then of the foes you have made captive you will make freemen of God." ~Jerome

The Middle Ages
"For I am sure that if I say anything which is undoubtedly contradictory to holy Scripture, it is wrong; and if I become aware of such a contradiction, I do not wish to hold to that opinion." ~Anselm

"It is plain that nothing false can ever underlie the literal sense of Holy Scripture." ~Thomas Aquinas

Peter Abelard who did question inerrancy, was a rare exception during this period.

The Reformers
"It is established by God's Word that God does not lie, nor does His Word lie." ~Martin Luther

"Natural reason produces heresy and error. Faith teaches and adheres to the pure truth. He who adheres to the Scriptures will find that they do not lie or deceive." ~Martin Luther

"The Scriptures have never erred." ~Martin Luther

The following are descriptions that John Calvin used for Scripture: "The sure and infallible record," "The inerring standard," "The pure Word of God," "The infallible rule of His Holy Truth," "Free from every stain or defect," "The inerring certainty," The certain and unerring rule," "Unerring light," "Infallible Word of God," "Has nothing belonging to man mixed with it," "Inviolable," and "Infallible oracles."

The Post-Reformers
"The canonical Holy Scriptures in the original text are the infallible truth and are free from every error; in other words, in the canonical sacred Scriptures there is found no lie, no falsity, no error, not even the least, whether in subject matter or expressions, but in all things and all the details that are handed down in them, they are most certainly true, whether they pertain to doctrines or morals, to history or chronology, to topography or nomenclature. No ignorance, no thoughtlessness, no forgetfulness, no lapse of memory can dare be ascribed to the amanuenses of the Holy Ghost in their penning of the Sacred Writings." ~John Andrew Quenstedt

"The sacred writers were so acted upon and inspired by the Holy Spirit (as to the things themselves and as to the words) as to be kept free from all error and . . . their writings are truly authentic and divine . . . The prophets did not fall into mistakes in those things which they wrote as inspired men (theopneustos [Greek for God breathed]) and as prophets, not even in the smallest particulars; otherwise faith in the whole of Scripture would be rendered doubtful." ~Francis Turretin

"Whereas, therefore, no one may say that any infirmity could befall the Holy Spirit, it follows that the sacred writers could not be deceived, or err, in any respect. Here, then, it becomes us to be so scrupulous as not to allow that any such slip can be found in scripture ... it is the special prerogative of scripture, that it never errs" ~William Whitaker

"The purity of Scripture lies in the fact that it stands complete in itself, without either deceit or error." ~William Perkins

"The Scriptures are evidence of their own divine authority as a human being is evident by the motions, behaviour and speech of a body of a human form and contexture, or that the body is animated by a rational mind. For we know no otherwise than by the consistency, harmony and concurrence of the train of actions and sounds, and their agreement to all that we can suppose to be a rational mind . . . So there is that wonderous universal harmony and consent and concurrence in the aim and drift, such as universal appearance of a wonderful, florious design, such stamps everywhere of exalted and divine wisdom, majesty, and holiness in matter, manner, contexture and aim, that the evidence is the same that the Scriptures are the word and work of a divine mind; to one that is thoroughly acquainted with them, as 'tis that the words and actions of an understanding man are from a rational mind, to one that is of a long time been his familiar acquaintance." ~Jonathan Edwards

Modern Period
It is here that things started to change and the doctrine of inerrancy began to be questioned and denied. Some historians have pointed out this to occur in the early seventeenth century. Up until this point, the church had almost universally been in agreement over the view that the Bible contained no errors in its original writings. Even the Roman Catholic and Protestant divide during the Reformation held common ground pertaining to this. Their disagreements stemmed more so over the authority of the Scriptures, the canonicity of the Apocrypha, and the sufficiency of Scripture. Since we can trace the departure from inerrancy during the 1600s into the modern era, it actually would be more accurate to say that the novel view is not that the Bible is inerrant but that it isn't. And the reason that so much more literature had been produced during the Fundamentalist-Liberal controversy would not have been because it was a new doctrine developing but since inerrancy had not been questioned as strongly as it had been then, thus providing the reason for issuing such a strong apologetic (a defense) for it.

Conclusion
Churches and groups today which deny the biblical doctrine of inerrancy should take note. In so doing they ignore the clear teachings of Scripture and find themselves outside the norm of a position that the church has consistently held since its start on the day of Pentecost. In fact, those who deny the doctrine of inerrancy actually agree with the devil over and against God. He serves as the first one to question the inerrancy of God's Word. His very first words recorded to us are: Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden? (Genesis 3:1). He questioned God's Word. Did God really say that? The question for you is whether or not you will say pertaining to Scripture "Thus said the Lord" or "Did God really say that?" There really is no other alternative. The Bible claims to be ALL God's Word. You either believe that claim as the church has or you question it as the devil does.

In Christ,
Lee
Sola Scriptura
Soli Deo Gloria

Sources
-Allison, Gregg R. Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011.
-Covenant Protestant Reformed Church. "The Inerrancy of Scripture." URL: http://www.cprf.co.uk/quotes/inerrancyofscripture.htm
-Gerstner, John H. "The View of the Bible Held By the Church: Calvin and the Westminster Divines." Inerrancy. Ed. Norman L. Geisler. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1980.
-Lindsell, Harold. The Battle For the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1977.
-Preus, Robert D. "The View of the Bible Held By the Church: The Early Church Through Luther." Inerrancy. Ed. Norman L. Geisler. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1980.