Inerrancy of Scripture: Authority by Inspiration
THEO 525 LUO (spring 2012)
Systematic Theology I
Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary
Jacqueline M. Jones (ID# 24515464)
March 9, 2012
Thesis Statement
The divine inspiration of Scripture guarantees its inerrancy and authority.
Table of Contents [ No table of contents entries found. ]
Introduction
Introduction
Under the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, in what sense is the Bible authoritative? This is a question that has plagued the minds of many as a major element of historic Christian belief about Scripture as well as been a controversial topic of academic discussions. One of the major areas of conflict in the theological arena has been biblical authority as noted in a poll of the members of the Evangelical Theological Society. Conflict is not the only issue, because according to L. Russ Bush, many theologians and Bible teachers seem to be uncomfortable with the concept of inerrancy. Bush also points out that the semantic problems of biblical inerrancy are subject to misunderstanding which could be overcome if those misunderstandings concerning the definition or word usage were really all the problem there was. Conflict, uncomfortable, and misunderstanding of a concept are a great recipe mix for the concept to be challenged and tried. The inerrancy of the autographs of Scripture was challenged and tried as early as 1880 in the published works of Augustus Briggs. An even earlier controversy over the issue of the authoritative inspired book of biblical inerrancy was noted concerning the widely influential 1678 work of Richard Simon. Research on the topic of the inspired, inerrant scriptural authority is important in the sense that it evokes acceptance, respect and obedience. It appears that the study of biblical inerrancy and divine inspiration is warranted because of the continued and consistent controversy regarding both.
Body The question of authority is central for any theology and
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