Everything, Nothing, or Somewhere in Between?: The Centrality of Inerrancy in the Christian Church

Abstract

The doctrine of inerrancy, most clearly articulated in the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy in 1978, is a fundamentalist reaction to trends that were rising in the Protestant American church in the 19th and 20th centuries and has become increasingly important for American evangelicals in the past century. For many, inerrancy is now considered a central tenet of Christian faith and a hill to die on for the life or death of Christianity. This paper will focus on the historical and sociological causes and effects of this phenomenon. Although the doctrine does extend a long tradition of Christian understanding of inspiration in a faithful way, the current emphasis placed upon it by many evangelicals is often misleading to Christians and encourages disunity among academics. I argue that American Evangelicals should reimagine approaches to the doctrine of inerrancy and reduce the centrality of the doctrine in order to foster unity and liberty among Christians.