Podcast Summary: Doctrine Matters with Kevin DeYoung

Episode: What Is the Doctrine of Scripture?
Date: January 27, 2026
Host: Kevin DeYoung

Overview

This episode of Doctrine Matters explores the Doctrine of Scripture—how Christians understand the inspiration, authority, and trustworthiness of the Bible. Kevin DeYoung, pastor, author, and professor, outlines various theories of inspiration and defends the traditional evangelical doctrine of inerrancy, urging listeners to submit to Scripture as the very Word of God.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Nature of Revelation and Why Scripture Matters

[00:46–01:40]

• Building on last week’s discussion of general and special revelation, DeYoung pivots to “that revelation which has been written down for us in the Scripture.”
• Emphasis: “The way that we know God is because God wants to be known. He is a God who speaks to us and reveals truth to us.”
  • (Kevin DeYoung, 00:48)

2. Three Views of Biblical Inspiration

[01:40–04:30]

• Dynamic View:
  • Associated with theological liberalism.
  • The Bible is seen as inspirational but not infallible—inspired authors had special spiritual insight, but not necessarily divine words.
  • “But it didn’t come down to the particulars.” (02:13)
• Mechanical Dictation:
  • The words were dictated directly by God, the authors acting as scribes.
  • Compared to the Islamic or Mormon views of their scriptures.
  • Most Christian theologians reject this as the actual manner of inspiration.
  • “It’s not that Paul or Peter or Moses or David are just putting their ear up to heaven and God or an angel is giving down some word… No, it's not mechanical dictation and it's not a dynamic view.” (03:36)
• Concursive Operation:
  • The orthodox Christian understanding.
  • God acted upon human authors organically, employing their intellect, skills, and personalities.
  • Both divine and human agency co-operate—Scripture is “human and divine.”
  • “That is to say, he used their intellect, their skills, their personality. That's what we mean by concursive—that two agents are working.” (04:10)

3. Scriptural Evidence for Divine Inspiration

[04:30–05:40]

• Refers to passages such as 2 Peter 1:21:
  • “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
• Scripture is human in form but divine in source.

4. Inerrancy versus Infallibility

[05:40–07:30]

• Definitions:
  • Infallible—does not mislead.
  • Inerrant—contains no mistakes.
• Argues that both are necessary to uphold what the Bible claims about itself.
• “What we want to affirm, because the Bible affirms, is that there are no mistakes in the Bible in terms of what the Bible means to affirm and teach.” (06:33)
• Recognizes proper use of genre, context, and quotation from sinful or erring figures within Scripture.
• “The Bible does not affirm anything that is false.” (07:25)

5. Jesus’s View of Scripture

[07:30–09:10]

• Jesus held a high view of the written Word, referencing obscure and specific texts as authoritative (e.g., John 10:35).
• “The Scriptures cannot be broken.” (DeYoung quoting Jesus, 08:10)
• Jesus treated Old Testament narratives (like Jonah) as historical fact, not mere literary artifacts.
  • “Jesus understands that the story of Jonah is a true story, not just some literary artifact… He believes that Jonah and the big fish and all of it is true.” (08:53)
• Jesus quotes Genesis as words from the Creator.
• “The Bible can no more fall or falter or err than God himself can fail or fall or falter or make a mistake.” (09:40)

6. Historical Christian Understanding and Warnings

[09:40–11:50]

• Cites John Calvin on Scripture’s authority and trustworthiness:
  • “We owe to the Scriptures the same reverence we owe to God.” (10:32)
• Previous centuries of church history nearly unanimously affirmed Scripture’s full authority and truthfulness.
• Rejecting inerrancy leads to self-authority over God’s Word.
  • “The doctrine of inerrancy means that the Word of God always stands over us, and we never stand over the Word of God.” (11:00)
  • “Once you compromise in those small areas, you are putting yourself in authority over the Word of God.” (11:38)
• Urges humility when facing challenging or seemingly irreconcilable Biblical issues.
  • “Yet my posture is one of humility to say that this is God’s Word and God is true, he’s never a liar. And I am going to trust everything in this book.” (12:05)

7. The High Stakes of Scriptural Authority

[12:30–13:40]

• Denying the full trustworthiness of the Bible makes one claim either that not all Scripture is from God, or that God is unreliable—both are un-Christian conclusions.
  • “To make either statement…is to affirm what is sub-Christian.” (13:10)
• Closes with a quotation from J.I. Packer:
  • “One cannot doubt the Bible without far-reaching loss both of fullness of truth and of fullness of life. If therefore, we have at heart spiritual renewal for society, for churches, and for our own lives, we shall make much of the entire trustworthiness—that is, the inerrancy—of Holy Scripture as the inspired and liberating Word of God.” (13:23)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Divine and Human Authorship:
  “That's what we mean by concursive—that two agents are working. We can say the Bible is human and divine, so long as we understand human means. The Bible uses human language, employs human authors, not that it contains human errors.” (04:10)

• On the Consequences of Denying Inerrancy:
  “The doctrine of inerrancy means that the Word of God always stands over us, and we never stand over the Word of God. If we reject inerrancy, we put ourselves in judgment over God's Word. That's why it's such a serious mistake.” (11:00)

• On Jesus’ Use of Scripture:
  “It was Jesus who said he did not come to abolish one jot or tittle of the law or the prophets… Jesus understands that the story of Jonah is a true story, not just some literary artifact.” (08:29, 08:53)

• Quoting J.I. Packer:
  “One cannot doubt the Bible without far-reaching loss both of fullness of truth and of fullness of life… we shall make much of the entire trustworthiness—that is, the inerrancy—of Holy Scripture as the inspired and liberating Word of God.” (13:23)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment / Topic | |-------------|--------------------------------------------------------| | 00:46–01:40 | Introduction: Knowing God through revelation | | 01:40–04:30 | Three views on inspiration: dynamic, mechanical, concursive | | 04:30–05:40 | Scriptural basis: human and divine agency | | 05:40–07:30 | Inerrancy vs. infallibility | | 07:30–09:10 | Jesus’ view and use of Scripture | | 09:40–11:50 | Historical perspective and dangers of rejecting inerrancy | | 12:30–13:40 | High stakes and J.I. Packer’s conclusion |

Tone & Language

The episode is characterized by DeYoung’s pastoral, earnest, and didactic tone. He employs analogies, scriptural references, and quotes church theologians to communicate both reverence for Scripture and clarity about its doctrine.

Final Takeaway

DeYoung urges listeners to hold firmly to the Bible’s complete trustworthiness as the inspired Word of God—a truth foundational to the Christian faith, essential to genuine spiritual renewal, and historically affirmed across the church.

“If therefore, we have at heart spiritual renewal for society, for churches, and for our own lives, we shall make much of the entire trustworthiness—that is, the inerrancy—of Holy Scripture as the inspired and liberating Word of God.” (13:23, J.I. Packer quoted by DeYoung)