Is the Bible right?

Growing up, we are taught that the Bible is right on all issues.  Its easy to label that as a characteristic of the Bible because it is from God, so obviously it is right.  However, this blog post would be considerably be short if there was not something more to it.  Lately, within the Church of the Nazarene, controversy over the Biblical text has emerged.  Some challenge the Article of Faith on Scripture that now reads:
We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith.
The challenge comes where it reads "inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation".  Within the Church of the Nazarenes last General Assembly (a gathering of Nazarene elders to discuss changes that may need to happen in the Nazarene Manual), someone believed the article should read: "inerrant throughout, and the supreme authority on everything the Scriptures teach". As we look more in-depth at this article, there may be a few things that need cleared up. 
First, what in the world is this word "inerrant"?  The word means "without error" or "incapable of error".  A second definition that I would like to explain is "divine inspiration".  This phrase shows that God has revealed Himself to the biblical writers of Scripture.  Some, on the issue of divine inspiration, say one of two things.  Either, God had complete control of the biblical writers and the writers wrote down everything that God told them to, or God worked through humans, but humans in their own way wrote what God revealed to them.
Understanding the way of divine inspiration is crucial to understanding this word inerrancy.  First, if God had complete control over the biblical writers, then we could by reason, state that the Scriptures are inerrant "on everything".  However, the Church of the Nazarene, and other denominations have agreed that God worked through the biblical writers humanness, so we could not describe the Scriptures as inerrant in all things.  (For a clearer interpretation of inerrancy and this issue see Thomas Oords blog: http://thomasjayoord.com/index.php/blog/archives/the_bible_and_evolution/).
Much of the challenge has come from a fundamentalist approach to looking at Scripture.  Funadmentalists believe that everything in Scripture is right and even go as far as to deny all of today's science.  They believe that science does not influence the Bible, but that the Bible influences science.  I do not believe either, neither do all Nazarenes, agree that modern science is right on every issue.  But, they do bring us to a deeper faith of God and the vastness of His creation.
I personally believe that the Nazarenes article of faith on Scripture does not need to be changed for several reasons.  1) God worked through humans in the writing of Scripture.  The Scripture has several contradictory parts that are not so important that deny our faith.  The Gospels, for example, have different ways to describe the gospel narrative.  Matthew, Luke, and Mark all tell the Lord's Supper story different than John.  So, do we say they are wrong, no we just say that the writers interpreted them differently.
2) The Scriptures are inerrant to revealing God's will concerning our salvation.  John Wesley, an early Anglican preacher and founder of Methodism, found Gods work of salvation through the Biblical narrative.  God reveals His love for us throughout Scripture.  The Scriptures speak to us of Gods work in our lives and the grace that He offers us.
I hope this helps you understand the challenges going on today not only within the Church of the Nazarene, but within other denominations as well.  If you would like more information of this topic, see either Square Peg by Al Truesdale, or All Things Necessary To Our Salvation by Michael Lodahl.