Inspiration and Inerrancy of the Bible: an Exegetical Interpretation of 1Tim 3,16

Abstract

To a man in the street and indeed to all Christian believers, the bible is the word of God. The general translation of 1Tim 3,16 forms the background for this belief. Over the years, people have taken steps to do what they would not have reasonably done if not because they are told that the bible says. One needs to get into the city to be appalled at the number of ecclesial bodies springing up daily, each with followers who are ready to die defending their biblical belief. This paper is intended to waken believers to certain curiosity. It examines the idea of inspiration and the consequent inerrancy from the backdrop of 1Tim 3,16. Appalled at certain evident and hidden contradictions and aporias in the bible, the paper questions the authenticity of inspiration with reference to the bible as a whole. If every part of the bible is inspired, then, can God really be the author of the contradictions? Could it be that He forgets easily as to inspire one thing here and another in the next place? If God is definitively an ens perfectissimum, then who is the author of the noticeable inconsistencies? Again, when 1Tim 3,16 talks of inspiration does it include the New Testament that was not as at then in existence or is it limited to the Old Testament? Taking a giant stride into some of these sacred areas in the plot of this research paper. It seeks to wake researchers from slumber by employing exegetical tools to give a critical interpretation of 1Tim 3,16 with a view to a better understanding of the meaning of the inspiration of the bible. Some part of the paper may sound offensive to fundamentalists but skeptics who may think that this is another epitaph designed to be a bomb shell against the bible may end up disappointed. The paper is  an academic exercise structured for enlightenment with open mindedness.