Forgetting man-made dogmas not a sign of clear thinking

"Let employees sign the Bible itself"

He commits the "straw man" fallacy. I do not know of any evangelical scholars that hold a view of inerrancy similar to the position he attacks. Too, he has misrepresented inerrantists by assuming they have no answers to his questions about apparent contradictions. 1 Cor. 10:8 does not contradict Num. 25:9; rather, the reference in v. 7 is to Exodus 32, not to Numbers. They are two different events. 2 Sam. 1 is the report of a man hoping to gain favor with David. 1 Sam. 31 is the true account. Who killed Goliath? Both David and Elhanan did. Could there not be two giants named Goliath?

Second, he commits the reduction fallacy by attempting to reduce teaching about inspiration to an absurd antithesis between human and divine authorship. He overlooks clear implications in Scripture itself that confluent divine and human authorship are not inconsistent. On the day of Pentecost, Peter quoted the prophet Joel (Acts 2:16) but the passage says that it was God who was speaking (Acts 2:17). The same thing is stated about David and Isaiah and the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:25, 28:25, respectively). Third, his exhortation to seek a "pentecostal blessing" does not follow from his argument at all.

He says to "forget man-made dogmas." I assume he believes that a doctrine is man-made if the words for it are not specifically stated in Scripture but are an inference or implication. If so, he wants us to forget our theology about the Trinity, the autonomy of the local church, soul competency, etc. Hardly clear thinking!

Charles F. Taylor
Carthage, N.C.