If you begin to construct your theological convictions on the authority and infallibility of Scripture, you will be building upon a solid foundation. You may still have questions. You may still hold wrong views. But as you acquire a greater understanding of God's Word, your doctrines will begin to conform to the truth that God wants each of us to embrace. But if you believe that your own opinions or the writings of fallible people are to be trusted more than God, you will be building on a crumbling foundation.
Opinions are fickle.
Scholars, each with his or her own bias, are also fickle. The wisdom of today becomes the foolishness of tomorrow. But God's Word, ancient that it is, remains eternally true and relevant. Gary S. Wales has been pastor of Trowbridge United Methodist Church. He and his wife and five children live in Otsego, Michigan.