“…a cursory reading of the Bible will quickly turn up what appear to be contradictions…. But those who wrote the Bible were no fools. They knew what God had said in the past and, guided by the Holy Spirit, made no mistakes, messed up no details, and introduced no conflicts.” - Challies
“If one rejects the inspiration of scripture, but still wants to claim to be a Christian, now you’re left with an epistemological dilemma. How can you possibly know what parts of the Bible are inspired and to be believed and obeyed, and which parts can be dismissed?” - Ref21
“Of all these 95 affirmations and concerns, the main point was simple: you can’t buy God’s grace and you can’t trump the Bible. The Church missed this, and that’s a dangerous place to be.” - Credo
“In the end, Shaw offers 13 very good arguments for the reliability of the New Testament. And while each one is compelling in its own way, the impact of 13 following one after the other is tremendously encouraging and faith-building.” - Challies
By Bob Courtney
Like many other pastors in our fellowship, I spent several years studying at a Bible institution. Many times, as a young man in my late teens, I encountered theological issues in the classroom that were over my head or had very little interest to me. I did not understand the importance of teaching on canonicity, higher criticism, inspiration, or inerrancy. I figured that those who argue for such things were people of academics and it seemed that there was no reason for a future pastor to know them. Today, I smile at my own ignorance and choose not to disclose my quiz scores from those days.
The battle cry of the Protestant Reformation is often summarized in five sola statements: sola Scriptura, sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus, and soli Deo gloria.1 Although you often can find these five sola statements written in a different order, the order is significant, and the first and last are always given pride of place. This is not by accident. Sola Scriptura, Scripture alone, was the basis of all the other doctrines that follow. Soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone) is the result of all that precedes.
“We will gravitate to one system or another, and this is not necessarily a terrible thing, if we are gracious with those who differ with us and acknowledge the difficulties with our own positions.”- P&D
