It would be nanve to ignore the fact that issues of Biblical inerrancy and the inspiration of Scripture are not flooded with controversy. Even so, it is possible to clarify, come to terms with, and defend the concepts from the standpoint of conservative Christianity. That is the purpose of this research.
Controversy surrounds the issues of inerrancy and inspiration of Scripture, owing chiefly to two strands of thought within the Christian community regarding how these terms should be applied to Biblical interpretation. In the contemporary period, the heart of the cleavage in Christian discourse can be traced to a distinction that has been drawn between evangelical and fundamentalist Christians. The distinction has been drawn not so much by self-identified Christians as by the sociological community. One commentator cites a study describing conservative Protestantism's "evangelicals [who] tend to view the Bible as 'authoritative' or 'inspired' (i.e., parts of which may be considered metaphorical), while fundamentalists are more likely to insist that the Bible is 'infallible' or 'literally true' without exception."
Some would say that a problem with such a designation begins with the term infallible, which is most often associated with Roman Catholicism; more important, however, this designation does not capture the complexity of inerrancy and inspiration as conservative Christians understand them. This research examines inerrancy and inspiration in a way that demonstrates their quiet relevance to modern Christian thought amid the cacophony of spiritual argument.
Let us begin with an examination of the concept of inerrancy. Inerrancy in the Bible has been linked to a variety of side issues. Undoubtedly it is the case that, as artifacts of human endeavor, the physical documents that became canonical scripture were subject to the vagaries of editorial conformance. In that connection, it has been observed that until the invention ...