From my general reading of other blogs (especially those with Emergent or emerging leanings) I’ve begun to pick up a number of misconceptions about what it means to have a ‘high view’ of Scripture. So, as someone who holds to a high view of Scripture, I want to debunk 10 fallacies. Holding to a high view of Scripture DOES NOT MEAN…
- That one interprets every single thing in the Bible literally
- That one interprets every single thing in the Bible literally where possible
- That human authorial intent should be ignored
- That the human authors were mere puppets contributing nothing of themselves
- That the Bible is a textbook of theological propositions
- That ALL the stories in the Bible have to be historical events
- That one must believe in a literal 6 day creation
- That historical context has no bearing on interpretation
- That God did not work differently, in some things, in different stages of redemptive history
- That there are no textual errors in the transmission over the centuries
Disclaimer: All of these fallacies are practised by certain circles of groups and people claiming to have a ‘high view’ of Scripture – but because they practice it doesn’t mean that’s what having a ‘high view’ of Scripture is all about.
Thank you Stephen. I appreciate this post.
I have put you on my blogroll.
Keep up the good thinking, reflecting and writing.
Shalom to your ministry
Thanks Miguel – great to have you around
Would you think it is accurate to say that sometimes the literal reading of the text is to understand it’s figurative language? Like to read the Bible literally, at times means, understanding that something is a metaphor or some other figure of speech?
Exactly – the whole key is to be genre sensitive: read the book for what it is – a piece of literature. Identify the literature, examine the authorial intent. Doing these things doesn’t jeapordise the fact that the ultimate author is the Holy Spirit – it just means we carefully process the medium through which the Spirit has revealed God to us.
Good post! Do people actually caricature inerrancy this way? Wow, people should read books like Inerrancy edited by Geisler and Scripture and Truth edited by D.A. Carson. God bless,
Nick
I’ve heard every single one of those 10 fallacies bandied about.
Thanks for this list. Helpful points and commentary in an area where there is much confusion.
Well, it does mean holding to a ‘literal’ 6 day creation. That is, a literary one… the Bible definitely says 6 days. It doesn’t necessarily mean a 6 24-hour period creation though
Great post.