Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary - Research Proposal Example

Liberty Proposal Presented to Dr. Dennis McDonald In Partial Fulfillment Of the requirements for THEO 525 Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary by Dorothy Blue September 18, 2011 Scripture Inerrancy Thesis statement The reality of the discipleship of Christians is their ability to prove the Bible is free of all errors. Background to the Study Religion is obviously an inseparable part of mankind. No matter the social standing, economic prosperity or moral integrity of a person, we all seem to have a sense of religiousness in a certain part of our way of life (Addai, 2003). Even though most people where born into the religions of their parents and thus religions that already existed before their births, they have grown to accept the basic teachings and history of their religions as true and factual. It will not be far from right to argue that such people uphold and defend the doctrines of their religions because of documented evidence of the sanctity and authenticity of the stories surrounding their religion. Christianity is one of such religions that have very large following of people who in all cases try to defend the perfection of the religion. Like people of most other religions, Christians are always confident of the sanctity of their religion due to the faith they have in the origin of their history, documented in their holy scripture referred to as the bible. The phenomenon by which Christians attest to the authenticity and sanctity of the bible is common referred in theology as scripture inerrancy (Rhodes, 2001). Scripture inerrancy is regarded as an important subject in theology not because of the need to exonerate Christianity but to offer religious education and enlightenment to the world at large. As an important component of theology, it does not seek to perfect one religion against another but it tries to lay the facts bear so that readers and listeners will be able to make informed decisions for themselves. It is for this reason that research work on scripture is being considered for this research work. Problem Statement The problem under research has to do with scripture inerrancy, which has to do with the inspiration of the bible. As Challis (2006) notes, “the doctrines regarding the Bible have been discussed and debated at length throughout the history of the church.” Until a common compromise is reached in the discipline of theology on the doctrines of the bible, it is true to say that the debate and research will continue. The topic of scripture inerrancy therefore appears to be a problem that common in theological circles and even among religious followers who desire to be convinced of the truth behind various religions. This also means that the research problem is right not just for Christians but all theologians and religious truth seekers. Purpose of the Study This study will achieve three major purposes: 1.      Subjecting the Bible (scriptures) to scrutiny to prove the authenticity of scripture inerrancy 2.      Finding the impact and effect of scripture inerrancy on Christianity 3.      Exploring ways by which Christians can defend the accuracy of the scriptures to the latter. Research Questions In order to achieve the set goals above, it is important to ask thought provoking questions; the search of whose answers will lead to achieving the research goals. To this end, the research shall be used to answer the questions below: 1. How does the bible affirm its own inerrancy? 2. In what context does the bible disapprove of its own inerrancy? 3. How does the inerrancy of scripture affect the Christian and his or her faith? 4. Do Christians have a justification to defend the sanctity of the bible? 5. How should Christians approve the task of defending the inerrancy of the bible? Justification of the Study The justification of the study concerns reasons why the research problem is work considering. The justification of the study rests with two major points. In the first place, the research problem has a theological basis that makes the topic very necessary for theological studies. As pointed out by Challis (2006), “the doctrines regarding the Bible have been discussed and debated at length throughout the history of the church.” This means that theology as a discipline is yet to come to a common conclusion on the authenticity of the doctrines of the bible. Until such as conclusion is drawn, the simple implication is that the search for truth must continue. One way to find the truth however is through detailed and well conducted research. In this end, the research topic is very justified in the field of theology to allow for the continuous need to discover the truth about the bible to continue. The second justification has to do with the need to educate searching minds in order to establish religious enlightenment. As said earlier, this research is not about exonerating Christianity as opposed to other religions. Rather, it seeks to lay facts on the holy books of Christianity, which is the bible clear so that people who seek for religious truth will be enlightened in their decision making. Indeed, this is an important oversight responsibility of the research work that cannot be underestimated. For the sake of orderliness that the successful completion of the research is sure to achieve alone, it could be said that this research is justified to be undertaken. Theoretical Basis of Research Topic This aspect of the research work is dedicated to identifying how previous writers have built theories surrounding the topic of scripture inerrancy. Research reveals three major theories surrounding the subject of scripture inerrancy. The first theory is given by Wright (1996) as the freewill theory. By the freewill theory, Wright (1996) explains that The whole point of the freewill theory is to provide a state of affairs which God has produced by not controlling the will, by not imposing his will on human choices, so that we will choose spontaneously, and freely from any causal or overriding interference which might determine the choice one way or the other. The basis of this theory is established in the fact that if God really deemed the scripture holy and inerrant, He would have considered it enforceable. As a God who has been described by the bible as ‘loving’, there is no way He would have left us to take up our own will if our will was wrong and deadly. The second theory commonly associated with the inerrancy of the scripture is the theory of authority. This theory is championed by Challis (2002). Challis establishes the theory of authority by quoting directly from Wayne Grudem, (Systematic Theology page 73) who state that "the authority of Scripture means that all the words in Scripture are Gods words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God". On this, Wright (1996) questions how Paul is told to have used a secretary in writing most of his epistles and how at certain points in the bible, Paul used the phrase, “what I write”. Apart from Paul, aspects of other authors like David and Solomon have all being challenged regarding whether or not they were not only expressing their talent and feelings. Scripture inerrancy has therefore been challenged based on this theory against the argument that the bible does not represent the total authority of God. The final theory is the theory of inspiration. Challis (2002) and Wright (1996) have all written about this theory. On the part of Wright (1996), he acknowledges that “inspiration can be gained from certain key passages in which the process of inspiration is directly in view, and its results described.” Further on, Wright (1996) state bible verses including 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 1Corinthians 1-2 and The Ten Commandments. In all these verses, there is a justification that the bible is divinely inspired by God. In a closely related argument, Challis (2002) states that “we find that the Bible draws its authority and inerrancy from the indisputable fact that it is inspired by God.” Contrary to the first two theories however, the theory of inspiration gives more justification to why the scripture and for that matter the bible is authentic and inerrant. This is because God is authentic and inerrant – a fact that cannot be denied by any member of any religion and thus if He inspired the scripture and that the scripture is from him, then the scripture is inerrant. Background Literature The issue of scripture inerrancy has existed in Christian fraternity for a very long time. As far back as April 4, 1953, we read of C. S. Lewis writing a letter to Corbin Carnell on the subject of scripture inerrancy. In the letter, Lewis expressed a lot of reservations about some stories in the bible such as the story of Jonah and the Shark and the story of Esther he raised questions such as In what sense does the Bible "present" the Jonah story "as historical"? Of course it doesn’t say, "This is fiction," but then neither does our Lord say that the Unjust Judge, Good Samaritan, or Prodigal Son are fiction (I would put Esther in the same category as Jonah for the same reason). (The CRI Voice, 2006) From the era that such reservations were raised, Christian scholars and even ordinary historians have come clear with findings, facts and proof that try to confirm the perfection of the Bible. Scripture inerrancy therefore has to do with the belief that the Bible is free from any errors. The justifications given as far as accuracy of the scriptures is concerned are varied. For example Rhodes (2004) uses several instances of Jesus’ view of the Bible to explain why the Bible could be regarded as accurate. Some of his defense has to do with Divine Inspiration: Matthew 22:43; Indestructibility: Matthew 5:17-18; Infallibility: John 10:35; Final Authority: Matthew 4:4,7,10; Historicity: Matthew 12:40; 24:37; Scientific Accuracy: Matthew 19:2-5; Factual Inerrancy: John 17:17; Matthew 22:29; Christ-Centered Unity: Luke 24:27; John 5:39; Spiritual Clarity: Luke 24:25; Faith and Life Sufficiency: Luke 16:31. Modern theology continues to defend most of these facts about the accuracy of the Bible. Methodology -          Research design Generally, research design refers to the procedure to be employed by the researcher to collect data for the research work. In the conduct of academic researches of this nature, there are several research designs that can be employed to achieve success in data collection. However, careful scrutiny of the purpose of this research in relation to the core benefits of using each of the resign designs points to the fact that survey research design would be the best for this research work. To this effect, the research design to be employed for this study will be survey research. Research Connections (2011) explain that “Survey research is a commonly used method of collecting information about a population of interest.” In this study, the population of interest will be Christianity; whereby scripture inerrancy shall be the subject, around which information shall be sought. An important component of survey that makes it suitable for this research work is that survey allows for the collection of data from several sources. This is in contrast to other research designs such as case study and action research where a specified source of data collection is always defined for the researcher. Again, survey allows for thee use of primary data collection. This means that the researcher can prepare his or her own data collection instruments to collect first hand information from respondents. -          Sample Population The sample population shall be a group of Christian scholars, historians and critics of scripture inerrancy. These three categories of participants will help in ensuring fairness and balance in data collection and presentation of facts in the study. This is to say that the inclusive of critics is necessary in bringing about fairness in the line of argument. The sampling of the three groups of sample size members shall however be done by the use of carefully chosen research sampling techniques. The sampling technique simply refers to the procedure that will be used to get the sample members to be part of the sample size. Academic research presents two major research sample techniques, which are probability and non-probability sampling techniques. Both techniques shall be employed at one point in time or the other. It has been explained y Trochim (2006) that “the difference between non-probability and probability sampling is that non-probability sampling does not involve random selection and probability sampling does.” This means that in using probability sampling, every member of the selected population have an equal chance of being part of the sample size. This equal chance is created by the fact that probability sampling employs the use of random selection. The opposite is true for non-probability sampling. Most often than not, in non-probability sampling, respondents are selected based on purposive intentions thus the name purposive sampling to represent non-probability sampling at times. With particular reference to this research work, probability sampling shall be use to select Christian scholars and historians. The researcher shall use probability sampling in selecting these people in order to ensure a very large inclusion base. It will also ensure that there is no bias in the selection of the scholars and historians. This is because if there is bias or unfairness in the selection of these people, they can undermine the originality and validity of the research by giving biased responses that favor their faith and believes. Purposive sampling shall however be used to select the critics of scripture inerrancy. This kind of sample members demands to be selected purposively because the researcher would want to ensure that they include nothing but critics of scripture inerrancy alone. - Types and Sources of data to be gathered Considering the vastness of the topic, scripture inerrancy, it is clear that data for this research can be found from as many sources as possible. For this reason, the researcher shall make use of both primary and secondary data collection. Primary data is that kind of data that the researcher can refer to as his or her own intellectual property. This is because “primary data is the data which is collected by the researcher directly from his own observations and experiences” (Blurt It, 2011). In this study, the source of primary data shall be biblical scholars, theologians, officers in religious offices and ordinary religious practitioners. These people shall be contacted on their understanding of scripture inerrancy and how they would justify or deny it. The primary sources of data shall therefore be very useful in providing answers to the research questions and by extension, helping in the achievement of the research goals. Moreover, according to the Institute for Work and Health (2008), “an advantage of using primary data is that researchers are collecting information for the specific purposes of their study.” Secondary data on the other hand shall involve the use of existing data from reliable and authentic academic sources such as books, journals and internet websites. These data are regarded as secondary because they have already gone through primary hands. They would however remain useful to this study because they have the potential of offering excellent data on the history of the subject of scripture inerrancy that may not be available to respondents to be contacted through the primary data collection. The secondary data collection will therefore act as a supplement data source to the primary data collection. -          Data collection Procedure There shall be two major data collection procedures, which will be primary data collection and secondary data collection. Secondary data collection will deal with the collection of data from existing literature on the research topic. These sources shall include academic journals, books and websites and they shall serve as the basis of the literature review of the study. Primary data collection shall on the other hand deal with the collection of data from the field whereby questionnaires and interviews shall be used to collect views and opinions from members of the sample size. The data collected from primary sources shall carefully be presented and interpreted. Data Analysis Egger (2008) exemplifies the meaning of data analysis to a person who has to take a decision on the kind of cloth to wear in the morning and considers factors such as weather, place to go and cleanliness of clothes. Out of these considerations, the person comes out with a decision on the kind of cloth to wear. The same thing happens with data analysis in scientific research. The data to be collected through secondary and primary data collection procedures shall be brought under careful consideration based on qualitative and quantitative factors. Conclusions shall then be drawn out of the analysis made. The conclusions shall be in relation to the purpose of the study to identify whether or not the aims of the research where achieved.   REFERENCE LIST Egger Anne E. 2008. Data: Analysis and Interpretation http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid=154 (Accessed September 17, 2011) Geisler, Norman L., ed. 1981. Biblical Errancy: An Analysis of Its Philosophical Roots. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Hannah, John D., ed. 1984. Inerrancy and the Church. Chicago: Moody, Osborne, Grant R. 1992. The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, Research Connections 2011. Survey Research and Questionnaires http://www.researchconnections.org/childcare/datamethods/survey.jsp (Accessed September 17, 2011) Rhodes R 2004. The Inspiration, Inerrancy, and Authority of the Bible http://home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/Inspiration.html (Accessed September 17, 2011) Ryrie, Charles C. 1981. What You Should Know about Inerrancy. Chicago: Moody Sproul, R. C. 1980. Explaining Inerrancy. Oakland: International Counsel for Biblical Inerrancy The CRI Voice 2006. C. S. Lewis on Inerrancy, Inspiration, and Historicity of Scripture. http://www.crivoice.org/lewisbib.html (Accessed September 17, 2011) Turretin, Francis. 1981. The Doctrine of Scripture. Locus 2 of Institutio theologiae elencticae. Edited and trans. John W. Beardslee III. Grand Rapids: Baker Warfield, Benjamin Breckinridge. 1970The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. Edited by Samuel Craig. Philadelphia: Presbyterian & Reformed. Wenham, John W. 1984. Christ and the Bible. 2nd ed., Grand Rapids: Baker Woodbridge, 1982. John D. Biblical Authority: A Critique of the Rogers/McKim Proposal. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Wright R. K. M. 1996. The inerrancy of scripture and the freewill theory. http://www.dtl.org/calvinism/article/wright/inerrancy-1.htm (Accessed October 5, 2011). Institute for Work and Health, 2008. Primary data and secondary data. At Work, Issue 54, Fall 2008: Institute for Work & Health, Toronto. Available online at http://www.iwh.on.ca/primary-data-and-secondary-data Addai R., 2003. Fundamentals of Human Religion. Orient Press Limited: Washington D.C Blurt It, 2011, What is Primary Data? http://www.blurtit.com/q944399.html (Accessed October 2, 2011). Rhodes R., 2001. The Inspiration, Inerrancy, and Authority of the Bible. http://home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/Inspiration.html (Accessed October 4, 2011). Trochim W. M. K, 2006, Nonprobability Sampling. http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/sampnon.php (Accessed October 4, 2011). Challis T. 2006. The Inerrancy of Scripture. http://www.spiritone.com/~wing/inerrancy.htm (Accessed October 3, 2011). Read More