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The Sin of Biblical Inerrancy

The Sin of Biblical Inerrancy

Last updated on: August 9, 2023 at 12:35 pm by James F. McGrath

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The Sin of Biblical Inerrancy 2023-08-09T12:35:28-04:00 James F. McGrath

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It is ironic that those whose deceptive marketing strategy is to claim they are “Bible-believing Christians” view denial of the inerrancy of scripture as the root of all heresy. Rejecting inerrancy is something that I did because I recognized that the Bible kept providing me with evidence of its internal diversity and contradictions, and that in refusing to accept that evidence I was elevating my doctrine about the Bible above the Bible itself (which was allegedly supposed to be the ultimate authority).

Biblical inerrancy is one of the most fundamentally sinful doctrines imaginable, combining idolatry, hubris, self-righteousness, and dishonesty into one diabolical package. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel like you’re the one rebelling against God or engaging in sin because you refuse to bow before this human-made idol that they have set up to mask this self-serving religiosity of theirs.

I wrote the above in the process of sharing a blog post about “deconstruction” that featured a meme from a conservative Evangelical who turned deconstruction into an acronym. Inerrancy could be an acronym too:

I – idolatry
N – never admit your doctrine about the Bible could be wrong
E – elevate your interpretation of the Bible to “what the Bible says”
R – revere the Bible, the work of human beings, as though it were God
R – revere your doctrine about biblical inerrancy so highly that the Bible itself cannot challenge it
A – ask no awkward questions; accuse those who do of being motivated by sin
N – negate the significance of all counterevidence
C – collaborate with others to defend your sinful worldview
Y – yell as though being louder makes you more likely to be right

That’s a pretty terrible acronym (although feel free to circulate it if you’re so inclined). But that’s the point. The fact that you can make an acronym of a word used by your opponent doesn’t prove anything. Anyone can make anything into an acronym with a bit of effort and creativity.

the acronym in the blog post in image form

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