I do not consider copyist errors or misspellings errors.....He is God Incarnate.
Great. See, we already agree.
If I believed what others have claimed here, that God wrote the Bible and preserved it, then these would be a problem.
Let us keep the focus on our discussion. Others can believe various other erroneous doctrines and ideas, yet that should not impact our discussion.
The errors that I have been mentioning fail the affirming of something contrary to fact description.
For example, Matthew’s version of the Jairus story affirms something contrary to fact if Mark’s and Luke’s affirmations of the facts are true.
I hate to ask for further clarification, but alas, I am going to.
I will try and address the various "errors" that you listed below.
I don’t know that we could say that Jesus will not misrepresent. He did not come to earth to correct all misconceptions.
Would you make the argument that Jesus misrepresented something? Or, would you say that the error lies with human interpretation, rather than Jesus?
To imply that Jesus would misrepresent various items of discussion would lead to a contradiction in the nature of God. God must be Truth, otherwise, he is a liar and a deceiver, and not God. Therefore, logically, if we agree that Jesus is God, then Jesus cannot misrepresent anything.
Are you familiar with what Jesus told His brothers when they said that He should go to Jerusalem?
John 7 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. 2 But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him. 6 Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. 8 You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee. 10 However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.
Two questions regarding this passage: 1.) What purpose is this being presented? 2.) You are aware that Jesus did not have "brothers," however, this passage references "brethren," as Hebrew custom was to call any close relative "brother/sister," "brethren," etc.?
And are you aware that Jesus said the mustard seed is the smallest seed, yet it is not?
And here is where context, both within passages, biblical books, and history come to matter. Jesus at this time is speaking to an audience of locals, yes? To these locals, the smallest seed is a mustard seed.
Does this mean Jesus was lying or wrong (scientifically)? Of course not. He was addressing a specific audience, in a specific location, relating parables to what they could easily identify and grasp. This is contextual evidence.
And are you aware that God blessed the Israelite midwives for lying to pharaoh?
What specific passage are you referencing? (I would go ahead and consider passage/book/historical context, as that will be a significant foundation for my "proofs" and arguments)
So Jesus could present things that were not accurate in pursuit of a greater goal, just as He protected Himself and His mission by telling His brothers that He was not going to the festival.
Was Jesus misrepresenting, which would be dishonesty, or was He relating parables to the targeted audience and their respective knowledge? I would obviously argue the latter as true.
He breathed on them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit. He did not give them infallibility. If they had received infallibility, Paul would not have had to rebuke Peter for avoiding Gentile believers.
I did not imply that, as humans, they were forever infallible. You see how by simply avoiding specific clarity (which I did purposefully) how you extrapolated my meaning to a different connotation?
I think this is your personal error when it comes to doctrine regarding inerrancy. You have taken inerrancy, and made it "infallible," meaning free from any and all errors, including minute detail comparison (lack of disparity). "Infallible" would only apply to the Apostles, and their successors when speaking under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. After all, they are still humans, and capable of sin (while they lived).
We have no reason to believe Matthew wrote the gospel attributed to him, as it could have been written by his students. The gospel’s various errors indicate that.
Being guided by an inerrant guide does not insure the follower of no missteps.
This is a common falsehood/misunderstanding. We actually have several accounts of first and second century persons explicitly referring to Matthew and the author of the Gospel attributed to him. For example, Papias, bishop of Hierapolis in Asia Minor, refers to Matthew and Mark as the authors of the first two Gospel accounts, in 130 AD. We also have similar confirmations from Irenaeus. Around the same time, we have statements in "
Muratorian Canon," a document of Roman origin, also giving this confirmation. Likewise, Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian also describe early Christians, priests, and churches, ascribing authorship of the Gospels to their respective ascribed authors.
Let us also consider historical context. Matthew was a tax collector. Who, among the Apostles, was most likely, based on occupation, the most literate? Matthew's job would have entailed documentation and detailing, through written records.
Furthermore, what is the likelihood that hundreds of people would have ascribed authorship, for four distinct books, to the exact same authors, respectively, without any disagreement? The probability would demonstrate that the attributed authorship(s) are correct.
The documents are trustworthy, but they never claim to be inerrant and infallibility is not a spiritual gift found in people.
How do you know that the documents are trustworthy?
Peter said they could not help but talk about what they had seen.
Agreed.
So we are not called to deny the obvious things in front of our eyes. And there are errors that cannot be attributed to copyists.
Such as....?