"To bear the reproach of Christ by standing up for His truth appears at the present day to be an upopular thing. But if it is unpopular, it is a very blessed thing. We who name His Name should pray that He will raise up men who will call this generation back to His infallible and inerrant Word and to the Christ of Whom that Word speaks. And in this task we have the assurance and the comfort that the battle is the Lord's." Edward J. Young, Thy Word is Truth, 7.
"Those who continue to hold that the Bible is without mistake because it is God's inspired Word and that God cannot lie or contradict himself have a responsiblitity before God to take advantage of the second opportunity he has given us--to pick up the pieces all the way back to the 1930s. By the grace of God we must do better in order to stand in our generation with love, but with total clarity, for a Bible 'not partly true and partly false, but all true, the blessed, holy Word of God--this warm and vital type of Christianity.'" Francis Schaeffer, "God Gives His People a Second Opportunity" in The Foundation of Biblical Authority (ed. J. M. Boice; Zondervan, 1978), 19.
"Does this not say something terribly important as to what is at stake in the inerrancy issue? In crisis, there is no alternative to proclamation that 'makes no odds.' Under such conditions, anything less than total assurance in Christian proclamation is betrayal of Christ and sure defeat. But how can one possibly say, 'it is written,' without a Scripture that is entirely trustworthy? We need to become aware that all of life is really crisis in a sinful world where the battle between Christ and the powers of evil never ceases for a moment. What is at stake? Your effectiveness in that battle, and mine. Let us not tarnish and corrode our only effectual weapon--'the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." John Warwick Montgomery, "Biblical Inerrancy: What is at Stake?" in God's Inerrant Word. (ed. J. W. Montgomery, Bethany,1974), 39-40.
"We affirm that a confession of the full authority, infallibility and inerrancy of Scripture is vital to a sound understanding of the whole of the Christian faith. We further affirm that such a confession should lead to increasing conformity to the image of Christ.
We deny that such a confession is necessary for salvation. However, we further deny that inerrancy can be rejected without grave consequences, both to the individual and to the Church." The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, Article, XIX.
If younger evangelicals grow up knowing that there is some implicit divine commission to uphold inerrancy, one that real Christians can't help but obey, it is no wonder that the evangelical ultimatum will come to mind as the only way to look at the matter.
