Shifting back to errancy (was RE: Keep your morality)

ALEN UTHMAN errancy@infidels.org
Wed, 11 Aug 1999 06:37:56 PDT (00934396676, 19990811133758.37170.qmail@hotmail.com) 




>>On Tue, Aug 10, 1999 at 12:21:56PM -0500, Philipson, Randy wrote:

>>There seems to be some disagreement between Jesus and John the >>Baptist

>>as to who John the Baptist was.

>>Matthew 17 (NIV):

>>10 The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law >>say

>>that Elijah must come first?"

>>11 Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all >>things.

>>12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not >>recognize

>>him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the >>same way the

>>Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."

>>13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John

>>the Baptist.

>>

>>John 1 (NIV):

>>19 Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent >>priests

>>and Levites to ask him who he was.

>>20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the

>> >>Christ. [7]"

>>21 They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I >>am

>>not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."



>JEPLER



>I think I can see the inerrantist response here:  When "the disciples

>understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist", they >were

>mistaken.  It's very possible that the disicples were mistaken >in their

>understanding of something Jesus said, but that doesn't >make the bible

>errant.


JAFAR
That doesn't work. The Bible is supposed to be telling the truth right? So
if the disciples were wrong, the word would have been 'thought' instead of
'understood'. But it is very clearly implied that what the disciples
understood was right, simply because of the wording and the lack of
immediate (or any) clarification, which a truth-telling book should not have
left out.


>To answer your real question, I don't know offhand of another text >that

>claims to settle the question of whether John was Elijah or not.


ALEN

Don't Matthew 11:13 and 11:14 refer to John the Baptist ?


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