We Believe, Help Our Unbelief
Very few things have raised a ruckus here as much as when I wrote that I didn’t believe the Bible was “inerrant”.
While I hold it to be the supreme authority on matters of faith, that wasn’t powerful enough of an affirmation for some…they simply could not and would not believe that the Bible was anything but the perfect Word of God in written form.
Folks left here in droves and in a huff.
They wrote me notes telling me that I was lost and a heretic and hell was my future home.
The “funny” thing about it is that I have found that I actually “believe” what the Bible says may than most of the champions of inerrancy.
Over the years here I have fought for the purity of the church because the Scriptures demand we do so.
I have stood for basic compassion and decency for the immigrant and the migrant because the Scriptures demand that we do so.
I have called out those who would abuse and defile the vulnerable among us because the Scriptures demand we do so.
In all of this, my most fervent opposition has come from those who champion biblical inerrancy.
I am in the Scriptures daily…and daily find myself being broken, remade, rewired , and transformed by Scriptures… even more by the words of Jesus in the Scriptures.
There are passages I find hard to accept and harder to integrate into my person…but I know I have no choice if I am to call myself a Christian.
The question before the house remains…if you think the Bible is the pure Word of God, why don’t you obey it?
Why don’t you live it?
If you can defy the Scriptures about migrants and pastoral accountability how can you demand that others obey the moral imperatives of Scripture you do affirm?
There’s a word for that… a few actually…some less spiritual than others…
Those who defend inerrancy the most can’t possibly have read the entire Bible, or they haven’t dug into the history of the text and source material. Its an anti-academic position to hold. Its a sentimental idea elevated to dogma. Especially if you don’t obey what it says.
I’m in your camp Michael.
And so what if the Bible may not be ‘inerrant’?
It inspires me, and that’s all I care about.
Terry,
It is simply a demand for certainty…and a rejection of mystery.
Muff,
It is inspiring and authoritative…and true in its own way.
I totally thought when you said folks left here in a huff” you were going to transition to “Wes Huff backs me up”. His video on the Mark 16 having a portion not in the older manuscripts was eye opening.