Contradictions & Inerrancy
Biblical Infallibility
The difference between inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy, including the Bible's textual history.
Completed responses
3 claims
Open the claim as it is normally framed, use the short answer when time is tight, and move into the full case when the conversation deserves it.
What do Latter-day Saints mean by “as far as it is translated correctly”?
Latter-day Saints affirm the Bible as God’s word and recognize that copies and translations can vary. Evangelical inerrancy also distinguishes the original text from copies. If we disagree about a verse, we can compare the evidence for its wording and ask separately what authority later revelation has.
Did Joseph Smith use Adam Clarke’s commentary in the JST?
Clarke’s influence on some JST changes is plausible and disputed. In Romans 11:2, both use “complaint,” a natural description of Elijah’s words. In Colossians 2, the JST moves a clause where Clarke recommends. Dickinson’s 1833 translation makes a similar move, and the 1826 Campbell edition retains the older order. These are clues about particular edits. The original sources let you judge how distinctive each match is. - Check the shared word in Romans 11:2 - Compare the clause move in Colossians 2 - Separate textual borrowing from the claim of inspiration
Do ice cores rule out a worldwide Flood in Noah’s time?
Greenland and Antarctic ice cores preserve annual layers through about 2400 BCE, a date sometimes proposed for Noah’s Flood. That continuity weighs against a worldwide catastrophe that would disrupt snowfall records at both sites. A regional flood could leave both cores undisturbed. The cores give us no way to identify a particular regional event as Noah’s Flood.