Is the Word Inspired?

My friend Ken and I were talking over coffee, again.

He was discussing his thoughts on the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture. He is not sure that the whole of the Bible is inerrant (as it's commonly understood).

He had an interesting observation about those of us who believe every word and idea is God breathed (2 Tim. 3:16), both the New and Old Testament.

He noted that the majority of Christians believe all Scripture is God breathed, inspired, infallible and applicable to the Believer today.

Do you?

Then, he remarked that most Christians actually DON’T believe that the Word is inerrant. He used as evidence, a simple few verses in 1Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1:6-9. They are references for the qualifications of an overseer (elder).

If we truly believed these short verses, and selected our elders based on these and not on personality etc., how would it change our church? How would it change how we do church?

I find it interesting how, when brought up, people know that this is God breathed, but rationalize it away: “well, that was important back then”, “society has changed”, “we are more enlightened today”, “that is not what God meant”, “it was a cultural thing”, …

Do we truly believe that God knew what our culture would be like today, when He inspired these verses?