I think one needs to be careful on what is being portrayed as "accurate and inerrant" within the Bible. That the Bible was "inspired" by God is the major determinate in my view.
First, let's focus on inspiration. The Cohen brother's movie "Oh Brother, Whereart Thou" was inspired by the
Odyssey. For instance, John Goodman's character (the one eyed Bible salesman) was inspired by the cyclops in Homer's epic. So what we are dealing with is ideas that God gave the biblical authors. God did not DICTATE the bible, He inspired. "God's Word" is more accurately "God's Truth". In the same way, Aesop's Tales relate moral truths even if a tortoise and a hare ever raced. So the inspiration, IMVHO, was not for a factually true account of history, but rather a theologically and philosophically true account of the relationship between God, Man, and morality. When I was a Christian, this is how I viewed the Bible, as in inerrant guide for developing a christian life and a relationship with God.
Just as a quick personal note, this wasn't exactly the view held by my fellow church goers, they tended to be more of the fundamentalist vein. During this time I attended a private college that was founded by Presbyterians. The last vestige of the school's christian founding was one semester of a religiously based class. Lo and behold, the professor held the same views as I did. He even did one better. He was able to put the philosophical and theological underpinnings found in the Bible into historical context. It was a great class. I wish more christians were like my college professor, but alas, my wishes will remain just that.
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