“Texts do not come at us one at a time, ad seriatim, but always in clusters through a trajectory of interpretation. Thus, it may be correct to say that our several church “denominations” are, importantly, trajectories of interpretation. Location in such a trajectory is important, both because it imposes restraints upon us, and because it invites bold imagination in the context of the trajectory.” -Walter Brueggemann
I sat across from him at our local coffee shop. He, an elder at a church looking for us to plant a new campus; me, a senior pastor who doesn’t fit in any one box, wanting to start something new and old at the same time.
“Before planting with us, I want to discuss the document that explains the ‘hills’ we die on. One of the main ones is the inerrancy of scripture.”
I gulped and then sat in silence for a few minutes. “Am I honest and ruin this opportunity or do I toe the company line and swallow my personal honesty?”
Long story short, I am here today typing out this article and NOT working for that church.
The inerrancy of scripture is a complicated topic; one that causes more division than unity. Though definitely not the first to tackle this topic, I knew I needed to lay my thoughts out just in case I am not alone.
The inerrancy of scripture means “do you take the Canon literally?” Oftentimes this is what is meant by the question. The quick answer: NO. The longer version: The bible contains an incredible amount of different prose and poetry styles; some meant to be taken literal; others not. Was earth created in a literal 7 days? I doubt it, but I wasn’t there. Was Job a real person or an allegory? Good question. Don’t know and that’s okay. Did Jesus literally die and resurrect? Yeah, that one I take literally. So is the entire canon meant to be taken literally? No, but if you disagree, that’s okay too. What is to be taken literally is the commandment to Love God and Love Others. The rest, we can agree to disagree.
“Was the Bible still inerrant when you held different beliefs?” As a charismatic, the Bible appeared to confirm my belief that I could lose my salvation. As a Southern Baptist, those same scriptures proved I couldn’t fall out of God’s loving hands. Hopefully, most of us grow, change, and mature as we age. Jesus did. Luke 2:52: And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and favor with both God and men.” I know the 45 year me believes differently than the 25 year old me. And I definitely hope that in 20 years I am not stuck in the same place I am today. The Bible was big enough to handle any of our errors then and it is still big enough to handle them today. Which leads us to our next point.
“Whose interpretation is inerrant: your pastor, your church, your denomination?” I am a spiritual mutt, raised in multiple churches inside different denominations. It's interesting that both my charismatic pastor and my Southern Baptist pastor both will tell you the Bible is inerrant yet somehow they have differing beliefs about what they read. As Walter Brueggeman’s quote shows us, different denominations are formed by different biblical interpretations. Which one is right? I’m not going there. But this I do know…though I have a big ego, it is not big enough to believe that in the last 2000+ years, I am the first person to get all of this 100% correct (accurate). This leads nicely to our last point.
“So what?!?!” Even if the Bible is inerrant in any and all the ways people think, I the reader/translator am not. I am a fallible, imperfect human who brings my own bias to everything I read. Therefore, even perfection is countered by my imperfection. I need the Holy Spirit to guide me into all truth; I cannot do this on my own (John 16:13).
Far too often, the inerrancy of scripture conversation leads to pride and a lack of grace; two things that Jesus literally abhorred.
Absolutely love this! What a great reminder that even though the Bible is perfect, we still read it through our different lenses! Beautifully said!