A Fresh Perspective - 02/22/08

Former professor and pastor Dr. John Killinger tells about having dinner with the Rev. Jerry Falwell, arranged by one of his own members when Killinger pastored First Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg. During the table conversation Killinger asked Falwell why he and other conservatives did not regard people like Killinger as their Christian brothers and sisters: "We accept you as brothers and sisters in Christ. Why don't you accord us the same courtesy?" Falwell responded, "That's a slippery slope."

"Then Jerry," said Killinger, "let me put another question to you. You are familiar with the four Gospels. You must know that in the fourth Gospel, Jesus' cleansing of the temple comes very early, in only the second chapter, and is seen as a sort of grand act by which Jesus commenced his ministry. In the other Gospels, the synoptics, that same act is set at the end of Jesus' ministry, during the final week of his life. If the Bible is literally true and God inspired the writing of every word of it, as you claim, how do you account for that discrepancy?"

Falwell cleared his throat and took a drink of iced tea. Matter-of-factly he said, "When I was a student at the Baptist Bible College of Missouri, I had a professor who explained that all very well to my satisfaction." Period. That was all he would say on the matter.

I understand Falwell's approach. For many years I simply ignored all the tensions and contradictions within the biblical text as I held tenaciously to my inerrant Bible, thinking that if I conceded to a discrepancy or error I would slide down the slippery slope, landing me straight in hell with all the other liberal heretics who have abandoned the faith.

How liberating it has been for me to face the truth of what's really in the Bible and allow the rich human elements of Scripture to inform and reshape my faith. It is much stronger today than it was when I clung to an infallible Bible. By allowing the Bible to be a dynamic text, arising from within communities of faith who were grappling to know God and his will for their lives (instead of a static text coming straight from God), I can now freely engage the text, not shying away from the tensions, questions, ambiguities and mysteries the text presents.

Those who cling to an inerrant Bible really do live on a slippery slope. For if one biblical contradiction, one flawed interpretation, one misguided view by a biblical writer is permitted to stand, then it would demolish their faith.

I think this is why, when I held to this position, I got angry and defensive with anyone who challenged it. When your whole life and eternal destiny hangs on the belief in an inerrant Bible you will defend your view tooth and nail - you cannot concede the possibility of being wrong. Of course, that's not faith in the living Christ, that's faith in a book (bibliolatry). To hang one's faith on an inerrant Bible is to hang it on a thread.

Chuck Queen is Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, Frankfort (CBF affiliated). You can access his sermons and past articles at www.ibcfrankfort.com. He welcomes your comments at cqueen@fewpb.net