Viewed from an evangelical perspective, the concept of inerrancy is the assertion that the Bible is without errors, and can, therefore, be trusted fully as the Word of God to speak authoritatively into all matters of faith and life.
This definition has not always been accepted in its entirety, and a furious battle raged for decade beginning in the 1970's about how inerrancy ought to be understood. In the debate claims, e.g., were made that the idea (ultimately proved false) that biblical inerrancy was a modern concept of which the early churches knew nothing about. Two alternative concepts of inerrancy were also offered: "technical," which asserted that everything in the Bible can be scientifically scrutinized and will be found to be true," and "kerygmatic inerrancy," that is, the Bible is true in its primary message of salvation but not necessarily so in its details. Those who espouce the latter would also assert that the authority of the Bible is, nonetheless, not affected; it remains the Word of God. Neither of these concept found wide acceptance, and the debate resolved among the majority of evangelicals with The Chicago Statement of Inerrancy, which affirms that essentially everything that the Bible teaches and asserts is to be accepted as true.
Further Reading & Resources:
Bruce Ware, Systematic Theology I. Lecture 9: Inerrancy. BiblicalLearning.org.
html N 5 (Open on Phone)
Jason S. Sexton, "How Far Beyond Chicago? Assessing Recent Attempts to Reframe the Inerrancy Debate," Themelios 34:1 (2009): 26-49.
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
©ALBERITH
251121lch