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From: mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re:  The Bible as God's only word.
Message-ID: <1121@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 14-Nov-84 21:06:44 EST
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.1121
Posted: Wed Nov 14 21:06:44 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 17-Nov-84 04:25:56 EST
References: <306@qantel.UUCP>
Reply-To: mangoe@maryland.UUCP (Charley Wingate)
Distribution: net
Organization: U of Maryland, Computer Science Dept., College Park, MD
Lines: 28

[I would like to point out that this is just about the only discussion in
 this group that would properly belong in a net.religion.christian]

The internal evidence contained within the manuscripts suggests that God did
not ensure the inerrancy of the New Testament.  First, all the existing 
manuscripts differ in some respects.  We must therefore annoint one of the
existing versions as the Right one, or posit the existence of what the
scholars refer to as an "Ur-copy", which we do not have, and thus cannot
say anything conclusive about without introducing lots of assumptions and
presuppositions about what the Ur-copy said.  I don't see any good reason
to take either approach; I am willing to admit that what texts we have
now contain error.

I have pointed out before that there are internal inconsistencies within the
Gospels; an example is the differing geneologies for Jesus.

There is good evidence in the texts for taking some parts of the text as
having less authority than others.  Even the fundamentalists appear to
observe this principle, even as the protest to the contrary.  I notice,
for instance, that very few churches require women to wear hats.

Episcopalians believe the church to be inspired, and assign some authority
to church traditions.  Fundamentalists give authority to their own church
traditions-- without the review that Episcopal tradition is subject to.

Charley Wingate   umcp-cs!mangoe

Ubi caritas et amor, deus ibi est.