I'll concede the inerrant part. There are more than a few verses in the text which are contradictory. I also know that in the earliest manuscripts, there is error--even in just a word or two--from one manuscript to another. Perhaps at one time there existed a "perfect" manuscript, but one does not exist today. Furthermore, there is error in translation. Anyone who has studied Greek and Hebrew knows this. So, the idea the Bible is completely inerrant does not compute. And I don't believe it has to.
But infallibility is another issue completely. I have blogged about this before arguing the Bible can be seen as infallible. I used Timothy Keller's argument from his book A Reason for God as my basis. And, of course, as a reminder, the definition I and Keller use for infallible is, "incapable of error in defining doctrines touching faith and morals."
As I reflected upon this issue further this morning, I began to ask my colleagues (imaginatively, of course), if Scripture is fallible, then what is capable of defining doctrines touching faith and morals? Is there some other source to turn to?
First, let's tackle the argument. We Lutherans like to refer to Martin Luther's statement, "The Bible is the cradle that holds Christ."
Imaginary Professor (IP): I don't worship the cradle, I worship the Christ the cradle holds.
Me: Granted, but how do you know what the Christ is like without the cradle?
IP: The Spirit leads me to know what the Christ is like.
Me: Granted, but how do you know it's God's Spirit and not your own thoughts?
IP: I live in a community of faith that helps me discern what is true about Christ through that same Spirit.
Me: And communities have never been led astray? Communities have never gotten it wrong?
IP: Well, of course they have, but there is a tradition of interpretation the Church has held to.
Me: And so challenging that tradition is wrong?
IP: Well, no. Luther challenged that tradition, and sometimes we must because the tradition can go astray.
Me: On what basis do we challenge that tradition? Our own thoughts and understandings?
IP: No, our thoughts and understandings can go off base. After all, we are sinful.
Me: So, again, on what basis do we challenge tradition?
IP: If tradition moves away from the teachings and person of Jesus.
Me: And how do you know the teachings and person of Jesus?
IP: The Spirit drives me to them.
Me: And where do you find them?
IP: The Bible.
Me: And why should the Bible be authoritative if it's not infallible? If the Bible is capable of leading us astray in matters of doctrine and morality, who cares about what it says at all?
Keller sums his chapter on "You Can't Take the Bible Literally" in this fashion:
If you don't trust the Bible enough to let it challenge and correct your thinking, how could you ever have a personal relationship with God? In any truly personal relationship, the other person has to be able to contradict you. For example, if a wife is not allowed to contradict her husband, they won't have an intimate relationship. Remember the (two!) movies The Stepford Wives? The husbands of Stepford, Connecticut, decide to have their wives turned into robots who never cross the wills of their husbands. A Stepford wife was wonderfully compliant an beautiful, but no one would describe such a marriage as intimate or personal.
Now, what happens if you eliminate anything from the Bible that offends your sensibility and crosses your will? If you pick and choose what you want to believe and reject the rest, how will you ever have a God who can contradict you? You won't! You'll have a Stepford God! A God, essentially, of your own making, and not a God with whom you can have a relationship and genuine interaction. Only if your God can say things that outrage you and make you struggle (as in a real friendship or marriage!) will you know that you have gotten hold of a real God and not a figment of your imagination. So an authoritative Bible is not the enemy of a personal relationship with God. It is the precondition of it. --Timothy Keller, The Reason for God pp.113-114
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