The Marriage Test

I recently had an exchange with a self-identified "agnostic, humanist, and naturalist" that started with the topic of Biblical inerrancy. Of course, that wasn't his aim. His aim was to remove the Bible entirely. And I get that. Those who deny the existence of God, who are, by nature, "hostile toward God" (Rom 8:7), are certainly going to deny His Word. No surprise there. What is a surprise is the frequency and volume of those who classify themselves as "Christians" who deny that the Bible is God's Word. Oh, sure, they may affirm it's God's Word in speech, but when they deny that God breathed and maintained it without error, well, then, you only have a couple possible conclusions. If your Bible is fallible, either God is not God, or God is subject to His creatures who changed it, or the Bible is not God's Word. Look, it's a simple equation. God = infallible. If the Word we have is not infallible, it is not God's Word. Simple math.

But you can see the simple math from my agnostic antagonist, right? Here, it's easy. If the Bible is God's Word, then God exists, Christ is who He says He is, the entire faith is true, and the "agnostic, humanist, naturalist" is in trouble. And so is the Bible-denying "Christian".

Over at (the deteriorating) Christianity Today, Gavin Peacock, pastor of Calvary Grace Church, Calgary, Canada, wrote an article on inerrancy and, of all things, marriage. As it turns out (and as I've maintained along with those of the rest who hold this position), the Church affirmed inerrancy for the first 16 centuries. They debated at times "Is this one in?" or the like, but the question was never whether or not God's Word could be ... wrong.

I don't know. Maybe when I put it like that you see it. You see, if "inerrant" means "without error", it's opposite is "erroneous"--"wrong". And yet, self-professed Christians today argue that God was or is, well, wrong.

Gavin Peacock talks about the Church's history on the question, about how this current "No it isn't" position was the product of the skeptics of the 17th and 18th centuries, about how inerrancy was affirmed, denied, and reaffirmed. He (as I) points to the position as a parallel to Satan's "Did God say?" in the garden. But what I found most interesting was his connection between Scripture and marriage. He considers marriage a "litmus test" for biblical inerrancy--for a proper understanding and respect for Scripture.

There is no doubt that Scripture starts with the marriage of Adam and Eve (for the purpose of mutual support and companionship, and for procreation) (Gen 1:28; Gen 2:18,24), that it ends with marriage (Rev 19:6-9), and that marriage is a central depiction of Christ's relationship with His own (Eph 5:28-33). Marriage in the Bible is not incidental; it is central. So Peacock concludes, "Earthly marriage is crucial but not ultimate, God is, and marriage points to the person of Christ and how he relates to us. Affirming 'same sex marriage' destroys that picture. But it is the fruit of denying the inerrancy of God's Word." He goes on to say, "In other words, by the time a Church legitimizes 'same sex marriage', it has already ceased to be a Church."

I have no reason to disagree with the pastor from Canada. I think that marriage is not a peripheral, but a key issue, and in a much broader sense than just society, interpersonal relationships, or families. It is a key structure assigned by God for our benefit and for illustration, and people mess with that at their own peril. And I am convinced that the only way you can arrive at the conclusion that the thing going on between same-sex people is "marriage" is to first eliminate God's Word. But, then, when you do that, you're at the same position as my friend, the agnostic. And marriage is a valid litmus test.