The Battle for the Bible

by Harold Lindsell

Book Overview

Is the Bible inerrant or not? Author Dr. Harold Lindsell answers in the affirmative-Yes, It Is! Discussing the meaning of special revelation and inspiration, Lindsell shows the Scripture's witness to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0310276810
• ISBN13: 9780310276814
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Zondervan Publishing Company
• Length: 218 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Good history, shaky theology

Lindsell has done a fine job of documenting the various attacks on Biblical inerrancy/infallibility coming from within the church itself over the past hundred years or so. The book was written in 1976, so it is a bit dated, but still it is quite informative. In doing so he raises unspoken questions that every Bible believer should ask and that he himself does not answer. Lindsell articulately and accurately reports that in every single case of a Christian denomination abandoning inerrancy, the move away from inerrancy was started by the denominational seminary(s) and/or denominational leaders or both. "In almost every case, unorthodoxy has its beginning in the theological seminaries" (Page 197, 9th printing). "Wherever liberalism has fought, it has won" (Page 207). "Probably 90 percent of the people in the [Southern Baptist] pews believe in biblical infallibility. But the infection of which I speak has been spreading steadiy in the convention and especially in its educational institutions" (Page 208). So the question is: Why are the people who know the Bible best (seminary faculty and denominational leaders) the most likely not to believe it is inerrant?

A Fascinating Account...

I found Harold Lindsell's book to be fascinating looking back at his assessment of the crisis at hand. Considering now what took place in Southern Baptist life after this book was written, Lindsell's writings sound almost prophetic. Lindsell accurately recognizes that once infallibility is abandoned, it opens the doors for all sorts of other departures from the faith (25, 139). One only needs to look at the mainline denominations today and their embrace of sinful practices, inclusivistic views of the Gospel, or feministic approaches to worship to recognize the reality of which Lindsell spoke. He also aptly recognizes that defection from inerrancy tends to begin in the institutions (83, 133). Yet, the fault does not completely lie there. Too many arrive on those campuses "illiterate" on our doctrines making them an easy prey (134). Thus, part of the fault lies in the churches' failure to properly equip their young people. I wonder if that issue has been addressed. As I hear stories about the defection from the faith of students in the religion department in the religion departments of Christian colleges, I fear that the problem that Lindsell addressed still remains in our churches today, and as such the warning of his book still needs to be heard.

Good Defense of Inerrancy

"The Battle for the Bible" begins by defining the problem in the last century with inerrancy verses errancy. The author's presupposition is that, whether errant or inerrant, our only source of Christianity is the Bible. The main doctrinal issues are covered in the first two chapters, the ninth, and the eleventh. The third chapter gives many examples to prove that inerrancy was the normal view of the Church until about two centuries ago. Chapters four, five, and six cover the fate of the doctrine of inerrancy in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, Southern Baptist Convention, and Fuller Theological Seminary. Chapter eight goes on to document some of the theological changes that occur once inerrancy has been abandoned. The author's point is, once inerrancy has been abandoned, apostacy will eventually follow. These chapters may have more detail than most people need--however, chapters one, two, nine, and eleven are a very good defence of inerrancy.

Popular argument for trustworthiness of the Bible

This book was published in 1976, I purchased my copy in 1982, but only read it this summer. My sentiments follow rather closely to those of bHarvey of Grove City, Pa., whose expansive review appeared October 29, 1998. I rank it four stars instead of five as I consider it more of a well done popular summary for the contemporary time rather than a scholarly classic work. Though somewhat dated by its discussion of current events in the 1970s; nevertheless those events are still playing out. In the case of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, it would now appear that conservative Bible believers have somewhat turned back the tide of skepticism and criticism of the Bible that had been increasingly prevalent in those denominations when the author published his book. If this conservative turn-around holds, it would indeed go against the historical trend of mainline protestant denominations having first abandoned the inerrancy and trustworthiness of Scripture, to be followed by the abandonment of other Christian doctrines and practices. Lindsell's central theme, that the abandonment of belief in an inerrant or trustworthy Bible leads to the gradual abandonment of other Christian doctrines, is strongly and correctly argued.

A seminal work on the subject!

In this book, which I count as one of the five most influential I have ever read, Lindsell makes a compelling case for the essential nature of the doctrine of the inerrancy of the Bible. It is true that the term "inerrancy" is of relatively recent vintage; what is equally true is that people who have historically called themselves "Christians" would not have even given thought to the idea that the Bible contained error! Lindsell documents the truth of the "slippery slope", how in case after case, denominations which have abandoned the doctrine that the Bible is without error have slipped into a theological liberalism which has sapped their vitality and lessened their membership. Minus the truth "Thus saith the Lord", one's theology becomes grounded in one's own opinions and subjective judgments rather than the objective standard of Bible truth. Thus we see denominations which a couple of generations back stood for truth now debating the merits of marrying and/or ordaining homosexuals, supporting "abortion rights", etc. These are unthinkable to Christians who take the Bible at face value, but easily justifiable to those who have jettisoned inerrancy. Lindsell's book makes this case quite clearly. Lindsell also demonstrates that, at least at the time of his writing in the mid-70's, no denomination that had turned away from inerrancy had ever gone back; once the horse was out of the gate,so to speak, there would be no reining him in. It is significant that, since his writing of this book, the Southern Baptist Convention, spurred on by its truth, has effectively made this step back to Biblical orthodoxy. For a better understanding of what spurred this on, I wholeheartedly endorse The Battle for the Bible!