Is The Bible Inerrant?

Cal · 07-02-2013, 09:14 AM

Witness Lee was an example of someone who took inerrancy too far. He created doctrines from phrasing discrepancies.

A good example is his doctrine of the difference between "the kingdom of God" and "the kingdom of the heavens." Matthew uses the term "kingdom of the heavens." The other gospels use "kingdom of God." From that Witness Lee created this elaborate doctrine about the difference between the two and what that all meant.

But it's pretty clear to me that many passages where Jesus said "kingdom of the heavens" in Matthew and "kingdom of God" in Mark and Luke are recounting the same incident but using different words (eg. cf. Matthew 13:31-33, Luke 13:18-21). Is this error? No, not one God cares about, anyway.

Certainly God is sovereign, but to think he is sending a message about two versions of the kingdom by recounting the same speaking with different words is, to me, too much of a stretch to take seriously.

You can stare at the Bible too hard to find errors, and you can stare at it too hard to find truths.

07-02-2013, 09:14 AM	#11
Cal Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: USA Posts: 4,333	Re: Is The Bible Inerrant? Witness Lee was an example of someone who took inerrancy too far. He created doctrines from phrasing discrepancies. A good example is his doctrine of the difference between "the kingdom of God" and "the kingdom of the heavens." Matthew uses the term "kingdom of the heavens." The other gospels use "kingdom of God." From that Witness Lee created this elaborate doctrine about the difference between the two and what that all meant. But it's pretty clear to me that many passages where Jesus said "kingdom of the heavens" in Matthew and "kingdom of God" in Mark and Luke are recounting the same incident but using different words (eg. cf. Matthew 13:31-33, Luke 13:18-21). Is this error? No, not one God cares about, anyway. Certainly God is sovereign, but to think he is sending a message about two versions of the kingdom by recounting the same speaking with different words is, to me, too much of a stretch to take seriously. You can stare at the Bible too hard to find errors, and you can stare at it too hard to find truths.