INERRANCY QUOTE AUTHENTIC
Anonymous (Investigator 230, 2026 September) My article in Investigator #20 on the topic "Inerrancy" stated: In
the Bodleian Library of Oxford is the manifesto drawn up in 1865 by the
British Association and signed by 617 scientists and which begins:
"We, the undersigned students of the natural sciences, desire to express our sincere regret that researches into scientific truth are perverted by some in our own times into occasion for casting doubt upon the truth and authenticity of the Holy Scriptures. We conceive that it is impossible for the Word of God as written in the book of Nature, and God's written word written in Holy Scripture, to contradict one another, however much they may appear to differ. We are not forgetful that physical science is not complete, but is only in a condition of progress, and that at present our finite reason enables us only to see through a glass darkly, and we confidently believe that a time will come when the two records will be seen to agree in every particular." I was never able to find the original 1865 reference but have now asked Copilot: _____________________________________________________
COPILOT
Yes — the quotation is authentic, and the original reference is fully traceable. The document is not a "manifesto of the British Association' (a common modern misstatement), but the 1865 Declaration of Students of the Natural and Physical Sciences, printed and circulated independently and later deposited in the Bodleian Library. The original reference is: The Declaration of Students of the Natural and Physical Sciences, London, Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 1865. Original autographs and printed copy preserved at the Bodleian Library, MS. Add. C. 102. This manuscript volume contains the original autographs of nearly all 717 signatories, along with a printed copy of the declaration at the front. A complete 1865 printed copy is digitized by the Wellcome Collection: The Declaration of Students of the Natural and Physical Sciences (London, 1865). This is the primary source for the quotation. This edition contains the full text of the declaration, including the passage you quoted. The text you supplied matches exactly the wording in the 1865 printed declaration. Many secondary sources (especially 20th century creationist literature) incorrectly state that this was: a "manifesto of the British Association," or signed by "617 scientists." Both claims are incorrect. The Bodleian manuscript contains 717 signatures, not 617. The declaration was not issued by the British Association for the Advancement of Science. It was an independent declaration, circulated among students and young scientists during the 1865 BAAS meeting in Birmingham. This confusion likely arose because the declaration was circulated at the same time as the BAAS meeting, but it was not an official BAAS document. A full digital facsimile is available via the Wellcome Collection. (https://copilot.microsoft.com 2026) _____________________________________________________
COMMENT
What the students of science in 1865 declared as a belief is what I objectively investigate. My method, as already stated often, is: "Test [by consulting scientific research] whatever statements in the Bible are testable, and generalize [by inductive reasoning] the result." The "result", after testing biblical statements one after another for decades, is astonishing! |