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"Were we to distinguish our position from that of some of our
brothers and sisters who perceive their
view of Scripture as more orthodox than ours,
several points could be made: 1) we would stress the need to be aware of
the historical and literary process by
which God brought the Word to us...4) we
would urge that the emphasis be placed where the Bible itself places it
- on its message of salvation and its
instruction for living, not on its details of
geography or science, though we acknowledge the wonderful reliability of
the Bible as a historical source book;
5) we would strive to develop our doctrine of
Scripture by hearing all that the Bible says, rather than by imposing on
the Bible a philosophical judgment of
our own as to how God ought to have inspired
the Word." David Allan Hubbard, "What We Believe and Teach," Pasadena, California:
Fuller Theological Seminary,
1-800-235-2222 Pasadena, CA,
91182.
"Where inerrancy refers to what the Holy Spirit is saying to
the churches through the biblical
writers, we support its use. Where the
focus switches to an undue emphasis on
matters like chronological details, the precise sequence of events, and numerical allusions, we would
consider the term misleading and
inappropriate. Its dangers, when
improperly defined, are: 1) that it implies a
precision alien to the minds of the Bible writers and their own use
of Scriptures; 2) that it diverts
attention from the message of salvation and the instruction in righteousness which are the Bible's key
themes;...5) that too often it has
undermined our confidence in the Bible we have... 6)that it prompts us to an inordinate defensiveness of
Scripture which seems out of keeping with
the bold confidence with which the prophets, the apostles and our Lord proclaimed it."
David Allan
Hubbard, "What We Believe and
Teach," Pasadena, California: Fuller Theological Seminary, 1-800-235-2222 Pasadena, CA, 91182.
"We resent unnecessary distractions; we resist unbiblical
diversions.. Can anyone believe that
all other activities should be suspended until all evangelicals agree on precise doctrinal statements? We certainly cannot."
David Allan
Hubbard, "What We Believe and
Teach," Pasadena, California: Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, 91182.