Valiant for Truth - The Bible

Dr. Bryan Estelle, Associate Professor of Old Testament here at WSC, has a new essay that has been published in Children and the Lord's Supper, edited by Guy Waters and Ligon Duncan. 

Inerrancy is an essential doctrine held by orthodox Christians. If we are to know God and our true spiritual condition, then we must have confidence in His special revelation, the Holy Bible. (Only then, of course, can we learn what God has done to rectify our condition and to gain assurance in His work for us.) So the doctrine of Scripture and our confidence in its utter trustworthiness is critical for all other doctrines. While some form of the doctrine of Scripture has existed since the beginning of the church, the concept of inerrancy is a fairly recent addition to the debate. Below is a list of books to help one enter the discussion.

E. J. Young (1907-68), Professor of Old Testament and founding faculty member at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, once wrote the following about the importance of knowing the biblical languages

Evidence for God, edited by William Dembski and Michael Licona, consists of 50 short essays written by various philosophers, scientists and theologians, all arguing for God in general and the Christian God in particular. The 50 essays are split into four sections: Section one deals with the question of philosophy, section two with the question of science, section three with the question of Jesus and section four with the question of the Bible. Perceived objections to God and the Christian faith in these four areas are dealt with accordingly, with the intention of proving the existence of God and the truth of the Christian faith.

Michael J. Vlach argues in Has the Church Replaced Israel? A Theological Evaluation that “supersessionism is the view that the New Testament Church is the new and/or true Israel that has forever superseded the nation Israel as the People of God” (12).