3THEO A
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Philosophy
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Feb 20, 2024
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3THEO A
JBRAZ
LIBERTY
The doctrine of inerrancy, though not popular in many Christian circles today, is of immense importance for the church of Christ today. Erickson defines inerrancy as “the doctrine that the Bible is fully truthful in all of its teachings” (Erickson, 189). That sounds quite simple and straightforward, until you continue reading the chapter and find that there are multiple positions from those who claim to believe in
inerrancy. Furthermore, Feinberg’s definition of inerrancy is more nuanced than Erickson’s: “Inerrancy is the view that when all the facts become known, they will demonstrate that the Bible in its original autographs and correctly interpreted is entirely true and never false in all it affirms, whether that relates to doctrine or ethics or to the social, physical, or life sciences” (Feinberg, “Inerrancy”).
According to Erickson, there is the absolute inerrantist who argues that everything the Bible claims is to be taken literally and should always be affirmed as literally true. However, there are also full inerrantists who believe that while the Bible is truthful in all of its content, certain statements that are made are approximations, general references, or popular descriptions (Erickson, 191). Another view is that of the limited inerrantists who teach that inerrancy applies to the truths of salvation. Those truths that are essential the gospel message are accurate and trustworthy; however, certain historical and scientific statements may be false (Erickson, 191). A fourth view is those who hold to inerrancy of purpose and argue that the Bible’s purpose is not meant to give us facts but to bring us into a relationship with the Lord, and so long as it accomplishes that, it is true. Each of these groups retain the concept of inerrancy (Erickson does discuss those who do not retain the term).
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