Inerrancy

No, this is not an article about biblical inerrancy.

I love hymns. I really do. Sure, sure, I was raised with them, and that's clearly a factor, but when I compare most hymns to modern songs, there is such a vast difference in depth. Today we shoot for "feel good". In prior times they aimed for truth. Take, for instance, Toplady's Rock of Ages. As it turns out, he wrote the song to counter Arminian theology. So when he wrote, "Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to the cross I cling", he meant it as a doctrinal statement. We are not saved by our works or our wills; we are saved solely by Christ alone. Contrast that with today's more "feeling" songs where we aim to feel good toward God, and you might begin to see a difference in depth. Paul said, "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Col 3:16). Most of today's songs don't teach or admonish at all. They're going with sentiment, not truth.

That having been said, there is a tendency in all humans to see a group as "good" and, having labeled it such, fail to examine it very closely. Maybe it's your political party or maybe it's your family or maybe it's your church. We move these groups into a category and cease to look anymore. Death metal music? Bad. Pay attention. Easy listening? What's the harm? Don't worry about it. And that is a mistake.

So, having already indicated that I really like hymns, I want to submit that hymns are not inerrant. Let's look at just one example.

I adore And Can it Be. A really wonderful hymn. It points to the amazing truth that we might possibly be saved when we really have no right to think we should. It identifies me--not the Jews or the Romans, but me--as the one "who Him to death pursued". Very good. "Except that it makes serious errors. Like "How can it be that Thou my God didst die for me?" Well, it can't be. God cannot die. Jesus the man died. If God actually died at any point, all that exists would cease to exist--end of story. Or "He left his Father's throne above, So free, so infinite his grace!" How many times have I heard this stated as fact? "God's grace is infinite." No, it isn't. Infinite means no limitations. God's grace definitely has limitations. As a biblical proof, we are warned "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God" (Heb 12:15), a manifest impossibility if His grace is infinite. James assures us that "He gives greater grace" which would be meaningless if it is infinite and then says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6). Apparently, then, grace is limited. The proud don't get it; the humble do. His grace is huge, amazing, vast, but not infinite.

Okay, so I started that last paragraph with how much I like the hymn. My point, then, is not that hymns are bad and we need to toss them (along with most of the modern songs). My point is that hymns, old or new, are not the Word of God and are not, as such, inerrant. If we are indeed supposed to teach and admonish with the songs we sing, we should pay attention to what we're teaching and admonishing. If, on the other hand, we just want our songs to make us feel good, then we ought to erase that particular verse of the Bible and move on. Oh, no, that's probably not a good idea.