471 - The Foundations of Biblical Authority

The Foundations of Biblical Authority
James Montgomery Boice, ed.
Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1978. 172 pp. $3.75.

Six short essays sponsored by the ICBI (International Council on Biblical Inerrancy), a group composed of professors, pastors, and laypeople, which aims to elucidate, vindicate, and apply "the doctrine of biblical inerrancy as an essential element for the authority of Scripture and a necessity for the health of the church . . . " (p. 10). The essays include: "The Church's Doctrine of Biblical Inspiration" (Gerstner), "The Witness of the Bible to Its Own Inerrancy" (Archer), "The Preacher and God's Word" (Boice), and "Evangelicals and the Doctrine of Inerrancy" (Kantzer).

Some will welcome the essays as a stalwart defense of the Christian faith. Others will eschew their "hardline" position (p. 11) of "propositional truth," of the "domino" argument, and of a commitment-"in advance"-to harmonize all that Scripture teaches (Packer, p. 79). Pinnock may be right on target in affirming that the inerrancy debate is "sterile and profitless" (cf. p. 77). Hopefully, future conversations with inerrantists will focus on more substantive issues.

Cullen I.K. Story
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton, N.J.