Roots: A Wesleyan Lent- “Scripture”

The sermon audio is the short version of the sermon (25 minutes). Download extra material not found in the sermon audio in the long version PDF below. The PPT file fits all of the sermon files.

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Roots: A Wesleyan Lent “Scripture” Rev. Ryan Gear

Download the Sermon PDF (Short Version)

Roots: A Wesleyan Lent “Scripture” Rev. Ryan Gear (Short Version)

Download the Sermon PowerPoint

Roots: A Wesleyan Lent “Scripture” Rev. Ryan Gear

Download Sermon PDF (Long Version)

Roots: A Wesleyan Lent “Scripture” Rev. Ryan Gear (Long Version)

Addendum

The United Methodist Church affirms biblical infallibility. Biblical infallibility is usually defined as the belief that the Bible is a reliable guide in matters of faith and practice, while biblical inerrancy extends the reliability of the Bible to accurately addressing all matters of history and science.

A commitment to biblical infallibility is a common stance within both mainline and evangelical churches. For example, Billy Graham holds to infallibility but not to inerrancy (http://billygraham.org/statementoffaith.asp).

My personal view is to affirm biblical infallibility, because I believe that the clear purpose of the Bible is to serve as a guide in matters of faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17). I do not believe that the purpose of the Bible is to serve as a history or science textbook. Therefore, in my view, biblical inerrancy is simply unnecessary. In fact, I view the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, spelled out very recently in the 1978 Chicago Statement, as an overreaction to the theological liberalism of the 19^th and 20^th centuries. 

Unfortunately, in attempting to defend the Bible from science and liberalism, those who hold to inerrancy surrender the Bible to a debate in which science is still the reference point. This violates Scripture, as the biblical authors wrote long before the Enlightenment and never intended for their writings to be interpreted in the light of science. As society moves out of the modern period, inerrancy is increasingly becoming a moot point.