Re: [asa] Lamoureux, Concordism, and Inerrancy

David et al -

I could say "forgive me for harping on the same old thing" but it's the thing, old or new & calls for no forgiveness. While you might argue that it's implicitly there in your closing statement about scripture, "implicit" isn't sufficient. Where does Christ come in? Cf. The Confession of Faith in the ELCA constitution. After speaking of Jesus Christ as the Word of God incarnate and the proclamation of Law and Gospel as the Word of God, it says:

"The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the written Word of God. Inspired by God speaking through their authors, the record and announce God's
revelation centering in Jesus Christ. Through them God's Spirit speaks to us to create and sustain Christian faith and fellowship for service in the world." (Emphasis added.)

Move up to Shop-Rite.

Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: David Opderbeck
  To: AmericanScientificAffiliation
  Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 7:58 PM
  Subject: [asa] Lamoureux, Concordism, and Inerrancy

  Denis Lamoureux's article in the current PSCF is interesting. It is similar to a longer article by Lamoureux in a recent issue of Christian Scholar's Review on evangelicals and concordism.

  I'm sure all of this will be discussed in more details in Denis' forthcoming book, but I feel that he's not doing justice to the spectrum of contemporary evangelical views on inerrancy and that his definition of "concordism" is a bit wooden. He seems to equate "the" evangelical position with Harold Lindsell and a strict reading of the Chicago Statement.

  But this begs the question, it seems to me, of what "evangelical" means. Is Fuller Seminary "evangelical?" Fuller's statement on Biblical authority diverges from the Chicago Statement, and certainly from Lindsell, in many key respects. Is John Stott "evangelical?" Alister McGrath? Stott might be closer to the Chicago Statement but in "Evangelical Essentials" he qualifies inerrancy basically to what the text "intends" to teach, and I'm not sure McGrath would even use the term "inerrancy" (query -- does anyone know anything specific McGrath has written on this?) How about Donald Bloesch? Bloesch's "Holy Scripture" IMHO is a wonderfully balanced text that discusses "inerrancy" in a particular way. Even one of the evangelical Baptist stalwarts Lamoureux cites, Millard Erickson, takes a much more nuanced position in his "Systematic Theology" than Lamoureux lets on: Erickson says "The Bible, when correctly interpreted in light of the level to which culture and the means of communication had developed at the time it was written, and in view of the purposes for which it was given, is fully truthful in all that it affirms," and he specifically discusses the use of phenomenological language to describe natural and historical events.

  Likewise, the term "concordism" seems ill-defined to me in Lamoureux's usage. There is of course Hugh Ross style "high concordism," in which the Biblical text is seen to be making scientific claims that essentially remained hidden for millennia and can only be fully understood in light of modern scientific knowledge. But Lamoureux seems to suggest that an assertion that Genesis 1-11 refers to any "real" history is "concordism." It seems to me that he forces the reader into an artifical box: either accommodation or a dreaded "ism," "concordism."

  In my view, we need to get away from this "ism" talk. The question isn't accommodation vs. concordism, or inerrancy vs. errancy (or "limited inerrancy"). Why not just say this: the canonical scriptures are God's written word and are authoritative for the Church. They reflect God's character as perfectly truthful and good; they also reflect God's character as the God who empties Himself and condescends to meet us on human terms; and they reflect the humanity of the writers and editors through whom God has spoken. Part of the Church's task, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is to understand and apply the authoritative scriptures in each time, culture, and place in which the Church exists."

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Received on Fri Feb 29 20:36:19 2008