Inspired but not inerrant

What is so critically important about believing that the bible is inerrant? One of the last bastions of fear promotion in evangelical orthodoxy is the concept of biblical inerrancy. If one should voice the opinion that the bible is not inerrant it raises the fear of all those who worship the book. What does inerrant mean anyway? Let’s look for an answer.

Here is a quote from the Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy

A SHORT STATEMENT

1. God, who is Himself Truth and speaks truth only, has inspired Holy Scripture in order thereby to reveal Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge. Holy Scripture is God's witness to Himself.

2. Holy Scripture, being God's own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God's instruction, in all that it affirms, obeyed, as God's command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God's pledge, in all that it promises.

3. The Holy Spirit, Scripture's divine Author, both authenticates it to us by His inward witness and opens our minds to understand its meaning.

4. Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God's acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God's saving grace in individual lives.

5. The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if this total divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible's own; and such lapses bring serious loss to both the individual and the Church.

What parts of this statement are true and relevant and what parts are not true and totally unnecessary? Well, I do not have a problem with number one as long as it is viewed in a solely redemptive way. I believe that the scriptures are God breathed but only insofar as they make one wise for salvation. After all, that was exactly Paul’s point in 2Timothy 3:15-17. He did not mean to indorse the scriptural doctrine that you see posted above in the statement.

Number two is correct insofar as it relates to redemption. In fact, it is only infallible in its redemptive purpose. That purpose is to point one to Christ Jesus that they may find rest in the grace, love, and mercy of God. All of the four points are true in a solely redemptive way and number five is absolute nonsense. It is the source of all the fear surrounding the question of biblical authority.

If it is nonsense, and it is, why then is it so important to evangelical orthodoxy? The answer is that it is the foundation to the Reformation idea of sola scriptura. The problem is that at the beginning of the Reformation the reformers only meant the sola’s in a redemptive way… that is, salvation was key behind the sola scriptura premise. Over time, it has been expanded by theologians to say that the bible alone (sola scriptura) is the final authority for all faith and practice. This is nonsense. The indwelling Holy Spirit is the final authority for all faith and practice. I think that the indwelling Holy Spirit would work best in community of course. However, the Holy Spirit will never be the final authority in community until the absurd notion of biblical inerrancy as explained in the above statement is rethought and revised.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest

Mat 11:28-30  Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  (29)  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  (30)  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

What did Jesus mean when he spoke these words? What was the labor, how are they heavy laden, and rest… rest from what? As far as I'm concerned, these words are not spoken nearly enough to encourage the saints of God. It seems to me, that here in the 21st century, 2000 years after Jesus gave this invitation, all too many of God's children continue in meaningless labor with heavy burdens too great to bear. And when I say this, I am speaking of those who are walking daily in the Christian life. Yes, people are still laboring too much, and excessively burdened. The reason in my view is that the gospel is not properly understood, nor taught in its purity.

I think back to a quote by the theologian D. Martin Lloyd-Jones. He said “that if preachers were not being accused of being too soft on sin, they were not preaching the gospel.” Unfortunately, it is hard to find preachers in this day and time that are being accused of being too soft on sin. In evangelical orthodoxy, one of the main focuses of all preaching is sin. So, how are the saints laboring, and what are they laboring against? Sin!… I would argue that they're not laboring successfully for the most part, but they are laboring to their psychological and spiritual detriment.

I think it's fair to say, that Jesus meant that they were laboring under a legal-constitutional reading and understanding of Scripture. Why do I say that you ask?... By his use of the word yoke. Notice what Peter said in acts 15; (Act 15:10)  “Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” When Peter was speaking of the yoke that neither the father's nor the current generation was able to bear… He was speaking of the yoke brought on by the legal-constitutional reading of Scripture.

Think about it for a minute, when one looks at the Scripture as a legal constitutional document, it immediately takes on a burden of unbelievable proportions. James stated that if you break one of the commandments you have broken them all. This places a tremendous pressure and burden on the individual to comply with the legal letter of the law. To fulfill this in a legal constitutional way is impossible. I think we can rest assured that God never intended to have the law used in a legal constitutional way… In a way that would allow individuals to establish righteousness. That's why Paul told the Romans that the Jews, were trying to establish their own righteousness by a legal constitutional reading of Scripture and thereby overlooked the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God comes from faith in the grace and mercy of a loving father.

Spiritual abuse; are you a victim? Part II

Matthew 23:15  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

I have written several posts that deal with the leaven of the Pharisees. Yes, I believe that much of evangelical Orthodox doctrine is in fact what Jesus called the leaven of the Pharisees. In Matthew chapter 23, Jesus calls out the Pharisees for their practices. It is my belief that one of the originators of spiritual abuse was the Pharisees of the first century. The above verse could be ascribed to much of evangelical Orthodox Christianity today. In fact, if you read the 23rd chapter of Matthew, it becomes obvious that much of what is written here could be charged against evangelical leadership. One of the underlying causes of the spiritual abuse issued by the first century Pharisees was their legal – constitutional reading of Scripture.

I find it very interesting that the word that is translated as hell in Matthew  23:15 is the Greek word Gehenna. As I have established in other posts, Jesus's references to Gehenna, always pointed toward the impending judgment that was about to come upon the Jews, their city, and their temple. So in essence, he was warning the Pharisees that while they struggled so hard to create converts, that they were in reality converting them to face judgment.

In order for spiritual abuse to gain a foothold, there has to be a method of developing fear within individuals. There can be no spiritual abuse without fear. Here again, with much of evangelical Orthodox Christianity, fear is maintained ultimately by the view held of the Scripture. Leaders claim to have the correct, only interpretation of the Scripture. They convince the members of the group that… to not hold that view… would in some way anger God, and remove them from place of favor. They convince members that there is a very narrow way to gain God's favor. When you think about God's favor, it always comes to the view held of grace. Grace is defined as God's favor toward an individual… Favor that is unmerited. To control by fear, the leadership has to place restrictions or limits on the extent of God's grace. This is mainly accomplished in evangelical Orthodox Christianity by adopting a legal constitutional understanding of Scripture.

This is one of the main reasons that it is so important to see clearly that Jesus and his followers did away with the legal – constitutional understanding of Scripture, and replaced it with a solely redemptive view. It highlights the importance of Scripture passages like 1John 4: 18. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." If the above passage of Scripture is true, then, there can be no spiritual abuse. It should be so obvious that the leaven of the Pharisees… In other words, the doctrine of the Pharisees… Is one of the main sources of spiritual abuse. Any time that leaders use fear to control, it is spiritual abuse. Paul says in 2Corinthians, "for the love of Christ controls us." This is the supernatural way that individuals are transformed. It is by the love and grace of Christ.

The law of the spirit of life; not law of sin and death

Romans 8:1-2  There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  (2)  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

What is the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus? What is the law of sin and death? In Romans chapter 8 we are given a contrast between the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus and the law of sin and death. So the above questions remain, what exactly are these laws? My answer, they're both the same law. The difference is Christ Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth makes all the difference between life and death. Where does the condemnation come from? It comes, and rightly so from law established righteousness. With law established righteousness, you are either righteous or you are not. James goes on to explain that in regards to Law righteousness, that if you break one command, you end up breaking the law. So then, in simple terms the law of sin and death refers to a particular use of the law. If the law is used to establish righteousness by behavior it cannot be anything but the law of sin and death. The reason is that no one can fulfill the SHEMA. The Shema is found in Deuteronomy.

Deu 6:4-9  "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  (5)  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  (6)  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  (7)  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  (8)  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  (9)  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

When you look at the Shema, you see the command to love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might. All means all! It is impossible to fulfill this commandment… It simply cannot be done. 

However, add Jesus Christ to the scenario, his willingness to die on the cross to prove the eternal love of God, and all at once, faith in God's eternal love will produce supernaturally the ability to fulfill the Shema. You cannot help but love God once you realize that he first and foremost loves you… Loves you so much… That he sent Jesus to prove his love. This is precisely why the writer first John said that it is not that we loved God (not that we fulfill the Shema) but that he first loved us and gave his son is a propitiation for our missing the mark. It was with the Shema in mind that first John 4:10 was penned.

1John 4:10  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

This is precisely the way that the law of sin and death becomes law the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. It is by God's grace. Therefore, there is no condemnation what so ever… Not ever! This becomes the catalyst for transforming love within the believer. This becomes the source of all obedience. We obey the Shema supernaturally because we believe that he really truly loved and loves us.

Spiritual abuse; Are you a victim?

A big part of my paradigm shift centers on the topic of spiritual abuse. Spiritual abuse runs rampant in evangelical orthodoxy. So many people across this planet, in one way or another, fall victim to it. It stems in large part from the constitutional-legal view of Scripture and is found most often in what are called Bible believing churches. Many of these churches are cultic in nature. I'm not saying that evangelical orthodoxy is a cult per se. However I am saying, that evangelical orthodoxy lends itself easily to cultic behavior, and that the two, all too often, go hand-in-hand. In most cases, spiritual abuse gets its teeth from the constitutional-legal reading of Scripture. It is easy to project the idea, that if one varies or strays from the acceptable norm of doctrine, they then somehow put themselves outside of the will of God, and it is this accusation, that is the source of spiritual abuse.

The breeding ground for spiritual abuse is an autocratic and authoritarian model of church governance. I call it, the "it's tight, but it's right" syndrome. Over the course of my affiliation with many and various churches, I have heard from time to time, altogether too frequently, preachers say from the pulpit… It's tight, but it's right… When I hear someone use this phrase, on the one hand I want to laugh, and on the other hand it makes me want to cry because I can be certain that at the business end of that phrase lies spiritual abuse every time. It is essentially saying, whether or not you want to hear it from me, it is what the Bible says, and so you better listen. The problem with this statement as I have shown over and over again on this blog is that interpretation is not always right. In fact, in most cases within evangelical orthodoxy, interpretation is faulty at best, and downright erroneous at its worst. All one need do is look at the 30,000+ denominations that exist today and one can readily see that interpretation is certainly not tight and frequently not right.

Spiritual abusers use the Bible and church tradition as a weapon for punishment. It is sad to me that the story of redemption, the chronicle of the living gospel, is used in such nefarious ways for such abominable purposes. At the heart of this is always a control freak. One who is drowning in fear and desperate to control all situations. 99.9% of the time, spiritual abuse is promulgated for the purpose of control. The main tactic that is used over and over is the promotion of fear and shame. These are always done for control purposes. This is the main reason that there is so much condemnation spewed from the pulpits of churches across the globe.

I see spiritual abuse being used often by the leaders of one church or group toward another church or group. It is subtle, especially in the view of one who has bought into the constitutional legal interpretation of Scripture. Many groups that fellowship together regularly have underlying issues of fear and dread that result from the rampant use of fear and shame. Simply put this is spiritual abuse in its most repugnant form.

It finds its greatest strength in the CEO pastor form of church government. Eldership alone will not rule out the abuse. If you’re a group that holds to a tightly constructed, constitutional-legal interpretation of Scripture, this abuse will always arise to the top and rear its ugly head. In future posts, we will look at specifics in this area… What I think the Bible says about it really… How the original apostles doctrine impacts this idea… How the first century church was governed by the Holy Spirit, and other areas surrounding the subject.