Title: The Importance of Inerrancy
Description: In this work, Dr. Reasoner discusses the historical view of the inerrancy and infallibility of the Word of God by early Methodist theologians including John Wesley and Richard Watson. He also discusses how the rejection of the Bible as the inerrant Word of God has led to the erosion of the Wesleyan movement. He uses the Church of the Nazarene as a case study and shows how Nazarenes have been waffling on the issue of inerrancy for years. The Church of the Nazarene continues to reject conservative Nazarenes who are pushing for acceptance of the inerrancy of Scripture as part of their doctrinal commitment. This has led to a steady decline in Nazarene churches as well as the liberalization of their colleges and seminaries. Both Dr. Reasoner and myself conclude that the Church of the Nazarene will soon be the United Methodist Church: dead and dying apart from pockets of faithful disciples. Dr. Reasoner shows that the subject of inerrancy is vital. Some will contend that the Bible is only inerrant in a soteriological sense. In other words, Scripture is only true and reliable when it speaks on the doctrine of salvation (2 Timothy 3:15-17) and not on science, history, numbers, etc. Further, some Arminians contend that inerrancy is a Calvinistic teaching and one we should avoid. Yet Arminius affirmed the authority of the Bible. Arminius wrote, "The authority of the word of God, which is comprised in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, lies both in the veracity of the whole narration, and of all the declarations, whether they be those about things past, about things present, or about those which are to come, and in the power of the commands and prohibitions, which are contained in the divine word." - ArminianToday.com