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Inspired Prophets: An Analogy to Infallible Popes

Inspired Prophets: An Analogy to Infallible Popes

Last updated on: June 13, 2026 at 1:11 pm by Dave Armstrong

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Inspired Prophets: An Analogy to Infallible Popes 2026-06-13T13:11:04-04:00 Dave Armstrong

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This is the transcript of the initial portion of the video, “Infallible Pope? Yes! Contra Gavin Ortlund” (Catholic Bible Highlights, with Kenny Burchard, 3-27-26).

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Dr. Gavin Ortlund is a Reformed Baptist apologist who earned a doctorate from Fuller Theological Seminary in historical theology. He runs the very popular YouTube channel Truth Unites. Today, we’re critiquing a statement he made in his video, “Trent Horn on the Papacy REBUTTED” (4-6-21):

None of the Old Testament offices had the ability to speak infallibly, for example, so the papacy, I would say, is not consistent in any specific way with God’s general ways of working throughout the Old Testament. It is an innovation or a new development.

I don’t see how Gavin could say this, because the analogous examples in the Old Testament are numerous. The most obvious example is the prophets, who spoke infallibly, passing along the “the word of the LORD” — and quite arguably, these utterances and writings were inspired as well, since God’s words are always not only infallible, but inspired (literally “God-breathed”). So the argument would be that Old Testament prophets had an even greater gift of certain teaching than popes: they were absolutely right all the time. when proclaiming a prophetic message.

First of all, before we start documenting this, note that Gavin denied that any of holders of “the Old Testament offices” could speak infallibly. Was “prophet” an Old Testament office? Protestant reference sources affirm that it was, as seems obvious. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, The New Bible Dictionary (1962), and The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary, in their articles on prophets, all refer to “the prophetic office” or the “office” of the prophet.

Prophets were literally required to be infallible, on pain of death. God said about them:

Deuteronomy 18:20-22 (RSV) But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ [21] And if you say in your heart, `How may we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ — [22] when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him.

God spoke directly through prophets:

Deuteronomy 18:18-19 . . . I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. [19] And whoever will not give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.

1 Kings 24:2 . . . according to the word of the LORD which he spoke by his servants the prophets.

2 Chronicles 24:19 . . . he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD . . .

2 Chronicles 36:21 to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, . . .

Nehemiah 9:30 Many years thou didst bear with them, and didst warn them by thy Spirit through thy prophets; . . .

Jeremiah 1:5, 9 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” . . . [9] Then the LORD put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.”

**Jeremiah 25:3-4 “**For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, . . . [4] . . . the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets,”

Jeremiah 26:15 “. . . the LORD sent me to you to speak all these words . . .”

Ezekiel 2:7 And you shall speak my words to them, . . .

Haggai 1:13 . . . Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, . . . (cf. 1:12: “Haggai the prophet, . . . the LORD their God had sent him”)

Luke 1:70 . . . he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

2 Peter 1:21 . . . no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

How God spoke about false prophets also confirms how He called and guided genuine prophets:

Jeremiah 14:14 And the LORD said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.

Jeremiah 29:23 . . . they have spoken in my name lying words which I did not command them . . . (cf. 27:15; 29:9)

“Word of the LORD” is a phrase that appears 243 times in the agreed-upon books of the Old Testament (sixty times in the book of Ezekiel alone): almost always in conjunction with the prophets who were proclaiming direct revelations from God to them. When the prophet Elijah raised a boy from the dead (1 Kgs 17:17-23), the boy’s mother proclaimed, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth” (17:24; cf. 17:16: “the word of the LORD which he spoke by Elijah.”). In the first verse of the books of seven “minor” prophets that bear their names (Hosea, Joel, Jonah, Micha, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Malachi), it’s said that “the word of the LORD” came to them.

The prophets received their inspiration by the Holy Spirit (Num. 11:29; 2 Chr 24:20; Neh 9:30; Ezek 3:24; 11:5; Zech 7:12; Acts 28:25). The Holy Spirit (as a result of the new covenant) is now given to all Christians (Jn 15:26; 1 Cor 3:16), so it’s perfectly possible and plausible that an even greater measure of the Holy Spirit would be given to leaders of the Church who have the responsibility to teach, since James wrote: “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1).

The disciples were reassured by Jesus: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (Jn 16:13; cf. 8:32), so surely it makes sense that shepherds of the Christian flock would be given an extra measure of protection in order to better fulfill their duties.

Jesus called John the Baptist “more than a prophet” (Luke 7:26) and stated, “among those born of women none is greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28). Therefore, it is not in the least implausible that one man: the pope, could be infallible, which is a far lesser gift than the inspiration and direct revelation from God exhibited by the prophets.

Briefly put, then, the argument is: “If prophets spoke with inspiration, then popes can plausibly speak infallibly, since the latter is a far less extraordinary gift than the former.” Or, from a different angle: “If those with lesser gifts can do the great thing (inspired utterance), then those with greater gifts can certainly do the lesser thing (infallible utterance).”

Infallibility is a limited, far less profound “negative” protection against error. Everyone who holds to the inspiration of Scripture already believes that St. Peter wrote inspired words from God in the Bible. Where, then, is the inherent difficulty in believing that he and his successors could be protected by the Holy Spirit to write infallible documents (see, e.g., John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13; Acts 15:28)? The more difficult thing to believe, the thing that requires far more faith, since it is a greater gift, is already accepted, so what insuperable prima facie difficulty remains in the notion of infallible (as opposed to inspired) popes (and an infallible Church)?

Not only is it entirely plausible and, I think, probable, that the leader of the Church would be infallible, based on the above data, but we also know that God directly guided Peter the first pope and enabled him to make an infallible proclamation, before and during the Jerusalem Council. First God gave him a vision about clean and unclean foods (Acts 10:11-12-15; cf. 11:4-10). Peter referred to this as “God has shown me . . .” (Acts 10:28) and “the Spirit told me” (Acts 11:12).

In his speech at the council, St. Peter referred back to the vision and its aftermath and declared (Acts 15:7-11) what God had communicated to him. After he spoke, “all the assembly kept silence” (15:12), implying reverence, and a deference to his sublime authority and leadership. Bishop of Jerusalem St. James in his speech referred right back to St. Peter’s words and deferred to his authority in saying, “Simeon has related . . .” (15:13-14) and “with this the words of the prophets agree” (15:15); then he cited prophets in agreement with St. Peter’s point (15:15-18). James’ “judgment” agrees with what St. Peter has already expressed: “we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God” (15:19).

Peter spoke with authority and singlehandedly resolved the issue. The decision made by Peter and followed by the Council is then shown to be infallible, since the Holy Spirit ratified it (“it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us”: 15:28). St. Paul then traveled for hundreds of miles delivering to Christians “for observance the decisions which had been reached” (Acts 16:4). The word for “decisions” here is the Greek word dogma (Strong’s word #1378).

RESOURCES

BOOK

Biblical Proofs for an Infallible Church and Papacy (esp. ch. 15) (March 2012, 150 pages)

WEB PAGE

The Papacy and Infallibility (esp. section V)

RELATED VIDEO

Was Peter Really the First Pope? (Catholic Bible Highlights, 11-8-24)

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Summary: I make the argument that papal infallibility is a far lesser gift than the inspiration and direct revelation from God exhibited by the prophets; therefore, it’s plausible & actual.

Papacy & Infallibility

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