Fact a Day: March 5th

The Facts on Roman Catholicism (Harvest House, 1993), p. 8-9

Does the Bible claim to be the inerrant Word of God? The New Testament

Jesus Himself indicated more than once that new revelation from God was forthcoming. For example, He promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit would teach them all things and bring to remembrance the things Jesus taught them (John 14:26), referring to the Gospels (cf. Matthew 24:35). He also promised that the Holy Spirit would guide them into all the truth (John 16:12-15), referring to the remainder of the New Testament. Thus, it is not surprising that: “Virtually every New Testament writer claimed that his writing was divinely authoritative…. The cumulative effect of this self testimony is an overwhelming confirmation that the New Testament writers claimed inspiration.”*

Indeed, the fact that the New Testament writers assumed their writing was as binding as the Old Testament asserts a great deal. Such writers were orthodox Jews who believed God’s Word was heretofore confined to the known Old Testament canon. To add to this body of holy writings was a terrible presumption unless inspiration were clearly present…. God had no more likely candidates for this revelation than the apostles of His own Son, or those they approved. And for perhaps even more credibility, the former skeptic and persecutor of the Church, the great apostle Paul, was commissioned by God to write a full fourth of the entire new revelation.

Is it credible to believe Jesus thought the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of Truth,” who inspired the New Testament (cf. John 16:13-15) would corrupt His own words, or inspire error?

*For full documentation, please see The Facts on Roman Catholicism.