The likely consequences of abandoning the doctrine of biblical inerrancy are serious and worth examining. First of all, if a person assumes that the Bible is not inerrant then one would also have to assume that either God has lied or God has allowed those who were the human authors of scripture to speak falsely in His name. If God can and did lie, how could we ever assume that He has told the truth about anything—He would have violated his own character as a God who tells the truth (Numbers 23:19) and therefore the Bible would have no real authority.
Secondly, a person who rejects inerrancy would have a difficult time maintaining a faithful hermeneutic. There would be no basis for consistently interpreting scripture throughout the Bible if some parts are true and some are not true. In addition, a person would have no need to develop any sort of systematic or biblical theology if they reject inerrancy. Rather than being forced to explain how seemingly discordant texts actually fit together, the reader could simply dismiss both as the author’s opinion or decide that one is true and the other is false rather than having to reconcile them so that the reader understands how they both fit into the context of what is revealed in the Bible.
Finally, because the Bible is the source of divine truth (John 17:17) and is our source of spiritual nourishment (Hebrews 5:13-14), a person who rejects inerrancy will hamper their spiritual growth. A likely outcome of viewing the Bible as not inerrant is that the person would see the Bible as not authoritative and important. Therefore, they would neglect to study them. Failing to study the scripture would certainly impair a person’s spiritual growth.
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