That entails believing in explicitly contradictory things, BO. What, exactly, would God's purpose be in self-contradiction? I would imagine an omniscient being to be slightly better at proof reading..
The actual formation of the Bible is hardly a divine inspiration either. I am not trying to call the contents a work of absolute fiction. My point is that the Bible was clearly written by mankind, translated by mankind, and is not perfect. The Bible is not God, I would advise you to stop worshiping it.
John 1:1 -- In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The Bible is the inerrant and divinely inspired Word of God. It was clearly written by 40 men, but authored by God Himself.
My Bible is the most important possession that I own, because it is literally, a "How-To" book on life.
I'd advise you to start holding the Bible in higher regard than treating it as just another good book.
Is the Bible inerrant in matters of science and history? Or is it inerrant in matters of faith and practice only?
Then you have to define the terms...inerrancy, infallibility, inspiration and authoritative. Nearly all Christians regard the Bible as authoritative and inspired. I regard it as authoritative, divinely inspired and infallible. I would even say inerrant. Except that it clearly contains errors in matters not involving faith and practice. I speak not of the miraculous, because with God, all things are possible. I speak of various questions involving authorship, canonicity and science. And even with the scientific, I have no problem whatsoever with the idea that God created the world in six literal, 24 hour days. As long as it's conceded that God could also have created the universe over six thousand or million years...and the writers of the scripture explained the years as they did.
Here's the key, my friend. The Bible, in the original manuscripts, is perfect and divinely written. But we don't always have the original manuscripts. And even when we do, they are translated by and interpreted by fallen human beings...human beings who make mistakes and /or inject their own biases (liberal or conservative) into the translation or interpretation.
This is why, I think, God became flesh and called that incarnation the Living Word of God. Because the written word, as inspired as it was, was insufficient. The word written is only properly understood when one knows the Word made flesh. And the Word made flesh is a person, not a manuscript. Indeed, the quickest and most reliable way to know that Word is through the other word -- the written word. But how we understand Him after reading...ahhh...that is the rub. And that is where the Holy Spirit (hopefully) comes in.
