The Spectrum of Inerrancy: An Exploration of David S. Dockery’s Typological Contributions to the Inerrancy Debate in Evangelicalism

"The present article explores the typological contributions to the inerrancy debate of David S. Dockery, the Chancellor of Trinity International University. Resulting from controversies in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) during the 1970s and 80s, Dockery provided a valuable typological framework for identifying a spectrum of positions in the inerrancy debate. Dockery’s frameworks provide a helpful lens for understanding the complexity of inerrancy. Some positions are more conservative and deductivist, and other positions are more liberal and inductivist. These distinctions often create a barrier, a presuppositional divide, which is difficult to cross in a debate context. Dockery’s variations provide a means of at least understanding the divide and the positions that differ from one’s own. To that aim, I present Dockery’s variations as a vital component for all attempts at dialogue in the inerrancy debate. Keywords: evangelicalism, biblical inerrancy, David S. Dockery, biblical authority, hermeneutics "

Inerrancy

This chapter begins with an attempted definition of the term ‘inerrancy’ before going on to discuss its history and development. This includes a consideration of the origins of fundamentalism as well as noting the influence of B. B. Warfield, A. A. Hodge, and the Princetonian tradition. The chapter then turns to the publication of a volume by Jack Rogers and Donald McKim which sparked the modern debate on inerrancy. In the book, The Authority and Interpretation of the Bible: An Historical Approach, Rogers and McKim opposed the use of the word ‘inerrancy’. Those who opposed Rogers and McKim’s argument gathered in conference and this led to the publication of The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. The debate centred upon whether the word ‘infallibility’ or the word ‘inerrancy’ should be used in defining the nature and authority of Scripture. The chapter goes on to analyse the use of the term ‘inerrancy’, noting first the arguments against its use, followed by the inerrantists’ defence of their position. In conclusion, the chapter argues that those evangelicals who want to use the term ‘inerrancy’ and those who prefer to speak about the ‘trustworthiness’ of the Scripture have a great deal in common and that much of the debate is terminological rather than substantive.

Integration, Biblical Counseling, and Hermeneutics

Some have claimed that the integration project has adopted a lower view of Biblical inspiration. Yet, both Biblical counselors and evangelical integrationists typically hold to a high view of the authority of Scripture and may share the same adherence to Biblical inerrancy. This article argues that difference between how Biblical counseling and integration tends to engage Scripture in their counseling approaches is due less to their doctrines of Biblical authority than to their secondary hermeneutical and related theological views. A review of the author’s model of integration as a form of interpretative activity is provided. Implications for the sufficiency of Scripture doctrine, theological interpretation of Scripture, and integrative interpretative competency in reading Scripture are considered. The evangelical integration movement is fully compatible with a robust embrace of the historic sola scriptura view of Biblical authority but not the innovation represented by a solo scriptura view.

The Epistemic Advantage of Lost Autographic Tokens of the Bible

I address an epistemic and related ontological dificulty with the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. The ontological problem: If biblical inerrancy applies to the original autographs, why would God allow these to disappear from the scene? The epistemological problem: Given that the original autographs are gone, we lack a way to know exactly what the original writings were. The first problem is solved by distinguishing text types and tokens, and claiming that semantic meaning and inerrancy are underivative features types. The second is resolved by claiming that in the actual world, we are epistemically better off with the original tokens gone.

Authority and Truth

Chapter 3 is divided into three sections. The first attempts to clarify what might be meant in calling a text authoritative. The second draws distinctions between different things that might be meant by saying that a text is truthful. The goal in both of these parts is to arrive at some general conclusions about texts, rather than specific conclusions about the Bible. Consequently, the chapter refrains from making assumptions about (e.g.) biblical interpretation or about the truth of particular biblical texts. Indeed, for much of the discussion, the Bible is not even directly in view. The third section draws out some of the implications of the discussions in the first two sections for the question of how textual authority and textual truth are connected to one another. It also comments on the significance of these conclusions for discussions about the relation between biblical authority and biblical inerrancy.

'De Schrift kan niet gebroken worden'. Een pleidooi voor inerrancy

This short essay discusses the significance and relevance of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. The first part offers some general observations on the context and the content of the statement, the second answers some common objections to the statement and the concept of inerrancy, such as its polemical and defensive posture, its intellectualism, its conception of truth, and its excessive focus on the text and the reader. The essay concludes with an exploration of some hermeneutical implications of the inerrancy.

Southern White Fundamentalism

The fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention that began in 1979 provided the GOP the opportunity to close the deal with white southern voters. Fundamentalist members, anxious over social changes, successfully executed a decades-long plan to seize control of reshape the SBC to reflect their extremist views. They exiled moderates from the denomination almost entirely and re-codified the inferior status of women in the church; biblical inerrancy and absolutism triumphed over interpretation and compromise. The absolutism in terms of religious doctrine gave way to an absolutism in public policy, hyper-partisanship, and demand for political action. In order to court southern evangelical voters, the Republican Party took increasingly hardline stances on issues like gay marriage and abortion under the banner of family values, a slogan cribbed from the anti-feminists who had been propping up white supremacy in the South for generations.