The scripture cannot be broken

 MacArthur, John, ed. The Scripture Cannot Be Broken: Twentieth Century Writings on the Doctrine of Inerrancy. Wheaton: Crossway, 2015.

John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. He has served in this position since 1969. He is known around the world for his expository preaching, biblical-theological scholarship, and his pulpit ministry via his daily radio teaching program. Dr. MacArthur has also written or edited nearly four hundred books. His scholarly work identifies him with many evangelical writers. Fundamental to MacArthur's theology is a very high view of Scripture. He believes that the biblical text is inerrant and infallible because it is the Word of God, and that God cannot lie. Furthermore, he believes that Christians are obliged to render full submission to the scripture above all else. MacArthur’s qualifications make him the perfect candidate for editing a book on the doctrines of the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible.

From the introduction of this anthology readers will know MacArthur believes every part of the Bible should be understood literally and obeyed completely which also describes his views on the inerrancy of Scripture. The Scripture Cannot Be Broken is appropriately edited by John MacArthur, and each contributor to this research project does a marvelous job of engaging and outlining in a lucid yet approachable methodology.

The authors of each article articulate why believers should understand what inerrancy is about and why it is so important to hang our proverbial hat on this doctrine. The writers acknowledge that modern Christians’ faith in God’s inerrant Word will involve “unresolved questions and difficulties with regard to the very content of this faith” (51). Moreover, this book shows that inerrancy preserves the purity of Scripture and accomplishes the purpose for which God gave all Christians the Word.

Since the time of the Renaissance, the authority of Scripture has been debated both outside and inside the Church. The doctrine of biblical inerrancy is an extremely important one because the truth does matter. The articles in this book show that biblical inerrancy is true because perfection is consistent with God's character and because He has told us it is true. The authors of this book show that God’s word is true. The doctrine of biblical inerrancy establishes a sort of default assumption of the truth of Scripture's assertions that can protect one’s theological presuppositions. Many scholars engaged in higher criticism have begun with presuppositions questioning the belief that Scripture is God’s inspired Word to humanity. For this reason, some conservative Christians have tended to compare and associate historical critical methodology with liberalism.

The Scripture Cannot Be Broken has one main goal to addresses objections of inerrancy and authority of Scripture. It is rooted in the foundation that Scripture is authoritative, truthful, inerrant, and clear. While fulfilling its goal the book clears up misunderstandings, and fine tunes the reader’s understanding of God’s authorship and preservation of His words. In order to fulfill its thesis its authors recall many church fathers such as Augustine, Irenaeus, Origen, Aquinas and others.

These essays examine the historical aspects of inerrancy, engage what Scripture has to say about itself, examine the question of inspiration, and outline what inerrancy is all about. The book concludes with a succinctly direct but significant biblical-theological examination of biblical infallibility and its roots. Each piece is in-depth, skillfully written, grounded in the Bible, and well worth the time to read. Readers of all ages will be able to understand these writings due to the writing style.

With publication dates ranging from the late 19th and 20th centuries, the authors, though diverse in style, are one in their adherence to the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy of 1978. The essays in this timely book build on the work of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. The list of contributors reads like a who’s who of twentieth-century theological writers and thinkers. The author of this review would recommend that a future edition include a brief biographical sketch of each contributor, either as an appendix or along with the bibliographical information accompanying their article.

This book is not light reading, although it does a wonderful job of exegeting the highly contentious debates of the doctrine of inerrancy. This book has a set belief in the definitions of inerrancy center around the truth that the Scriptures are a reliable witness to the words and deeds of God through His inspired spokesmen and His incarnate Son. According to J.I. Packer, one of the murkiest issues in defining the inerrancy and infallibility of the Word of God is that both have been so variously employed in theological discussions that they now bear no precise meaning at all, (p. 97).

The viewpoints within this work have been held by Christians since the 2nd century AD. This book equips contemporary evangelicals to affirm this ancient and biblical view of Scripture while avoiding many of the pitfalls that frequently arise from confusion and misunderstanding of what this doctrine does and does not claim. This book covers a wide selection of topics and does an excellent job of helping readers wade through the different inerrancy debates. These topics in this book range from beginning topics to advanced scholarly works which makes the book accessible to a wide range of readers.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16 NIV). This is one of the most frequently cited verses justifying the

authority of Scripture, and thus the focus is primarily shifted to the beginning or the ending of the verse. The debate among scholars is often occupied with the πᾶσα preceding Scripture, which depending on one’s handling of Greek grammar would render—every God breathed Scripture is, or every Scripture is God-breathed. The introduction of the book touches on this verse but the author of this review believes there should be further mention of it and the Greek text behind verse.

The Bible is without error, transmitted perfectly with the exact message God gave to mankind. But the doctrine of inerrancy is under attack today like never before. Those in today’s religious and evangelical circles with a low view of Scripture are strangling the church, holding back from her the life-giving oxygen of an inerrant text. Jesus said, “The Scripture cannot be broken” (John. 10:35), and Paul writes, “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Tim. 3:16). These statements are the backbone of the anthology of essays.

The Scripture Cannot Be Broken champions a high yet critically theological view of Scripture. It compiles 14 of the most outstandingly remarkable essays on the inerrancy of the Bible over the past 70 years. This book includes articles from highly respected and esteemed authors like B.B. Warfield, J.I. Packer, and John Frame. It recounts the many ways people attack inerrancy, like nuancing inerrancy and infallibility, embracing pragmatic philosophy in the church, and promoting extra-biblical revelation. Often, this comes from the insatiable thirst for approval from academic scholars.

The book also addresses a host of common objections to the inerrancy and inspiration of Scripture. This book is applicable not only to liberal scholars but also to biblical conservatives. Beware those in the latter camp. Rarely does one move from liberalism to orthodoxy. As Harold Lindsell said, it is often a one-way street in the wrong direction (27). This book offers some very

needed points, and many readers can learn from these studies. This book also affirms that the Scriptures must be handled carefully and with attention to the divine author as well as its textual meaning.

A strength of the wide range of essays within this anthology is that almost every reader who is even the least bit interested in the topic of inerrancy is bound to find something for them in this book. Still, the anthology succeeds in its aim to illustrate that while the questions about the Bible’s reliability are not new, neither are the answers. There is something for everyone in this volume, though not everything is for everyone.

The author of this review deeply appreciated that the entire spectrum of this doctrine is addressed, notably beginning with the historical basis for this doctrine to include the various controversies that faced theologians throughout the years. One can quickly see that attacks against the inerrancy of Scripture are nothing new and have been shown throughout the history of the church. The Bible must serve as the blueprint for how to live in connection to God and other people, according to those who believe in the Bible's divine inspiration and inerrancy. Even while listening to and obeying its teachings have not gone hand in hand with recognizing Scripture's authority and inerrancy.

Challenges to inerrancy will continue to present themselves over time, and the conversations that continue to swirl around a number of topics related to Scripture and the repeated attempts by liberal scholars to diminish the historicity and authority of Scripture will not cease. One must understand “The opposite of inerrancy is not errancy but the total infallibility of the Bible in matters of faith and practice [alone]” (282).

The authors of this work are all in a central camp of broad evangelicalism. This is important because not all Christians have the same view on the Bible’s inspiration and authority. This book is not intended to end the debate of Scripture’s authority and inerrancy, but to offer an alternate point of withdrawal, suggesting that from this point true authority may be established in the words of the biblical text. Assuming the unifying theme of redemption, this book shows the authority and inerrancy of Scripture is founded in the progress and fulfillment of creative- redemptive history through Christ

All in all, this book shatters many different objections to the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible. For centuries skeptics and unbelievers have denied the inerrancy of the Bible. Biblical inerrancy is a perspective of the Christian Bible that views it as both accurate and true in all that it affirms. As Christians, the book shows, we must take the Bible as inerrant and true because God is divine. If God, whose Word is the Bible, cannot tell a lie, he always tells the truth. This claim follows that his inspired Word is true as well. This has been the historical position of the church. In other words, the inerrancy of God’s Word is ultimately the foundation of all true ministry.