I know that this week and next tend to be the ones where people make resolutions and goals for the year—and a typical New Years’ resolutions for Christians is to read their Bible in its entirety within the year. This is a good goal and if you’ve never read your Bible in its entirety, you absolutely need to at least once.

I read through the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation back in 2009, reading a few chapters a day until I was done. It was a tremendous experience—it helped me get a really good sense of the big story of Scripture, to see how every book fits together. I tried to do it again last year, but stalled out about halfway through the Psalms (although I still ended up reading about two-thirds of the Scriptures through the year regardless).

Sooooo if it was so great an experience the first time, why did it fall flat the next? What happened?

For me, the problem was that I wasn’t spending enough time soaking in the Word. With a strict schedule of 4+ chapters a day, I found there was very little time to stop and savor. Much of the time was spent consuming. This is not the way that I prefer to read my Bible. That’s one of the reasons that I loved the Partnering to Remember challenge that Tim Brister put together last year. Memorizing Philippians (most of which I’ve still got a solid hold on) was one of the few times in 2011 where I felt like I felt like I was really enjoying the Word in the way that I’m talking about.

So this year, I’ve decided to spend the bulk of my personal reading just enjoying a few books—mastering them and being mastered by them, as it were. What that means is I’m not going to be keeping track of how many chapters I’m reading or how many books of the Bible I get through this year. I want to do my best to really understand what I’m reading and to enjoy it. I might even try to to memorize some more.

The first book on my list? Ecclesiastes.

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

Let’s take a look back in time and see the most-read posts from October. Go check them out:

1. Everyday Theology: God Won’t Give You More Than You Can Handle (July 2009)
2. Everyday Theology: God helps those who help themselves (July 2009)
3. The Dos and Don’ts of Book Reviews (or at least how I do them) (January 2011)
4. John Piper on Mark Driscoll & John MacArthur (May 2009)
5. Book Review: Love Wins by Rob Bell (March 2011)
6. (Cheap) Christian e-Books for Your Kindle! (November 2011)
7. Book Review: For the City by Darrin Patrick and Matt Carter (November 2011)
8. 5 Ways to Get Attention in the Christian Blogosphere (November 2011)
9. Christmas Shopping for the Bible Guy (and Gal)! (November 2011)
10. Everyday Theology: Preach the Gospel always, if necessary use words (July 2009)

And just for fun, here are the next ten:

1. Inerrancy, the Church and the Cults (November 2011)
2. Book Reviews (page)
3. Book Review: Erasing Hell by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle (July 2011)
4. Book Review: Gospel Wakefulness by Jared C. Wilson (November 2011)
5. Choosing a New Preaching Bible (November 2011)
6. Another Great Book Giveaway! (November 2011)
7. Who Writes This? (page)
8. J.I. Packer: Nehemiah’s God (May 2010)
9. 5 Biblical Names We Won’t Be Using For Our Next Child (November 2011)
10. Does it Matter if Paul Didn’t Write the Pastoral Epistles? (November 2011)

Four of this month’s top ten posts are from November (which was kind of a nice surprise). It was also great to see a new entry in the top ten—The Dos and Don’ts of Book Reviews (or at least how I do them). It’s great to see that people are checking out this one (and I hope finding it helpful!). The next ten, as always, are an interesting mix—lots from November (and one from this week, even). Really great to see people engage in the discussion on choosing a new preaching Bible and glad to see the excerpt from J.I. Packer finding an audience again.

Over the last few weeks, Dave Jenkins and I have been looking at the big question of inerrancy. What does it mean? Where did the idea come from? What does it mean if we lose it? Today, I want to quickly look at a nagging issue that comes up again and again in conversations and debates surrounding the inerrancy of Scripture and that is the issue of infallibility.

Understanding Inerrancy: A Quick Recap

As was stated in the first post in this series, inerrancy means that the Bible is entirely truthful and reliable in all that it affirms in the original manuscripts. At the risk of oversimplifying, inerrancy means that the Bible is free from error. Because God is truthful (cf. Titus 1:2 among others), and the testimony of Scripture is that it itself is “God-breathed” (what theologians have referred to as “verbal plenary inspiration”)¹ we can trust that what He has said, through authors inspired by the Holy Spirit, is true.

So that, at it’s most basic level, is the idea behind inerrancy. But what about infallibility?

Understanding Infallibility

Infallibility is closely related to inerrancy, yet distinct. In fact, infallibility is a much stronger term than inerrancy in many respects. To say that the Bible is infallible is not simply to say that it is free from error, but that it is incapable of erring. The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy is extremely helpful on this point:

We affirm that Scripture, having been given by divine inspiration, is infallible, so that, far from misleading us, it is true and reliable in all the matters it addresses. We deny that it is possible for the Bible to be at the same time infallible and errant in its assertions. Infallibility and inerrancy may be distinguished, but not separated.²

So, can something or someone be fallible yet still inerrant? Theoretically, yes. Here’s what I mean: It is possible for a person who is capable of erring (making a mistake) to not err. He or she is fallible, yet made no error. But what about the reverse? Is it possible for someone to be infallible, yet err?

Not at all. If infallibility means being incapable of error, then it is not possible in any way, shape or form.

This again draws us back to the source of Scripture, that being God. If God is indeed perfect, always true, always doing exactly what He promises and always doing what is right, then it is impossible for Him to err. He is not only free from error, but incapable of committing it. Thus, if Scripture is truly inspired of God, if it is truly all that it claims to be, then it too is incapable of committing error. It is infallible and inerrant. 

Infallibility addresses possibility—inerrancy addresses fact. They are distinct, but they are inseparable.

A few days ago, we started digging into this question of inerrancy—the idea that the Bible is completely and totally truthful in all that it says. This doctrine is one of the most critical, but is tied to a larger issue, one of authority.

If the Bible truly is inerrant, then it’s authority over how we think and live cannot be questioned (even if we are uncertain as to how we should interpret some of what it says). But why would it have such total authority—where does this authority come from? The answer is a simple and complicated one:

The Bible’s authority is derived from the character and authority of God.

Of all the ways God is described, as being merciful, faithful, full of steadfast love, there is one description that encompasses and controls all these: His holiness. God is completely and utterly perfect in all He says and does—and in His being.

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts,” the angels sing. “The whole earth is filled with His glory!” (Isa. 6: 3) This holiness, this perfection, undergirds everything else that is true about God.

His love is a holy love.

His wrath is a holy wrath.

His truth is a holy truth.

And because God is holy, everything He says and does will always be completely and totally truthful.

The claim of God’s complete and total truthfulness is not something that is tucked away in an obscure part of the Bible, but rather it permeates the entire thing. It’s rare to find a book that doesn’t make an appeal to the truthfulness of God in some fashion. Some are more obvious, such as in Numbers 23:19, which boldly declares, “God is not man, that he should lie.” Likewise, as Paul reminds Titus of the assuredness of the hope of eternal life, he does so by appealing to the truth that God “never lies” (Titus 1:2). Again and again, the claim is made:

“This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true.” (2 Sam. 22:31; Psa. 18:30)

“Every word of God proves true…” (Prov. 30:5)

“The rules of the Lord are true…” (Psa. 19:9)

“…all your commandments are true.” (Psa. 119:51)

“The sum of your word is truth…” (Psa. 119:160)

“…the word of the Lord in your [Elijah’s] mouth is truth.” (1 Kings 17:24)

“…your word is truth.” (John 17:17)

These are but a few of the places where we are repeatedly and emphatically told that all that God says is truth. So, the question is, can God’s Word declare something untrue?

No. Because He is holy, He can be nothing less than perfect. Because He is perfect, He can be nothing less that completely truthful. It would be against His character to be anything less.

So we have to be really careful as we consider this question of inerrancy. Because God so strongly identifies with His written word (cf. Psa. 119:42; John 17:17), we risk impugning His character by suggesting that Scripture errs (even if we suggest that it is still infallible—a subject for a future post). And God identifies strongly with His written Word, not simply because He has ordained it be His method for revealing His character, but because He was intimately involved in it’s writing and continues to use it as His means of saving and sanctifying His people.

Scripture is “God-breathed,” says 2 Tim. 3:16, as God the Holy Spirit worked through the unique personalities of every author to set forth the exact message He intended for humanity. It “is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). God’s Word—His written Word—has power unlike any other book ever written.

The question for us, then, is what do we do with it? Do we continue suppress the truth in our unrighteousness—do we risk impugning the character of God by suggesting that He could err? Or do we, like the Thessalonians, accept it, “not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God” (1 Thess. 2:13)?