Is The Bible Inerrent?

This season of Searching the Sacred (a 40 Orchards podcast) will explore how we read and understand the Bible. For many people, the way we were first exposed to the Bible isn't working anymore. We want to hold it as a sacred text or we don't want to give up on Jesus, but we struggle with reading the Bible. 

Is it without error (inerrent)? Is it true? Can it be trusted? Is it from God? What does sacred text really mean? What do we do with theology? How do the creeds impact our understanding of God? And many more!

Our goal is not to solve these questions, but to enter into the dialogue and provide some helpful wrestling. We also want to leave you with some good questions to ponder between episodes. 

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Notes from Episode 1...

Inerrent: : free from error. Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible, in its original manuscripts, is completely free from error in all that it affirms. This includes not only theological and moral teachings, but also historical and scientific claims. The idea of biblical inerrancy, meaning the Bible is without error, gained prominence in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly in the United States, as a response to modern biblical scholarship and criticism. The most well-known articulation of this doctrine is the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, which was drafted in 1978. Biblical inerrancy is not synonymous with biblical literalism, and Christians often focus more on what is intended to be written by a biblical author than the veracity of what is actually written.

Baptist, Pentecostal, Evangelical, and Fundamentalist churches tend to hold to a doctrine of inerrancy.

The Wesleyan and Methodist Christian tradition affirms that the Bible is authoritative on matters concerning faith and practice but does not use the word "inerrant" to describe the Bible. What is of central importance for the Wesleyan Christian tradition is the Bible as a tool which God uses to promote salvation.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada do not officially hold to biblical inerrancy. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the Lutheran Church—Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and many other smaller Lutheran bodies do hold to scriptural inerrancy, though for the most part Lutherans do not consider themselves to be "fundamentalists."


Infallible: 1: incapable of error : unerring 2: not liable to mislead, deceive, or disappoint : certain 3: incapable of error in defining doctrines touching faith or morals. Some authors use "inerrancy" and "infallibility" interchangeably. For others, "inerrancy" refers to complete inerrancy and "infallibility" to the more limited view that the Bible is without error in conveying God's self-revelation to humanity. On this understanding, "infallibility" claims less than "inerrancy".

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This is a 40 Orchards podcast.

At 40 Orchards, our mission is to create circles for all people to wrestle through biblical texts, so that— together— we can expand each other’s experience of what is sacred, whole, and good.

We search through the lens of sacred possibility; assuming there is more to be discovered, questioned, and applied as we listen for how God is still speaking. 

You can learn more about 40 Orchards and sign-up for a study by going to 40Orchards.org




Our opening music is by LesFM

Our closing music is by NCR Music Vibes

Additional music is by Three Music

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