Peter Enns recently reviewed Paul Seely’s book called Inerrant Wisdom: Science and Inerrancy in Biblical Perspective. The book, published in 1989, deals with the “doctrine” of biblical inerrancy and the closely related concept of concordance between Scripture and contemporary science. I haven’t read Seely’s book, but I am familiar with his [...]]]>

Inerrant Wisdom by Paul Seely

Peter Enns recently reviewed Paul Seely’s book called Inerrant Wisdom: Science and Inerrancy in Biblical Perspective. The book, published in 1989, deals with the “doctrine” of biblical inerrancy and the closely related concept of concordance between Scripture and contemporary science. I haven’t read Seely’s book, but I am familiar with his more recent contributions to Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith (PSCF), the journal of the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA). You can locate several of Seely’s PSCF articles by searching the journals archives for “Seely, Paul”.

Here is a link to one of the more recent articles dealing with concordism: Seely, P. (2007). Concordism and a Biblical Alternative: An Examination of Hugh Ross’s Perspective. PSCF 59(1):37-45.

I’m in general agreement with Seely’s views about the the inadequacies and deficiencies of concordism. In my next post, I’ll share some of my own thoughts and reasons for not liking the term inerrancy. Admittedly, I’m no authority on the subject; I write as a “questioning” layperson, albeit one with sufficient scientific knowledge to know the magnitude of conflicts that make concordance and strict inerrancy untenable.

Inspiration and Incarnation by Peter Enns

And, since I’ve mentioned Peter Enns, I might as well highlight his important 2005 book called Inspiration and Incarnation (Amazon link here). I am eager to read it sometime soon. He proposes “an ‘incarnational’ model of Scripture—one that recognizes and affirms both the divine and human aspects of the Bible.” I definitely agree with that concept.

…Actually, it occurs to me that it’s my turn next month to pick a book for my men’s group book club at church; perhaps I should propose this one!