03_modern_0212_bb_warfield

D.B. Warfield, a prominent advocate for the inerrancy of scripture, wrote articles compiled into a book titled "The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible." He explores the Bible's inerrancy from two perspectives: the Church Doctrine of Inspiration and the Bible Doctrine of Inspiration. Critics argued against the inerrancy, claiming the Church and the Bible contradict each other. However, Warfield argues that they are the same. He also categorizes liberal viewpoints into two categories: partial inspiration and the promise of the illuminating presence. Both views create a distinction between the Word of God and the Bible. Warfield's writings are highly regarded for their persuasive arguments and eloquence, emphasizing the importance of valuing and trusting the Bible. His doctrine of scripture serves as the foundation for the modern understanding of inerrancy. D.B. Warfield, writing around the turn of the 20th century, is the most influential voice for the inerrancy of scripture in the modern period. Several articles that he wrote have been compiled into a book called The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. In it, he explores the Bible from two vantage points, one he calls the Church Doctrine of Inspiration, as the Church always thought the Bible was inerrant, and two he calls the Bible Doctrine of Inspiration, as the Bible itself described itself as inerrant. His opponents said that either the Church didn't always think it was inerrant, or they said the Bible doesn't necessarily consider it inerrant, or they tried to put them against each other. One says one thing and the other says the other. And he just says they're the same thing. He has this cool quote, How shall we account for the immediate adoption of so developed a doctrine of scripture in the very infancy of the Church, and for the tenacious hold which the Church has kept upon it through so many ages? This is the doctrine of inspiration which was held by the writers of the New Testament and by Jesus as reported in the Gospels. It is the simple fact that it was committed to the Church of all ages as the true doctrine. This Church Doctrine of Inspiration was the Bible Doctrine before it was called the Church Doctrine. It is the Church Doctrine only because it is the Bible Doctrine. Another major category of thought he developed was, he categorized the liberal viewpoints into two main categories. The first is the partial inspiration version. In this version, only certain parts of the Bible are inspired or inerrant, while others are not. So one iteration of this view is that the Bible is only inspired when it talks of matters of faith and practice, but not on matters of science, history, or sociology, which ironically, the doctrine of inspiration is a matter of faith and practice, so if the Bible teaches one thing, you can't disagree with it, right? But the second version is that the promise of the illuminating presence is attended by its reading. So in the first one, only certain parts are inspired, and the second part, no real parts, have to be the exact words of God, but rather there's this promise of the Holy Spirit. In this version, the scriptures are not inerrant, but instead, it has been blessed such that the readers, when they read the Bible, will be illumined with the divine revelation in ways that are really unparalleled by other literature. So they'll still say it's inspired, but just not the same way that we would. In both cases, you'll notice that they're putting a wedge between the Word of God and the Bible, and instead, they speak of things like hearing the Word of God in the Bible. The Bible contains the Word of God. So you'll either find the Word of God amongst the other parts of the Bible that are not the Word of God, or as you read the Bible, the Holy Spirit enables you to hear the Word of God in a kind of mystical fashion, because the Bible has the promise of the Spirit, but not those exact words, right? So in this case, it's like they're the same thing. If you're looking for a place to start with him, I would go for chapter two of that book. It's called The Church Doctrine of Inspiration. He's a great writer, not just for the cogency of his arguments, but for the loftiness of his prose. You really catch a vision for treasuring and trusting the Bible as you read B.B. Warfield. We could easily spend the whole class, or maybe several classes, just exploring his doctrine of scripture. It's so rich and so full, and really kind of the foundation for our modern expression of the doctrine of inerrancy.