A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism
ration,” the Fundamentalists did not mean that Scripture
was verbally dictated, but that every word of the Bible
was inspired of God and therefore true. Not only are the
thoughts and themes of Scripture inspired, but so is the
choice of words.
Verbal inspiration means that the Bible is infallible
(incapable of error or mistake) and inerrant (without
error). Every word is true. While a scribe, translator, or
printer could make an error in transmitting a particular
text, the original writings were given by inspiration of
God and thus were completely true. Consequently, the
Fundamentalists rejected any higher criticism that would
attribute errors to the original text of Scripture. 230 (A few
Fundamentalists, such as James Orr, were willing to concede
that there could be factual errors on matters such as
geography, but no theological errors.)
Perhaps the strongest, clearest exponent of the verbal
inspiration of Scripture at this time was Benjamin
Warfield (1851-1921). He was a professor at Princeton
Theological Seminary, which in the nineteenth century
and early twentieth was a bastion of conservative
Reformed theology. The Princeton theologians of that era,
including Charles Hodge, A. A. Hodge, Warfield, and
Machen, were noted for their exposition and defense of
the inerrancy of the Bible.
2. The deity and virgin birth of Jesus. Jesus is not
merely a man, but He is truly God manifested in the flesh.
Moreover, as a human He was conceived in the womb of
the virgin Mary by a miracle of God’s Spirit. (Some
Fundamentalists listed the deity of Christ as the essential
element, some listed the virgin birth, and some listed
both. All affirmed both teachings.)
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