A short overview of Bibliology

1. Topics in Systematic Theology
Bibliology

2. Bibliology
1. Theories of Inspiration
2. Plenary-Verbal Inspiration
3. Inerrancy
4. Problems and Solutions of Inerrancy
5. Authority of Scripture

3. 1.Theories of Inspiration
1. Natural Inspiration Theory
2. Mystical Inspiration Theory
3. Partial or Variable Inspiration Theory
4. Inspired Concepts Theory
5. Dictation Theory

4. 2. Plenary-Verbal Inspiration
“Inspiration is that supernatural work of the Holy Spirit by which He
superintended the writing process of Scripture so that all the words and every
part of the original writings were at the same time the words of the human
writers and the very words of God.”
-Dr. Finkbeiner
(“Built Upon The Truth,” in Foundational Faith, 51)

5. 2. Plenary-Verbal Inspiration
Inspiration is a work of the Holy Spirit:
“But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for
no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from
God.”
-1 Peter 1:20-21 NASB
“All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
for training in righteousness;”
-2 Timothy 3:16 NASB
1. Inspiration is Verbal, meaning every word.
2. Inspiration is Plenary meaning all, the whole, or everything.

6. 3. Inerrancy
1. “The inerrancy of Scripture means that scripture in the original
manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact”
(Grudem, ST, 90)
2. “Inerrancy is the view that when all the facts become known,
they will demonstrate that the Bible, in its original autographs
and correctly interpreted is entirely true and never false in all it
affirms, whether that relates to the social, physical, or life
sciences.” (Paul D. Feinberg, “Bible, Inerrancy, and Infallibility
of,” in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, p. 142)

7. 3. Components of Inerrancy
1. Inerrancy assumes a correspondence theory of truth.
2. Inerrancy applies only to what scripture affirms.
3. Inerrancy means the Bible does not assert error of any sort.
4. Inerrancy applies only to the autographs (original texts).
5. Inerrancy applies to the meaning of the text.
6. Inerrancy does not demand or guarantee our present knowledge of the solution to all problem
passages.
7. Inerrancy is linguistically sensitive.
8. Inerrancy does not demand precision or technical language.

8. 3. Inerrancy
An Inferential Argument from Scripture
1. Inerrancy is grounded in God Himself
2. God is omniscient; He knows everything (Psalm 136:1-6; 147:4-5)
3. God always speaks truthfully and never lies (Numbers 23:19; Titus
1:2; Hebrews 6:18; 1 Samuel 15:29; Ps 119:160).
4. Therefore, since God never lies nor is mistaken in His knowledge, and
since scripture is His Word, Scripture is the Ultimate Standard of
Truth (John 17:17; Psalm 12:6; Proverbs 30:5)

9. 4. Problems with Inerrancy
1. Inerrancy cannot be partial, for who could know what parts are inspired or are not inspired?
2. Inerrancy is important without the autographs. If the originals were corrupt, then there is no
chance what we have is God’s Word. What we have are God’s words because the originals were
true and the translations we have accurately represent those originals.
3. Inerrancy is important because without it we could not know for sure what God’s word is. If
inerrancy goes out the window, so does credibility and all authority.
4. Yet some issues in scripture are difficult to reconcile with this. Misspellings, mystery words,
number rounding, and possible contradictory stories present concerns for a rigid understanding
of Plenary-Verbal Inspiration.

10. 5. Authority of Scripture
1. Expert Authority
2. Moral Authority
3. Command Authority
As Protestants, there is no higher authority than God’s Word