Expert: Pastor Don Carpenter - 12/3/2004

Question
Hello Dr. Shultz,
  I am a Christian but am confused when I hear pastors saying things like "There is no asertion in the Scriptures that their writers were kept from error."   Is the bible infallible and how do we know it is?

Answer
Hi Don,

THanks for this great question. Let me summarize the answer in the following manner:

1.  Old Testament authors claim 3,808 times that they are transmitting the very words of God.  Moses warned of adding or taking away from it.

Deuteronomy 4:2
2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

Deuteronomy 6:1-2,6-9


Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:  2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.

6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

Deuteronomy 12:32
32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

2.  The Psalmist refers to the perfection of the Word.

Psalm 19:7
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.   
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

Psalm 119:42,96,140,142,151,160,172
42 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.

96 I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.

140 Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.  

142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.

151 Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.

160 Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.  

172 My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.

The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

3.  Christ confirmed the authority of the whole Old Testament.


Matthew 5:18
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

John 10:35
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

4.  James speaks of the perfect law.

James 1:22-25
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.  
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

John tells us that every word is sacred and is not to be corrupted.

Revelation 22:18-19
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.  

The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

God's word has been perfectly preserved

Psalm 12:6-7
6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.  
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

I hope that these verses help you.

In Christ,
Pastor Don