May 31, 2018
In her column, “The perils of selective inerrancy” on Baptist News Global, Dr. Molly T. Marshall, president and professor of theology and spiritual formation at Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Shawnee, Kansas, demonstrates a new vocabulary for dealing with the religious right.
In commenting on the removal of Paige Patterson from the presidency of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on May 23, she uses the following phrases:
- “selective inerrancy”
- “ossified theology”
- “historically situated” to describe warnings or prohibitions about women’s leadership in passages like 1 Timothy 2
- “masculinist” to describe textual interpretations that some people claim to be simple Bible truth, not their own patriarchal views.
We all need to use these words daily in our conversations, emails, and social media posts. Each use penetrates the armor claiming that male privilege in church, home, and society is God’s will.
Dr. Marshall concludes, “Hiding behind inerrancy in order to preserve male privilege does irreparable damage to a lucid Christian witness.”
Read , “The perils of selective inerrancy” on Baptist News Global.
