CalvinandHodges
Puritan Board Junior
Evangelicals have taken extraordinary care in formulating and articulating a high view of Scripture. And yet the doctrine is not without its inadequacies and its internal critics - both past and present. The idea that McGowan contests is that of inerrancy. He points out that "inerrancy" is nowhere taught by the Reformers or in the Reformed Confessions - such as the Westminster Confession of Faith. That inerrancy is a product of the Rational/Scientific philosophy that pervaded Christianity in the 19th Century. He argues that the idea of inerrancy has been contested by the Reformed since its formulation by B. B. Warfield, and that inerrancy should be replaced by an informed concept of the infallibility or authenticity of Scripture. The way forward, according to McGowan, is to reach back within the European evangelical tradition, particularly to the work of the Dutch Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck. Even if you may not agree with his thesis - his arguments need to be answered. A stimulating book!