Can you comment on this statement on the inerrancy of Scripture?

This text is from a letter written by David Gooding in 2000.

The statement on inerrancy which concerned you runs as follows:

That when all the facts are known, the Scriptures in their original autographs and properly interpreted will be shown to be wholly true in everything they affirm, whether it is to do with doctrine or morality, or with the social, physical, or life sciences.

I applaud the conviction that lies behind this statement, namely that its authors are absolutely certain that, when all the facts are known, the Scriptures will prove to be wholly true.

That said, I am left wondering what exactly the status of this statement is.

'when all the facts are known ...'

The statement sounds to me like a lecturer speaking somewhat informally to his students, and giving them an explanation of how the doctrine of inerrancy will shape up in the future when all the facts are known, rather than a carefully worded, positive statement of belief in the inerrancy of Scripture as it stands. In other words, it seems to me to be altogether too tentative.

To try to make clear what I mean, let me substitute the question of our Lord's own inerrancy. Would it be sufficient as a statement of faith to say that, when all the facts are known, our Lord will be shown to be wholly true? Such a statement would certainly be correct, but it would seem to me to be decidedly inadequate as a statement of our faith in Christ's truth. We ought surely to be prepared to say now, when all the facts are not yet fully known, that he is the Truth.

Again, would people feel it sufficient to say that, when all the facts are known, what the Scriptures say about the person of Christ will be shown to be wholly true? The statement is, of course, factually true; but it's very tentativeness—making the demonstration of the truth about Christ to be dependent upon the facts eventually being fully known—is very much less than saying what the Bible says about Christ is true.

'properly interpreted ...'

This in itself is perfectly acceptable. If someone interprets the Scriptures as implying that our Lord on occasions sinned, or that he never claimed to be God incarnate, then obviously we should wish to say that, in these instances, the Scriptures were not being interpreted properly. But that raises fundamental questions, and to answer them would take more space and explanations than can possibly be put into a statement of faith. For instance, what is the criterion of proper interpretation? Is the criterion going to be Scripture itself, or the critical judgment of theologians, whose basic stance is that the final criterion of the truth of anything is human reason?

'in everything they affirm'

The next item in the statement seems to me to be inadequate. This question of what the Scriptures do or do not affirm has been the subject of much debate among theologians, as the authors of this present statement surely know. In some quarters it is argued that, while the Scriptures affirm the fundamental doctrines of the faith, and their affirmations on this topic are to be received unquestionably, other things which they mention incidentally are not necessarily affirmed by Scripture. On these grounds, people are prepared to take the New Testament statements of the deity of Christ and of his resurrection as being true; but the 'incidentals', as they call them—such as the coming of the wise men from the East, or the rising of some of the dead after our Lord's death upon the cross, or his eating of fish in the Upper Room with his disciples after his resurrection—are not necessarily affirmed by Scripture. This interpretation of 'what the Scriptures affirm' opens the door to massive unbelief in the facts of Scripture.

I realize, of course, that this statement 'everything they affirm' may be intended to cover the fact that sometimes Scripture reports, say, the lies which Satan told. The fact that Scripture records these lies does not mean that Scripture affirms that the lies were true; divine inspiration simply guarantees that the record of what he said is true.

But, because of this uncertainty as to what the phrase means in the modern debate, it seems to me that the phrase 'everything they affirm' is of doubtful value when put into a statement of faith about inerrancy.

'whether it has to do with doctrine, or morality, or with the social, physical, or life sciences'

This final part of the statement leaves me with misgivings. To start with a small matter: doctrine and morality are not necessarily two separate things. The doctrine of Scripture has frequently to do with morality. I think, therefore, that the statement perhaps wishes to distinguish between theological doctrine on the one hand, and the morality of various narrative portions of Scripture—such as the slaughter of the Canaanites at the conquest under Joshua, and so forth. But even here, this distinction raises again the meaning of the earlier phrase, 'everything they affirm'.

When the statement declares that 'when all the facts are known, the Scriptures will be shown to be wholly true in what they affirm, whether it is to do with the social, physical, or life sciences', this raises a number of questions.

Like all human sciences, the social, physical and life sciences have a way of changing their theories very frequently. I presume the statement is not wishing to say that the social, physical and life sciences are the ultimate criterion by which the truth of Scripture will be vindicated. The statement is simply observing that, when all the facts are known---presumably in particular about Scripture, but in addition all the facts about the social, physical and life sciences—Scripture will be shown to be wholly true. But when are all the facts going to be known about the social, physical and life sciences? Again, the conviction expressed by the statement is in itself true and praiseworthy. We do believe that the Scriptures will be shown to be true; but our statement of faith on the inerrancy of Scripture should be made, it seems to me, on a much firmer ground. If we believe all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, then let us say so! We believe it is true now, at this moment; and because it is God-breathed, it is inerrant. The fact that one day it will be demonstrated to the world at large that it was always true is, for the believer, beyond all doubt; but to suggest that faith in the Scriptures' inerrancy is merely a faith that it will one day be shown to be true, seems to me lacking in its affirmation of what is true at the present moment, even before it has been demonstrated.

Another small matter. I am not sure what academic disciplines are included in the label 'the social, physical and life sciences'. Perhaps history and archaeology, for instance, are assumed to be included in these labels; but I mention it because the lack of reference to history and archaeology in this particular clause surprises me somewhat.

Concluding remarks

Having said all this, it may be that my criticisms are in part unfair and invalid because I have not seen the whole document, of which this statement is only one part. It may be that earlier statements have included vigorous professions of faith on the topic of the divine inspiration and authority and, therefore, the truthfulness of Scripture. Perhaps, then, the statement of inerrancy is added as an addendum; its function being to explain to its readers that, if they first embrace the divine inspiration and authority of holy Scripture and believe that what Scripture says, God says they need not be perturbed by the fact that there are things in Scripture that we cannot explain in our present state of knowledge. Therefore, the intention of the statement would be to assure them that their faith that what the Bible says—God says—is not mistaken, and should not be in any way diminished by the fact that, in our present state of knowledge, we cannot understand everything or perfectly reconcile various difficulties; but that when all the facts are eventually known, all will be proved to have been true all the way along the line.

I hope, then, that these comments are of some use to you.

Ever yours truly in Christ,