Did God make mistakes in "God breathed" scripture?

[polonius]

Some try to tell us that all scripture is "God Breathed" meaning it cannot contain errors. If an error is found it had to be made by copyists since only the autograph (which of course we don't have) is completely error free.

But on closer examination there are so many errors that such an explanation is hard to accept. But if it is correct, we surely can't rely of the Bible to provide divine guidance.

Today I heard the mustard seed scripture at church.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed is one of the shorter parables of Jesus. It appears in Matthew (13:31–32), Mark (4:30–32), and Luke (13:18–19).

Matthew 13
31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.�

"Nevertheless, by no conjecture is it the smallest of all seeds that Jesus’ listeners could have known (the orchid seed is smaller); the point is that it was recognized as very small and yet yielded a large shrub. Around the Sea of Galilee, it can reach a height of ten feet and has sometimes reached fifteen feet. Its usual height, however, is about four feet; because it would grow anew each year, birds could not nest in it when they built nests in early spring."

Reference Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Mt 13:31–32.

[shnarkle]

Some try to tell us that all scripture is "God Breathed" meaning it cannot contain errors. If an error is found it had to be made by copyists since only the autograph (which of course we don't have) is completely error free.

But on closer examination there are so many errors that such an explanation is hard to accept. But if it is correct, we surely can't rely of the Bible to provide divine guidance.

Today I heard the mustard seed scripture at church.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed is one of the shorter parables of Jesus. It appears in Matthew (13:31–32), Mark (4:30–32), and Luke (13:18–19).

Matthew 13
31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.�

"Nevertheless, by no conjecture is it the smallest of all seeds that Jesus’ listeners could have known (the orchid seed is smaller); the point is that it was recognized as very small and yet yielded a large shrub. Around the Sea of Galilee, it can reach a height of ten feet and has sometimes reached fifteen feet. Its usual height, however, is about four feet; because it would grow anew each year, birds could not nest in it when they built nests in early spring."

Reference Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Mt 13:31–32.

This doesn't seem like much of a mistake; at least not according to what you've posted. The parable states that birds can come and perch in its branches while the commentator says they couldn't 'nest' in its branches.

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[JehovahsWitness]

Matthew 13
31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.�

Jesus wasn't specific enough for his statement to be classified as erroneous.

He didn't say that the mustard seed was the tiniest of all the seeds on the planet earth, he didn't say that it was the tiniest of all the seeds his listeners could have ever have heard of, he simply said that it was the tiniest of "all the seeds", all the seeds where? in his pocket? In the village? In the universe? without providing the paremeters for his statement it is too vague to be taken as anything but a generality.

Since he was talking to a farming community and presenting an illustration about farming (as opposed to giving a lecture on botany) it seems logical that he meant it was the tiniest (or smallest) of all the seeds his audience habitually farmed.

... because it would grow anew each year, birds could not nest in it when they built nests in early spring."

Jesus didn't mention the word "nest" at all; he spoke about bird perching in its branches. I've seen birds perched on telephone wires, they rarely build their nests on them.