Position · 1881

Biblical Inerrancy

The view that Scripture, as originally written, is without error in everything it affirms, including matters of history and science, because it is God’s inspired word.

Inerrantists say the belief goes back to the church fathers, but its modern form was set out by the Princeton theologians A. A. Hodge and B. B. Warfield in 1881, against critical scholarship. The Chicago Statement on Inerrancy (1978) gave it its standard definition, allowing for figures of speech, round numbers and the authors’ own conventions.

It is widely held among conservative Evangelical and Baptist churches, and the Southern Baptist Convention’s “Conservative Resurgence” from 1979 made it a test of leadership there. Evangelicals themselves are divided between this and Limited Inerrancy. Critics argue that it rests on manuscripts no one has and requires strained harmonising of texts.