When have you said enough about the doctrine of inerrancy? If you’ve been following along in this series you know that I’ve spent a long time articulating and defending this doctrine. I tried to argue that disbelief in the doctrine often stems from an unfair expectation, it starts from a skewed worldview that rules out the possibility of inerrancy. To wrestle fairly, then, with the doctrine we need to look at it from within its own worldview. I have taken, however, a long time to make my case. It’s a fair to question the longevity of this series. The doctrine of inerrancy, however, is so important that it warrants a long engagement.
The doctrine of inerrancy matters for a multitude of reasons, but primarily it gives me confidence that God, His will, and the truth can be known. Unless God reveals these things to me in a sure and certain way I cannot know them. I can give my guess as to who God is. I can stumble onto His will. I can concoct a truth from within my social context, but I can’t know anything with the kind of certainty I need to live my life. I can’t please God. I can’t even be sure that God cares one iota about me and my world. The doctrine of inerrancy matters because it sets a foundation for life. I can stand confident on the Word of God knowing that what it says it true, right, and good for me.
Inerrancy is also important because it calls into question the honesty of God. The Bible claims to have been written by God. If we determine that in fact this is false, then we call God a liar. After all, the logic works like this:
*God cannot err.
*God wrote the Bible.
*Therefore, the Bible does not contain errors.
If we contest this we are questioning the trustworthiness of God. God is either true and Scripture is without error, or God is a liar and I have no business following him in the first place. This is why inerrancy matters.
This is not to suggest that there are not still difficulties within the text of Scripture. There are. Sometimes those difficulties are very pronounced, other times they are more subtle, but they are there nonetheless. The way we wrestle with these difficulties is, however, important too. We can wrestle with these within the framework of Biblical inerrancy, in fact I would argue it makes it more possible to resolve and honestly address these issues when we do so from the standpoint of inerrancy. I have made these arguments over and over again. Inerrancy, in other words, matters.
Increasingly, I find myself wanting to stress for folks the great need to have confidence in the Word of God. Believing in God’s Word makes a world of difference for my faith, my life, and my reason. This series has attempted to consider the intellectual challenges to the doctrine of inerrancy. We’ve looked at challenges from science, history, linguistics, sociology, and psychology. It is my contention that those intellectual challenges make no sense apart from a conviction in inerrancy, and that my faith in God’s Word actually reshapes those tensions and my approaches to them. To quote Anselm of Canterbury, “I believe, in order that I may understand.” Confidence in the Word of God helps me to use my intellect better. That, ultimately, is why this subject matters to me, I hope it matters to all believers.
Sparrow & Heart Soul Care 