RE: [asa] Question on inerrancy

I never made a mistake in my whole life, except one time: I once
thought I was wrong, but I wasn't. If it wasn't for that one mistake,
I'd be perfect! It is kind of like that?

________________________________

From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
Behalf Of David Opderbeck
Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2008 8:03 AM
To: David Heddle
Cc: ASA
Subject: Re: [asa] Question on inerrancy

Let me throw out another passage and ask how it affects your doctrine of
scripture: in 1 Cor. 1:14-16, Paul says this: "I am thankful that I
did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say
that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household
of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone
else.)."

In verse 14, Paul makes a statement that is technically in error. In
verse 16, he tries to correct the error, and then he concludes by
admitting he doesn't really remember who he baptized. Assuming 2 Tim.
3:16 can be applied to the NT, what does it mean that Paul's writings in
1 Cor. are "God breathed" if Paul wrote down a mistake and then couldn't
remember the details in order to correct it? It seems to me that
hyper-technical "common sense" definitions of inerrancy simply can't
handle this.

On Sat, May 17, 2008 at 9:04 AM, David Heddle <heddle@gmail.com> wrote:

In is an interesting discussion. I was trying to make the point on the
other thread that inspiration and inerrancy are inseparable, but
unfortunately that discussion got diverted by attempts to trivialize the
inerrancy position. Perhaps it could be resumed, narrowly focused on
whether a passage of scripture can be inspired by God in the sense of 2
Tim 3:16 and yet be in error.

David Heddle

On Fri, May 16, 2008 at 9:13 PM, George Murphy <GMURPHY10@neo.rr.com>
wrote:

Dick -

Note that I said, 'God "accomodated" to the human condition in inspiring
the text.' I believe that the Genesis account Inspiration is inspired
but inspiration and inerrancy are 2 different concepts. That's the
point I tried to make about II Timothy 3:16 but it unfortunately got
buried by superficiality. The argument that because God inspired a
biblical text it can't contain any errors is precisely what has to be
questioned.

Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/

        ----- Original Message -----

        From: Dick Fischer <mailto:dickfischer@verizon.net>

        To: ASA <mailto:asa@calvin.edu>

        Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 1:34 PM

        Subject: RE: [asa] Question on inerrancy

        Hi George:

        If there were some egregious errors in Genesis 1 then I think we
could say that it might have been simple human error in a human account.
That it does correlate with what we can confirm elsewhere persuades me
that the writer had divine assistance. He had no means to test it or
authenticate it through any exterior means. So I believe Genesis 1 to
be inspired but I must admit I'm walking by sight here and not by faith.
Starting with Genesis 2 the writer (likely a different writer) had oral
tradition from actual descendants to draw on. Inspired, I believe, but
verifiable in addition.

        Dick Fischer, author, lecturer

        Historical Genesis from Adam to Abraham

        www.historicalgenesis.com <http://www.historicalgenesis.com/>

        -----Original Message-----
        From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu
[mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On Behalf Of George Murphy
        Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 6:41 AM
        To: Dick Fischer; ASA
        Subject: Re: [asa] Question on inerrancy

        Whether or not Genesis 1 is "not a bad fit all things
considered" to BB cosmology is debatable but let that pass for now. I
want to point out here that if what Genesis gives us is "what the writer
thought God did" then the question has to be asked, in what sense was
the account inspired by God? If it isn't simply one more human document
from the ancient near east, on the same level as enuma elish or
Gilgamesh, (which I'm quite sure isn't what Dick means) then to say that
it's "what the writer thought" and in some sense the word of God gets
close to what I & others have argued, that God "accomodated" to the
human condition in inspiring the text.

        I would, though, not ascribe everything in Gen.1 (or other
biblical texts) to simply the common views of the writers or their
cultures. That's the case with the physical picture presented in the
text (dome of the sky &c) but not necessarily with the view that's
presented of God's relationship with the world. I.e., there is
accomodation to human ideas about the natural & social sciences but not
(as least not completely) theology.

        Shalom
        George
        http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/

                ----- Original Message -----

                From: Dick Fischer <mailto:dickfischer@verizon.net>

                To: ASA <mailto:asa@calvin.edu>

                Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2008 10:20 PM

                Subject: RE: [asa] Question on inerrancy

                Hi Don:

                What God actually did is better described by Big Bang
cosmology. What the writer thought God did is described in Genesis and
it is not a bad fit all things considered.

-- 
David W. Opderbeck
Associate Professor of Law
Seton Hall University Law School
Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology 
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