Many people seem to confuse faith in God with faith in the inerrancy of the Bible. Ergo, if you question the Bible, you’re questioning God. Not so–the Bible and God are not the same thing. God is…um…let’s see here…okay, let’s just say God is God. (We’ll solve that easy question later.) But the Bible? That’s a quantifiable, human-made compilation of some really awesome/terrifying/boring stories written by humans about God. We might say that many of these humans were divinely inspired, but that is not the same thing as saying that the Bible is on par with God (or Jesus).
This question came up at another site when somebody made the following statement:
“As the Bible is ALL ABOUT Jesus to declare it to be in error is to cast doubt about Jesus.”
(Here’s what I had to say):
You are conflating faith in Jesus with faith in the accuracy of the Bible, but one does not depend on the other. It is belief in Jesus Christ – not in biblical accuracy – that is the source of our salvation. Whether we believe the Bible is “in error” to some degree is ultimately a secondary matter.
Believing in Jesus Christ as Savior does not mean that you must avert your eyes to the contradictions, and yes, there are plenty, found in the Bible. Neither must we make excuses for depictions of horrific violence, nor for the disturbing ancient practices found in the Bible. The Bible itself does not claim that it is infallible, just like it does not claim that it must be taken 100% literally.
Having said that, I do not believe that the Bible is “in error” so much as “in flux”. Throughout both the Old and New Testaments there are full on disagreements between the biblical authors themselves–particularly how previous texts should be interpreted, or what God’s real priorities were.
In some cases, biblical authors wrote texts designed to “correct” what they saw as flaws in the standard versions of particular stories. (For a classic example of this, read the David narratives in II Samuel, then read how the author of the Chronicles retold the story, changing significant details as he saw fit.)
But you can call into question some parts of the Bible without saying the whole thing is useless! The Bible was written by faithful Israelites and Christians, many of whom we would consider to be divinely inspired. It is our heritage, and there is much to be learned from our ancestors.
Reflections of Ryberg 
January 14, 2008 at 4:59 pm
You are in error. The Bible “is” the inerrant, God Breathed word of God. He could have wriiten it using toads if He so chose but He used men inspired by the Holy Spirit to provide us with a “User Manual”. All one needs to know in life is encompassed between the covers of this Book. Even Jesus attested to this.
January 14, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Hi Jim,
Welcome to the site. As far as I can tell, you are making 2 main claims:
1. The Bible is the inerrant, God Breathed word of God (as literally transcribed by humans).
2. All one needs to know in life is encompassed between the covers of this book, according to Jesus.
It is your first claim that I take issue with, not the second. The Bible itself does not claim to be inerrant. There is no commandment, from Jesus or otherwise, that one must assume that the Bible is perfect in order to attain salvation. If you know otherwise, please let me know. Rather, salvation is dependent upon (1) our relationship with God through Jesus and (2) our relationship with each other, as commanded by Jesus.
I also am not familiar with biblical evidence that every verse in the canonized Bible was “God Breathed,” by which you seem to mean literally dictated by God. This claim is also absent from the Bible. Again, if you can show me differently, please let me know.
I am not contending that the Bible is useless, but I do strongly advocate that we not make false assumptions about it or venerate it beyond what it is: a collection of divinely inspired historical accounts, wisdom, songs, allegories, parables, and stories, with which we may develop our own relationships with God and Christ. Remember that as Christians, our faith does not depend upon assumptions of biblical inerrancy, but upon Jesus.
January 14, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Jesus was all about love and forgiveness; everything else was made-up.
“Beliefs separate. Loving thoughts unite.” — Paul Ferrini
January 15, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Tom- well I agree with you. This is a fine post in my eyes. But then again, who am I but a neo-pagan idol worshipping papist?
So we don’t take the Bible literally, as you know.
That is not to say that I do not read and study it regularly, even we have updated ourselves on that account. I have my own commitment to daily Scripture.
I could make many arguments for the problems with absolute literalness, but will not.
I will say that my entire being is predicated on my love of God in the form of the Holy Trinity, with Jesus Christ as Lord.
If someone wants to split biblical hairs, they can have at it. I will simply shake the dust from sandals and move to the next blog.
Peace brother.
January 22, 2008 at 8:33 pm
For you reading pleasure and education.
Religious Tolerance
http://www.religioustolerance.org/statbelief.htm
Christian beliefs
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chrcarddoc.htm
Inerrancy: Is the Bible free of error? All points of view.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/inerrant.htm
Who is a Christian?
A simple question, with many answers
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_defn.htm
January 23, 2008 at 11:44 am
Thanks for the resources, Mike!
January 9, 2009 at 6:23 pm
“It is belief in Jesus Christ – not in biblical accuracy – that is the source of our salvation. Whether we believe the Bible is “in error” to some degree is ultimately a secondary matter.”
Amen! Preach it, brother!
April 7, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Applause! Applause! You are absolutely right on all points.
April 28, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Prior to the Reformation, the Bible (which the first Christians didn’t even have) was used to justify Papal authority, the real presence, seven sacraments, clerical celibacy, and many other things that Protestants rejected as unscriptural, even though Catholics DID and still do cite scripture to support these things.
Obviously, (despite Luther having said that reason and intellect were enemies of faith that must be destroyed) reason and intellect DID enter into the picture. Protestants QUESTIONED traditional interpretations of Scripture and came to different conclusions. Instead of one official interpretation, there were many. How strange is it then for Bible-oriented Protestants today to say that believers cannot question or interpret the Bible “differently” when the Reformation was founded in part on doing just that – approaching Scripture with reason, in the light of God’s grace in the here and now!
April 28, 2010 at 8:53 pm
Good points, hans. A curiosity indeed.