The Folly of Biblical Inerrancy

There is a lot about Christianity that is beautiful and thought-provoking. Jesus showed a path to peace. We learned to admire the good Samaritan. We learned to turn the other cheek. We learned to judge not.

There is so much that is beautiful in the Bible, but many of the religious right hurt the cause of Christ by insisting on Biblical inerrancy (that every word is without error and literally true).

How does this hurt the cause of Christ? Because it weakens the argument for Christianity. It makes it harder to be a believer. The beautiful parts of the Bible are easy to believe and endorse. The message of grace is so beautiful.

According to the Bible, the only thing you need to believe to be saved is that Christ is your savior. Do you need to believe Genesis is totally true in order to be saved? No.

Have you ever heard the phrase "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link"? By insisting we need to believe Genesis in its entirety, we introduce many more links in the chain. Some of which are weak links.

The insistence on an all-or-nothing approach to the Bible is polarizing. It drives some in the moderate middle to eschew the church. And that is the folly. Instead of making Christianity easy and accommodating, the religious right has made it difficult. It has alienated potential believers by creating unnecessary standards of belief.