Inerrancy of Scripture is the teaching that the Bible, in its original manuscripts, is without error in all that it affirms.
Because God is the ultimate Author of Scripture and God cannot lie or err, His written Word is completely truthful and trustworthy in everything it asserts.
Inerrancy applies to the whole of Scripture — matters of faith and practice as well as historical, geographical, and other factual statements the biblical writers intend to make.
It is a foundational conviction for confidence in the Bible as the Word of God.
Scripture presents itself as the Word of God spoken through human authors. The same God who cannot lie and who knows all things is the One who breathed out the Scriptures. Therefore the Bible does not merely contain truth; it is truth. Jesus treated the Old Testament as completely reliable, down to the smallest details, and He promised that Scripture cannot be broken. The apostles likewise received and proclaimed the Word as fully authoritative and true. Inerrancy does not mean that every statement is a scientific treatise or that every figure of speech is literal; it means that when the Bible makes an affirmation, that affirmation is true and free from error. Because we no longer possess the original manuscripts, careful textual study is needed to recover the authentic text, yet the conviction of inerrancy rests on the character of God and the claims of Scripture itself. This doctrine undergirds the church’s confidence in preaching, teaching, and obeying the Bible as the final authority for faith and life.
- Inerrancy follows from the character of God: God cannot lie or err, and Scripture is His Word.
- The Bible is without error in all that it affirms, not only in spiritual matters but in all it intends to teach.
- Inerrancy applies properly to the original manuscripts (autographs); copies and translations are trustworthy to the degree they reflect the original.
- Jesus and the apostles treated Scripture as fully reliable and authoritative.
- Inerrancy does not require wooden literalism or deny the use of figurative language, approximations, or phenomenological description.
- The doctrine supports the full authority and trustworthiness of the Bible for faith and life.
- Challenges to inerrancy ultimately touch the truthfulness and reliability of God Himself.
- Divine Authorship – Scripture is God-breathed; the ultimate Author is the God of truth.
- Without Error – Free from falsehood, deceit, or contradiction in all that it affirms.
- Full Range – Applies to all affirmations of Scripture, including historical and factual matters the text intends to assert.
- Original Manuscripts – Strictly speaking, inerrancy is predicated of the autographs; faithful copies and translations convey that truth reliably.
- Jesus’ View of Scripture – Christ affirmed the enduring authority and unbreakable character of God’s Word.
- Human Authors – God used real human writers with their own styles and perspectives without introducing error.
- Practical Trust – Because Scripture is inerrant, it can be trusted, obeyed, and proclaimed with confidence.
- 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.”
- 2 Peter 1:20-21 – “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.”
- John 10:35 – “Scripture cannot be broken.”
- John 17:17 – “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
- Matthew 5:18 – “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
- Matthew 24:35 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
- Numbers 23:19 – “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”
- Titus 1:2 – “…in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began.”
- Hebrews 6:18 – “…it is impossible for God to lie…”
- Psalm 12:6 – “The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.”
- Psalm 19:7-9 – “The law of the Lord is perfect… the testimony of the Lord is sure… the precepts of the Lord are right… the commandment of the Lord is pure… the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.”
- Psalm 119:160 – “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.”
- Proverbs 30:5 – “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”
- John 14:26 – The Holy Spirit would teach the apostles all things and bring to their remembrance all that Jesus had said.
- 1 Corinthians 14:37 – “If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.”
Inerrancy is not a late invention or a secondary concern; it is the necessary implication of the God who speaks. If God is true and cannot lie, and if the Scriptures are His breathed-out Word, then those Scriptures are without error in all that they affirm. Jesus Himself treated the Bible this way — as unbreakable, enduring, and completely reliable. Because the Bible is inerrant, it can be trusted in every generation for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. Challenges to its truthfulness are ultimately challenges to the character of the God who gave it. Receive the Word as it is in truth — the word of God. Trust it. Obey it. Proclaim it. Heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will not pass away.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.