Before continuing, I want to say that looking back on those difficult years, I cannot help but think, “What a big baby I was.” Of course, in the moment, it was very real, and I cannot deny my own experience of pain and disillusionment.
But I never shed blood. I was never homeless, never missed a meal. I didn’t lose my wife or one of my children. I didn’t suffer from debilitating diseases like so many Christians do, who seem to handle it with greater equanimity than I did. I know many Christians who have gone through torrential storms of faith-testing that lasted longer and cut deeper than my personal angst.
And I believe God did rescue me at the right time, and provided me with a house, a car, a good job, and a supportive church.
All things considered, I didn’t really suffer that much at all. What suffered was my pride and my sense of identity (which is not my own, but God’s to determine), and also the life that I had chosen thinking that it was the way most commended to invest the most heavily my “riches in heaven.”
I was sure, just so sure, that I was doing the right thing pursuing a life of ministry! So when it ended, I had to confront myself “How could I have been so wrong? Was I wrong? Or did God only mean for me to have 4 years, and move on to something else?” Who knows.
I just feel that my story makes me look like a big baby. I hope I have grown a lot since that time.
Conclusion
So. I began this series with what some may consider a tantalizing peek into a certain shift inside my head, saying that I have moved along some undefined spectrum from some form of conservative Reformed and evangelical theology to something else. That something else I specified was not “liberalism,” but I didn’t say exactly what. I’ll address that now.
My previous brand of conservatism was to accept and defend most beliefs and practices that my community held, to surrender reason before hard questions, thinking that constituted faithfulness and honor for God. Those beliefs and practices were largely mainstream evangelical and reformed positions on everything.
I have moved from that to a stance of thinking and studying for myself, of trusting my training and my ability to read the Bible, in the original languages, and have the courage to disagree with mainstream opinions. And I have come to see that my faith community is wrong on practically everything. By wrong, I mean not in line with what the Bible actually teaches.
So, my shift has been from conservativism to “what the Bible actually teaches.” Sorry, conservative friends.
I’ll give you two examples from the many, many examples that I could mention.
Example 1: Church Polity
When I was being licensed and ordained by the Presbyterian Church in America, part of my vows included affirming that the Presbyterian form of government and discipline conforms to “general principles of biblical polity.” In other words, Presbyterian church government is the One True and Ordained governmental system prescribed by the Bible.
At the time, to my shame, I was happy to affirm that. Church polity was not exactly my strong suit, and I was Presbyterian, so I was like, “Yeah. Sure.”
I can no longer affirm this. For example, nowhere in Presbyterian polity is there a place for the Biblical office of “Bishop” or “Overseer.” But it’s right there in the Bible. For centuries, “Bishop” was a regular office of the church. In the PCA world, it is lumped in with “Elder.”
But PCA polity simply cannot be said to conform to “principles of biblical polity” if it ignores a biblical office. It’s that simple.
I suspect the desire to distinguish itself from Roman Catholic or Church of England traditions was more a factor in avoiding the term “Bishop” than the desire to align with “biblical polity”, but that’s just my hunch.
This is a small thing, but it illustrates my point.
But maybe it’s not such a small thing:
Upon closer examination of scripture and especially facts from church history, I have discovered that the ban against women in ministry is not only unbiblical, it is an egregious denial of the ringing proclamation of Galatians 3:28 (“…there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. All are one in Jesus Christ.”)
It also ignores Romans 16:7, which clearly states that “Junia,” which is a woman’s name 100% of the time in ancient literature, was an “apostle” for whom Paul was supportive and grateful. And also Romans 16:1 – Phoebe, a female, was a woman and a deacon.
Shame on all church governments and traditions that continue to perpetuate the misogyny that arose to keep gifted women out of positions of leadership. For several hundred years in the early church, women served in positions of church leadership. The current new misogynistic interpretation arose in the early Middle Ages. I kid you not.
Example 2: Biblical Inerrancy
Biblical Inerrancy (and its cousin Biblical Infallibility) has generated a great deal of energy in modern evangelicalism. There was a great proclamation about it called the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. Many names that I highly respect signed the statement: D.A. Carson, Francis Schaeffer, J.I. Packer, and others.
I defended the doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy to the death for many years, until I realized a while back that it is hogwash.
How did I come to this conclusion?
- These doctrines arose fairly lately in the 19th century as a means to push back against the so-called “Higher Critical Movement” (largely a German phenomenon that spread) that was felt to undermine the authority of scripture, denying the miracles of Christ, denying the bodily resurrection, the virgin birth, understanding Jesus as nothing more than a good teacher but not divine and not the Son of God. Alarmed conservative theologians developed B.I. as a way to undergird faith in the Bible and restore its authority in the eyes of churchgoers. So it is a relatively recent notion, and was developed purely as a response to and in the context of a culture war.
- The Bible never claims anything like “inerrancy” for itself. The word the Bible uses to describe the nature of its own authority is “inspired” (2 Tim. 3:16). Also Jesus models very close readings of the Old Testament, and warns against relaxing even the least of the commandments and teaching others to do so. But that is not the same as saying the Bible cannot contain any “errors”. Defining what is meant by “error” turns out to be no easy task.
- We will always be on safer ground using the Bible’s own terminology for things. Words describing God like “omniscience”, “omnipresence”, “eternity” and others are not biblical terms, but are derived from Greek philosophy and cannot help but illicitly import additional meaning beyond the Bible’s own terms. Instead of omnipresence, the Bible says, “How could I flee from your presence? if I go up to heaven, you are there. If I go to the bottom of the sea, your hand will still guide me.” “Omnipresence” is clinical and soulless, in addition to being derived from secular philosophy. Centuries of theological systemization have brought so much jargon that seems to harm as much as it helps. We do not need the word “inerrant.” “Inspired” tells us all we need to know, and doesn’t load us up with well-intentioned but flawed notions about the nature of scripture.
- To say that the Bible is “inerrant” and “infallible” treats the Bible like a magic book, as if its power were in the words themselves rather than in the One who spoke them and the Spirit who empowers them. If someone wants to say, “But the power IS in the words!” then I answer, you have not thought about the implications enough. And you are going beyond what scripture says for itself. Satan quoted scripture. The demons believe and they tremble. To treat the Bible like a magic book that has power in itself unlike any other book in the world, is to treat it like a genie in a bottle – just by speaking the words, anyone can make spiritual realities happen! No. This is part of what’s wrong with “Name it and claim it,” which presumes that WE wield the power, WE can summon God’s Spirit to give us the things we want. That’s exactly what Moses got in trouble for in Num 20:10-12 when he attempted to wield miraculous power by his own will, and he was denied entrance into the Promised Land because of it. The Bible is a collection of ancient documents that were “inspired” or God-breathed, ready for God’s Spirit to come along and bring them to life. Its power comes not in the simple words on the page, but when the Holy Spirit empowers the words in the lives of God’s people who respond to it with faith. This is why false teachers have no true power when they wield the scriptures, and they end up wreaking havoc instead of advancing Christ’s Kingdom. Have you ever let the Bible flop open on your lap, pointed a finger, and said to yourself, “This is God’s message for me today”? That is treating the Bible like a personal magic genie whom you summon to do your bidding. And I could argue that it is ultimately a violation of the (3rd) commandment against taking the Lord’s name in vain. God doesn’t need our help establishing his authority or that of his Word. He doesn’t need a new doctrine to protect the Bible against attacks. When he’s ready, he fills the scripture with power. The Bible is nothing but a bunch of dead old texts in the hands of the faithless without the immediate empowerment of the Holy Spirit in time and space in the lives of believers. In other words, the power is not in the words on the page without regard to the Spirit’s temporal operation. This means it’s fine to throw your worn-out old Bibles in the trash when you get a new one. It’s just a collection of texts. It only becomes sacred because of the presence of Christ united with faith in the life of the believer.
- The doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy therefore amounts to a kind of superstition. It has emerged from the imaginations of well-meaning theologians who are nonetheless captive to the fears and imperatives and threats of a culture war, a war waged perhaps by real spiritual forces, but one that has never threatened God for a single second. Furthermore, the forces of darkness can count the advent of Biblical Inerrancy as one of their victories of the fertile soil of Modernity, because it amounts to a Trojan Horse brought into the household of faith. And inside the Trojan Horse are the devil’s armies seeking to sack our city with something I will call Bibliolatry. If the meaning is not immediately apparent, Bibliolatry is “Idolatry of the Bible.” Did we even suspect such a thing could exist? Is it possible to treasure the Bible too highly? Turns out, yes, it is. When the Bible usurps the pure single-hearted focus on Jesus Christ, then it becomes an idol fit for smashing. We must hold the precious gift of scripture in its place, and not elevate it to divine perfection itself. We delight in it, Yes! Its words give us limitless comfort, treasures of reassurance, untold blessings, the commandments, the law and prophets, and the message of the Kingdom of Christ and the good news of the Gospel. Any gift so magnificent is easy prey for the idol-factory of the human heart to take and turn into an idol. Don’t let it happen to you. Don’t make an idol of the Bible by pretending it does its work independently from the God who breathed it into existence.
To some people, jettisoning Biblical Inerrancy may sound like “liberalism.” What it actually is is an attempt to move closer to the true God.
It takes courage, and I hope you will go on your own journey, realizing that the warmth and affirmation of the millions in the so-called “evangelical church” who are unified in clinging to ossified, American cultural Christianity, handed down from equally mistaken previous generations, is rubbish when compared to apprehending the true God.
