Inerrancy teaches that Scripture, in its original writings and rightly interpreted, is true in all it affirms. Infallibility emphasizes that God’s Word is wholly trustworthy, authoritative, and unable to fail in accomplishing his purpose.
A doctrine of Scripture affirming that the Bible is fully true, reliable, and authoritative because it is inspired by God.
Inerrancy and infallibility are theological terms used to express the complete truthfulness and reliability of Holy Scripture. In conservative evangelical usage, inerrancy commonly means that the Bible, in the original writings and rightly interpreted according to its literary forms and authorial intent, does not affirm anything contrary to fact. Infallibility emphasizes that Scripture, because it is God’s Word, is wholly trustworthy, authoritative, and unable to fail in what God intends to communicate. Many evangelical theologians treat the terms as largely overlapping, while others use infallibility in a broader sense and inerrancy as a more precise claim about truthfulness. The doctrine is grounded in the character of God, who cannot lie, and in the Bible’s own testimony to the purity, reliability, and enduring truth of God’s Word.
Scripture presents God as truthful and his word as pure, reliable, and enduring. The Bible also treats its written words as divinely spoken and authoritative, so that faith and obedience are tied to receiving God’s word as true.
The vocabulary of inerrancy and infallibility became especially important in modern evangelical discussions of biblical authority, though the underlying conviction that God’s word is true is much older. The terms are often used in confessional and apologetic settings to guard the church’s doctrine of Scripture against skepticism and doctrinal relativism.
Second Temple Jewish and broader biblical thought strongly emphasize the reliability of God’s spoken and written word. While the technical terms are modern, the underlying conviction that God’s revelation is truthful and unfailing is consistent with the Old Testament’s view of divine speech.
These are modern theological terms rather than direct biblical vocabulary. In Scripture, the emphasis falls on God’s truthfulness, the purity of his word, and the authority of what he has spoken.
The doctrine protects the church’s confidence that Scripture is a trustworthy revelation from God. It supports preaching, teaching, doctrine, and moral guidance by affirming that the Bible does not mislead God’s people when properly understood.
Inerrancy is usually a claim about what the text affirms, not about every modern interpretation of the text. Infallibility highlights that God’s revelation cannot fail in its purpose. Together they affirm that divine revelation is not merely spiritually useful but also truthful and dependable.
This doctrine must be stated carefully. It applies to Scripture as God gave it, not to later copying errors or to mistaken interpretations. It also requires attention to genre, figures of speech, phenomenological language, and the difference between what a passage says and what it merely describes.
Evangelicals usually affirm both terms, though some prefer one over the other or define them differently. Other traditions may affirm Scripture’s authority and trustworthiness while avoiding the term inerrancy because of misunderstandings or narrower confessional usage.
Do not use inerrancy to flatten literary genre, force harmonizations that the text itself does not require, or deny legitimate historical and textual questions. Do not use infallibility to mean merely that Scripture is helpful or generally religiously true without affirming its truthfulness as God’s revelation.
Believers can read, teach, and obey Scripture with confidence. The doctrine encourages careful interpretation, reverent preaching, doctrinal stability, and trust that God’s Word will accomplish its intended work.