Resoures on Inerrancy
The subject of inerrancy continues to pop up as the debate over inerrancy will soon take center stage in the evangelical Church. This debate is not new to the Church of Jesus Christ for this debate has been coming up from time to time since the canon of Scripture was completed by the Holy Spirit around A.D. 90. The seeker movement and in turn the emergent church has not only questioned church but have turned their focus on questioning the authority, sufficiency, and inerrancy of Scripture.
This is not an Arminian or Calvinist debate. On both sides are those who claim to be one or the either and yet reject the doctrine of inerrancy. Some try to hold that the Bible is infallible but reject the notion of inerrancy and many claim that even the Bible itself does not teach inerrancy and that nothing is lost when one rejects inerrancy. I would completely disagree. When the doctrine of inerrancy is questioned and rejected what is left? If the Bible can be viewed as inerrant then man is free to determine what they will or will not believe is the Word of God. The existential faith of Karl Barth soon comes forth and while many claim to believe in Jesus as their Lord and yet they reject the Bible as the inerrant word of God and therefore all that is left is faith in a Jesus that they can not be sure if He is who He says He is in the Bible.
To reject inerrancy will no doubt lead to more and more doctrines of the faith being either questioned or rejected. For example, those who hold that there is salvation apart from Jesus and that Jesus is just one of many ways to the Father must reject inerrancy. How else can they ignore the words of Jesus in John 14:6 or the Apostles in Acts 4:12? Inerrancy demands that we believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and that no one comes to the Father but through Him alone. However, if we reject inerrancy then we can reject John 14:6 as being an error at least in our minds.
The following are helpful resources on inerrancy. Some are from denominations while others come from articles and blogs. The issue of inerrancy is vital and more is at stake than simply whether the Bible has errors or not. The orthodox faith and salvation are at stake. Eternity itself in heaven and in hell is at stake. We should be diligent to study the Bible about inerrancy and how biblical writers viewed the sacred Scriptures.
Assemblies of God Position Paper on Inerrancy
International Council on Biblical Inerrancy
Fundamental Wesleyan Society on Inerrancy Issues Among Wesleyans
Dr. Roger Nicole on Inerrancy
Inerrancy book edited by Norman Geisler
Dr. James Sawyer on the Doctrine of Inspiration and Inerrancy of Scripture
Is Inerrancy Unbiblial? taken from the Gospel Driven Blog
Scripture Alone book by Dr. James White
Scripture Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine book by Dr. R.C. Sproul
Biblical Inerrancy by John H. Gerstner
5 comments:
Roy, How do you explain inerrancy to a skeptic who asks you if the mustard seed is the smallest of seed? Is not your witness compromised when he points out the scientific fact that the orchid is the smallest of seeds?
Blessings in Christ
Trav
You wrote, "If the Bible can be viewed as inerrant then man is free to determine what they will or will not believe is the Word of God. The existential faith of Karl Barth soon comes forth and while many claim to believe in Jesus as their Lord and yet they reject the Bible as the inerrant word of God and therefore all that is left is faith in a Jesus that they can not be sure if He is who He says He is in the Bible."
It has been said before and I will say it again, that Jesus Christ himself is the Word of God. And to think that we can not know who Jesus is without embracing inerrancy is absurd.
For one, I believe that Jesus is REAL, he is active in the world and in people's lives, so the scripture is not the only factor involved. Secondly, scripture is ultimately the inspired testimony of the people of Abraham that followed God and then the church. Scripture has this context and there are both Jews and followers of Jesus today that are in the world today because of the testimony of the church that came before them.
If you treat scripture like it is in a vacuum and just dropped out of the sky, then of course you hold on to inerrancy as if your whole faith will fall like a house of cards without it. But no, scripture is "God breathed" because it is an extension of "God's breath" in the faith communities that wrote it, embraced it and eventually canonized it.
Scripture is the testimony of the church and this is a powerful witness in the world as Christ says he is present in his body still today. People know who Jesus is because he is active in the world and is also alive in the church.
As far as protecting sound doctrine and orthodoxy we also must remember that we are part of a living body, and the saints gone before us are still part of that living body. Early standards for orthodoxy such as the creeds, (which standards helped finalize even the canonization of scripture)keep us accountable to continue in the true faith of historical orthodox Christianity.
Though the reformation was absolutely necessary, there was some overcompensation that took place with the emphasis put on "scripture ALONE". I say this because scripture was never meant to stand ALONE but was linked to the body of Christ as its living testimony. Many modern protestants hold on to inerrancy because they have lost perspective of being connected to the historical church that dates back to the first followers of Christ.
So without understanding that the context of scripture is the church, many have no choice but to hold onto inerrency of scripture, that they can only see in a vacuum ALONE, fearing that their faith will unravel with out it.
Thanks for your post and for hearing my comment.
Peace,
James
Thanks Trav for your question. I answered this question you sent me before at some post in the past but Scripture often uses language that some like to see as an error scientifically such as "the sun rises" when it fact it does not but we must learn to work through the language of Scripture by using proper methods of interpretation and exegesis. The Bible is not a science book but this doesn't mean that what it says about science is wrong anymore than what the Bible says about history or ethics is wrong. The Bible being the inerrant Word of the living God is a book that like any other book must be interpreted correctly by looking at the context, the authors intent, and the nature of the passage as it relates to other passages of Scripture.
I don't believe that my witness is damaged if Jesus said that the mustard seed was the smallest seed. In the Jewish mind, the mustard seed was in fact the smallest seed they knew. This does not mean that Jesus is wrong in that He lied (since He is the perfect Son of God) but rather it is a passage in which Jesus is making a point about the kingdom of God. He is not discussing agriculture per se but the kingdom of God.
In the English language we will use phrases that are not scientifically accurate such as the "moon shining" but we all know what we are meaning by the statement. This is the case as well with Jesus' words about the mustard seed to His Jewish audience. Jesus is not trying to teach agriculture but the kingdom.
Hope this helps. If not, e-mail me again and I can point you to some further resources.
Thanks James for your comments even if we disagree.
He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." (Matthew 13:31-32)
I've read somewhere that in Greek, "sperma" refers only to seeds that people plant for agricultural purposes, and not all seeds in general. So it would be incorrect to use the English word "seed" for something that the Greek "sperma" never intended. This is supported by Matthew 13:31 ("which a man took and planted in his field").
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