This is a guest blog from my friend Scott Grace. (I introduced him in yesterday's post.)
This is just the "preface" or Part 1... you can read Part 2 tomorrow.
"I went on vacation this past week to
Camp-of-the-Woods (it’s in the Adirondacks). In my pea-brain mind I
assumed that this camp was somehow related to the famous Word of Life
Camps (just over the mountains). Any how, I was wrong. Apparently the
camp (Camp-of-the-Woods) is run by “The Gospel Volunteers,” an
organization started by constituents who, being unhappy with the
liberalizing Salvation Army, left and began their own ministry. It was
started as a conservative reaction to the “social gospel” that had
infiltrated the Salvation Army.
One of the perks of the camp is they invite “big name” evangelicals to come. I heard Josh McDowell, his son Sean McDowell (who was the best of the three speakers by far), and Norman Geisler. Honestly, I have never really been a huge fan of Geisler primarily because he is so “sure” about everything (sort of like John McArthur, but a little more of a gentle spirit). Long ago his book Chosen but Free made me mad during my defender-of-Calvin days. So, I was interested to hear him speak, but I had made up my mind to be skeptical of whatever he said, and I was. I guess I am too sure about my own opinions, I apologize, Dr. Geisler.
Anyway, his topic for the week was “Can we trust the Bible?” and as you can imagine he spent a full session defending his “inerrancy” position. I find his methods of philosophical deductions valuable, but I think he missed painting the whole picture to the hearers. There was no mention of the Bible as ancient expressive religious literature. He presented it as a series of propositional statements (proof texting). He left very little room for hermeneutical issues, tradition, and genre issues, but I guess when you’re dealing with a random group of people (mainly old people) who are on vacation, you don’t want to get too crazy in your study. People will get upset."
to be continued...
This is just the "preface" or Part 1... you can read Part 2 tomorrow.
One of the perks of the camp is they invite “big name” evangelicals to come. I heard Josh McDowell, his son Sean McDowell (who was the best of the three speakers by far), and Norman Geisler. Honestly, I have never really been a huge fan of Geisler primarily because he is so “sure” about everything (sort of like John McArthur, but a little more of a gentle spirit). Long ago his book Chosen but Free made me mad during my defender-of-Calvin days. So, I was interested to hear him speak, but I had made up my mind to be skeptical of whatever he said, and I was. I guess I am too sure about my own opinions, I apologize, Dr. Geisler.
Anyway, his topic for the week was “Can we trust the Bible?” and as you can imagine he spent a full session defending his “inerrancy” position. I find his methods of philosophical deductions valuable, but I think he missed painting the whole picture to the hearers. There was no mention of the Bible as ancient expressive religious literature. He presented it as a series of propositional statements (proof texting). He left very little room for hermeneutical issues, tradition, and genre issues, but I guess when you’re dealing with a random group of people (mainly old people) who are on vacation, you don’t want to get too crazy in your study. People will get upset."
to be continued...
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