Why must inerrancy be a Wesleyan position and not just a Fundamentalist one?

 Introduction

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 the Holy Scripture is essential to a full grasp and adequate confession of its authority.[1]

It’s been said that a table must have at least three legs to stand on. Take away any of the three legs, and it will surely topple. In much the same way, the Christian faith stands on three legs. These three legs are the inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy of Scripture. Take away one, and like the table, the divine authority of the Christian faith will surely topple. These three “in’s” complement each other, yet each expresses a slightly different distinction in our understanding of Scripture.[2] Inerrancy simply means that the Bible is without error. It’s a belief in the “total truthfulness and reliability of God’s words.”[3] Jesus said, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). This inerrancy isn’t just in passages that speak about salvation but also applies to all historical and scientific statements as well. It is not only accurate in matters related to faith and practice, but it is accurate and without error regarding any statement, period (John 3:12). Unlike other important doctrines such as the Virgin Birth, the Deity of Christ, and the Trinity, the historic Christian Church, in general, has never given an official statement on the doctrine of Scripture. However, inerrancy was assumed from the beginning, and doctrines are based on it even in the earliest Creeds.[4]

Wesley’s Theology

There is no understanding of Wesleyan theology without a clear picture of how John Wesley did theology.[5] Early in his ministry, John Wesley decided that the Bible -Scripture- was central to his theology. “In the year 1729,” he wrote, “I began to not only read, but to study the Bible as the one, and the only standard of truth, and the only model of pure religion.”[6]

Wesley’s hermeneutic requires that Scripture also be understood in the light of reason, tradition, and experience. All of these may help clarify and confirm Scripture while at the same time never superseding it.[7]

And when we look at the Quadrilateral method of Wesley, we will find that all of them support and point to the inerrancy of Scripture.

Scripture

we will find that the Bible is confirming its inerrancy, and Jesus himself is witnessing that. “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Mt. 7:18). “Jesus said, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’.” We have much scripture that confirms that point.

Tradition

The great Teachers (Fathers) of the Christian Church, whose teachings were at the basis of the creeds, spoke of the Scriptures as the “Word of God,” “above all falsehood,” “perfect,” and “the ground and pillar” of our Faith.

Clement of Rome (A.D. 30-100) speaks of “that which is written” as what “the Holy Spirit saith.”[8] Of Psalm 34:1, he wrote, “The Holy Ghost thus addresses us.”[9] Also, “Look carefully into the Scriptures, which are the true utterances of the Holy Spirit.”[10] And many others as well.

Reason

Also, this is obviously what the reason proves. We can see the argument of Dr. Mark Bird about the detailed inerrancy of scripture:[11]

Premise A: Every utterance of God is perfect, and thus free from error.

Premise B: All the truth claims of the Bible writers are the utterances of God.

Conclusion: All the truth claims of the Bible writers are free from error.

And that’s a deductive argument which means that if the premises are correct, then the conclusion follows as a must. No believer can deny the first premise. And if we revise the second premise, we will find that it is coping with the word of God, as we mentioned and as it is a witness for itself. On the other hand of Reasoning, we have the school of “Dialectic presence” like neo-orthodoxy. Neo-Orthodoxy is best described as "an approach or attitude that began in a common environment but soon expressed itself in diverse ways. Neo-Orthodoxy, in fact, is known for its existential element, which stresses the subjective experience of the individual and regards propositional truth as either irrelevant or indeterminate. This is very similar to the school of “New awareness” in the problem with its reasoning, which says, I was made aware of my problem, so I will read the Bible out of my problems.

Experience

Then we come to the experience which we do not want to forget what Wesley means, which is “evangelical experience.”[12] Wesley was deeply convinced that biblical truth works in practical life, and if it does not, then something is wrong.[13] And for sure biblical inerrancy has a direct impact on practical life, so the person who doesn’t believe in inerrancy may believe, for example, that scientific hypotheses would overturn the biblical teachings about various things like creation, marriage, etc., and this stuff has a direct impact on your life. But when you believe, you will have a life that is trustful in the word of God and will give you the right guidance in your life as you will live up to God’s standers.

And we can see practically how the experience affected different schools about revelation because of the problem of inerrancy. For example, the school of Inner Experience became more like a new age than a Christian school relying on personal experiences than relying on Scripture.

 

Closure

Inerrancy is a Wesleyan position, and as we looked into Wesley’s theology and his method, inerrancy is proven by his own method. Plus that he was a man of scripture and believed in the scripture authority may be more than many others.

Also, There has been an essentially unified view by evangelicals on inerrancy down through the centuries and into modern times. It is the view that the Bible is wholly true on whatever topic it addresses, whether redemptive, historical, or scientific, which is called unlimited inerrancy. It is neither misleading nor mistaken since truth is what corresponds to the facts, and error is what does not correspond to the facts.[14]

 

 

 

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[1] The Chicago Statement on Biblical inerrancy, preface, https://defendinginerrancy.com/chicago-statements/, Last accessed: 20^th of January 2023.

[2] What’s inerrancy!? And why should I care? https://defendinginerrancy.com/why-is-inerrancy-important/, Last accessed: 20^th of January 2023.

[3] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, (Illinois: Inter-Varsity 2004), 90.

[4] Norman Geisler, How should we define biblical inerrancy, https://defendinginerrancy.com/define-biblical-inerrancy/, created on 2016, last accessed on 20^th of January 2023.

 

[5] Allan Coppedge, Doing Theology in today’s world, ed. John Woodbridge and Thomas Edward McComsikey, (Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 267

[6] John Wesley, A plain account of Christian perfection, (London: Epworth, 1952), 6.

[7] Coppedge, 273

[8] Clement of Rome, First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, 13, emphasis added in these quotations.

[9] Ibid, 22.

[10] Ibid, 45.

[11] Mark Bird, Inerrancy: Qualifications and the Test of Truth, https://www.wesleyantheology.com/inerrancy-and-the-test-of-truth.html, Last accessed on: 20^th of January 2023.

[12] [12] Robert E. Childs, Theological Transition in American Methodism: 1790-1935, (New York: Abingdon, 1965), 80.

[13] Coppedge, Doing Theology, 277.

[14] Geisler, Bible inerrancy.