Sayings of a Gadfly
by Max Maxwell


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INERRANCY
AS A PROP OF FAITHLESSNESS

 A preacher said, “To have any real understanding of faith and life, we need to focus completely on the Bible.  The Bible is the absolute, inerrant word of God.  It is God’s revelation to us.” 

The Gadfly said, “The Bible cannot be both absolutely inerrant and revelation.  Absolute factual accuracy would transcend human intelligence.  Think of the creation accounts in Genesis.  If they really told exactly how God created everything, then the text would be full of mathematical equations that would boggle the mind of any scientist.   And humanity would not have a clue how to understand this kind of creation story.   It would not be revelation.  It would be a mystery.   The truth of the Bible flowers heartily in the soil of incompleteness.  Its blossom draws strength from the moist stream of inaccuracy.  And its spirit is made clear by error.  There are many poems, stories, parables, and metaphors throughout the Bible, which do not even claim to be factually accurate.  To take literally every turn of phrase in the biblical text is not an act of faith.  It is an act of desperation.  When a child listens to music, it cannot understand the complexities of how its brain translates vibrations into sound.  But that child can still hear the song.  Don’t get so obsessed with propping up your understanding that you forget to sing along with the song of life”
 

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© Copyright 2014 Kenneth J Maxwell Jr.