inerrancy

Just getting into this discussion. I found relevant commentary by Keller appropriate, per usuale.

I’ve heard people talk about epistemological humility saying that you have to admit that it’s hard to judge what the Bible says because there are so many interpretations. It’s hard in a postmodern situation to get people to take your seriously. [So] I think you need spiritual humility. As a sinner, I know I have prejudices. And I know you do too. And there are things you want the text to say and you don’t want the text to say. So we have to be really careful about being too quick to say this is what it says.

Basically, being spiritually humble [does not mean] talking about how difficult it is to figure out and judge all the various interpretations and figure out the culture distance; instead if they see me just being spiritual humble about it and asking them to do it, then they’ll follow. I don’t think it’s an epistemological humility [we need], saying the text is indeterminate and I really don’t know what it means. I think a spiritual humility along with a clear interpretation of the scripture is what has taken me through. And it’s New York. It’s not a backwater place.

Here's a related discussion that accentuates Keller's statements above and appropriates the role of Scripture in orthodoxy and orthopraxy.

That is, after all, the unavoidable crux of this issue. It would seem, to me, that if one claims to hold scripture's authority at arm's length, while subsequently articulating a particular view of Jesus and his teachings, one remains entirely susceptible to one's own critique in holding that narrow view of Jesus's life-claims.

Consequently, any rhetoric on gospel living and Christ-following, it would seem, is absolutely hinged upon one's posture towards the text.

More to come.

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UPDATE:

A couple of other useful resources on the topic:

• Prof. Kenton Sparks critique of the traditional notion of inerrancy @ BioLogos
• J.I. Packer's defense of the doctrine of inerrancy @ KevinDeYoung
• The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy

[JSD]