The Bible

In order for any of the things Christadelphians believe to be true, the first and foremost fact of all facts must be that the Bible is the wholly inspired and infallible Word of God. Therefore, the preamble to the Christadelphian Statement of Faith reads:

THE FOUNDATION.--That the book currently known as the Bible, consisting of the Scriptures of Moses, the prophets, and the apostles, is the only source of knowledge concerning God and His purposes at present extant or available in the earth, and that the same were wholly given by inspiration of God in the writers, and are consequently without error in all parts of them, except such as may be due to errors of transcription or translation.

The writers of the Scriptures claimed divine inspiration. The apostle Paul wrote:

2 Tim 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Christadelphians have resisted efforts to water down the significance of this great fact. Yes, the writers were just men. But those responsible for writing down the words of the Scriptures are described as "holy men," that is, men set apart for this special work. They were men specially chosen by God for this unique responsibility: men who would faithfully record the words of the Holy Spirit, avoiding any temptation to add to or subtract from the Word of God. If a writer had such liberty so as to record and discount events as he thought best, how could we be sure that what we have is, in fact, the plan and purpose of God, rather than the prejudice of a particular man? And how could we understand the writings of the apostle Peter who said:

2PE 1:20-21 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Interpretation was not a private matter left to the discretions of the writer, but a matter in which men specially selected by God were moved by the Holy Spirit. If the things we believe contrast the things spoken of in the Scriptures, it is not the writers of the Scriptures who have erred, but ourselves in coming up with some wrong idea. If there appears to be a contradiction, we must understand that there is no contradiction possible, but only a lack of perception on our part to see the matter clearly.

While it is true that certain English Language translations have mistakes due to translators, this is not the fault of the original writers. With the volume of works available today dealing with the ancient manuscripts, it is not difficult to get the correct understanding of any passage, regardless of translation.