THE BIBLE

Bible Inerrancy

If the Bible is the Word of God, does that only apply to the original text, or can we trust the Bibles on our shelves? How can we depend on the inerrancy of a book written thousands of years ago, translated into hundreds of languages?

Day One: Biblical Infallability
The word infallible means "incapable of error." If something is infallible, it is never wrong and thus absolutely trustworthy. Similarly, the word inerrant, also applied to Scripture, means "free from error." Simply put, the Bible never fails...
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Day Two: Errors, Contradictions, and Discrepancies
If we read the Bible at face value, without a preconceived bias for finding errors, we will find it to be a coherent, consistent, and relatively easy-to-understand book...
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Day Three: Lost in Modern Translations?
This is truly a difficult issue to grasp. Only the original autographs (original manuscripts written by the apostles, prophets, etc.) are under the divine promise of inspiration and inerrancy...
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Day Four: Corruptions, Alterations, and Edits
...Anywhere between 3400 to 1900 years have passed since a book of the Bible was written. In this time, the original manuscripts have been lost. They very likely no longer exist. Also during this time, the books of the Bible have been copied again and again...
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Day Five: The Effect of Translations
This question deals with three very important issues: inspiration, preservation, and translation...
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Day Six: The Doctrine of Preservation
The doctrine of preservation in regard to Scripture means that the Lord has kept His Word intact as to its original meaning. Preservation simply means that we can trust the Scriptures because God has sovereignly overseen the process of transmission over the centuries...
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Day Seven: Biblical Reliability
Using the same criteria by which we judge other historical works, not only is the Bible reliable, it is more reliable than any other comparable writings. Reliability is a question of truthfulness and accurate copying...
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Day Eight: Missing Verses
If you compare the King James and New King James Versions with the newer translations (e.g. the New International Version, New American Standard, New Living Translation, etc.) - you will notice that several verses are entirely missing from the newer translations...
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Day Nine: Mark 16:9-20
Although the vast majority of later Greek manuscripts contain Mark 16:9-20, the Gospel of Mark ends at verse 8 in two of the oldest and most respected manuscripts, the Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus...
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Day Ten: John 7:53-8:11
At issue is its authenticity. Did the apostle John write John 7:53—8:11, or is the story of the adulterous woman forgiven by Jesus a later, uninspired insertion into the text?...
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Day Eleven: The Comma Johanneum
The Comma Johanneum, also known as the Comma Johannine, is a textual variant in regards to 1 John 5:7-8. The word comma simply means "short clause," and Johanneum means "pertaining to John"...
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Day Twelve: The Bible vs. Fairy Tales
The Bible is undoubtedly the most impactful book the world has ever known, transforming innumerable lives. Why, then, would the question whether or not the Bible is a fairy tale be a legitimate one in the hearts of many around the world?...
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Day Thirteen: The Bible vs. Mythology
That the Bible originated in the mind of God makes it not only unique among all books, it is unique among all the treasures on earth. President Abraham Lincoln appropriately referred to the Bible as "the best gift God has given to man"...
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Image Credit: Richard Rutter; "Gutenberg moveable type"; Creative Commons