'Evangelical' is based on the Greek word for 'good news'. Evangelicals as a religious group are driven by the belief that sharing this good news is central to following Jesus. Not all evangelicals believe in the inerrancy of scripture.
A person with a view of the Bible as inerrant will generally insist on a young-earth, six days of creation understanding of where everything came from. They reject the theory of evolution because Darwin says it took millions of years, but the book of Genesis says 'six days'. A person with a view of the Bible as inerrant sees the Bible as a chain with many links, each one being some part of the Bible. If one removes or (as they put it) 'explains away' one of the links in the chain, you lose it all. Much of the militancy common among the inerrancy people is due to all-or-nothing reasoning. Inerrancy is not the same as deciding whether and how to apply stuff from the Bible. Just because evangelicals do not follow the command to avoid shellfish does not make that part of the Bible subject to 'error'. A card-carrying fundamentalist would say that we are living under the 'new covenant' and so are not bound by the ceremonial and dietary laws of the Old Testament. Inerrancy is really a house of cards that is increasingly difficult to defend, but it doesn't stop people from trying. My denomination (Church of the Nazarene) believes in inerrancy, but limits it to 'everything related to salvation' which is a very generous position and one that only has to weather attacks from people who think it is *too* generous. -----Original Message----- From: Rick Root [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008 8:52 PM To: CF-Community Subject: Re: National Day of Prayer! On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 7:34 PM, Loathe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > We learned in school and catechism that it was metaphorical. However, > that doesn't mean it would be considered wrong, I know contradiction. > I agree here. Inerrant doesn't mean it can't be metaphorical. And a cursory glance over the way google defines "evangelical" seems to indicate that the "inerrant" applies primarily to the four gospels. I do think that catholics believe your relationship with God is through the priest, which is why you're required to confess your sins to the priest. I found this definition of "Evangelical" to be the most interesting: "Literally, anything contained in the four gospels of the New Testament. Also refers to Protestant churches that emphasize salvation by faith rather then good works, and that individuals are in direct contact with God without the need of mediation or religious education through a priest." Of course, the statement they were asking the director to sign, about the inerrancy of the bible, is a little (a lot) silly. Almost *NO* christian religion abides by the following from Leviticus Chapter 9: 9 These are the things that breed in the waters, and which it is lawful to eat. All that hath fins, and scales, as well in the sea, as in the rivers, and the pools <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12235a.htm>, you shall eat. 10 But whatsoever hath not fins and scales, of those things that move and live in the waters, shall be an abomination to you, 11 And detestable. Their flesh you shall not eat: and their carcasses you shall avoid. 12 All that have not fins and scales, in the waters, shall be unclean<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04010c.htm> ... So... no squid, octopus, shrimp, scallops, mussels of any kind. (My wife's step-sister subscribes to a religion that will not eat these things... Latter Day Saints I think... I suppose Jews don't eat shrimp either. Rick ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;192386516;25150098;k Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:259610 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
