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To: Matchett-PI
You shoulda clicked on my screenname and went to my profile page first - you'd have known better than to ask me that question. :)

Way too much stuff (its late and I haven't shaved). Do you have a cliff notes version?

I was responding to your "The Bible is the only infallible..." comment in a previous post. Based on my studies, I do not think the global flood is an example of infallibility.

I may have to answer tomorrow.

435 posted on 12/12/2005 8:30:22 PM PST by Coyoteman (I love the sound of beta decay in the morning!)
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To: Coyoteman

"I was responding to your "The Bible is the only infallible..." comment in a previous post. Based on my studies, I do not think the global flood is an example of infallibility." ~ Coyoteman

You misunderstand what is meant by the term, "infallibility" as regards the Scriptures.

Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy

Inerrancy applies only to the original manuscripts, not to copies or translations:

Article X.

WE AFFIRM that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture, which in the providence of God can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy. We further affirm that copies and translations of Scripture are the Word of God to the extent that they faithfully represent the original.
WE DENY that any essential element of the Christian faith is affected by the absence of the autographs. We further deny that this absence renders the assertion of Biblical inerrancy invalid or irrelevant.

Further, inerrancy does not mean blind literalism, but allows for figurative, poetic and phenomenological language, as long as it is accurate:

Article XIII.

WE AFFIRM the propriety of using inerrancy as a theological term with reference to the complete truthfulness of Scripture.

WE DENY that it is proper to evaluate Scripture according to standards of truth and error that are alien to its usage or purpose. We further deny that inerrancy is negated by Biblical phenomena such as a lack of modern technical precision, irregularities of grammar or spelling, observational descriptions of nature, the reporting of falsehoods, the use of hyperbole and round numbers, the topical arrangement of material, variant selections of material in parallel accounts, or the use of free citations.

The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy says that the autographs of the Bible, that is, the actual parchment or papyrus on which the Biblical authors wrote, accurately reflects the authors intent.

This allows the possibility of errors in the surviving manuscripts and translations. But even if the autographs are lost, surviving manuscripts are found in such large numbers that the autographs may be reconstructed with more than 99 percent accuracy.

*

When discussing Biblical inerrancy, it is important to remember that ONLY the original texts of the Bible are claimed to have been inerrant - not the copies or translations.

Inerrancy and Human Ignorance
http://www.tektonics.org/gk/inerrancy.html

[huge snip] Scroll down to:

Religious and Philosophical Reasons Why We Don’t Have Inerrant Copies


442 posted on 12/12/2005 10:49:45 PM PST by Matchett-PI ( "History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid." -- Dwight Eisenhower)
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