From: John_Graves@cellbio.duke.edu
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Biblical Inerrancy
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 92 01:30:12 GMT+5:00
Organization: Duke University Medical Center

In article <Aug.11.02.10.12.1992.11991@aramis.rutgers.edu>
ptfarre@afterlife.ncsc.mil (Peter Farrell) writes:

[the original writer, among a number of points writes that plenty of Christians
did not believe in inerrancy to which Farrell responds: 

> >Third - "Plenty of Christians" mentioned above. I don't know of any of
> >the great believers of history who have disbelieved in the accuracy 
> >and integrity of scripture. Who are these "plenty"? Paul accepted it;
> >Augustine accepted it; Polycarp, Eusebius, Luther, Calvin, Wesley and
> >DL Moody accepted it, and all of our best-known Christian leaders today
> >accept it, such as Pastor Yonge Cho in Korea (in charge of the largest
> >Christian congregation in the world; over a quarter million members
> >last time I checked), Billy Graham, Dr. James Dobson, Kenneth Copeland,
> >Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts, D. James Kennedy, and, of course, the Pope.
> >The "plenty" to whom you refer sounds like a rather imaginary lot or else
> >a group of people you'd do well not to listen to.

> The easiest one to debunk here is that Paul accepted the inerrancy
> of the Bible.  While he may have had access to Mark, and wrote
> several of the letters attributed to him, he did not have or know of
> a set of scriptures called the Bible.  And I doubt that he thought
> that his own letters were inerrant.

You cannot conclude that Paul could not have accepted the inerrancy of the
Bible simply because Scriptures were incomplete. But certainly Peter thought
Paul's writings were scripture, which indicates that the Apostles certainly
believed that they were writing Scripture: "Bear in mind that our Lord's
patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the
wisdom that God gave him.  He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking
in them of these matters.  His letters contain some things that re hard to
understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other
Scriptures, to their own destruction." (2 Peter 3:15f)  Paul did in fact speak
authoritatively, as one sent of God, saying that what he taught was not the
words of men but the words of God.

> Luther was outspoken in his belief that the letter of James was
> inauthentic.

To his discredit.

> All of the reformation leaders rejected the Aprocraphyal Books of
> the Catholic Bible.

Correction: the Deutero-canonical books, which were part of the Septuagint that
the Apostles used.

> The Pope most assuredly does not believe in the inerrancy of the
> Bible instead claiming that interpretation by the church is
> necessary for understanding.  Of course he has the power of being
> able to interpret infallibly.

Most assuredly the Pope DOES believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, since it is
a dogma of the Catholic Church that the Scriptures are inspired and inerrant,
and since his predecessor declared them as such around 425.  This does not
contradict his assertion that only the Church can infallibly interpret
Scripture.  Having inerrant Scripture does you little good if you bicker and
fight over what it means.  Far from contradicting his believe in inerrant
scripture, it proves it.

> Other great Christian leaders disagree with inerrancy.  Tillich,
> Norman Vincent Peale, Bob Schuyler, James Luther Adams, Rawls,
> Willimon, etc.

How come I haven't heard of any of these "great Christian leaders?" I mean
except for Peale, whom I have held it great suspicion for some time (and who is
an author and a psychiatrist, not a "Christian leader").

Eric
--
/=============================================================================\
| Eric Ewanco - Software Engineer     For the rash and outrageous opinions ex-|
| Digital Equipment Corp, Maynard MA  pressed herein I alone am responsible;  |
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\==============================- 2 Th 2:15 -==================================/
    "...[T]he greatest and most ancient Church known to all, founded and
    organized at Rome by [] Peter and Paul, [is] that Church which has the
    tradition and faith which comes down to us after having been announced
    to men by the Apostles.  For with this Church, because of its superior
    origin, all Churches must agree ...  and it is in her that the
    faithful everywhere have maintained the Apostolic tradition."
       -- St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, c. 180 A.D., 3,3,3.