Nazarene Church and Inerrancy

[9Rock9]

So, I have been interested in the Nazarene Church lately, and I was surprised to learn that the denomination doesn't adhere to inerrancy the same way that most other evangelical denominations do.

Supposedly, it is inerrant in matters of faith and practice while other evangelicals believe it is inerrant in all that it teaches.

Is there a wide range of debate about what exactly inerrancy means in the church?

 

[tampasteve]

Are you referring to the various views of scripture or the actual teachings and doctrine in the/a denomination? In other words, the inerrancy of scripture or the denominational teachings?

 

[9Rock9]

Are you referring to the various views of scripture or the actual teachings and doctrine in the/a denomination? In other words, the inerrancy of scripture or the denominational teachings?

Denominational teachings

 

[tampasteve]

Denominational teachings

Outside of the Orthodox and Catholic churches I am not aware that any church actively claims to be inerrant, do they? Even those churches tend to lean on being "the fullest expression of the Church" rather than claiming to be inerrant.

 

[Rawtheran]

So, I have been interested in the Nazarene Church lately, and I was surprised to learn that the denomination doesn't adhere to inerrancy the same way that most other evangelical denominations do.

Supposedly, it is inerrant in matters of faith and practice while other evangelicals believe it is inerrant in all that it teaches.

Is there a wide range of debate about what exactly inerrancy means in the church?

Hello There 9Rock9 my name is Dillon Ringo and I am a Pastor within the Church of the Nazarene and thank you for asking this really thought-provoking question I'll do the best that I can to answer it! The official position that the Church of the Nazarene takes on the inerrancy of scripture is that it is absolutely inerrant in that everything that is contained within the scriptures is absolutely true. For example, there really was a King David who reigned and ruled in Israel, Satan is a literal fallen angel, The Ressurection of Christ actually really did happen, etc. but the focus of the scripture is on how it relates to our relationship with God and how it reveals to us how we all have a broken relationship with God because of sin and that it is only through Christ that we are cleansed from sin and have a right relationship with God. The reason why the fourth article in the Articles of Faith is states as such:

We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith(Church of the Nazarene Manual, Article 4).

The reason why it is stated this way is to avoid a pitfall known as the inerrancy trap where someone who would look at what the Bible is saying without trying to understand the context of the meaning of the verse as was intended to the original audience could then twist scripture in order to justify a morally irreprehensible thing such as child abuse because "The Bible tells me it's ok." It also is meant to allow for other points of view to exist within the denomination such as maybe the belief in Old Earth Creationism or other eschatological views such as partial preterism or Pre Trib Millenialism without taking a hardline stance on issues which are nonessentials to the faith.