Just as Jesus, the living Word, is both human and divine, and his humanity did not necessitate sin, so the written Word is both human and divine, and the human element did not necessitate error. Today, biblical authority is challenged for the same basic reason of aligning biblical claims with the widely accepted values of our culture. Only today, the values to which Scripture must conform are largely moral, especially in areas of sexuality and identity.

In the 1980s and ’90s, a controversy swirled within the evangelical world over the question of biblical inerrancy. A common claim during that time was that the doctrine of inerrancy was an innovation of late nineteenth century Princeton theologians who were attempting to respond to higher biblical criticism. Before then, the claim continued, Christians did not believe the Bible to be without error, but only “infallible.” It was a distinction that made a big difference. The Bible is accurate in matters of faith and practice, but not without error in other areas, such as science or history. 

Though the word “inerrancy” may have been new, the idea was not. How the Early Church fathers described Scripture sounds exactly like what the Princeton theologians meant by inerrancy. The same, in fact, can also be said about medieval, Reformation, and even modern theologians before the rise of theological liberalism. 

The attack on the idea of biblical inerrancy 40 years ago is essentially the same as the attack on biblical authority that emerged during the Enlightenment. Once reason and science were elevated as the primary arbitrators of truth, it was necessary to reject things like the biblical claims about miracles. Aligning Scripture, particularly Genesis, with accepted science required assuming that the Bible was not reporting literal history or attempting to make scientific claims. 

The attack on biblical inerrancy quickly became an attack on literal interpretations of Scripture. “Literalists” are often accused of deifying or worshipping the Bible instead of God. However, inerrancy cannot be reduced to mere biblical literalism. The doctrine of inerrancy claims that the text of the Bible, as written by the original authors, is without error in all that it affirms when properly interpreted.

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