I believe in the inerrancy of Scripture as it's defined in something like the Chicago Statement - which does leave a very minor amount of room that some are uncomfortable with. But, I don't think you can ever go wrong in presenting the truth to people, even if it's difficult to deal with. In the end, I think it's more detrimental to blindly lead people into ideas and then have them later find that there is more to the story. Of course, there are times that are appropriate for this kind of discourse and times that aren't. You don't take a brand new Christian and immediately begin dealing with this sort of thing. However, I think it is a topic that should eventually weave it's way into the lives of people.

 

^Christie,

I too like the Chicago statement. You have expressed my view almost entirely. I think neglecting to address textual criticism within the safety of the church is leading to a loss of youth when they go off to college, a loss of adults who like educational programming as found on stations such as the History Channel, and other curious seekers and Christians who think and read. It seems to me that the first time a church member hears that there is a question about the ending of Mark or that there is a question about how to translate a passage out of Romans in light that the oldest manuscript has a hole causing some dispute in translation should not come from the likes of Marcus Borg or John Hicks.

We are called to equip the saints. Holistic Education must become a priority!

 

We're still working to explain to some why the King James isn't THE only translation! It's frustrating to me when pastors propogate that kind of teaching. Even though it may not be done seriously, it makes me cringe when I hear pastors speak of how they think that even the punctuation and maps in the Bible are inspired. Although it may be done in jest (or not), I hate to see such a critical issue dealt with in that manner.

 

can anyone point me in the direction to where i could read about the chicago statement? i've never heard of it but would love to check it out.

thankfully our pastor started discussing some of these hardball issues last sunday night. nice to be serving with a guy who doesn't ignore the difficulties.

 

You can read the Chicago statement here:
http://www.reformed.org/documents/icbi.html
I just googled "Chicago Statement" and this is what came up.
Most that would have any problem with it disagree with the idea of the "origian autograph" issue. The articles contained in this statement are used by many evangelical institutions such as Lifeway, etc. as their statement on inspiration.

 

^That's supposed to read "origianl autograph"