Concerning the "inerrancy" of scripture

American Christianity, generally speaking, does not hold to the traditional view of scripture as affirmed throughout Christian history.   For most, they believe that either the Bible is completely true, or it is not true at all.  Either it is absolutely correct in every statement, or there is no point in believing it.

I have also heard many atheists use arguments that "prove" parts of the Bible "wrong" and come to the conclusion that God is not real based on insignificant issues.

I fully agree with the report linked to below, that "this misguided concept of detailed ‘inerrancy’

diverts attention to unprofitable debates about unimportant details" (9)

This is an important discussion, since that is NOT the Wesleyan perspective.

My brother recently posted a brief discussion on the topic, concerning the report of the Scriptural Study Committee commissioned by the General Assembly.  His discussion can be found here  (second half of the article), with some clarifications made here.

The really good stuff, however, can be found in the actual report, which you can read here.

I highly recommend reading the full report on the Nazarene understanding of the authority of the Bible and what we mean by "inerrancy"

I know, I'm not really saying much...but read the report!