,
14 tweets,
5 min read
Read on Twitter
@tim_fall Within the SBC (especially at places like the school where I teach), egalitarians were largely known for denying inerrancy. That’s just an historical fact that shapes the conversation in the SBC. /1
@tim_fall So the issues of inerrancy and egalitarianism are definitely related in our history and circles and still are. /2
@tim_fall Of course in the wider evangelical world, there are egalitarians who formally affirm inerrancy. Folks like Roger Nicole and Millard Erickson, for example, are prime examples. /3
@tim_fall Nevertheless, I still believe that their program relies on a revisionist readings that strain credulity. They are hermeneutical oddities that undermine the functional authority of scripture. /4
@tim_fall For example, it is a really strange hermeneutic that makes “I don’t allow a woman to teach or exercise authority” to mean “I DO allow a woman to teach and exercise authority” (1 Tim 2:12). /5
@tim_fall It’s this kind of reading that undermines the functional authority of scripture in actual churches and in the lives of God’s people. /6
@tim_fall I am very grateful that these egalitarians make a formal affirmation of inerrancy. That’s much better than the alternative—that they would outright deny it. /6
@tim_fall I’m very thankful that some egalitarians formally affirm inerrancy. That is so much better than the alternative—an outright denial of the complete truthfulness of God’s word. /7
@tim_fall I still believe, however, that their formal affirmation of inerrancy is in tension with hermeneutical strategies they employ to achieve egalitarian readings of scripture. /8
@tim_fall In other words, I believe egalitarianism is in tension with a high view of scripture whether its proponents realize it or not. /9
@tim_fall This is nothing new. Thirty-two years ago, the drafters of the Danvers Statement expressed these very same concerns, warning about “hermeneutical oddities” and “the consequent threat to Biblical authority.” /10 cbmw.org/about/danvers-…
@tim_fall I think those warnings are wise and still relevant today. Belief in the inerrancy and authority of scripture does not sit comfortably with egalitarian readings of scripture. They are in tension and always will be. /11
@tim_fall That is why I’m happy to acknowledge that some egalitarians will affirm inerrancy. But I do not acknowledge this claim as consistent with their egalitarian reading of scripture. /12
@tim_fall In my view, it is misleading to defend egalitarianism as if it were consistent with belief in inerrancy. /13
