One argument from those who love and follow God yet believe inerrancy to be naive is that it is a false deduction to infer that because God is true and without error, his word must be true and without error. It is suggested that a doctrine of biblical inerrancy, while well-meaning, neglects the full humanness of Scripture's authors--that is, while the Bible is inspired and God's very word, God communicates that word through human words that do, by virtue of their humanness, occasionally err.
One untapped place in the Bible, however, that underscores inerrancy by linking the truth of God's person with the truth of God's word is the depiction of Christ in the book of Revelation. In the latest issue of the Westminster Theological Journal, Greg Beale shows how Revelation affirms the historic (yes, historic--thanks for showing us this time and again, John Woodbridge) doctrine of inerrancy.
The article is made available to the public here. (See also this book by Dr. Beale.)
Let us be wise in our thinking, shrewd as serpents, not fighting for inerrancy simply because our parents or seminary profs believed it (though such a factor is not insignificant). But let us also be humble in our thinking, innocent as doves, and not so clever and critical and man-pleasing that we cringe at being associated with inerrancy lest the academic winds of trendiness and scholarly inclusion pass us by.
No comments:
Post a Comment