J. I. Packer in his essay on “Scripture” makes the following important statement: “The infallibility and inerrancy of biblical teaching does not, however, guarantee the infallibility and inerrancy of any interpretation, or interpreter, of that teaching.”1 Too often critics of inerrancy point to a faulty interpretation of Scripture and use this to show that inerrancy cannot be true. However, just because fallible men may disagree on what a certain passage of scripture means, it is unfair to claim that God’s Word is also fallible. God never claimed that fallible men would understand everything in his Word but that doesn’t diminish from its truth one bit. What is needed is not claims that the Word of God is in error but for fallible men to commit to more careful Bible study to rightly divide the Word of truth.
It is easy to call the Word of God fallible when disagreements on a passage of Scripture take place. But I have found over my years of study that I start with the premise of infallibility and inerrancy and through my careful study of the Bible many of my interpretations of the Bible have become more conformed to what I believe is now correct. And of course, there will always be things that seem contradictory in the Word but rather than cry error our faith needs to come into play and leave these unresolved issues in the hands of our God, who knows how to reconcile them, even if we, with our finite minds, cannot. Packer is so right when he says, “Too often the infallibility which belongs to the Word of God has been claimed for the interpretations of Scripture which are, to say the least, uncertain and which make Scripture pronounce on subjects about which it does not itself claim to teach anything.”2 Let’s not blame God’s Word as being wrong when it is so often the case that it is us who misinterpret divine truth.
1 John MacArthur, ed., The Scripture Cannot Be Broken: Twentieth Century Writings on the Doctrine of Inerrancy, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015), Page 98
2 John MacArthur, ed., The Scripture Cannot Be Broken: Twentieth Century Writings on the Doctrine of Inerrancy, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015), Page 98
This devotion states, “Too often critics of inerrancy point to a faulty interpretation of Scripture and use this to show that inerrancy cannot be true.”
Nowhere is this more evident than in John 21:22, 23:
Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”
So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
This passage has provided the argument many renowned atheists have used to disprove the inerrancy of God’s Word, Christopher Hitchens in hundreds of debates and Bertrand Russell in Why I am Not a Christian, just to name two noteworthy atheists.
We also need to keep in mind that if verses of Scripture like John 21 are not inerrant then the deity of Christ is called into question.
These men and many other atheists have reasoned this way based on aberrant teaching by Christian theologians. Their thinking goes like this:
1. Whenever Jesus talked about coming again, He was referring to His second coming at the end of history.
2. Jesus said John would be their at His coming.
3. John is dead, so, he won’t be alive on earth at the second coming.
4. Therefore, either Jesus was wrong, he lied, or John is still alive. So much for a trustworthy, inerrant Bible.
These conclusions are based on faulty Christian theology, which has empowered atheist philosophers for decades.
The answer is found in a proper interpretation of “until I come.” The same is true for Matthew 24 where His coming is referring to His coming in judgment at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. John was still alive and kicking. He was even chosen to write the book of Revelation, warning about this cataclysmic event.
When Hitchens brought this attack out of his quiver during his last debate with a Christian, he was given this explanation and was stunned. It took away his one argument that he successfully used over the years and left him speechless.
When it comes to God’s word over man’s, Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”