Dear Michael,

You ask: “How could the apostles have been wrong in light of Luke 8:10, John 15:15, Galatians 1:11-12 and especially John 16:13?”

Answer: Your question contains a false premise. Those Scriptures do not mean that the apostles became infallible. One example is clear in Acts 27:10 — Paul predicts that the voyage will cause a loss of life. This did not happen. Luke was not afraid of admitting that Paul made a prediction that was not accurate.

Luke 8:10 says that the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been [past tense] given to you... — but the apostles did not suddenly become aware of everything they needed to know. As Luke goes on to show, there was still a lot that they needed to learn, some of which came after Jesus was resurrected. And we see in Acts that they had to grow in understanding that the gospel invited gentiles into the kingdom just as much as it did Jews.

John 15:15 is similar — it says that Jesus told [past tense] everything his Father had told him. But at that point there was a lot that the disciples did not know.

Galatians 1:11-12 says that Paul learned the gospel from Jesus Christ. This does not mean that he could not make mistakes in other matters, including predictions. The timing of Christ’s return is not the gospel. It has nothing to do with the way we live, how we are saved, or what we preach.

John 16:13 says that the Spirit would guide the apostles into all truth. I have already shown that they did not know everything right away. Maybe they did when they died, but unfortunately, we do not have any deathbed writings from them.

My point is that you are making these verses mean more than they were ever intended to mean. Despite Jesus’ comments and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, an apostle can make a mistake. That does not mean that everything they wrote is wrong, but Scripture itself shows us that Paul could make a prediction that he later had to retract.

Peace, in Christ,

Mike

To read Michael Fenemore’s response, click here.