Rocky Rhodes wrote:
> I just read a good book by Paul H. Seely called "Inerrant Wisdom: Science and
> Inerrancy in Biblical Perspective". Seely's conclusion, taken from the last
> chapter of the book, is:
>
> "We conclude that the Bible is plenarily inspired by God; and hence that
> it is fundamentally reliable and truthful - in regard to history and
> science just as much as in regard to faith and morals. At the same time
> because God really has entered into history and is wise and loving as
> well as truthful, the reliability and truthfulness of the Bible is
> relative to the practical needs of God's children for religious and
> moral instruction, not abstractly absolute, that is not inerrant. One
> may derive inerrant truth from Scripture; but, not every verse in itself
> is inerrant.
>
> Christ's rejection of biblical teachings regarding both faith (e.g., the
> harsher laws regarding the Sabbath, the laws governing clean and unclean
> foods, the law prescribing execution for adultery) and morals (the broad
> Mosaic permission for divorce) assures us that not every verse of
> Scripture is inerrant. And, if faith and morals in Scripture can err,
> then so, of course, may history and science.
>
> If we are really going to view the Bible biblically then, we must see it
> as sapientially inerrant rather than factually inerrant. This means we
> must approach it as Jesus did: not simply legalistically or
> rationalistically, but spiritually. We shall discern thereby not only
> its absolute truths but that its relativized truths demand a greater
> fulfillment consonant with the full glory of the only One who is
> Absolute."
>
> Is anyone familiar with this book or its author? I've not seen anything
> else speaking directly to the topic of biblical inerrancy and the effect
> alternative definitions or understandings of this concept might have on
> science/faith issues.
>
> Rocky