Is the Bible Perfectly Precise or Fully True?

"The word inerrancy does have a certain disadvantage...The word has come to suggest to many the idea of precision, rather than...mere truth. Now, precision and truth are not synonyms, though they do overlap in meaning. A certain amount of precision is often required for truth, but that but that amount varies from one context to another. In mathematics and science, truth often requires considerable precision. If a student says that 6 + 5 = 10, he has not told the truth. He has committed an error. If a scientist makes a measurement varying by .0004 cm of an actual length, he may describe that as an error, as in the phrase margin of error. 

But outside of science and mathematics, truth and precision are often much more distinct. If you ask someone's age, the person's conventional response...is to tell how old he was on his most recent birthday. But this is, of course, imprecise. It would be precise to tell one's age down to the day, hour, minute, and second. But would that convey more truth? And if one fails to give that much precision, has he made an error? I think not, as we use the terms truth and error in ordinary language. If someone seeks to tell his age down to the second, we usually say that he has told us more than we want to know. The question "What is your age?" does not demand that level of precision. Indeed, when someone gives excess information in an effort to be more precise, he actually frustrates the process of communication, hindering, rather than communicating truth. He buries his real age under a torrent of irrelevant words...

We must always remember that Scripture is, for the most part, ordinary language rather than technical language. Certainly, it is not of the modern scientific genre. In Scripture, God intends to speak to everybody. To do that most efficiently, he (through the human writers) engages in all the shortcuts that we commonly use among ourselves to facilitate conversation: imprecisions, metaphors, hyperbole, parables, and so forth. Not all these convey literal truth, or truth with a precision expected in specialized contexts; but they all convey truth, and in the Bible there is no reason to charge them with error.  

Inerrancy, therefore, means that the Bible is true, not that it is maximally precise. To the extent that precision is necessary for truth, the Bible is sufficiently precise. But it does not always have the amount of precision that some readers demand of it. It has a level of precision sufficient for its own purposes, not for the purposes for which some readers might employ it."

--John M. Frame, The Doctrine of the Word of God (2010 A.D.)

 http://www.amazon.com/The-Doctrine-Word-Theology-Lordship/dp/0875522645

29 Years Old and 45 Days, Seven Hours, Ten Minutes, and Forty Seconds...Forty One, Forty-Two

"Let us now discuss the inerrancy of Scripture, a fiercely debated topic in contemporary theology. The term simply means "no errors," that is, "truth" in the common, garden-variety sense.' What Scripture says, is true, never false. Therefore, you can rely on it. There are no errors in it. By the way, error is not the same thing as imprecision. We often express ourselves imprecisely, as when we use round numbers. But to do so is neither to lie nor to make a mistake. Often we must use some round numbers to express ourselves clearly. If I tell you my age down to the minute and second, that is too much precision, precision that interferes with communication. The Bible never claims to be perfectly precise. It only claims to be true.

It is true because it is God's Word, and God always speaks truly. Error comes from deceit (telling lies) or from ignorance (making mistakes). But God never tells lies (Titus 1:2), and he never makes mistakes (Heb. 4:13).

John Frame, Salvation Belongs to the Lord: An Introduction to Systematic Theology 

Salvation Belongs to the Lord: An Introduction to Systematic Theology (Kindle Locations 854-859). 

John Frame on the Clarity of Scripture

One of my favorite living theologians is John Frame, who teaches at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando. He has a knack for writing huge books on complex topics in way that is still clear and easy to read. The following excerpts are from his latest work, The Doctrine of the Word of God. He is discussing the clarity of Scripture.

"To say that God's word has authority...is to say that it creates obligations in its hearers: obligations to believe what it says, to do what it commands, to write it on our hearts, and so on. The clarity of God's word means that we have no excuse for failing to meet those obligations. To say that God's word is clear is to say that we have no excuse for misunderstanding or disobeying it. So the clarity of Scripture has ethical implications...

He goes on to qualify this by discussing the fact that Scripture is not equally clear to everyone.

...The six-year old is not likely to understand the sacrificial rituals of Leviticus. But he doesn't have to. God has not given him responsibilities for which a knowledge of that material is requisite. If he grows up to become an OT scholar, that situation will change.

I conclude this as an important principle: Scripture is always clear enough for us to carry out our present responsibilities before God." 

John M. Frame (The Doctrine of the Word of God, 2010 A.D.; emphasis his) 

To preview or buy the book, follow this link.

http://www.amazon.com/Doctrine-Word-God-Theology-Lordship/dp/0875522645/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319219978&sr=1-3