Infallibility in the Old Testament?

Question

I'm catholic and I live in Brazil. I believe in the gift of the infallibility in the New Testament, but i'm trying to understand if Jews, in the old covenant (Old Testament) were infallible too.

I found some clues, like: 1 Samuel 9,6 ; John 11,51 ; 2 Peter 1,21 seem to teach infallibility of the prophets of the Old testament. However, it is impossible that the old covenant were TOTALLY infallible, because if it was so, they would in the first place, have recognized Jesus Christ as the true Messiah.

So where does all this leave us? Were they "sometimes" infallible? Was there a limit to it?

I found your link to an article here, but the link is broken :(The Chair of Moses and Jewish Clerical Infallibility?)

And this is the link you put: https://christiantheorist.weebly.com/basics-of-the-holy-faith/category/01-the-church-of-jesus-the-christ-is-one

Could you help me with this, sir? I would love to read your insights about this theme!

Answer 1

There are three points to this question of infallibility that would be helpful to separate. If they remain tangled together, confusion could result.

1) Were the O.T. prophets infallible? Obviously, in their persons, they were not. They were sinners just like every other person. They sometimes even chose to disobey God (as did Jonah, trying to flee from God's commission). Others are reported as doing grievous things (like king David committing adultery then getting the woman's husband killed in battle).

2) Is the question about the infallibility of their written utterances? Given the Catholic view on infallibility, I suppose the question refers to this.

Well, once the basis for believing that the New Testament writings are infallible is sorted out, the same principles should be applied to the O.T. prophetic writings, and the answer should be, "Yes". That is because the same Holy Spirit that inspired all of God's prophets to speak and to write their records down is the unseen, divine 'hand' behind the writing of the entire Bible. Given also that the N.T. keeps quoting from the O.T. prophets to prove its points and to point to Jesus, that should be confirmation enough.

3) Why did the nation of Israel, as a whole, reject Christ, if the OT prophecies were infallible? That is not the 'fault' of the writings of the prophets. Many a spiritually sound writing has been passed on through the generations, only to be either misunderstood, or altered, by others with their own interpretations. The OT writings themselves indicated that the promised Messiah would suffer and die at the hands of the people he came to save. But - thank the Lord - many of them believed in Christ and faithfully followed him, seeing how the OT writings proved Christ to be the Messiah. The same Holy Spirit who inspired prophets and scriptures alike brought them to spiritual life, enabling them to turn to Christ, as he continues to do to sincere seekers, to this day.

Hopefully, this will help to clear up the three main points I ascertained from the question. It's good to have you on board as a new contributor.

Answer 2

If I understood your question, you are trying to connect the rejection of Jesus by the Jews of his day with what you propose to be a "flaw" of the Old Testament (OT) scriptures that they were reading.

I think it is illogical to judge the infallibility of any message given by God by the response of those rejecting it. By that logic, you can say that the Gospel of the Kingdom preached by the incarnate Son of God during his earthly ministry was "flawed" because it was rejected by the vast majority of the Jewish spiritual leaders who heard it preached.

That the OT was (and is) infallible can be seen in the testimony concerning it given by Jesus Himself when He was (no doubt) expected to "change" (or even "abolish") it in lieu of the miracles He performed (e.g., see people's testimony in John 7:31) and the divine authority He demonstrated in his teaching ministry (e.g., see people's testimony in Matthew 7:28-29). Precluding that train of thought, Jesus said (Matthew 5:17,18):

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

It is worth noting that at the time that was said, none of the New Testament writing was to be in existence for at least another decade, and the term "the law and the prophets" used by the Lord in that quote would to my knowledge include the entirety of the Jewish Tanakh (or what Christians today would call the "Old Testament").

One of the verses that you give (2 Peter 1:21) summarizes the point regarding the infallibility of the Scriptures (specifically the OT ones) well:

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 Ghost.

Does it not answer your question? If the "prophecy" (the entirety of the "Old Testament" can be inserted here) if fact came not by the will of man [...] but by the movement of the Holy Spirit in the holy men of God, would that not be another way of saying that what the prophets wrote down is "infallible" since it's the will of fallen man that can bring along error and falsehood.

Another way to think about it is if you believe Jesus was "infallible" and the "Old Testament" somehow was fallible, I think you would have seen the record of Jesus "correcting" the OT scriptures which He never did (correcting people's misunderstanding of it instead).

This is diverging from your question, but if you are trying to understand the reason for the rejection of the Jewish leaders (or any humans for that matter), you need to look no further than people's absence of saving faith as they hear God's message being preached to them. Chapters 5-8 of John's Gospel were really helpful to me on that account. I'll highlight just one portion below, but I'd recommend that you study that whole portion with prayer at length on your own as it's a critical point to understand if you are trying to see the "mechanics" of human rejection/acceptance of divine truth (John 8:42-47):

Jesus said to them [the Jews/Pharisees/teachers of the law], “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Answer 3

Infallibility in the Old Testament

I often wondered if by Jewish tradition, they believe that their Scriptures are infallible?

It would seem that according to Jewish tradition, they believe that their Scriptures are indeed infallible, but it’s interpretation is not.

There may indeed be errs in the text due to scribes making an err in coping the Sacred Texts, but the Scriptures themselves are considered infallible as being originally written under the influence of Almighty God. As Christians, we would say under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Clear statements of the truthfulness and perfection of Scriptures appear very early. Here are several examples:

Clement of Rome (?–99)

Look carefully into the Scriptures, which are the true utterances of the Holy Spirit. Observe that nothing of an unjust or counterfeit character is written in them. (Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 45. In chapter 47 he cites Paul as an inspired author)

Justin Martyr (100–165)

I am entirely convinced that no Scripture contradicts another (Dialogue with Trypho, chapter 65)

Irenaeus (?–202)

The Scriptures are indeed perfect, since they were spoken by the Word of God and His Spirit (Against Heresies, 2.28.2)

Tertullian (155–240)

The statements, however, of Holy Scripture will never be discordant with truth. (A Treatise on the Soul, chapter 21)

So yes the Old Testament is infallible or if you wish inerrant! However, it’s interpretation does not possess the same a gift of infallibility.