Often, with the promulgation of 'innerancy' comes with it
the idea of rigid identical statements of fact.
The Word is simply not constructed this way. Will show 3 scriptures,
all identical as to statement, yet all 3 vary. Is the construct and placement of these Words/sentence structures the basis of being inerrant? Or are the statements, 3, in what they convey inerrant? They are, all 3,
supposedly direct quotes of God.
Yet they are not identical:
Deuteronomy 8:3
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that
man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Matthew 4:4
But he answered and said, It is written,
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Luke 4:4
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written,
That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
All three of these statements
are Gods Own Words.
Now,
pick the inerrant statement.
Get the drift?
Inerrant does not imply rigidity in exact Word for Word REPLICATION.
Often this issue comes up with the recordings of the Gospel writers.
Many of Jesus' Own Statements VARY and often they vary for VERY PRECISE differences in recordings.
These same statements
will also and often point back to Old Testament Words of God as well, and again,
there will be variations.
These variations
are with DIVINE INTENTIONS.
In part they are
to move us OFF the ideas of exact rigidity and move us INTO understandings of deeper intentions.
If a person gets caught up in
the false idea of exact replications of these things they will soon come to soil and spoil the party and possibly stumble in their own ideas, which they probably should.
They are then not 'inerrant' as to rigidity of Word for Word statements. That argument utterly FAILS on the surface!
Any half wit can see that Jesus' Own Words are varied from man to man recording of same for the SAME EVENTS. What is much more difficult is to peer behind the curtains on these matters of variations.
The Gospel writers, via the Inspiration of the Spirit INTENTIONALLY vary the Words of Jesus Christ. They also intentionally vary the accounts themselves as to details.
Take ANY parable account for example and you will assuredly find
NUMEROUS variations. Numerous. And they are so BY DIVINE INTENT. The most important PARABLE statements of Jesus Himself,
in the parable of the Sower from 3 writers
VARIES WIDELY from man to man. Some have speculated that is so because they were repeated teachings that varied with the teacher speaker, Jesus.
But most often this is NOT the case. They vary for other reasons. I've even read that some scholars, in trying to 'enforce' rigid infallibility will ascribe MULTIPLE events. The loaves and fishes account is another of these same. The details vary. So inerrant claimers, having no where else to go from their boxed corner, MUST go to multiple events in order to have consistency OR they have DIFFERENT EXACT WORDS OF JESUS.
Sorry. Doesn't compute. There were not multiple individuals possessed with LEGION nor were there MULTIPLE events of loaves and fishes.
Paul himself VARIED his own factual statements, and ALSO did so by the inspiration of THE SPIRIT. Could point to MANY of this same type of 'action' in Paul's Words.
This is a way to know the marks of Spirit Inspiration. A phony is easily unearthed. The writers themselves work with a Divine Methodology that is HIDDEN from view, yet it is in PLAIN SIGHT. It's also part of the reason there is soooo much DIVISION.
Did Jesus provide an abundance of DIFFERENT STATEMENTS for the SAME EVENTS? One might certainly think so if you stacked up each writers quotes
.....because they ALL differ.
What is harder to understand is WHY they differ.
That, dear reader is for YOU to personally discover.
One of my favorite examples of this type of variation is found in the account of the man possessed by Legion. ALL 3 writers of this 'same account' vary in their details, even in the details of Jesus Own Words and those of Legion.
Even the courses of actions proceeding to and proceeding the events VARY.
These matters have PLAGUED many a biblical scholar. But, beneath these variations are DIVINE GEMS of understandings that are exactly MEANT to frustrate the surface readers. When these GEMS are unearthed
they will provide even MORE respect for the DIVINE methods the writers employed, not LESS.
It makes His Words and the 'handlers and recorders' beyond any doubt, DIVINE in their workings.
Yet hidden from views.
IN the hands of exhaustive examinations,
those WORDS will yield the fruits of their intentions. But to read them in rigidity and only on the surface brush will yield vastly less.
In such observations, for which there are many variants, it is the 'expression of the idea' and the richness in various details that are of uttermost importance, and
not the rigidity of Word for Word identical statements.
The variations are placed
BY DIVINE INTENT.
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