This is another in a series of books sponsored by the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy. The fourteen leading evangelical scholars who have contributed to this volume come from various denominations and have written on a wide range of topics related to the doctrine of the inerrancy of the Bible. Believing that this doctrine is 'an essential element of the authority of Scripture and a necessary ingredient for the health of the church of Christ,' they have made a strong defense of it. This book is presented as an appeal to the church of Jesus Christ. To those churches that hold to the inerrancy of Scripture, it is a call to hold the line. To those churches that have given way to the persuasions of radical higher criticism, it is a call to return to the historic position of Christianity. Inerrnacy is shown to be a doctrine of crucial importance to the church. Among the chapter titles are these: Christ's View of Scripture - Alleged Errors and Discrepancies in the Original Manuscripts of the Bible - Higher Criticism and Biblical Inerrancy - Legitimate Hermeneutics - The Human Authorship of Inspired Scripture - The Meaning of Inerrancy - Philosophical Presuppositions of Biblical Errancy - The View of the Bible Held by the Church - B. B. Warfield Versus G. C. Berkouwer on Scripture -- Included as an appendix is the Statement of the Council. This Statement consists of three parts: a Summary Statement, Articles of Affirmation and Denial, and an Exposition. The intent of this declaration underlies all of the chapters in this significant book.
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This is another in a series of books sponsored by the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy. The fourteen leading evangelical scholars who have contributed to this volume come from various denominations and have written on a wide range of topics related to the doctrine of the inerrancy of the Bible. Believing that this doctrine is "an essential element of the authority of Scripture and a necessary ingredient for the health of the church of Christ," they have made a strong defense of it. This book is presented as an appeal to the church of Jesus Christ. To those churches that hold to the inerrancy of Scripture, it is a call to hold the line. To those churches that have given way to the persuasions of radical higher criticism, it is a call to return to the historic position of Christianity. Inerrnacy is shown to be a doctrine of crucial importance to the church. Among the chapter titles are these: Christ's View of Scripture - Alleged Errors and Discrepancies in the Original Manuscripts of the Bible - Higher Criticism and Biblical Inerrancy - Legitimate Hermeneutics - The Human Authorship of Inspired Scripture - The Meaning of Inerrancy - Philosophical Presuppositions of Biblical Errancy - The View of the Bible Held by the Church - B. B. Warfield Versus G. C. Berkouwer on Scripture -- Included as an appendix is the Statement of the Council. This Statement consists of three parts: a Summary Statement, Articles of Affirmation and Denial, and an Exposition. The intent of this declaration underlies all of the chapters in this significant book.
About the Author
Norman Geisler (PhD, Loyola University) is president of Southern Evangelical Seminary and author or coauthor of over fifty books including Decide for Yourself, Baker's Encyclopedia of Apologetics, and When Skeptics Ask. SPANISH BIO: Norman Geisler (PhD, Loyola University) es presidente del Seminario Evangelico del Sur y autor de mas de cincuenta libros, entre los que se destacan Decide For Yourself, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics y When Skeptics Ask. Fue tambien coeditor de Is Your Church Ready? Un libro asociado a Quien creo a Dios?
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Stevie Jake
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Inerrancy is an anthology of essays originally presented by scholars at the International Conference on Biblical Inerrancy in 1978. Though this book is over 30 years old it still gives an adequate attempted defense of the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy that many evangelicals profess today. That being said, this book is short of convincing. I will only critique the chapters that I had most disagreement with.
Chapter 1, written by John Wenham, attempts to argue that Jesus viewed the scriptures as inerrant. Wenham argues that Jesus' mention of OT events demonstrate that He believed said events were historical. This is a complete non-sequitur. Wenham also adds that if these events were not historical then "Jesus' reference to them was meaningless". This, however, is not correct at all. The references would not have been meaningless to his hearers who did indeed take them as historical. Wenham also asserts that Jesus' repeated declaration of "Have you not read...?" is equivalent to Him saying "Do you know that God has said...?", however he fails to substantiate this assertion and thus leaves it unwarranted. Wenham then deals with Jesus supposed abrogations of the OT (You have heard it was said...But I tell you). Wenham actually does a good job of demonstrating that Jesus was not exactly overturning OT laws but only the faulty interpretations of it. However, there are still a couple of instances where Jesus did indeed oppose OT law. These instances regard Jesus' cleansing of all foods and His teaching on divorce. Wenham attempts to show these as not abrogations of the OT but I was not convinced. Thus, Wenham failed to show that Jesus did indeed view the OT as inerrant.
Chapter 4, written by J. Barton Payne, attempts to demonstrate that higher criticism of the Bible cannot affect inerrancy. Payne states that "Criticism becomes warped only when coupled with presuppositions that turn it into dishonest, unobjective criticism." However, Payne fails to see (as will be demonstrated below) that the a priori loyalty to the doctrine of inerrancy is in itself a presupposition that does not allow errors in the text and thus results in the very definition of unobjective criticism. Payne argues that the Bible cannot be made subject to negative criticism because scripture is the very Word of God. Thus, the Bible becomes the authority on all biblical criticism. Payne obviously is blind to the incredible circularity of his argument. Payne states that "we are committed to the validity of God's inerrant Word". Therefore, if scholarship shows that a portion of the Bible may be historically suspect, the believer must plug his ears with his fingers and keep ignoring it (Im paraphrasing). Then, Payne asserts that " any view that subjects the written word of God to the opinions and pronouncements of men involves unbelief and disloyalty towards Christ." Payne seems oblivious to the fact that the Bible is interpreted by the subjectivity of humans nonetheless and thus is subject to our own discernment whether he likes it or not.
Chapter 9, written by Paul Feinberg, attempts to give an adequate definition of inerrancy. Instead of giving a full critique of his argument I will deal with one quote from his that undermines his entire chapter. He asserts that "to divorce inerrancy and authority is impossible." What Feinberg is contending is that if something is not infallible or inerrant then it cannot function as an authority. This, however, becomes a problem for Feinberg himself. Since Feinberg is a human being then he is not infallible nor inerrant. Therefore, based on his own standards Feinberg cannot function as an authority and thus his entire chapter should be ignored.
Chapter 11, written by RC Sproul, argues that the testimonium of the Holy Spirit (and only the Holy Spirit) can give us complete assurance and certainty that the Bible is inerrant. Sproul seems to be oblivious to the fact that this actually negates faith. Sproul quotes Calvin who states "it is foolish to attempt to prove to infidels that scripture is the Word of God. This cannot be known, except by faith." Sproul seems to miss the self-refuting sentence in Calvin's last statement. If inerrancy can be known then faith is not needed. But this is not the end of Sproul's problems. If the testimonium gives us certainty in inerrancy then what gives us certainty in the testimonium itself? It cannot be the Bible because then the argument would be circular. No, the certainty of the testimonium lies in our own human philosophy (which formed the testimonium) which cannot achieve the certainty it desires. Thus, the certainty of inerrancy is grounded in something that cannot produce certainty which again leads us to uncertainty (the very thing Sproul was trying to avoid).
Chapter 12, written by Robert Preus, attempts to argue that the view of the Bible held by the early church fathers through Luther was one of inerrancy. Preus is correct that the early church fathers through Luther held the Bible in a high light, but he is incorrect in attaching the doctrine of inerrancy to this view. Though the early church fathers viewed the Bible as without errors, they did not interpret it in an "inerrant" light. For instance, many church fathers came across abhorrent passages in the OT and recognized them as such. Origen viewed the OT genocides as evil. Thus, he was forced to conclude that the event was not meant to be read literally but allegorically. Similarly, Gregory of Nyssa viewed the tenth plague in Egypt (the killing of the firstborn) as abhorrent and was forced to read it allegorically as well. Now the modern formulation of the doctrine of inerrancy rejects these forms of dehistoricizing passages (CSBI Article XVIII) and thus many early church fathers would not have fit into the category of an inerrantist as is now understood.
Lastly, even if everything in this anthology were valid in everything it touched on, it still would fall short of making the case for inerrancy. This is because the argument would boil down to this: the Bible is inerrant because the Bible claims it. But, this in itself is not enough to establish this doctrine. Something is not inerrant simply because it makes the claim. Therefore, while this book makes a good effort at salvaging this doctrine, it fails to convince.
Chapter 1, written by John Wenham, attempts to argue that Jesus viewed the scriptures as inerrant. Wenham argues that Jesus' mention of OT events demonstrate that He believed said events were historical. This is a complete non-sequitur. Wenham also adds that if these events were not historical then "Jesus' reference to them was meaningless". This, however, is not correct at all. The references would not have been meaningless to his hearers who did indeed take them as historical. Wenham also asserts that Jesus' repeated declaration of "Have you not read...?" is equivalent to Him saying "Do you know that God has said...?", however he fails to substantiate this assertion and thus leaves it unwarranted. Wenham then deals with Jesus supposed abrogations of the OT (You have heard it was said...But I tell you). Wenham actually does a good job of demonstrating that Jesus was not exactly overturning OT laws but only the faulty interpretations of it. However, there are still a couple of instances where Jesus did indeed oppose OT law. These instances regard Jesus' cleansing of all foods and His teaching on divorce. Wenham attempts to show these as not abrogations of the OT but I was not convinced. Thus, Wenham failed to show that Jesus did indeed view the OT as inerrant.
Chapter 4, written by J. Barton Payne, attempts to demonstrate that higher criticism of the Bible cannot affect inerrancy. Payne states that "Criticism becomes warped only when coupled with presuppositions that turn it into dishonest, unobjective criticism." However, Payne fails to see (as will be demonstrated below) that the a priori loyalty to the doctrine of inerrancy is in itself a presupposition that does not allow errors in the text and thus results in the very definition of unobjective criticism. Payne argues that the Bible cannot be made subject to negative criticism because scripture is the very Word of God. Thus, the Bible becomes the authority on all biblical criticism. Payne obviously is blind to the incredible circularity of his argument. Payne states that "we are committed to the validity of God's inerrant Word". Therefore, if scholarship shows that a portion of the Bible may be historically suspect, the believer must plug his ears with his fingers and keep ignoring it (Im paraphrasing). Then, Payne asserts that " any view that subjects the written word of God to the opinions and pronouncements of men involves unbelief and disloyalty towards Christ." Payne seems oblivious to the fact that the Bible is interpreted by the subjectivity of humans nonetheless and thus is subject to our own discernment whether he likes it or not.
Chapter 9, written by Paul Feinberg, attempts to give an adequate definition of inerrancy. Instead of giving a full critique of his argument I will deal with one quote from his that undermines his entire chapter. He asserts that "to divorce inerrancy and authority is impossible." What Feinberg is contending is that if something is not infallible or inerrant then it cannot function as an authority. This, however, becomes a problem for Feinberg himself. Since Feinberg is a human being then he is not infallible nor inerrant. Therefore, based on his own standards Feinberg cannot function as an authority and thus his entire chapter should be ignored.
Chapter 11, written by RC Sproul, argues that the testimonium of the Holy Spirit (and only the Holy Spirit) can give us complete assurance and certainty that the Bible is inerrant. Sproul seems to be oblivious to the fact that this actually negates faith. Sproul quotes Calvin who states "it is foolish to attempt to prove to infidels that scripture is the Word of God. This cannot be known, except by faith." Sproul seems to miss the self-refuting sentence in Calvin's last statement. If inerrancy can be known then faith is not needed. But this is not the end of Sproul's problems. If the testimonium gives us certainty in inerrancy then what gives us certainty in the testimonium itself? It cannot be the Bible because then the argument would be circular. No, the certainty of the testimonium lies in our own human philosophy (which formed the testimonium) which cannot achieve the certainty it desires. Thus, the certainty of inerrancy is grounded in something that cannot produce certainty which again leads us to uncertainty (the very thing Sproul was trying to avoid).
Chapter 12, written by Robert Preus, attempts to argue that the view of the Bible held by the early church fathers through Luther was one of inerrancy. Preus is correct that the early church fathers through Luther held the Bible in a high light, but he is incorrect in attaching the doctrine of inerrancy to this view. Though the early church fathers viewed the Bible as without errors, they did not interpret it in an "inerrant" light. For instance, many church fathers came across abhorrent passages in the OT and recognized them as such. Origen viewed the OT genocides as evil. Thus, he was forced to conclude that the event was not meant to be read literally but allegorically. Similarly, Gregory of Nyssa viewed the tenth plague in Egypt (the killing of the firstborn) as abhorrent and was forced to read it allegorically as well. Now the modern formulation of the doctrine of inerrancy rejects these forms of dehistoricizing passages (CSBI Article XVIII) and thus many early church fathers would not have fit into the category of an inerrantist as is now understood.
Lastly, even if everything in this anthology were valid in everything it touched on, it still would fall short of making the case for inerrancy. This is because the argument would boil down to this: the Bible is inerrant because the Bible claims it. But, this in itself is not enough to establish this doctrine. Something is not inerrant simply because it makes the claim. Therefore, while this book makes a good effort at salvaging this doctrine, it fails to convince.
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In our day and age it is not uncommon for people to say that they love Jesus but reject the Bible as the sole authority for faith and pratice. Furthermore, people often will accept the teachings of Jesus (or atleast those they agree with) and yet reject portions of the Bible such as Genesis 1-2 or the miracles recorded in the Bible because of science. They view the Bible as a work of faith and religion but science as being grounded in absolute truth.
This book, INERRANCY, edited by Norman Geisler defends the view that the Bible is to be accepted as the Word of God and without error in the original manuscripts. Based off the historical 1978 Chicago Statement on Inerrancy, this book was published in 1980 but is timeless in its defense of Scripture much the same as B.B. Warfield's book, THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE. The book dives into the defense of the Bible as the infallible and inerrant Word of God by first looking at how Jesus viewed Scripture. This is vital. How Jesus viewed the Old Testament leads us to understanding how the Church viewed the entire Canon of Scripture. INERRANCY leaves no doubt that Jesus loved the Old Testament, viewed it as the Word of God, and accepted the Old Testament as historically true.
Overall this is a solid work. Despite being first published in 1980, INERRANCY is vital to helping the true Church of Christ defend the absolute trustworthiness of Scripture. If we doubt the inerrancy of Scripture and doubt, for example, the six day's of creation in Genesis 1-2, how can we trust that what Jesus said or did is true? We must accept the Bible from Genesis to Revelation as the inerrant Word or our faith is built only on faith and not clear, truthful statements from God Himself in His Word.
This book, INERRANCY, edited by Norman Geisler defends the view that the Bible is to be accepted as the Word of God and without error in the original manuscripts. Based off the historical 1978 Chicago Statement on Inerrancy, this book was published in 1980 but is timeless in its defense of Scripture much the same as B.B. Warfield's book, THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE. The book dives into the defense of the Bible as the infallible and inerrant Word of God by first looking at how Jesus viewed Scripture. This is vital. How Jesus viewed the Old Testament leads us to understanding how the Church viewed the entire Canon of Scripture. INERRANCY leaves no doubt that Jesus loved the Old Testament, viewed it as the Word of God, and accepted the Old Testament as historically true.
Overall this is a solid work. Despite being first published in 1980, INERRANCY is vital to helping the true Church of Christ defend the absolute trustworthiness of Scripture. If we doubt the inerrancy of Scripture and doubt, for example, the six day's of creation in Genesis 1-2, how can we trust that what Jesus said or did is true? We must accept the Bible from Genesis to Revelation as the inerrant Word or our faith is built only on faith and not clear, truthful statements from God Himself in His Word.
81 of 115 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I had to purchase and read this book for a seminary class that I took this past year. To be quite frank, I was very disappointed with it. There are only a few essays in the book that show substantial scholarship and solid writing (e.g. Walter Kaiser Jr.'s). Most of them tend to be reactionary in tone and contribute little to the discussion of inerrancy. I was especially frustrated by the ad hominem attacks on men like G. C. Berkouwer (c.f. Krabbendam's essay where he essentially says that Berkouwer either must have been living in great sin or not been a Christian to hold such a view of inerrancy).
A second problem I had with the book was its naive reliance upon Enlightenment philosophical categories to define the term "inerrancy." Most of the writers implicitly seemed to think that for something to be true it has to be "scientifically accurate" (granted, they would probably deny this; however, the underpinnings of Scottish Common Sense Philosophy are clearly there). The result is that the contributors often miss the point of the teleological thrust of Scripture. They are so concerned about proving the Bible to be a coherent, rational scientific text-book that they seldom stop to ask the questions: "what is the purpose of the Biblical text?" and "am I imposing an unwarranted philosophical framework upon the text which leads to unnecessary problems and dilemmas?"
In conclusion, I was also frustrated by the lack of real engagement with the topic. Most of the authors set up weak straw men of their opponents and talked past the real issues. As noted above the last essay by Henry Krabbendam degenerated into an ad hominem fist fight. While I understand why the authors are determined to defend their version of inerrancy (i.e. they are worried that Christianity will crumble from within if the God breathed character of Scripture is abandoned), I was still disappointed by what I perceived to be a mis-handling of the issues (compare the responses in this book to Millard Erickson's irenic, thoughtful discusion of inerrancy in his book Christian Theology).
A second problem I had with the book was its naive reliance upon Enlightenment philosophical categories to define the term "inerrancy." Most of the writers implicitly seemed to think that for something to be true it has to be "scientifically accurate" (granted, they would probably deny this; however, the underpinnings of Scottish Common Sense Philosophy are clearly there). The result is that the contributors often miss the point of the teleological thrust of Scripture. They are so concerned about proving the Bible to be a coherent, rational scientific text-book that they seldom stop to ask the questions: "what is the purpose of the Biblical text?" and "am I imposing an unwarranted philosophical framework upon the text which leads to unnecessary problems and dilemmas?"
In conclusion, I was also frustrated by the lack of real engagement with the topic. Most of the authors set up weak straw men of their opponents and talked past the real issues. As noted above the last essay by Henry Krabbendam degenerated into an ad hominem fist fight. While I understand why the authors are determined to defend their version of inerrancy (i.e. they are worried that Christianity will crumble from within if the God breathed character of Scripture is abandoned), I was still disappointed by what I perceived to be a mis-handling of the issues (compare the responses in this book to Millard Erickson's irenic, thoughtful discusion of inerrancy in his book Christian Theology).
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book
This book was a good book about the inerrancy of Scripture. Certainly helped me with my research, lots of information about the subject from many different authors.
Published 4 months ago by Bruce A. Yeager
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent Resource
Giseler presents an excellent compilation of material in defense of his position on the inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Oldman2011
5.0 out of 5 stars
great information
I think it is a book for believers and nonbelievers in the Bible to read to get an idea of the supernatural greatness of tha Bible,that it really has come from God.
Published 15 months ago by Jaime A. Delcastillo
3.0 out of 5 stars
On time, but not in good condition
This book was on time and well packaged but it was not in good condition. The book seemed to have survived a spill on top of many of the pages. Read more
Published on November 29, 2010 by Benjamin Fugate
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best in-depth study on the Word of God!
In today's world the attacks are relentless on the Bible and will only get worst. We need more than ever to have a solid foundational concept of the Word of God. Read more
Published on March 31, 2010 by Rob Franzen
1.0 out of 5 stars
not highly recommended
All, I have to do is re-quote the "Neo-Calvinist"'s review:
I had to purchase and read this book for a seminary class that I took this past year. Read more
I had to purchase and read this book for a seminary class that I took this past year. Read more
Published on February 25, 2010 by Matthew D. Hansen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Make no mistake
This unpopular but invaluable book sets forth the proofs for biblical "inerrancy"--the doctrine that every word of Christian Scripture is inspired by the Holy Ghost: the Bible is... Read more
Published on October 25, 2008 by Lucifer
2.0 out of 5 stars
Unconvincing Fundamentalism
Geisler is a fundamentalist theologian who has written numerous apologetical and theological works. I will admit I'm strongly prejudiced against fundamentalism, but this... Read more
Published on October 14, 2006 by Greg
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book!
This book, though lengthy, serves as an outstanding introduction to the concept of inerrancy, an extremely important foundational truth concerning the Bible. Read more
Published on November 19, 2003 by Clark Paton
5.0 out of 5 stars
Impeccable
This book is a scholar's standard for a logical support of the doctrine of inerrancy. This doctrine is central to the Christian faith in supporting the reliability and authority... Read more
Published on July 21, 2001 by Joshua Wagner
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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- Holy Scripture (Studies in Dogmatics) by G. C. Berkouwer on 26 pages
- Biblical Authority by Jack Rogers on 10 pages
- Biblical Revelation by Clark H. Pinnock on 10 pages
- Language, Truth and Logic by Alfred J. Ayer on 5 pages
- Scripture, Tradition and Infallibility by Dewey M. Beegle on 5 pages
See all 100 books this book cites
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