If you’ve ever sat in a Bible study, scrolled through a comment section about the Bible online, or had a late-night conversation with a skeptical friend, you’ve probably run into the question: Does the Bible have errors in it? It’s one of the most common questions people ask about Christianity.
Obviously Christians hold Scripture in high regard, but candidly, knowing where the Bible came from is not something young believers are taught growing up in the church. Many of us grow into adulthood memorizing scriptures and reading through the Bible without understanding how the Bible came into existence. We know we can’t faithfully follow Jesus without referencing and living out the truths confirmed in the Bible. We believe:
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
— 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NRSV)
And yet intuitively, we also know the Bible did not magically appear. Many authors contributed, over many years, to the process of compiling the books we read in the translations we prefer today. (To avoid confusion there won’t be mention of the difference between the Mormon scriptures and the Roman Catholic scriptures).
Throughout this article, I will use the titles Bible, Scripture, and word of God interchangeably, as most Christians do. At the end I’ll reference the phrase, “The inerrancy of scripture,” which is the statement underneath the question, “Do you believe the Bible has errors?”
So here are ten statements to serve as a starting point for deeper thought — not necessarily in order of priority, and not meant to settle every debate. My hope is these claisms provide a clear, honest framework for thinking about biblical inerrancy.
1. The Bible Is the Inspired Word of God
Human beings wrote the Bible to convey the truth about who God is, what God does, and how people can follow God faithfully. Dozens of authors, across hundreds of years, recorded truth as eyewitnesses, prophets, storytellers, and people seeking to obey the Lord. Believers hold that the Holy Spirit guided those authors as they wrote.
The Bible didn’t fall out of the sky in finished form. It was narrated, copied, and passed down carefully across centuries — and that process is part of how God chose to give it to us.
2. We Depend on God to Understand What We Read
Anyone can read the Bible. Only God can reveal Himself to those who read it. In my own church, we pray for illumination from the Holy Spirit before every sermon — a deliberate reminder that we can’t know God or understand His truth apart from His help.
The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.
— Psalm 119:130
3. God Reveals Himself to Us Through Scripture
Believers have passed down Scripture for generations for one central purpose: to know God. “Who God is” should be the starting question of a lifelong journey — one that leads to every other truth. We should seek God’s identity first, and our own identity second.
4. Scripture Describes the Nature of the Human Condition
We are not gods. We are not on equal footing with God. God created us, yet something entered the picture that disconnected us from our Creator. Scripture calls this separation “sin” — a word that carries the sense of “missing the mark.”
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
— Romans 3:23
5. Scripture, in Its Current Form, Is Enough
The Old and New Testaments were formally recognized as the full representation of eternal truth centuries ago. That doesn’t mean no other ancient writings exist — it means they aren’t needed for salvation. What we have is enough.
A quick note: there are real differences in what Roman Catholics, Protestants, and various denominations recognize as the “authentic” canon. That’s a worthwhile topic for its own article. For reference, the translations I use most often for reflection and teaching are the NRSV, the NIV, and The Message.
6. The Problem Is With Us, Not With God
Scripture contains more than enough to convey what’s needed for faith and life. Our own broken condition — not any deficiency in God’s word — is what hinders our understanding.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
— Psalm 119:105
7. The Bible Is a Story of Salvation, With God as the Hero
You and I are not the focal point of the Bible. God is the author of salvation, and we are invited into His family and His story — not the other way around.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
— John 3:16
8. Scripture Contains Many Kinds of Writing Within One Larger Story
This is perhaps the most debated — and most clarifying — part of reading the Bible well. Does a person have to read the Adam and Eve narrative as a strictly literal account of the world’s creation? That’s a matter of personal conviction, and thoughtful Christians land in different places.
I don’t personally read that particular passage as a literal, scientific explanation of creation. Instead, I ask: What is the Holy Spirit teaching me through the creation narratives in Genesis? Hold on to that question — “What the Holy Spirit teaches through Scripture is without error” — and a lot of the tension around inerrancy starts to resolve.
If you try to read every story in the Bible the exact same way, you’ll run into real difficulties. But if you read the whole Bible as a unified story of salvation made up of different literary forms — history, poetry, parable, prophecy, letter — you’re free to ask what the Spirit is teaching through each one. The miracle accounts of Jesus don’t read like the story of Noah’s ark. Paul’s conversion in Acts doesn’t read like the story of Jonah. All of it is true for what the Spirit teaches — but what exactly is being taught is sometimes genuinely open to discussion. That’s precisely why faithful believers can disagree.
9. Read With Both Ancient and Modern Eyes
We know far more about science today than the original audiences of Scripture did. That doesn’t make us “more faithful” than previous generations — it just means we carry different questions to the text. We still have to approach Scripture with humility, depending on Holy Spirit for understanding. Open hearts and open minds still make mistakes, and both need ongoing correction and growth.
Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
— 1 Corinthians 10:12
10. We Read as People of Faith Seeking Understanding
We can’t fully grasp the mind of God in every matter. Isaiah’s words about God’s ways being higher than our ways are one of the most freeing truths in all of Scripture — a place to rest, not a wall to fight against.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
— Isaiah 55:8–9 (NRSV)
So, Does the Bible Have Errors?
It’s worth pausing here to clarify what we actually mean when we say “errors.” Scholars and Christians across traditions generally agree that there are known scientific, historical, and translation-level discrepancies within the biblical text as we have it. The Bible was never intended to be a science textbook or a modern history book, and within the limitations of centuries of hand-copied manuscripts and translation across languages, some “errors” of that kind occurred. That’s simply part of the historical record of how Scripture came down to us.
But that’s not the question that actually matters for faith. The bigger question is this: Do we believe what Holy Spirit is teaching us about who God is and how we are called to live when we read the Bible? That’s the level at which Scripture claims to be without error — and it’s the level that shapes how we actually live.
Here’s where I land: the Bible is the inerrant word of God because what Holy Spirit teaches through Scripture is without error. That’s a different claim than saying every verse must be read the same way, or every question has an easy answer, or every historical reference is accurate, or there were no transcription errors. Scripture survived in the form we have it over a long period of time, as God intended.
So we claim “the Bible is inerrant” because of what we continue to learn as Holy Spirit reveals God’s self, our identity as God’s people, and our right way of behaving in the world through the Bible.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
— Matthew 4:4
Is there more to say about the Bible as an accurate description of God, humanity, and the truth about life? Absolutely. My hope is this article gives you a launching point for healthy, life-giving conversation — and the comfort of knowing every believer wrestles with questions like this one.
The good news is that if you really want to know where the Bible came from, it is not difficult to do an online search about the history of the Bible. There are many scholastic organizations who provide an unbiased history of where the Bible came from – when people met to decide what went into the Bible, what was not included, etc. Here are a few you can access to further your understanding of the Bible’s history:
- https://wycliffe.org.uk/blog/story/a-brief-history-of-bible-translation/
- https://www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-history/history-bible-origins-who-wrote-when-how-reliable-historical-record/
- https://www.history.com/articles/bible
- A PDF from Yale with a short read about the New Testament – https://yalebiblestudy.org/courses/formation-of-the-biblical-canon/lessons/new-testament-study-guide/
- A simple timeline of events related to how we got our Bible https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/how-we-got-our-bible-timeline
On a last note, if this raised more questions than it answered, that’s a good sign. Your curiosity and desire to learn more means you’re taking Scripture seriously. So keep asking, keep reading, and keep bringing your honest questions to God. We’re all still learning.
— Pastor Bryan Stamper