The following will appear in the next (vol. 4, no. 3, Summer 1993)
issue of _The Skeptical Review_. It may be redistributed freely.
Copies of the text of all articles published in _The Skeptical
Review_ may be obtained by sending $1 and either one high-density
diskette or two double-density diskettes to _The Skeptical
Review_, P.O. Box 617, Canton, IL 61520-0617. Specify WordPerfect
or WordStar format. (Free one-year subscriptions are available
from the same address.)
CORRESPONDENCE WITH GLEASON ARCHER
Farrell Till
Dr. Gleason Archer is undoubtedly the chief apostle of Bible
inerrancy. His book Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties is the most
often quoted reference work in the correspondence that I exchange
with Bible inerrantists. In view of his reputation, I decided to
invite him to debate this issue in a setting that would allow the
seminary students where he teaches at Trinity Evangelical Divinity
School to hear both sides. Our exchange of letters to date is
published below.
**********
February 7, 1993
Dear Dr. Archer:
For some time now, you have regularly received our
publication The Skeptical Review. If you have read any of the
materials in it, you have undoubtedly noticed that we are
dedicated to exposing flaws in the Bible inerrancy doctrine.
Furthermore, we believe that our work speaks for itself and that
we have more than accomplished our goal.
In our work, we constantly see references to your book
Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties in the letters and articles
that we received from defenders of the inerrancy view. I have
examined your book many times, and I personally find it incredibly
simplistic. I don't say this to insult you but merely to express
my honest opinion. As a former fundamentalist minister, I can
even understand how that one would go to unjustifiable extremes to
try to defend the inerrancy doctrine, because I once did it
myself.
You teach at a divinity school where young men are being
trained for the ministry, and I assume that your staff tries to
instill in them the belief that the Bible is the inerrant word of
God. I would like to propose that you and I debate this issue in
a public forum that would give your students and others the
opportunity to hear both sides. If you sincerely believe that the
Bible is God's inerrant word, I would think that this proposal
would be appealing to you. Truth has nothing to fear by public
examination, so if your position is the right one, you could
strengthen the faith of your students by demonstrating to them
that attacks on the integrity of the Bible cannot withstand public
scrutiny.
If you are willing to participate in such a debate, I would
be happy to enter into negotiations with you to decide upon
specific propositions and a time that would be mutually compatible
with our teaching schedules.
Farrell Till
**********
February 16, 1993
Dear Mr. Till:
Thank you for your invitation to debate me concerning the
accuracy and trustworthiness of Holy Scripture. If I thought it
would serve any useful purpose, I would be happy to comply. But
from what I know about you I can only conclude that it would be a
mere exercise in futility.
Let me explain that if you presented yourself as a seeker
after truth, or if you were a Muslim debater, or the exponent of
some religion which has a genuine belief in a god of some sort,
and you had not been presented with the strong and compelling
evidence for the unique authority and inerrancy of the Holy
Scriptures, then there might be some point in our getting
together.
But as it is, in view of the fact that you have already been
confronted with the many infallible proofs of the truth of
Scripture, and were once sufficiently persuaded of them to become
what you term "a Fundamentalist minister," I can only conclude
that you have fallen into the syndrome of a passionate,
quarrelsome renegade, and are therefore not really open to reason.
You now consider yourself superior to Moses and Isaiah and Jesus
Christ Himself as an expert on God, and you therefore have
superseded them as a supreme authority in all things metaphysical.
You have absolutely nothing to offer to your public but
disillusionment and despair as they face the prospect of eventual
death and possible judgment before the Author and Enforcer of the
moral law. You can only leave them without purpose, goal or
meaning in life, and persuade them that life is basically futile
and without purpose.
In short, I feel it would be as pointless for me to debate
with you as it would be for either of us to debate with Mary Baker
Eddy about the reality of matter or the value of material medica.
I must add that I feel sorry for you that you have lost all hope
of salvation because of your abandonment of your Savior. But the
same God who granted me the responsibility of free choice between
Christ and Satan has granted the same to you, and I therefore
respect your prerogative to turn your back upon God if that is
what you prefer.
Gleason L. Archer
**********
February 18, 1993
Dear Dr. Archer:
I appreciate your prompt response to my letter. To be
honest, I must admit that I didn't expect any answer at all. That
expectation had been based on the fact that I have written similar
letters to several inerrantist authors and lecturers only to have
them ignored.
In your reply, you said that you would be happy to comply
[with my invitation to debate] if you thought it "would serve any
useful purpose." You then went on to say that from what you know
about me you could only conclude that a debate "would be a mere
exercise in futility." I regret that your vision regarding the
practicality of a debate is as myopic as your discernment of
biblical discrepancies. Occasionally, I encounter an inerrantist
who is willing to defend his position in public forum, but I never
enter into those discussions with any illusions of converting my
opponents. I do not debate the inerrancy issue in order to
educate my opponents, because their minds are almost always
anesthetized to reason and logic. I debate them in hopes of
reaching some in the audiences whose minds are still open to
honest inquiry.
If you are so certain that the truth is on your side, should
you not consider my proposal as an opportunity not to reach me but
to reach some in the audience who are not presently believers in
Bible inerrancy but whose minds might still be open to the "many
infallible proofs of the truth of Scripture," which you referred
to in your letter? Viewed in this way, wouldn't a debate serve
some "useful purpose"? Shouldn't you also consider the students
at your seminary? I suppose that they are taught in their classes
that the Bible is the inerrant "word of God," but you surely know
that when they leave they will be exposed to other opinions of the
scriptures. If while they are yet students, you should demonstrate
to them in public debate that my position is completely absurd,
which you could surely do if there are indeed "many infallible
proofs of the truth of Scripture," would you not be strengthening
their faith and preparing them for what they will encounter after
they leave the seminary? Viewed in this way, wouldn't a debate
serve some "useful purpose"?
I trust that you were sincere when you said that you would
happily accept my debate proposal if it would serve "any useful
purpose." I have indicated to you at least two useful purposes
that a debate would have, so I hope to receive an acceptance from
you by return mail.
Farrell Till
**********
[NOTE FROM JIM LIPPARD: Till also sent a similar debate challenge
to Campus Crusade for Christ lecturer Josh McDowell, the author of
_Evidence that Demands a Verdict_, _Reasons Skeptics Should
Consider Christianity_, _Answers to Tough Questions Skeptics Ask
About the Christian Faith_ (these latter two co-authored with Don
Stewart), and other apologetic works. Although the challenge was
sent in early February, McDowell has yet to acknowledge it.]
Jim Lippard Lippard@CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU
Dept. of Philosophy Lippard@ARIZVMS.BITNET
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
Return to The Skeptic Tank's main Index page.
The views and opinions stated within this web page are those of the
author or authors which wrote them and may not reflect the views and
opinions of the ISP or account user which hosts the web page. The
opinions may or may not be those of the Chairman of The Skeptic Tank.