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of Scripture, the very vehicle by which God has communicated to us, how can we avoid undermining our confidence in the trustworthiness of God? In other words, the trustworthiness of God’s word is the very vehicle by which we know that God himself is trustworthy.
to maintain the total truth of the Bible.” To affirm not only the inspiration but inerrancy of Scripture is to stand firmly upon the foundation laid by Christ and the apostles, as well as the heritage of orthodoxy throughout church history. To deny it is to undercut the very authority the Bible rests upon, and to erect in its place one’s own critical reasoning. In doing this, it Problems like these plague the believer who denies seems impossible to avoid what the Chicago Statement inerrancy. But not so for the believer who trusts that calls an “unstable subjectivism.” On the other hand, by God’s word is true, not only in its message but in its submitting ourselves to the authority of Scripture we every detail. God speaks truthfully in every way and affirm what Scripture says and in so doing we affirm therefore we can trust him in what he says. His word to what God says. We simply cannot separate the authority us is reliable and sure, it is truthful and accurate. We can and truthfulness of God from the word he has given have great confidence that the God who is truth speaks birth to for our salvation. Let God’s word remain God’s the truth to us. word. Conclusion It never ceases to amaze me how relevant the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy continues to be, even today thirty three years removed. As seen with John Polkinghorne and Christian Smith above, the warning issued in the Chicago Statement rings true: “great and grave confusion results from ceasing
The
Matthew Barrett (Ph.D., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the founder and executive editor of Credo Magazine. Barrett has contributed book reviews and articles to various academic journals. He is a member of Clifton Baptist Church in Louisville, KY.
Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
The “Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy” was produced at an international Summit Conference of evangelical leaders, held at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Chicago in the fall of 1978. This congress was sponsored by the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy. The Chicago Statement was signed by nearly 300 noted evangelical scholars, including James Boice, Norman L. Geisler, John Gerstner, Carl F. H. Henry, Kenneth Kantzer, Harold Lindsell, John Warwick Montgomery, Roger Nicole, J. I. Packer, Robert Preus, Earl Radmacher, Francis Schaeffer, R. C. Sproul, and John Wenham. Preface The authority of Scripture is a key issue for the Christian church in this and every age. Those who profess faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are called to show the reality of their discipleship by humbly and faithfully
obeying God’s written Word. To stray from Scripture in faith or conduct is disloyalty to our Master. Recognition of the total truth and trustworthiness of Holy Scripture is essential to a full grasp and adequate confession of its authority. The following Statement affirms this inerrancy of Scripture afresh, making clear our understanding of it and warning against its denial. We are persuaded that to deny it is to set aside the witness of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit and to refuse that submission to the claims of God’s own Word which marks true Christian faith. We see it as our timely duty to make this affirmation in the face of current lapses from the truth of inerrancy among our fellow Christians and misunderstandings of this doctrine in the world at large.
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