Is the Bible inerrant?

The doctrine of biblical inerrancy remains contested within Christian theology, though it has significant support among evangelical and fundamentalist communities. Inerrancy, in its classical formulation, affirms that the Holy Spirit superintended human authors to produce Scripture’s original texts as “the very Word of God without error in all that they teach (including history and science)”[1].

However, defining inerrancy precisely proves challenging. Some scholars define it as the idea that when all facts are known, the Bible in its original documents, properly interpreted within its cultural context, is “completely true in all that it affirms, to the degree of precision intended by the author’s purpose”[2]. This definition introduces important qualifications: most scholarly definitions apply inerrancy only to the original manuscripts rather than modern translations, and they exclude from “error” such things as round numbers, free citations, observational descriptions of nature that don’t meet modern scientific standards, and apparent contradictions that might ultimately be reconciled[2].

The doctrine has experienced significant historical turbulence. The Evangelical Theological Society adopted inerrancy as its doctrinal foundation in 1949, and by the 1950s fundamentalists, most evangelicals, and Roman Catholics upheld it[3]. Yet beginning in the late 1950s, some evangelical scholars grew uncomfortable with the doctrine, believing the Bible contains material errors, and this tension intensified after Harold Lindsell’s 1976 book chronicled perceived defections from the doctrine at evangelical institutions[3]. In response, the International Council of Biblical Inerrancy was established in the 1970s and produced “The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy” (1978), which many evangelicals regarded as a responsible articulation of the doctrine[3].

The debate ultimately hinges on how one interprets Scripture’s nature and authority—whether complete accuracy extends to all subjects or primarily concerns theological and moral truth.

[1] Norman L. Geisler and Lanny Wilson, “Bible, Inerrancy Of,” in The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics: Surveying the Evidence for the Truth of Christianity (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2008), 104.
[2] Bruce Corley, Steve Lemke, and Grant Lovejoy, Biblical Hermeneutics: A Comprehensive Introduction to Interpreting Scripture (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2002), 184.
[3] Daniel G. Reid et al., “Inerrancy,” in Dictionary of Christianity in America (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1990). [See here, here, here, here.]