Liberal Arguments On Evangelical Lips

It sounds strange these days to hear evangelicals proposing arguments about the inspiration of Scripture which we have always associated with critics of the liberal theological school.

To take a well known example, did Moses actually hear God speak from a bush which literally burned without being consumed? (Ex. 3). The Bible believing Christian would reply, "Yes, of course he did"! The long familiar suggestion of the liberal theologian has been that Moses' attention was attracted to the fiery appearance of a bush in the setting sun in the wilderness, making it appear to be burning but not consumed. This led him to an "inner experience" of God's call to leadership. Ideas prompted of course by a wish to explain away the miraculous in Scripture. How it could be seriously proposed that after forty years in that area Moses would find a normal sunset effect so arresting is hard to understand. Like so many "explanations" of the miraculous in Scripture, it seems more difficult to believe than the straightforward fact that Almighty God has chosen on occasions to work miracles for particular purposes.

In the April 1985 issue of Needed Truth we drew attention to controversy in evangelical circles about the inspiration of Scripture. The dimension of the problem was illustrated two months later at the Dallas Convention of the Southern Baptist Churches in the United States. Described as "the country's largest Protestant denomination" this group claims over 14 million members, with more than 36,000 congregations across the United States. For 140 years the Southern Baptists have maintained their witness to the Bible as the inspired word of God in the traditionally understood sense - that all Scripture as originally given was God-breathed and inerrant. This view of Scripture had always been taught at the six Southern Baptist seminaries, which together enrol some 10,000 students annually. The seminary' at Fort Worth is the largest school of its kind in the world.

At some of these seminaries, however, there has been a drift away from the concept of the inerrancy of Scripture to a modified position. The Bible is God's word, the sole authority in faith and morals; but historical details are not necessarily inerrant, it is claimed, because accuracy in such detail is not vital to the communication of God's spiritual message in Scripture. Young people who attended seminary courses and were taught such approaches to Bible study felt alarmed at the contrast with their traditional understanding of inerrancy. The issue developed into a major confrontation between those in the Southern Baptist churches who clung to the traditional view and those influenced by the new approach. As one representative of the Fundamentalist view expressed it: "Is the theological seminary an appropriate place for a general massacring of Christian theology? Whether we continue to live or ultimately die lies in our dedication to the infallible word of God".

The concern aroused by this issue was reflected in the scale of attendance at the June 1985 Dallas Convention, when over 45,000 representatives from Southern Baptist churches met to discuss and vote on this and other matters. The previous attendance record for such gatherings had been only about 23,000, showing the importance attached to the issue of inspiration. Votes were registered at the Convention to decide between two candidates for the Presidency of the movement. One represented the traditional view on the inerrancy of Scripture, and was pledged to insist that this view should be taught at all Southern Baptist seminaries. The other candidate favoured the moderate view, and would have been tolerant of different approaches by seminary teachers. The greater number of votes went to the "traditional candidate" so the cause of inerrancy was upheld within the Southern Baptist movement for the time being.

The testimony of the Lord Jesus to the Old Testament scriptures confirms not only their general divine authority, but also the accuracy and importance of their detail. "Till heaven and earth pass away", He said, "one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished" (Mat. 5:18). Again in Mark 12:26, "Have ye not read in the book of Moses, in the place concerning the Bush, how God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living: ye do greatly err". In this instance the whole weight of the Lord's argument hinged on the detail of what God said to Moses. Are we to believe that the words God spoke on that occasion were accurately transmitted in the written Word, yet the surrounding narrative of the burning bush was a mere fable?

"Give me understanding", wrote the Psalmist, "I love Thy commandments above gold... I esteem all Thy precepts concerning all things to be right"

(Ps. 119:125-128)

unknown | Oct 1985
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