Is the Bible the infallible word of God, and what does that mean?

Sometimes if the passage is rather obscure, or troubling, or violent, this response raises both eyebrows and questions: Is what we have just heard really the word of God?

In some Christian traditions, the Bible Reading in public worship is followed by a short liturgical response. The reader says, ‘This is the word of the Lord’, and the congregation replies, ‘Thanks be to God’. Sometimes if the passage is rather obscure, or troubling, or violent, this response raises both eyebrows and questions: Is what we have just heard really the word of God? And even if it is, what does that actually mean?

The Bible is a collection of (at least) 66 books, written by a wide variety of people, edited and re-shaped by further people, over a period of (at least) a thousand years. The Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament by Christians) was written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Ancient Greek, while Jesus and his contemporaries would have spoken in Aramaic. This means that the words of Jesus in the Gospels are already ‘in translation’ even before they are translated again into English. The Bible comes down to us through a variety of manuscript traditions, all of which are copies-of-copies-of-copies, and the task of the translator into English is to take all these different traditions and arrive at a ‘most likely’ rendering of the original Greek / Hebrew. This is why we have a variety of different English translations: there is no single ‘right way’ to translate one language into another – it’s more of an art than a science.

Bearing in mind this complexity of origin, why is it then that Christians claim that the Bible is the ‘Word of God’, and what do they mean when they say this?

There is no single ‘right way’ to translate one language into another – it’s more of an art than a science.

For some, the answer is simple: Regardless of the ways in which the text has arrived in its present form, what we have now is what God intends us to have. Such a view places the onus on God at work by the Spirit to ensure that the various writers / editors / translators are inspired in their work, meaning that the scriptures retain their divine inspiration throughout. 2 Timothy 3.16-17 says that ‘All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.’ Those who hold to this view do so with varying degrees of literalism. Some recognise that the God-breathed words of the Bible still need to understood in relation to their original context, and then applied to the contemporary world; others believe that the ancient words speak directly to the modern context without the need for interpretation or application.

However, some have noted that at the time when 2 Timothy 3.16-17 was written, the ‘scripture’ it was referring to was the Hebrew Bible, because most of what came to be the New Testament hadn’t been written yet. And so the question arises of the extent to which this can be applied to the New Testament? Was the writer of the letter to Timothy intentionally referring to documents yet to be written? Were they including their own letter in this?

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Another question is posed by John’s Gospel, which famously begins with a series of profound theological statements about ‘The Word of God’.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. (John 1.1-5)

According to John’s gospel, when God speaks salvation to humans, God speaks a person, not a text.

It is clear that here the ‘Word’ of God is to be understood as Jesus, pre-existent and incarnate. According to John’s gospel, when God speaks salvation to humans, God speaks a person, not a text.

Two of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century are helpful in finding a way through this maze. Firstly Karl Barth, and secondly Brevard Childs.

Karl Barth (1886-1968) suggested that to equate the living, breathing ‘Word of God’ with mere words on the page of a book is to limit God’s capacity to continue speaking in fresh ways to humans. It is not so much that ‘God has spoken’, but rather that ‘God still speaks’. Barth suggested that God speaks through the pages of the scriptures, but that that God’s word is not confined to those pages. So the Word of God is Jesus Christ (as John’s gospel puts it), and the Bible becomes the Word of God when through it Christ is proclaimed in the context of the Church. Barth proposed a threefold framework for understanding this: revelation, scripture, and proclamation. It is the Spirit who brings the divine words of life to life in the church, as God’s word is proclaimed.

It is not so much that ‘God has spoken’, but rather that ‘God still speaks’.

Brevard Childs (1923-2007) initiated what has become known as the ‘Canonical’ approach to scripture. This recognises that historical-critical study is helpful in understanding the processes behind the writing/editing/translating of the biblical text, but suggests that its ‘canonical shape’ (its final form as it is used in the church) is where ‘text’ becomes ‘scripture’. This is different from the biblical-literal view outlined above, because it locates God’s action in speaking through the text as occurring primarily at the moment of the text being read within the community of faith. So by this reading, God’s activity in speaking is rooted in the divine interaction with the lives of humans, and the biblical text is, by faith, a partner in this process rather than the originator of it.

It can be seen that there are a variety of approaches to understanding how God speaks through the Bible, and what it means to regard the Bible as ‘God’s word’. Whilst some Christians regard it as ‘infallible’, most Christians recognise that there is a need for responsible interpretation in order for God to speak through the words of the biblical text (this is why preaching and teaching is so universally central to Christian worship, alongside the reading of scripture and prayer). Most Christians would agree that the Bible bears witness to God’s word as spoken in Jesus, and that through the Bible God continues to speak of salvation in Christ.