The Epistemology of Inerrancy: Teaching the Doctrine in the Church

While a cornerstone of evangelicalism is the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible, this doctrine needs a revival. Seminaries, churches, and parachurch ministries commonly ignore the doctrine, substituting terms like “authority” and “inspiration” which are alone insufficient. Many evangelical Christians have assumed inerrancy to be true for so long that we have forgotten to teach it to the next generation. But teach it we must. Any teacher worth his or her salt takes into account the context of the students. We are in a skeptical world which has just as much, if not more influence on our believing brethren than do the truths of Christianity. While we must certainly teach the theology of inerrancy, a solid epistemological foundation is needed as a platform for conviction. Inerrancy is not only a matter of faith; it is a matter of knowledge.

This conference will be held at Southern Evangelical Seminary, April 11-12, 2015. I will also be delivering a plenary address called The Apologetics of Inerrancy: Making our Case to the World.