How To Respond When an Unbeliever Argues the Inerrancy of Scripture

My husband has the gift of evangelism. He shares the Gospel with people in quiet, one on one conversations (better is one ear ready to listen, than a room of ears turned to stone).  He recently shared the gospel with a man who was determined to argue the accuracy of the Scriptures. As my husband spoke with him, he realized the root of the problem: the man didn’t want to believe that the Bible is the perfect Word of God because if he did then he would have to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

The Word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18). The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14).  Without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 10:6). 

Faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). Jesus is the Word (John 1:1,14) and Jesus can only be received through faith–by grace you have been saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8). Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 10:1).  Faith comes from hearing the Word and it is through faith in Jesus that we know the Word is true. As Hebrews 11:3 says, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”  Luke 24:45 says that Jesus “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” When we believe in the name of Jesus, His Spirit indwells us and teaches us the truth (John 14:26, 1 Corinthians 2:10) so that the word of the cross is no longer foolishness to us, but rather the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18). Therefore, it is by faith in Jesus Christ that we know the Bible is true. 

Not all will obey the Gospel, but faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17). The Word of God is living and active sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart and no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:12-13).  How then will they call on Him in Whom they have not believed and how are they to believe in Him of Whom they have never heard (Romans 10:14)?  Jesus is the Word, we believe in Jesus in faith and faith comes through hearing the Word. So, strange as it may seem, when challenged on the infallibility of Scripture, we should take them to Scripture.  The third time the man came to my husband with another reason to doubt the Bible being perfect, Brandon said to him in love, “We could argue all day about whether the Bible is true, but fact is, you are looking for an excuse not to believe in Jesus. Believe in Jesus and then you will know.  Let’s read the Gospel of John.”

*Additional Note: This is my approach for when an unbeliever wants to argue about the inerrancy of Scripture: take them to Scripture. However, if you are a believer facing temptations to doubt the inerrancy of Scripture, you too should be going to the Scripture. The Word of God is your sword against the enemy, and faith is your shield (Ephesians 6:16-17). In your situation, I encourage you to read Psalm 19:7-11 and John 17:17. You can read more about this in my article “Why Believers Study the Bible.”

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*All Bible quotations are taken from the ESV unless otherwise stated.