Infallibility And Inerrancy

INFALLIBILITY AND INERRANCY
These two terms are very close to one another, but there is a slight shade of meaning between the two.

Infallible:|Incapable of error|
Inerrancy:|Does not contain error| The Bible is both infallible as well as inerrant. Because of its divine origins, it contains no error and is incapable of error. However, a doctrine of inerrancy and infallibility does not demand... A strict utilization of the rules of grammar. Grammatical rules are, by their very nature, generalizations that have developed over time. The writers of the Bible sometimes used a high grammar, but more often than not, they spoke in common, everyday colloquialisms using figures of speech that were common to that day. A rigidly literalist interpretation. The Biblical writers often rounded off numbers in the same way we might speak of six million Jews dying in the German concentration camps and are not faulted because the precise number might be a few more or a few less. The technical language of modern science. Thus we can read in Genesis 1:1-31 of the sun rising or the sun setting and we do not expect to see any mention of the rotation of the earth or its revolution around the sun. We regularly speak in a non-technical manner and the Bible speaks in the same manner.

Verbal preciseness in quotations. We often have in a quote or in the relating of a narrative the general idea restated or summarized rather than the exact words that were used. A comprehensive accounting of all truth, even on any given subject. The Bible is not a sytematic theology that attempts to consolidate and state all relevant information. It is better described as a series of love letters from God to His people through the intermediary of His apostles and prophets. Inerrancy does not guarantee the exhaustive comprehensiveness of any single account or of combined accounts where those are involved. The infallibility or inerrancy of the non-inspired sources used by biblical writers. Thus Paul is able to quote the pagan Greek philosopher Epimenides where he has spoken rightly, yet does not thereby give credence to the rest of his writings.

What constitutes inerrancy? It is the teaching that the original autographs of the Scriptures were the inspired and authoritative word of God and that they were without error as to their message.