Fr. Matthew's instructional video clips are always delightful, and this one is particularly good.

Is Fr. Matthew saying that the Bible is not The Word of God? because ... You must agree the 'Errant' Word of God is an oxymoron.

Its so sad (and destructive) for Fr. Matthew to lead well meaning seekers away from the Bible with his clever 'Drug-Fried Brain' analogy. May I say, that his brain may be a little weak as well as he portrays himself as a collar wearing Christian Leader -- that has much disdain for the very thing he supposedly gave up his Life for.

Contrary to Fr. Matthew's message... the (innerant!) Word of God does much to sharpen our intellects -- "for the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any 2-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart...' My puny brain, on the inerrent Word of God, no longer conforms to the pattern of this world, but has been transformed by the renewing of my mind so that I am able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good and perfect will. Now that's reasonable!

I don't believe "inerrancy" is a particularly useful term or concept when speaking about our approach to Holy Scripture, but I would say that I find it annoying that we Episcopalians always seem to get our jollies by turning up our noses at the poor, uneducated, and I guess unwashed among our apparently less enlightened Christian brothers and sisters. Sometimes it just seems kind of sad.

Bruce Robison

God bless Fr Matthew, and God save us all from those who've made an idol of Holy Scripture!

The Rev. Charles Marson summed it up so beautifully in 1914:
"Above all things the greatest source of disunion and individualism in religion is the unreasonable and baseless view about the Bible, which is but too common among devout [...] people. Even in the zeal and excitement about the Divine Library which prevailed in the seventeenth century, the Second Sunday of Advent was provided with a beautiful Collect, describing the Christian use of the Scriptures. These are for learning, to teach patience, to bring the comfort of the Holy Word (which is not the Bible, but the living Christ), and to inspire hope. The Bible is not the rule of faith. We did not promise at our Baptism to believe the Bible. The Church is not founded upon it. It is not the one thing needful. It was written, composed, gathered, preserved, and translated by Churchmen for Churchmen. Many of the dead in Christ never knew there was or would be a New Testament at all. When we have it, it is not of private interpretation. It has quite other than the literal meanings, as we assert when we sing the Gloria after each psalm. These are often the exact opposite of the author's meanings. The Church has the right to contradict the Bible. For instance, in Psalm lxxxviii, verses 10, 11, and 12, the poet expected the answer No, to his questions. The Church gives the answer Yes, and uses the psalms as proper for Good Friday, If abuses were ever an argument against use, surely the misuse of the Bible would be an overwhelming reason for denying it to nearly everybody. The proud ignoramus, who thinks that a Bible in his knapsack makes him master of the highest wisdom, is in a perilous condiition indeed. He fancies that he is bound by a golden rope to the heavenly Guide, so that no precipices need now trouble him the slighest. He actually believes that he has the Eternal Word in his fingers, that the Word took print instead of flesh, that a work of human mechanics is the Divine device for his salvation. He pits the handmaidens, the writings of the holy servants, against the Mother and Mistress of Christians, against the Bride of God. He will prove to you that the Bible is inspired, because it says, or he thinks it says, that it is inspired; that it cannot err, nor he err in construing it. The plenary inspiration of the bumptious reader is the sole creed of such unfortunate wanderers. Every man becomes infallible without further ado. Let him once have an authorised or loose version, sold under cost price, he is fully equipped for heaven. No greater device was ever invented for ruining the sweetness, modesty, and graduation of the soul in the School of Christ. No wonder the ever-worshipped Bible becomes the object of the utmost contempt and derision. Often the earnest youth, trained in Bible adoration, ends as the most bitter detractor of what he ought never either to adore or to burn."

Fr Matthew is too gentle by half...

When you love someone, you desire to spend as much time with that person as possible... Gratitude is all I have in knowing that God left his Word for me, so that I can read it, study it, meditate on it, and pray over it. It's a blessing beyond measure. And to think it's available in every hotel nightstand, every language, every city, every country, and its FREE for the asking. (Can you think of anything else that approaches that feat?)

You know, its often the weak & the poor that cry out to God readily. When people are down and out, they don't have the luxury of rejecting God's Word. Go into any rehab center or homeless shelter and see the reaction the Bible brings. Joy!

If I didn't have my Bible, how else would I get to know Him? I have at least 6 Bibles in my house, I keep 2 in my car, and when ever I travel I bring one with me. It's my constant companion. The Word of God brings comfort and peace in a troubled World. Many people LOVE the Bible, and are very encouraged when they see me with mine.

The OT Israelites lived their lives according to their God given Scriptures. Their every day was marked by God's Word. There is no dividing line between OT & New Testament. Why shouldn't we live with Scripture in this era? From Genesis to Revelation, the finger prints of Jesus Christ are on every page -- Reject Jesus, that's your choice. But what sense does it make to reject the simple message He has for you?...'in the beginning was The Word, and The Word was with God, and The Word was God.' God cannot lie, but man can, and does. To say that bible lovers idolize the paper its written on is deeply offensive to believers. We worship 1 God, and 1 God only, God the Father of Abraham, Samuel, Joseph, Isaiah, Jacob, & Moses -- the Father God of the Bible.

I like Fr. Matt and found this vid delightful. I'm sorry, but I do not see it as a slam on the Christian faith or the Bible. He has been very specific about that, and made his case well.

The notion of biblical inerrancy, in the face of evidence to the contrary, is called "conscious literalism" by many biblical scholars: to hold to a literal/inerrant view of the bible in the face of evidence to the contrary. That's dangerous, and does a disservice to the faith.

I, too, love the Bible, read it daily, and have plowed through several copies over the decades. Rejection of inerrancy does no harm whatsoever to one's faith; in fact, if they take the time to understand it, it makes alot more sense, and affirmation, than inerrancy. Pax!

Kevin McGrane

Excellent presentation, right on the mark.
As a graduate from Oral Roberts U and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary I speaks to my own journey.

I would like to see more of Fr. Matt's work.

Fr. Jack Fles
Christ Church Episcopal
Gardiner, ME