Time to get back to McGowan… Theses Without Clarity I shall argue in this chapter that there is an older and better way to defend a ‘high’ view of Scripture: the ‘infallibilist’ view. I shall argue that this is a stronger, more sustainable and, above all, more biblical view of Scripture than the inerrantist view. [...]

In 2004, John Brogan of Northwestern University published the essay “Can I Have Your Autographa? Uses and Abuses of Textual Criticism in Formulating an Evangelical Doctrine of Scripture” in the book Evangelicals and Scripture: Tradition, Authority, and Hermeneutics. In my opinion, Brogan’s essay is worth reading since it brings up some of the most controversial [...]

Introduction: Some New Action on the Debate on Inerrancy As soon as I finished the rough draft of my conference paper, “Calvin, Bavinck, and 21st Century Views of Inerrancy,” I became aware of the 2010 March/April edition of Modern Reformation Journal, “Inspiration and Inerrancy.” Fortunately, the majority of the essays are more or less revisions [...]

Last night I spoke on “What Christians Believe About God” at Chi Alpha on the campus of Chadron State College. The primary texts were Acts 17 (Paul’s speech) and Romans 1:1-6. I simply can’t express the joy of opening up the Word in front of such a spirited group of believers (and the largest on [...]

As we plow ahead in our series on inerrancy, it’s important not only to uphold the truth in the face of opposition, but to see where improvements – or at least fuller understandings – can be cultivated for our own position as Christians. None of us as apologists have “arrived.” Kevin Vanhoozer is one particular [...]

“Perhaps the most striking problem with the rationalistic implication concerning inerrancy is that it limits God. It assumes that God can only act in a way that conforms to our expectations, based on our human assessment of his character.” – McGowan, The Divine Authenticity of Scripture, 118 James W. Scott really couldn’t have responded to [...]

Typical, Repetitive, Baseless Assertions We’ve already documented that it is false to assert that Kuyper, Bavinck, and Calvin did not hold to what conservative scholars would today call “the doctrine of inerrancy.” Scriptural inerrancy is not a new invention and it is not an unfair conclusion to draw given the nature, inspiration, and the truthfulness [...]