Articles
Is The Bible Infallible? (Part 1)
"The Bible is inspired, but it is not infallible." So declared Jim Swilley, founder of “The Church in the Now” in Conyers, Ga. Swilley’s affirmation came in a monologue defending his homosexual orientation -- after two marriages and multiple children with both wives. He sat before his congregation and declared his sexual orientation to be “natural,” the way he was made, and thus acceptable to God.
Of course this raises a huge problem for Swilley because the very Bible at the center of his ministry condemns his behavior. Here is how he deals with this problem:
- He says the Bible is inspired but not infallible.
- He claims to have an “anointing” to receive messages directly from heaven.
- He asserts that the apostle Paul was correct in his theology about the person and work of Christ but mistaken when he taught about sexuality and relationships.
Conclusion: Swilley believes himself to be superior to Paul, and he expects his followers to accept his teaching over that of Scripture.
The remainder of this article is not about Swilley’s arrogance, morality or empire building. Rather, we want to consider the idea that the Bible is not infallible. Swilley is not the first to espouse such an idea:
After the Reformation, rationalism arose. In the eighteenth century, rationalism was characterized by an optimistic confidence in critical human reason and a disdain for supernatural influences in human affairs. Rationalists made the first serious claims that the Bible was like any other human book, and hence fallible (Harold O.J. Brown, "The Origin of the Bible," p. 43).
Without reviewing the philosophical currents of that period in detail, two particular forces combined to produce deep skepticism of the integrity of the Bible: Darwin’s naturalism and liberal German theology. The result: “Once allow the worm to gnaw the root, and we must not be surprised if the branches, the leaves, and the fruit, little by little decay” (Bishop Pole, ibid, p. 47).
In other words, the root concept on which everything depends is that God has spoken, and the Bible is the product of that speaking. As such, it must be inerrant lest we accuse God of inaccurate speech, inefficient transmission of His message and/or inept preservation of His word.
The bottom line: Can we trust the Scriptures as the true revelation of God’s mind and will?
One significant consideration in this discussion is how Jesus treated both the Law of Moses and the other divine records of the Old Testament. For example, Jesus had absolute confidence in the precision of what had been written centuries before: “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matt. 5:18).
Jesus considered the Scriptures to be accurate and viable. Jesus affirmed that David “in the Spirit” correctly advanced the deity of the coming Messiah (Matt. 22:43-45).
Earlier in that chapter Jesus had based the truth of life after death upon a verb tense recorded in the Old Testament: “But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham?’ ... God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (22:31-32).
Jesus continually quoted the Scriptures, taught the proper application of prophecy, challenged the Jewish leaders on their knowledge of the Law -- affirming that what had been revealed, recorded and preserved was “thus says the Lord.” Never was there any suggestion that the Old Testament was an impure mix of divine revelation and human opinion, that time had made Scripture irrelevant, that accuracy had been compromised by translation or that a doctrine should be ignored because the author wasn’t trustworthy.
Jesus, however, did criticize those who set aside the revelation of God for their traditions.
Perhaps the most powerful statement implying infallibility is that of Paul in I Cor. 2:12-13:
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
True inspiration is concert between humanity and deity to publish the very thoughts of God, either in speech or writing. The final product is God’s word, God’s will, God’s revelation.
While we are challenged with the prospect of understanding and applying what God has said, may we never fall into the trap of thinking that some of the Bible is God’s thought, some is merely human opinion, and some is objectionable because it doesn’t match our politically correct expectations.
This approach leads to the conclusion drawn by Jim Swilley: the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah was due to a random meteor shower; Moses made up his own laws; Romans 1 should be rejected because it teaches that denying God makes everyone homosexuals; and the Spirit and the bride invite the dogs and sexually immoral to come as they are (Rev. 22:15-17).
If we compromise on infallibility, then we have no confidence in anything said in the Bible.
