A Pastor and a Philosopher Walk into a Bar The Error of Biblical Inerrancy
Sometimes it's appropriate to carefully weigh all sides of an issue, patiently sorting through reasons, listening to perspectives, and respectfully dialoging with people who believe differently. We spend most of our time on this podcast trying to commend and practice that sort of thing. On the other hand, sometimes ideas are just bad, and it's appropriate to say when something is dumb or harmful and move on. As Qohelet of Ecclesiastes might say, there's a time for argument, and a time for derision. You're gonna get a little more of the second thing in this episode.
We tackle the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, the 20th century invention of white American evangelical men, which holds that the Bible is without error in the original manuscripts. We discuss where the view comes from, what seems to motivate it, the most prominent version of it accepted by contemporary evangelicals (the "Chicago Statement"), the influence it's had, and why we think it's hopelessly misguided. Towards the end we also discuss the similarities between inerrancy and originalism about the American constitution. Just to make sure we piss off as many people as possible.
Some of the resources mentioned or discussed in the conversation are:
- The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
- "How the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy became a litmus test"
- Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy
- Pete Enns on his panel discussion on inerrancy at the 2013 ETS meeting
The beverage featured in the episode is Laphroaig 10 Year Scotch.
The beverage tasting is at 2:26. To skip to the main segment, go to 6:00.
You can find the transcript for this episode here.
Content note: this episode contains profanity. We couldn't help it.
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