When people say the Bible is “inerrant” what does that mean?
When conservative Christians say the Bible is inerrant, they mean without error in the original manuscripts. In subsequent, copies, God permitted copyist errors. All who say the Bible is inerrant say the Bible is infallible. But not all who say the Bible is infallible say it is inerrant. See Todays Handbook for Solving Bible Difficulties p.45-48 for an easy to understand discussion on how the original text is inerrant, and the modern text, while still reliable, is only infallible. Other books that give similar descriptions of inerrancy are 1001 Bible Questions Answered p.17, When Critics Ask p.23-24, The Complete Book of Bible Answers p.13,25, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties p.7,16, and Difficulties in the Bible p.21-22. General Introduction to the Bible p.43, points out that the view of “inerrant autographs and errant copies” was also held by John Calvin and Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.). Here are some detailed statements on inerrancy from the Chicago Statement on Biblical Herm
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