What do inerrantists do when it seems that the Bible, or even Jesus himself, is wrong? Among the responses are: looking for ad hoc explanations, things that might have been meant even though they are less likely meanings of the words/phrase in question, and, when necessary, rewriting Wikipedia or positing historical events for which we have no evidence because the Bible – or the politician – must have been right
From James McGrath’s Inerrancy of the Bible and Sarah Palin
I do not believe that Paul was identifying a historical figure, physically identifiable. Jason does, because that is how he reads him. As much as Jason needs us to admit that scientists are fallible, so too he must admit that theologians are equally fallible, if not more so. He ends with a plea against watering down biblical authority, but again, I counter than when we must defend the Text against changes of interpretation which we feel may undermine it, we simply don’t allow it the authority which we think it has. Either the Text has Authority, or it does not. If it does, then it can be questioned without it becoming a house of cards, dependent upon one interpretation or another.
From Joel’s Infallibility and the Mythical Adam
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“Either the Text has Authority, or it does not. If it does, then it can be questioned without it becoming a house of cards, dependent upon one interpretation or another.”
I don’t know that the conclusion from this assumption actually follows. Authority is granted; it should not necessarily be assumed. We grant people, conceptual idols or gods, books, etc. authority over us. As children, this relationship is usually less…optional, I guess is the word. But as adults, we grow to learn authority rests in the ability to demonstrably enforce its sanctions with repercussions for dissent. Things that we once thought authoritative (or granted authority over us) lose their ability to enforce that authority as we grow older and more self-sufficient. No doubt, even your parents (the gods of your childhood) have significantly less authority over you today than they did say a decade or two ago.
That a book (Qur’an, for example) or a library (Bible, for example) be granted authority over any adults by those same adults is (and has for millennia) resulted in crafting an adult population of children who are either incapable of making decisions of their own without the book’s sayso, or infinitely capable of justifying any decision by simply construing the unenforceable dictates of that book as an end to their means.
If I may…I think it’s time we all grew up.
“That a book (Qur’an, for example) or a library (Bible, for example) be granted authority over any adults by those same adults is (and has for millennia) resulted in crafting an adult population of children who are either incapable of making decisions of their own without the book’s sayso, or infinitely capable of justifying any decision by simply construing the unenforceable dictates of that book as an end to their means. ”
I would say that sacred texts are more than just books, they are traditions, passed down by people from generation to generation. Some Christians today emphasize the importance of story in our lives, that even truth depends on story.
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