Can something be vague, and still be considered inerrant?

[Worldtraveller]

My wife and I were having this discussion the other day.

Me: Some claim the bible is inerrant, yet when you point out that there is a logical inconistency between these two passges, or it makes claim X, when we know Y is true, it can't be inerrant. And the apoligist just claims we aren't interpreting it right.

To me, if it's that open to interpretation, it is not inerrant, almost by defenition.

Her: Just because you don't understand, or misinterpret something, doesn' tmean it isn't inerrant. For instance, if you read the latest research on how gravity works, and assuming it's correct, but you misinterpret it, does that mean it's not inerrant?

____________________________
So my question is, if something is unclear, can it still be inerrant? Or, in the case of the bible, there are some passages that seem to clearly state something, but most xians will nterpret it some other way. Isn't that pretty much what it means to not be inerrant?

Cheers,
Lane

[Soul Invictus]

My wife and I were having this discussion the other day.

Me: Some claim the bible is inerrant, yet when you point out that there is a logical inconistency between these two passges, or it makes claim X, when we know Y is true, it can't be inerrant. And the apoligist just claims we aren't interpreting it right.

To me, if it's that open to interpretation, it is not inerrant, almost by defenition.

Her: Just because you don't understand, or misinterpret something, doesn' tmean it isn't inerrant. For instance, if you read the latest research on how gravity works, and assuming it's correct, but you misinterpret it, does that mean it's not inerrant?

____________________________
So my question is, if something is unclear, can it still be inerrant? Or, in the case of the bible, there are some passages that seem to clearly state something, but most xians will nterpret it some other way. Isn't that pretty much what it means to not be inerrant?

Cheers,
Lane


No. Objective fact cannot be misinterpreted, and if there is no objectivity to render the information falsifiable from the start, then it cannot be proffered as inerrant, because inerrant seems to imply that it is factually correct.

[seebs]

This depends on which sense of "inerrant" you mean. A lot of Christians view the Bible as "inerrant" in that it leads correctly to truth, not necessarily that every claim you can get out of it is true, but that the overall theme is correct and leads to God.

I have no idea. I don't think it matters whether or not some data source is inerrant, because my perception of it won't be.